Rhetorical Devices In Falling Man

Don DeLillo’s novel, “Falling Man” deals with several topics that have surrounded the events that occurred on the tragic day of September 11th, 2001. In particular, I would like to examine how he translates the concept of time and loss.
I would like to begin with looking at the passage on page five “In time he heard the sound of the second fall…. He heard the sound of the second fall, or felt the trembling air, the north tower coming down, a soft awe of voice in the distance. That was him coming down, the north tower”(DeLillo 5). In this section DeLillo plays on his audiences senses with the repetition of what is to come and what has come when describing the auditorial aspect of the north tower falling. In sighting this use of repetition he creates the sensation of a crescendo building in a piece of symphony music. This passage also speaks to the different layers of time …show more content…
Through DeLillo description the scene is executed as follows, “Someone came out of the diner and tried to hand him a bottle of water. It was a woman wearing a dusk mask and a baseball cap and withdrew the bottle and twisted off the top and then thrust it toward him again. He put the briefcase to take it barely aware that… he had to put down the briefcase before he could take the bottle” (DeLillo 5). If I were to design the scene I would let it play out as following. The action of Keith clinging to the briefcase so much so he refuses to use the hand holding the briefcase to open the water is telling in several ways. The primary way is Keith sees the briefcase as a source of stabilization in this time of chaos as it is something that is a part of his workday routine. Additionally, his unwillingness to put aside the briefcase in favor of having water, a necessity that is need to sustains life suggests he see the briefcase as the life