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Summary Of Colum Mccann's Let The Great World Spin

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It Spins, it Walks, and it Falls. New York, a city that is often considered one of the greater cities of the United States, once held a wonderful monument known as the Twin Towers. There was a moment of great hope involving the Towers, and one of great terror. The crossing of the Man on the wire, Philippe Petit, and one of the most important devastating events in the history of the United States, the events of September 11, 2001, when the towers were taken down by terrorists. In Colum McCann’s book, “Let the Great World Spin” there are a series of stories, where there is a use of symbolism and character that describes both of those events. Four characters in particular show the emotions and the persona of the American people before and after …show more content…

In “Let the Great World Spin,” Petit and the Walker are two sides of the same coin, a comparison of reality to a fictional character. During “Miró, Miró, on the Wall” this was the first time the Walker was spoken about. “—And then he just said, Your son is passed, ma’am. And I was thinking, Passed? Passed where? What do you mean, Sergeant, he’s passed? He didn’t tell me of any exam. –Mercy. –I was smiling at him. I couldn’t make my face do anything else” (Miró 110). The shock and the fear made her freeze up, it is something the grief causes, but also stage fright. Nearly at the fifteen-minute mark in the video “Man on a Wire- Twin Tower Tribute” It shows Petit and his journey to crossing the towers. Specifically, a point where his wife, Kathy O’Donnell, speaks, “There was a real madness in his eyes, a true rage. It was truly ‘I’m going to do this, no matter what, now is the time’ and he held me in his arms as if we would never see each other again” (Real). Claire and Kathy O’Donnell have a similar reaction in a way. The shock of a loss, or even a possible loss will make them cling to a small hope that it isn’t true, that the one they love didn’t or won’t die. Where Claire had lost Joshua, and Kathy O’Donnell had nearly lost Philippe Petit, there was no one for the Walker. He had done everything without someone standing by his side, to even risk losing him. Although, in the end, Claire had her support, just as Petit had his before and during his arrest, and the Walker had nearly all of New York cheering him on, even as he was arrested for his stunt crossing the twin

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