Analysis Of 40 Hours In Hell

These two literary works, 40 Hours in Hell by Katherine Finkelstein and Third World by Dexter Filkins, both present diverse perspectives on what occurred during the World Trade Center attack. Although both texts approach the coverage of this attack differently, as reporters, they both base their news using normative theory. Normative theory is the consideration of what is morally correct or incorrect. In relation to normative theory is the Social Responsibility Theory. This theory deals with how an individual must complete their civic duty, since they are apart of the press, as well as their actions must benefit society. Nonetheless, of these two texts, 40 Hours in Hell best fulfills the requisites of the Social Responsibility Theory. In

She told the newsroom, “I gave them everything I could gather, from the parajumper unit- 18 of them- who’d ended up sleeping on a yacht, to the K-9 rescue worker who’d driven through the night, 15 hours from Halifax, Nova Scotia, with his body-sniffing dog” (Finkelstein, p. 6). With this, Finkelstein gave a complete and comprehensive recount of the day’s events with context that was relevant to the situation. To conclude the text, Finkelstein states, “It was early Thursday. And though more than 40 hours had passed since I first hopped on my bicycle, the terrible story had just begun” (Finkelstein, p. 6). This further demonstrates Finkelstein’s true dedication as a reporter to do what is morally correct; she went out of her way to go get the news that the people needed. The people needed the truth, and Finkelstein went out of her way to achieve this goal, and exhibit how she partakes in the Social Responsibility

A bagel with a bite taken out of it, the cream cheese still on the end of the white plastic knife” (Filkins, p. 46). This statement by Filkins places into question whether this will benefit society as a whole and provide citizen’s with a meaningful account of the day. The reality is that this bit of information does not truly provide insight into what truly happened during the attack, where many individuals were killed and injured. Also, Filkins states, “Once when I came to, a group of police officers were trying on cashmere topcoats and turning as they looked in the mirror. There was lots of laughter. ‘Nice,’ one of them said, looking at his reflection, big smile on his face. ‘Look at that.’” (Filkins, p. 47). With this, it demonstrates how police officers are playing around instead of helping individuals who are possibly buried in ruble from the World Trade Center. Nonetheless, this shows that it is not morally correct to be acting in such a way, especially during such a horrible and tragic event such as this terrorist attack. All in all, both Finkelstein’s and Filkins’ text are two different approaches to the attacks on the World Trade Center. However, Finkelstein’s text is more appropriate and satisfies Normative Theory as well as the Social Responsibility Theory. Finkelstein’s text was morally correct, provided an accurate account of the events that occurred that day,