A couple days ago, I wrote about a new book I had started reading called The Hunger Games. This afternoon I finished it. There are so many emotions running through me right now and I just need to get them out. I was going to make a video, but I fear I might cry and I'm not prepared to be that vulnerable on camera yet.
The protagonist of Hunger Games, Katniss, comes from a very poor neighbourhood. Most of the tributes (that's what the competitors are called) are underprivileged, so it's not weird that Katniss has very little. But, because the whole book is written from her point of view, you really get a sense of just how poor she is. Before the Games, she has to break the law every single day and risk being punished by death just to feed herself and her family. Of course, during the Games, how rich or poor you are really has no affect on your chances of surviving; even if you have all the food in the world back home, that isn't going to help you get food in that arena.
I don't know why, but the situation Katniss has pre-Games makes me really sad. I mean, I know none of it's real, but I also know that there are people all over the world, and as close as around the corner, who have it just as bad as Katniss did. I mean, in the book, she has to hunt for her food, and if she doesn't catch anything, she doesn't eat. That really makes me feel guilty when I think of how I can just go to the grocery store, give them a little piece of plastic, and get all the food I could ever want. It makes me feel even more guilty when I think about the times I've had to throw food out because it's gone bad, but there's easily someone out there who would kill for my moldy bread or mushy, brown bananas. And I know it's crazy, because I know there's nothing I can do about it. I mean, I can't stop eating and spending the money I have; that doesn't make any sense. Me not eating isn't going to put food in starving peoples' mouths. And, of course, I can't make food appear for these people. I can donate both my time and money to shelters and soup kitchens and such, and while that would help, it won't help everyone; that isn't really possible. I mean, people, and groups of people, with way more money and resources than me haven't been able to solve this problem, there isn't much I can do. I can help, but I can't fix it.
I know this is all really crazy, and I know this is all stemming from a fictional character in a fictitious book. Maybe I'm just going crazy, I don't know. But all day I've been having these weird thoughts and feelings and I needed to get them out somehow.
If you've ever had this kind of emotional reaction to a book or a movie or a song, let me know. It would really help to know I'm not alone in this!
love <3
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