Tuesday, October 7, 2008

The 9/11 Graphic Adaptation

While the idea of the graphic adaptation intrigued me, I don't think it made the report any more effective than it would have been without the illustrations. I was so interested in the actual content and information in the text that I barely looked at the pictures at all. I found everything else extremely compelling. Everyone has seen the footage and heard general theories and criticisms of the government and Al Qaeda, but I definitely missed over half of the actual facts. It also makes one think of the type of pain that people go through everyday due to the error of others. I cannot imagine being responsible for the kind of oversight our government made in regards to ignoring or underestimating threats from Bin Laden. To be one of those caught in the upper levels, above the crash sights and to be told conflicting things to do before finally realizing that there is no hope is unthinkably frightening. It is also hard to look at the situation from the extremists' point of view. Is anyone really capable of wanting to hurt others so badly that they would sacrifice his or her own life? They spent years planning this attack and had no problem just destroying not only lives but also part of our landscape, a symbol of the American economy. In particular, I am baffled at why the pilot of flight 93 decided just to crash the aircraft even though it would not reach its target. I would think it would be better to be alive and unsuccessful than die for no real purpose, other than failure. Clearly I would make an awful terrorist.

1 comment:

SJCP said...

I know that quite a few things baffle me about Flight 93..

1) Why do we only see a crater with some unidentifiable metal in it? Where did the plane go?

2) Why is the crater only lightly burnt and why is grass growing up against the rim of the crater unburnt?

3) Why are there distinct wing imprints, yet only a faint tail imprint?

4) Why did the photographer at the scene say that they did not smell jet fuel (Which has a distinct smell) at the crater? Why was none of the groundwater contaminated by the jet fuel? Where did all of the fuel go?

5) Why did eyewitnesses report a strange, small unmanned aircraft flying around the area?

6) Why did Susan McElwain, an eyewitness, report that the aircraft she saw had no wings and no markings?