Change of Mind: Susan Sontag

At first glance the essay by Susan Sontag stood out to me. I only had to read the first few paragraphs to get her feelings across to me. After reading the article I realized that Sontag's writing had a very negative vibe throughout the whole essay. I sensed this negative vibe when she referred to the terrorists who plotted the whole 9/11 attacks as courageous. Sontag also points out that the U.S. was the real coward. Sontag goes on to remark that, "... it might be more aptly applied to those who kill from beyond the range of retaliation, high in the sky..." referring to the U.S. as cowards for dropping bombs from planes in the sky. Furthermore, Sontag, acting like a muckraker, goes on to bash the U.S. on how bad our president is and how American politicians are nothing more than hypocritical liars. After reading all this, I found the statements made by Sontag disrespectful and insulting to Americans and I especially felt bad for the people who have been directly affected by the horrific acts on 9/11.

Now after much re-reading and thinking I believe that Sontag is trying to provoke a response from her readers. I think that Susan Sontag wrote his article in a specific manner in order to really irritate and anger people so that her readers actually take a stand and do something about the dilemma. Sontag is trying to appeal to the reader on an emotional level in order to get her readers to change the current situation so that this horrific tragedy never occurs again. Lastly, Sontag uses a variety of events that transpired in the aftermath of 9/11 in order to get her message across emotionally.