Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz

FB 14.1 – Englische Philologie

Seminar: Paranoia in American Literature and Culture SS 2003

The Rhetoric of Conspiracy - Theories of September 11th

Christian Schlegel

Table of Contents

I Introduction ... 3

II Theoretical Background ... 5
1.1 What is a Conspiracy/Conspiracy Theory? ... 5
1.2 What makes a Conspiracy Theorist? ... 6
1.2.1 The Psychological Effect of Grave Events ... 6
1.2.2 Accessibility and Distribution ... 7
1.2.3 The American Tradition of Conspiracy Thinking ... 8

III Conspiracy Theories of September 11th ... 9
2.1 Fulfilment of Bible Prophecies ... 9
2.1.1 Satan in the Smoke ... 9
2.1.2 9/11 in the Bible ... 10
2.1.3 The WTC-Attack in the Bible Code ... 12
2.2 A Work of the Illuminati ... 14
2.2.1 Who are They? ... 14
2.2.2 Traces of Their Involvement ... 15
2.3 A Conspiracy by the Government ... 17
2.3.1 The Failure of the CIA ... 17
2.3.2 Quick Evidence and More Gains than Losses ... 18

IV Conclusion ... 20

Bibliography ... 21

List of Works Cited ... 21

List of Works Consulted ... 21

List of Internet References ... 21

I Introduction

Throughout the history of the United States of America there have been numerous events that became subject of conspiracy theories; beginning in their early days with the Bavarian Illuminati, to who the so-called the One-Dollar-Conspiracy is connected, claiming that Adam Weishaupt replaced George Washington and therefore it is him, who is depicted on the one dollar-note (Knight 1). In April 1947 an event in New Mexico was officially explained with the coming down of a weather balloon, but conspiracy theorists suppose that a flying saucer crashed in the desert, and established the myth of Area 51, an assumedly secret military base containing the remainings of the alien spacecraft. 20 years later Area 51 appeared again in a conspiracy theory supposing that the moon landing was nothing but a staging, filmed on the ground of that military base. The assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy on November 22nd 1963 and the fast and simple solving of the case gave rise to a lot of speculations, too; in his movie JFK, the director Oliver Stone even used the word “coup d’état”, suggesting that a conspiracy of members of the government, including Lyndon B. Johnson, killed the president out of political reasons.

On September 11th 2001 the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, destroying the World Trade Center, heavily damaging the Pentagon, and killing almost 3.000 people, shocked the world and had a lasting effect on national and international politics of the United States. In short time, thousands of websites appeared on the internet and are still online, each offering its own truth about what had happened: Some claim having seen Satan himself in the flames and the smoke that rose from the burning twin towers, saying that the attack was just the beginning of the end of the world. Others use anti-Semitist sentiments and report about a Jewish plot following Zionist ideology. Again others blame the US-government for not preventing or even carrying out the attacks in order to justify their later wars on the Taliban regime and on Iraq. Some even talk about the involvement of an alien race. This seminar paper will begin by providing a theoretical background on conspiracy theories and suppose a thesis how those theories influence people and seduce them to believe. Rhetorical features will be taken into account as well as psychological features. After the outlining of the theoretical background, an overview of several conspiracy theories, connected with the events of September 11th 2001, will be given. Each theory will be individually discussed and examined in regard of its use of language and how historical facts and findings are mixed up with clichés and biased subjective opinions of the authors. In the end there will possibly be a common scheme to identify of how the writers and publishers of such theories succeed in winning so many supporters.

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