Should I Jump

"Should I Jump?"
-- Timothy F. Sohn
As I stood atop the old railroad-bridge some six stories above the water, my mind was racing down convoluted paths of thought: Logic and reason would oblige me to get off this rusting trestle, run to my car, fasten my seat belt, and drive home carefully while obeying the speed limit and stopping for any animals which might
wander into my path. This banal and utterly safe scenario did not sit well with me.
I felt the need to do something reckless and impetuous.
"Why am I doing this?"
I backed up to where I could no longer see the huge drop which awaited me, and then, my whole body trembling with anticipation, I ran up to the edge, and hurled
myself off the bridge.
"Do I have a death wish? Will my next conversation be with Elvis or Jimmy Hoffa?"
The first jump off the bridge was like nothing I had ever experienced. I do not have
a fascination with death, and I do not display suicidal tendencies, yet I loved throwing myself off that bridge, despite the objections of the logical part of my brain. Standing up there, I recalled from physics that I should be pulled toward the earth with an acceleration of 9.8m/s/s. G-forces meant nothing to me once I stepped off the edge of the bridge, though. I felt like I was in the air for an eternity (although I
was actually only in the air for about three seconds).
This leap was at once the most frightening and most exhilarating experience of my life. That synergy of fear and excitement brought about a unique kind of euphoria. Jumping off and feeling the ground fall out from underneath me was incredible. I have rock-climbed and rappelled extensively, but those experiences cannot compare, either in fear or in thrill, to jumping off a bridge.
Once I conquered my initial fear and jumped off, I did it again and again, always searching for that tingling sensation which ran through my limbs the first time I did
it, but never quite recapturing the astonishing bliss of that first jump. I have jumped many times since that first time, and all of my jumps have been fun, but none can quite match that first leap. The thrill of that first jump, that elusive rapture, was one of the greatest feelings of my life.
"Wow, I can't believe I did that!"
When I jumped off that bridge, I was having fun, but I was also rebelling. I was
making amends for every time I did the logical thing instead of the fun thing, every time I opted for the least dangerous route throughout my life. I was rising up and doing something blissfully bad, something impetuous. I was acting without thinking of the ramifications, and it was liberating. My whole life, it seemed, had been lived within the constrictive boundaries of logical thought. I overstepped those
boundaries when I jumped. I freed myself from the bonds of logic and reason, if for
only a few seconds, and that was important.
ANALYSIS
In this essay, Sohn presents a captivating narrative of an experience that has
significantly shaped his attitudes and outlook on life. In order for this narrative form to be successful, the writer must use descriptive language to set the scene and
transport the reader to the location and even into the thought process of the
narrator. Sohn does this remarkably well. The reader can envision the railroad
trestle upon which he stands and even feel the weightlessness of his free-fall thanks to clear, descriptive language. Sohn uses a mature vocabulary and incorporates an internal dialogue to aid the flow of his essay successfully.
The inevitable goal of such a format is for the writer to convey something about his or her personality or individual qualities to the reader. In this case, Sohn wanted the reader to know about his freewheeling side; his ability to take risks, defy logic, and experience danger. The conclusion is also a particular strength of this essay. Sohn
takes the isolated event he has described so well and applies it to a broader scheme,
showing the reader just how this event was truly significant to his life