![]() Prior to the morning of 9/11, America was enjoying a peacetime period of unusually strong economic strength and stability, attributed in large measure to the role of technology. ![]() Made into an iconic figure of the classic tragic hero, the NYC fireman became a place marker and repository for the catastrophic loss, victimization and trauma felt by the collective while also symbolizing our courageous refusal to accept defeat in the face of death and defeat. ![]() It is my contention that the firefighters were chosen as the appointed heroes because they represented a symbol that combined the personifications of society's complex and conflicting emotions surrounding 9/11. In this paper, I would like to draw attention to the collective psyche, specifically looking at the national crisis arising from the terrorist attacks on September 11th through a study of the evolving relationship between society and the firefighters of New York City, those donned as the main heroes of the day. Psychoanalytic literature on trauma has largely focused on individual psyche, in particular, studying individual survivors and other victims. How the image of the hero evolves over time tells us more about the psyche of the society at any given moment than about the individual or group identified as the hero. ![]() The heroes created out of national catastrophes are a barometer of the collective's moral and emotional state and conflicts. ![]()
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