The essay titled “The Price We Pay” written by Adam Mayblum, the author details his personal experience of escape from the World Trade Towers on September 11th. As I read this detailed account of his escape, I am emotionally affected. I am humbled to read acts of bravery, selflessness and teamwork. We see accounts of how Adam, himself, constantly puts himself in immediate danger to go back and help others descend from the building. He recalls how he went back to the 85th floor, after initially leaving, to go back and find one of his partners. He stops to account for his officemates, along with shepherding people out into safety. Throughout the narration, he is constantly reaching out to others to help them. He sees an associate stuck in the stairwell and asks him if he needs help and offers to help carry him. We see the selflessness of the firemen and police, who ascend the stairs to help others. Despite the smoke, fire and destruction around, they go without hesitation to help others. We also see acts of teamwork, in which everyone is trying hard to escape the building together. They are using a system of communication and touch, to blindly escape through the debris from the building. As I read these various accounts from the essay, I hold back tears. To see such courageous humanity, where you would think people would only care of their own safety, he shows us how we pull together to help each other. Such acts show us examples of humanity and love that cannot be destroyed, even when others try to destroy it.

In the essay titled “The Sanctuary of School” written by Lynda Barry, she shows the importance school can offer children. In the essay, she describes her childhood filled with financial strain and neglect. She writes, “We were children with the sound turned off.” (pg. 85). She illuminates how the parents are so busy dealing with their financial stresses, that the children were ignored. For the author, school offers her a reprieve from those stresses and allows her attention. She further illuminates this neglect as she is able to leave her home in the early part of morning to go to school, without being noticed. School offers her the ability to be noticed and thus offers her a sanctuary from such neglect.

Throughout the essay, the element of sound in her descriptions or the absence of sound, illuminate the theme of silence. This theme of silence portrays the idea that outside of school the children are void of attention. For example, she describes how after being displaced from their rooms, they would watch the television with the sound off. Instead of bedtime stories to put the children to sleep, they are put to bed by the silenced television shows. Later, she sneaks out of the house to escape the anxiousness of her home. She writes, “It was quite outside. Stars were still out. Nothing moved and no one was in the street. It was as if someone had turned the sound off on the world. (p.84) Once again, we see that no sound surrounds her, as she sneaks out of her home to try to get to school early. In fact the first true instance of sound, was in the inquiry of the janitor on how she was doing. The simple act of inquiring about her, transforms her mood from anxiety to happiness. She later writes, “he was old with white hair, thick glasses and an unbelievable number of keys. I could hear them jingling as he walked across the playfield. I felt incredibly happy to see him.” As her school opens, the author too opens up. Her essay shows that the schools allow the children to be heard and recognized. Schools offer children the attention needed, when parents are unable to provide them to their kids.