"Talk of the Town" Blog

I found "Talk of the Town" to be an extremely intriguing piece of literature. Fitting would be the perfect word for describing the topic in context to the due date. A day where we remember our independence  and praise our country may have felt a little less patriotic after reading the two articles. The two approaches from the two varying authors appeared appropriate because the first article by John Updike served as a precursor to a topic that would be further broken down in the second article by Susan Sontag.
The article by Updike took a story telling approach to explaining the tragedy. His own experiences were put forth to inform the reader of his personal experiences and feelings. This idea exercises steadily in the line where the text reads, "We knew we had just witnessed thousands of deaths; we clung to each
other as if we ourselves were falling." Updike does a polished job of explaining the events without being subjective. He appears to flirt with being subjective later in the reading, but only brings up a neutral idea which states, " American freedom of motion, one of our prides, has taken a hit. Can we afford the
openness that lets future kamikaze pilots, say, enroll in Florida flying schools?" The article works as more of an informative article than a persuasive piece, but it gives way to another article that embodies the word subjective majestically.
Sontag's article surely differs from Updike's. The personal beliefs of Sontag on the topic shine brightly. The first paragraph boldly displays some truths about the event and the reaction of the U.S officials. Sontag disagrees with how the officials go about mending the situation. Sontag goes as far to say, "... whatever may be said of the perpetrators of Tuesday's slaughter, they were not cowards." Sontag's statement may hold some truth, but to proclaim this shortly after the happening is to transform grievances into angry people pointing their fingers at Sontag. It can appear that Sontag only wanted to rock the boat, but a statement later clears the air on why Sontag would proclaim these beliefs in such an unstable environment. The section of the article reads, "Let's by all means grieve together. But let's not be stupid together. A few shreds of historical awareness might help us understand what has just happened, and what may continue to happen." In essence this recollection of the articles attempts to ease the reader's tension and explain the entire intent of the article; an article that showed the second side of the situation, an idea America still has to improve upon.