But I Do Not Know Whether The

Captain Ahab Was A Man Possessed With An Obsessional Drive To Pursue The White Whale Which Had Harmed Him - Which Had Torn His Leg Out - To The Ends Of The Earth, No Matter What Happened. In The Final Scene Of The Novel, Captain Ahab Is Being Borne Out To Sea, Wrapped Around The White Whale With The Rope Of His Own Harpoon And Going Obviously To His Death. It Was A Scene Of Almost Suicidal Finality.

What Is Quite Worrisome Is The Absence Of Analysis And Reflection. Take The Word "terrorism." It Has Become Synonymous Now With Anti-americanism, Which, In Turn, Has Become Synonymous With Being Critical Of The United States, Which, In Turn, Has Become Synonymous With Being Unpatriotic. That's An Unacceptable Series Of Equations.

It [9/11] Transcended The Political And Moved Into The Metaphysical. There Was A Kind Of Cosmic, Demonic Quality Of Mind At Work Here, Which Refused To Have Any Interest In Dialogue And Political Organization And Persuasion. This Was Bloody-minded Destruction For No Other Reason Than To Do It.

Theory Is Taught So As To Make The Student Believe That He Or She Can Become A Marxist, A Feminist, An Afrocentrist, Or A Deconstructionist With About The Same Effort And Commitment Required In Choosing Items From A Menu.

Speaking As A New Yorker, I Found It A Shocking And Terrifying Event [9/11], Particularly The Scale Of It. At Bottom, It Was An Implacable Desire To Do Harm To Innocent People. It Was Aimed At Symbols: The World Trade Center, The Heart Of American Capitalism, And The Pentagon, The Headquarters Of The American Military Establishment.