“The Falling Man” by Tom Junod is a powerful explanation of a picture that was taken when 9/11 happened. Junod describes this picture in a way that is very different than anyone would expect and also gives the reader some insight about the photographer of the picture. Tom Junod has explored a deeper meaning and understanding of this picture and has chosen to look at it from a different perspective.
Tom Junod describes a scene that was a result of the terrorist attack on the Twin Towers in New York City known as 9/11. In this text, Tom Junod brings out emotions from the reader and people know what this text is about without him even mentioning what exactly has happened. Junod describes a man who “departs from this earth like an arrow” (par. 1). This man is different from everyone else who is in this situation. He looks relaxed and everything is in place. Everyone else who jumped from the building look like they are confused and are struggling. The man is perfectly vertical like the lines of the buildings behind him and perfectly splits the North tower from the South tower. Even though the man is falling at a rate of thirty-two seconds, he appears to be frozen. This man did not choose his fate but has accepted it and represents something unsettling in all of us – freedom.
Even though most of the text is about the man in the picture, Tom Junod also includes some things about the photographer of the picture. The photographer who shot this picture is named Richard Drew but the author does not state the photographer’s name, he instead says, “The photographer is no stranger to history” because he feels like the impact that the photographer had is far more important than who the photographer actually is (par. 2). It is up to people like the photographer to capture important moments in history such as in times of terror and confusion. The author also tells a story of the photographer in a time of action. The photographer was standing right behind Bobby Kennedy when he was shot in the head and “His jacket was splattered with Kennedy’s blood, but he jumped on a table and shot pictures” (par. 2). The author gives us this information so that we have a better understanding of why the photographer would take this picture of a man who was falling to his death.
In this text, the author not only includes an analysis of the picture of the falling man but also includes information about the photographer of the picture so that the reader can have more information about the picture and so that the picture will have a bigger impact on the reader. “The Falling Man” has opened our eyes about people in times of terror and has shown us a man who chose to accept and embrace his fate that was going to die. Tom Junod has explored a deeper meaning and understanding of this picture and has chosen to look at it in a different way.
Junod, Tom. “The Falling Man.” Esquire, Sept. 2003, http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a48031/the-fallingman-tom-junod, Accessed 10 Sept. 2018.
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