Summary Of Ashen Guy By Thomas Beller

September 11 will always be remembered for the horrific tragedy that happened. Thomas Beller is the author of “Ashen Guy”. In this short story, Beller goes through the different perspectives of people and how the mood changes by his use of tone. There are several different tones used throughout the short story, such as nervous, urgent, panicked, confused,and imagery, that change just as the peoples point of views does. An innocent bystander, Beller, conveys a nervous tone in the first paragraph by stating “Everyone was moving in the same direction, orderly, but with an element of panic and, beneath that, a nervous energy” (Beller 60). This creates a visual of the dayley vibe the city has; energetic, rushed, and busy. As he goes on, it is evident that there is something wrong but the problem is still unclear. “There was more urgency and

“At first glance he looked like a snowman,...” (Beller 61). “… covered in gray ash.” (Beller 61). “... bloodshot eyes…” (Beller 61). Beller gives this descriptions to provide the audience with the specific image he was observing.
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Causing panic, “On Franklin Street the police were screaming: There’s a package! There’s a package! Keep moving” (Beller 61,62). This renders a sense of panic, confusion, and chaos causing the crowd to go insane. He illustrates an image of citizens scrambling around trying to get away but they aren’t quite sure what they are running from. “People! Trust me! Let’s go! People let’s go!...” (Brady 62).
As if straight from a scary movie, beller is portraying a scene where time seems to be frozen, there are people crying and screaming. “The whole street paused, froze, screamed, some people broke into tears,...who just kept walking” (Beller 62). They are so scared and confused they don’t know what to do. But the ashen guy continues to walk. Beller says this to show that in such a tragic moment in America's history there are those that can still be