Alyssa Spier: Ambitious Sneak

Pleasant surprises truly stand as one of life's greatest gifts. So, as I began the habitual and mundane task of summer reading, Amy Waldman caught me off guard in her national bestseller, The Submission, as she pulled me into the novel introducing me to several dynamic and interesting characters from the get-go. Sadly, one of said characters found no trouble in claiming a spot on my bad side. Which character you may ask? The New York Post journalist, Alyssa Spier. Waldman brings Spier into the heat of the novel as New York City finds out that a Muslim has won the privilege of building a memorial for deceased victims of a terrorist attack by the Islamic nation. Spier first broadcasts her name to the wallowing city as she publishes an article, "Mystery Muslim Memorial Mess" (57). Through the alliteration and negative diction of "mess," Spier only encourages the panic and guardedness of the New York population. While the memorial's council already finds a massive struggle in sorting out the confusion, Spier uses manipulation to instill fear among the people only to increase her chances of an acclaim to fame. Similarly, as Waldman furthers the intensity of her writing to reveal the identity and personality behind the anonymous Muslim, Spier takes drastic measures to prying into the unknown man's personal life. The nosy reporter takes to Thomas Kroll's home, friend of said Muslim. Upon her arrival, Kroll's wife exclaims, "tabloids are here. At our house" (105). Through Waldman's use of short and blunt sentences, she creates guilty pathos from reporters that repeatedly intrude on the personal lives of innocent people. In this situation, the intruding reporter happens to stand as Spier herself. This moment represents the time when I truly realized my disrespect and annoyance with Spier's character. Her negative ambition to reach the top at any cost remains impudent to undeserving characters and a great aggravation to myself. Especially during such a sensitive and obviously difficult time, I find it extremely displeasurable to read about Spier's rude manor and total selfishness as she apparently attempts to put ideas and values into her reader's heads instead of allowing them to make their own conclusions. Oh, Alyssa Spier, how I can foresee my total aversion to your overall existence.