Baader-Meinhof #2

Don DeLillo's story, "Baader-Meinhof," shows us how terrorism in the past can impact both culture, in this case through Gerhard Richter's paintings, and the future generations to come after the actual incident. The story teaches us that the images of terrorism will always be remembered and have an effect on the people who view them, which is the premise for the interaction in the story between the man and the woman in the museum. DeLillo may be trying to show us that the man acts the way he does because he looked at Richter's RAF paintings, but ultimately it is ambiguous to determine and arguments can be made either way. Regardless, DeLillo is saying that 9/11 is capable of impacting people in the same way as the RAF attacks and Richter's paintings, however that may be.