Airplanes paradoxically symbolize both good and evil. Alex’s passion for planes, shared with both his father and Mac, represents joy and unity. In addition to Alex’s obsession with everything related to aircraft, planes bring people together. When Alex and Mac fly the model plane together, “for a while, they’d been able to forget their troubles and just have fun, and neither of them wanted it to end just yet” (148). Both have the “trouble” of fearing for their loved ones. Although each has family with them—Nunu and Dottie—neither Alex nor Mac has anyone to talk to because their loved ones know nothing about the terrorist attack. Therefore, flying planes together provides a respite from their anxiety and fear, allowing them to enjoy themselves for a few moments.

Despite the joy that planes bring to Alex and Mac, aircraft also represent death and destruction; they are the tools the terrorists use to bring down the Twin Towers, killing thousands and traumatizing many more. The destructive role of planes is underscored when Alex’s father runs through a thick cloud of dust and ash and bounces “off something large and rubbery […] a huge tire attached to an airplane’s landing gear. It had broken off one of the planes and shot through the tower to land all the way out here in the street” (73).