Journal of Student Research 2018

One Month to Grieve- A Study of Menomonie’s Mourning After 9/11 as a selfish choice by many Americans who would rather appear stoic and steadfast in the face of hardship, but those who remain unaffected by tragedy can come across as cold-hearted or apathetic. Stoutonia student-journalist Coenen lamented about this in his column, writing, “Is this not the true spirit of America in so many people’s eyes? The self-absorbed tendencies and materialistic priorities that control so many have branded us as insensitive at best” (Coenen 5). Butler writes that many people believe grief to be isolating, “solitary,” or something to be feared, but the opposite has often proven to be true (Butler 22). Americans were at their most united immediately after the 9/11 attacks when they were unified in their grief. Empathy spawned candlelight vigils, blood drives, and donation banks for the victims. There are countless stories of quiet acts of kindness that took place in those first crucial days, when strangers helped strangers and communities banded together. Grief, and the process of grieving can be immensely constructive. Nine days after the September 11 attacks, President Bush said that he “[had] seen the decency of a loving and giving people who have made the grief of strangers their own” (text), yet instead of encouraging this comradery, the nation pivoted to an attitude of aggression and retaliation. And yet, despite the American desire to avoid wallowing in grief and pursue resolution at all costs, those nine days of unity, selflessness, kindness, and grief in the face of an overwhelming tragedy were a far better testament to American strength and resilience than the seventeen years of divisive and cyclical violence that followed.

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