September 11, 2001, is a day that most people will never forget, The United States experienced the first major terrorist attack since Pearl Harbor in 1941. After sixty years of living in a safe zone, no one would expect such a thing could have happened- at least not in their lifetime. After the attack we were left in shock and fear. We needed to figure out how to move on from this tragic event, in a time of fear we looked to our President for comfort and a plan of action In three short months after the attack, President Bush began to plan the war in Iraqi Art Spiegelman, in the text. In the Shadow of Towers, provides his first-hand experience 9/11 as well as his opinion of President Bush, the upcoming election, and the Iraq War -all through comic strips(both old and new), Kevin Powers, in the text, The Yellow Birds, provides a fictional story of the Iraq war.
Art Spiegelman, best known for his his graphic novel Maus, is an American cartoonist who worked for The New Yorker magazine. In the text, In the Shadow of No Towers, Spiegelman describes the result witnessing the 9/11 terrorist attack left him with this recurring image of the burning metal frame/skeleton of the towers. Throughout the text we are constantly reminded of the attack because there are pictures of the burning “skeleton,” The purpose of this was to show the audience the difference of actually witnessing this attack firsthand versus watching this on a television set. This event was so traumatic that he simply can not get this image out of his head and it is evident throughout his text, On the top panel of page six. Spiegelman is running through the panels trying to escape the Homeland Security Advisories only to find himself underneath an American Flag.
The caption reads, “1 should feel safer under here, but – damn it!- I can’t see a thing”. This tells the audience that although our flag is supposed to represent safety and justice, we are still in fear because we, as citizens, are left in the dark. Spiegelman also stresses the theme of restlessness 1n the year 2003, the 9/11 topic is still as relevant as the day it happened. He states, “ My subconscious is drowning in newspaper headlines. Following this caption, there is a larger close-up of Spiegelman; a smaller image of himself is literally jackhammering his skull open exposing him to more newspaper headlines. His glasses show nothing but the image of the burning skeleton with what looks to be a tear streaming down his face. This shows the audience that even after a whole year, this event is still haunting him; he can not get away from itt Another example of restlessness is evident on the very next page. Spiegelman appears to be laying in a bed with eight other people who are sound asleep.
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He is startled by how any could sleep with what is going out He states, “ maybe I really want the world to end, to vindicate the fear i felt on 9/11“ (9). He continues to complain until he startles the other eight people who then awoke from their rest In the final panel, the tables have turned Spiegelman is sound asleep while the other eight are wide eyed with fear Spiegelman does this to show us how important it is to understand what is going on in the world. It may seem simple to ignore what’s happening but, when you actually hear what is going on you being to obtain fear, discomfort, and restlessness. On the other hand, Kevin Powers uses personification of the war and chooses certain diction carefully to put us, as readers, in the war experiencing it for ourselves. His novel is overflowing with imageryr In the very first paragraph he states, “We moved over them and through the tall grass on faith, kneading paths into the windswept growth like pioneers.
As the reader, we can picture this exact moment This style of writing engages the reader, Powers gives the war human characteristics. For example, he states, “ the war rubbed its thousand ribs against the ground in prayer”, Powers is making the war seem like a monster. if the war is the monster, are ALL soldiers victims? Does this suggest that it was the soldiers against this war? All of these questions arise while reading this passage. Along with the visual aspects, Powers shows the emotional journey of the war. This war seemed unending Powers mentions, “While i slept that summer, the war came to me in a dream and showed me its sole purpose: to go on, only to go on. And I knew the war would have its way”. This gives the audience the sense of restlessness because this war will not stop. It is claiming lives-thousands of them. It is becoming difficult to carry on.
Powers also states, “ He showed me a broad disheveled grin in the receding dark, held up his trigger finger and daubed Tabasco sauce into his eyes to stay awake”(6), Powers choice of diction really grives the audience a crisp mentally image. Imagine having to put Tabasco sauce in your own eyes just so you could stay awake, it was becoming so difficult for the platoons to stay awake. This is the case throughout the chapter. Powers describes the change of Murph‘s eyes. He states, “There were times I looked at him and only could see two small shadows, two empty holes”(7). The war is taking a physical and mental toll on the soldiers. They are barely eating or sleeping. They have no choice but to keep fighting, to end this war.
Through both of these text, we are being provided a mental image of this war. Spiegelman shows us, through comics, the restlessness he faced due to his eyewitness account of 9/11. That attack instilled fear in him and he was not able to continue his daily live without being reminded of that day or the effects of that day. In the case of Powers, we are brought into the war as one of the soldiers, We were taken on this journey of this long and dreadful war. We are shown how physically and mentally exhausted this war has made us. Powers uses his diction to provide crisp images inside our head. Although both of these texts are very different, in the way that they were made, they both resemble the theme of fear and restlessness.
