"Talk of the Town" by Updike and Sontag

After reading these two vividly written pieces of writing, a lot of different emotions and pictures were swimming in my head. John Updike wrote more about his experience and how New York changed completely from beginning to end, both physically and emotionally. Susan Sontag, on the other hand, wrote more about the media and how it responded to the attack on 9/11 as well as how even the media couldn't 100% comfort the American people after such a heartbreaking affair.


John Updike drew me in from the beginning with his pristine word choice and ability to paint a picture. He described his experience beautifully, even though it saddened me and made me anxious for him and his family. I connected with him when he said it felt unreal, like it could be fixed. As a young child, it was hard for me to think of something like this permanent and like they could just build new ones, no big deal. When he calls flying an American freedom and pride that had taken a hit, I'd never thought of flying being such a privilege that would never be the same. One of my favorite sentences within this piece was "We have only mundane duties of survivors-to pick up the pieces, to bury the dead, to take more precautions, to go on living". This was truly all that we could do, even though many had a burning sensation of hatred and the want for revenge on the Middle Eastern civilization. Even to this day it's still hard to believe we were the victims of such a violent doing, but as always, "this is a country worth fighting for", and that's what we planned to do.


Susan Sontag's writing style was unlike that of Updike's. Her essay focused more on her opinion and how she felt the media covered the tragedy. In my perspective, her piece was very strong in provoking questions amongst her audience while utilizing uncanny word choice. While I was reading I felt a sense of disappointment and rage in her voice, like our country hadn't done enough and that we had failed. Any country that can pick up the pieces, re-gain trust within itself, and move forward toward a better tomorrow is far from failure. It actually makes us brave. She also states that the perpetrators shouldn't be considered cowards. I partially agree because anyone who is willing to give their life for the good of their country is far from cowardly, but in opposition, they killed themselves in hope of harming others, which isn't how the conflict should've been dealt with. An outstanding statement in this piece is "Politics, the politics of a democracy-which entails disagreement, which promotes candor-", because I feel a lot of people forget that we fought for this type of government and disagreements would always happen. In my eyes, that's one of the most forgotten things within our country. One sign of an argument and everyone runs for the hills; it's quite frustrating.


These pieces were both written with a lot of heart, and the tragedy of September 11th will never be forgotten. Those who lost loved ones may never be the same again, but it's safe to say that our country, beautiful America, continues to grow and move onward as we continue to set our sights on a stronger and brighter tomorrow.