Shadows

One of the most intriguing (and confusing) things about Art Spiegelman's, In the Shadow of No Towers, is that almost none of the pages are exactly alike. Each page represents a different form of hysteria, all depicting the emotions of 9/11. Some pages are drawn as though they were from a different time, some depict the character as being a mouse, and the rest portray a myriad of different illustrating styles. However, there is one thing that appears all throughout the first half of the book. I didn't notice it at first, but after going back and checking I noticed that there are shadowy red towers that appear to be burning on every page. This got me thinking, "why would this be the same when everything else is so different?" Each page seems to show the different ways that the author views 9/11. As time goes on he becomes less hysteric, but no less forgetful. As he relives the attacks over and over again those fiery red towers are there depicting the mood. When he is most worried and looking for his daughter, the towers take up a large portion of the page, whereas at the end of the book, it shows them finally crumbling to the ground and fading into darkness as he begins to forget them more easily. It seems that these towers are the one thing that is constant throughout the whole story. It reminds us that no matter how different the pages are, or how random the author's narrative seems to be, the book is still about one thing: the attack on the World Trade Center, and the destruction of the towers on 9/11.