Reflection of "In the Shadow of No Towers"

"In the Shadow of No Towers" is a graphic novel written by Art Spiegelman. This was the only graphic novel I have ever read. In this sense, I have no other similarly styled novels to compare it to. So, I am thus comparing my experience reading this book to my experiences reading novels written in prose.

Most of all, I enjoyed the pictures in this book. I think that they made a positive contribution to the goal of the author. The dialouge itself in this story was a bit confusing for me. I understand that America was experiencing quite a difficult time around September 11, 2001. I was only 11 years old at this time, so I did not fully understand what was going on. My memory, however, is about as scattered and chaotic as the character's in this story. The first half of this novel tells the story of man's experiences at the time when the two planes crashed into the World Trade Center in New York. He himself admits that his memories are messy and possibly untrue. His attitude reflects many of Americans, who were most likely in shock on this day. The second half of the book is a collection of political cartoons that all relate to September 11, 2001, in some way. This was the section of the graphic novel that was the most confusing for me. Even now, I admit that I don't completely understand all of the points that were being made. However, I can say that I think that this book critically and effectively examine's our society's tendency to shove our issues and concerns "under the rug." We do not express our true feelings and anxieties. This creates a sense of paranoia, which I believe the U.S. is still demonstrating as we speak.

This was a good book to include in our syllabus. I appreciate the change to read a graphic novel for the first time. This particular one has unearthed some interesting topics of discussion and has been valuable and worthwhile to read.