More Thoughts on the 9/11 Report

 Although we agreed in class that the graphic adaptation of the 9/11 Report is not comprehensive, I think that a large part of the writers’ purposes were to simplify the report enough that the average person could read and digest it. If this was the case, it was done well. I was able to better understand the events leading up to 9/11. I think that the images attached more meaning to the event than the Official Commission Report is able to. The anguished faces of the trapped survivors and the devastated stance of the fireman on the cover of the graphic edition both convey an emotional depth that the original commission report is not able to, both because of its medium, and because its sole purpose is to convey information.

As far as the actual content of the report, I was struck by how much of the book was after-the-fact information. There were so many things that the government could have done to protect civilians against this sort of attack that they just didn’t do. Reading this graphic adaptation showed me how much of the event was due to human error and negligence.

Reading the book was definitely a difficult experience for me both because of the difficulties and intricacies of its meaning and because of the strong emotional connection that I have to the event. I was interested to read the graphic adaptation to better understand what actually happened on September 11th. At the same time, I felt slightly sick with myself that I was so interested in re-learning about the event, and in a way, re-experiencing it.