The Death And Life Of Great American Cities - 1863 Words

New York City is touted as many things: It is the current financial capital of the world; it offers the unparalleled opportunities to those who migrate here; it is at the forefront of innovation—and yet it is still possible for people to remain more or less invisible while living here. I look to further investigate the paradox of how it is possible for a city to undeniably be two completely opposite things, at the same time. In the three works I chose, I found that each displayed both the greatness of New York City, as well as the loneliness and alienation people face while living here. To start, in â€Å"Crossing Brooklyn Ferry†, Walt Whitman describes the admiration he feels for New York during a ferry ride; he writes with exhilaration about†¦show more content†¦Manstey lives in. The owner of the boardinghouse next door to Mrs. Manstey’s decides that she needs expand her house (i.e., progress), without being aware of the potential impact of this on Mrs . Manstey, whose life is completely contained inside her room—including the view from her window. In â€Å"The Catcher in the Rye† by J.D. Salinger, the main character Holden experiences loneliness and isolation after being kicked out of boarding school. He refuses to accept the fact that life goes on without him and causes an unnecessary struggle for himself throughout the story. Loneliness and alienation have formed the crux of many stories about New York, from all points in time. This idea goes hand in hand with our symbolic importance of wanting New York to be the modernist city, without any exceptions, and how our need to constantly progress and move forward ultimately leaves some people out of the loop, lonely and alienated. All four works, although from different time periods, are seemingly involved in a conversation about New York City. That is, a conversation about the loneliness one experiences while living here, and how it can co-exist with the idea that Ne w York is the modernist city of the world—constantly growing and evolving, even if some people are left behind. Each of these stories takes on their own persona in this conversation. â€Å"Crossing Brooklyn Ferry† is more optimistic, while â€Å"Mrs. Manstey’s View† is obviously more pessimistic in its approach. â€Å"The Death and Life