And keep them in close relationships with the other

and keep them in close relationships with the other survivors in order to fight for the best
possible future.
Disasters, either natural or artificial, always leave a mark on those who manage to survive
the horrors of those catastrophic events. The effects can be either multiple or specific,
involving one person or the whole family, but they always have a long-lasting physical and
psychological effect. But the sources mentioned above mostly focus on changing the attitude
and trying to make the best out of the current situation. Even though both articles discuss the
consequences of disasters in a different way, they are successful in depicting the real change
that happens in people’s lives. The African-American citizens of New Orleans living in poor
neighborhoods with the Hurricane were exposed to a choice – to try to reach the levels of
prosperity never known to them before or to stay at home and try to retrieve their lives and
status. A lot chose to move – and never looked back or regretted ever since. When it comes to
the Babushkas living in the “Exclusion Zone” of Chernobyl, they represent a group of people
who refused to let go of the past and to break ties with their homeland. I feel like both of the
stories have a powerful message – to show that the life does not end with one particular
situation. They agree that, in the case of sources cited, the Hurricane Katrina and the nuclear
explosion had a major impact on the lives of people who were living in that area, but they
also argue that lives of those people went on, they learned to accept their lives, what they
already have and what can be obtained later. These sources show that the life after disasters
does exist and it is not necessarily sad, that people can enjoy spending time with their
remaining family and friends despite the catastrophe. And this life, no matter how unbearable
it seems, might be a beginning of a new chapter in one’s life.

Bisht 5
Works Cited
Babushkas of Chernobyl . Directed by Holly Morris and Anne Bogart, Journeyman Pictures,
2015.
Gladwell, Malcolm. “Starting Over.” The New Yorker , vol. 91, no. 24, Aug 2015, pp. 1-10.
ProQuest .