CAN SOMEONE PROOFREAD MY ESSAY? ITS SUPPOSE TO COMPARE AND CONTRAST. DUE IN THREE HOURS.....
Times of Tragedy
It is made very clear in the memoirs of the attack on September 11, by Tim Townsend, and the bombing of Hiroshima, by Michihiko Hachiya, that when tragedy strikes one will react with their initial instinct. Tragedy usually comes without any warning leaving each individual to fend for them selves. In this case, Michihiko was in the middle of the bomb when it stuck, whereas Tim watched the events to come begin to unfold from a distance. The stories also show that a person’s background has plenty to due with how one will respond to a catastrophe. Due to these men’s different backgrounds Tim reacted with selfishness and Michihiko reacted more rationally. More importantly, any tragedy has its own outcome according to ones personal account. In this case Tim he was left feeling lucky and Michihiko was still confused about the events that had taken place. These stories contrast in many ways.
One major way these stories contrast is that when the bomb of Hiroshima hit, Michihiko was in the middle of what you might call “ground zero” with no time to escape. When he decided to head to the hospital, despite his nakedness and terrible injury, he began thinking and responding as a doctor typically would. He tried to rationally think about his staff and started to gather evidence in his head about the environment around him. (pg 36) “Our home was gone; we were wounded and needed treatment; and after all, it was my duty to be with my staff.” Tim differs in that when the towers began to fall he was able to witness from a distance with time to get away uninjured. (pg 51) “The first thing I saw in the parking lot across Liberty Street was luggage. Burnt Luggage.” Acting more emotional then rationally, he quickly followed a crowd of people running away from the billowing cloud of smoke and rubble that crept steadily behind them. This shows that the emotions and motives of the men were quite different.
The emotional state and the motives after the attacks were different also because of their backgrounds. Michihiko was a doctor, thus, his day to day routine consisted of caring for people and working together for the cause of the patient which prompted him to think medically and logically in times of chaos. Despite his condition, just a few days after the bomb he was highly intrigued by the symptoms of his patients and what could have caused them. (pg.37) “Regardless of the type of injury, nearly everybody had the same symptoms. All had poor appetite, the majority had nausea and gaseous indigestion, and over half had vomiting.” He also mentioned that, (pg 38) “The only other possible cause for the weird symptoms observed was a sudden change in atmospheric pressure.” Tim on the other hand, was a financial consultant where the business is cut throat. While franticly running to safety, Tim shamefully left people behind and tried to hide where ever he could, by himself. At one point he says, (pg. 53) “September 11th, 2001, at 9:45 a.m. was not my finest moment.” It seems that Michihiko was looking to better others and Tim was looking to better himself.
The outcome for both men reflected their feelings and actions during the events. Mich was still near death trying to analyze the symptoms. He continued to question the patients and use his education and experience to come to a conclusion of what kind of weapon was used. ( pg38) “ It was as though I walked through a gloomy, silent motion picture. Others whom I questioned had had the same experience. With all his resources lost in the explosion, one thing was clear to him, “… a new weapon had been used.” Tim was not burdened with such confusion since he saw what happened in front of him. He made it home to his wife without a scratch on him. Though he witnessed a tragedy that will go down in history, he felt (pg.54) “… freakishly fine.” He made it very clear that he was not nearly as affected as others. He stated, (pg54) “Maybe it’s because I lack the imagination, or the will, to realize the scope of what I’d seen.” Or maybe it’s because he wasn’t blown to pieces.
In conclusion, the men made it out alive because they followed their initial instincts. Catastrophes like the two mentioned above can be similar but certainly with their own distinct characteristics. Their backgrounds clearly made a difference in there actions and how they dealt with the tragedies afterwards.