The Emotional Struggle

In the book “My Sister’s Keeper” by Jodi Picoult, Kate the older sister is dying of Leukemia.  This is a huge emotional problem for the whole family.  Some members of the family have a really difficult time dealing with this situation.  Others handle it in a better way.  Kate’s sister, Anna handles the situation calmly. However, Sarah, the mom is very chaotic and doesn’t help the situation. 

Anna, even though she is younger than Kate she deals with her sickness very responsibly.  She acts very calm and emotionally stable around Kate.  Having a sister who is dying of a very scary illness can be tough to deal with and I think Anna handles it very well.  Not only does she act responsible, she also makes her sister feel welcome and normal.  When she treats Kate like sisters treat each other, for example, fighting over stuff, it makes Kate feel better and like she belongs.  This helps the situation and doesn’t make it worse than it already is.  Overall, I think Anna deals with this difficult issue very well and understands how to deal with the situation. 

On the other hand, Sarah deals with the situation poorly.  As a mom it must be really difficult to see your child in a lot of pain.  This is why Sarah gets frantic and chaotic when Kate has a relapse or is doing some sort of treatment.  When Sarah has nervous breakdowns this causes Kate to get more nervous.  How Sarah acts during these tough situations affects how everyone else in the family acts as well.  Sarah has a hard time emotionally, dealing with Kate having cancer. 

It is very challenging and upsetting when dealing with a troublesome situation.  In the story Kate has cancer starting at two years old.  I realized that even after having to go through many relapses and seeing the same thing over and over again it is still hard to contain ones self.  When an issue is as severe as Kate’s, it is very hard to act calm and deal with it in the right way.  

The Hunger Games Mockingjay

There are many ideas that come into play in the new movie Mockingjay part 1.  Often we just see what is on the surface when we are watching a movie, but if you look deeper there are many important ideas in the movie.  Some of the ideas I noticed are publicity issues and if being famous for rebelling is a bad thing.  Also the issue of leadership and if we should always listen and obey our leaders.  

Katniss is famous and everyone knows who she is in Panem.  To the people of Panem she is the rebel leader, otherwise known as the Mockingjay.  She didn't obey the capital and throughout all three movies President Snow is after her.  In the first movie, Katniss is known as the girl on fire and she is famous because she wins the hunger games.  I believe that this is good publicity.  People like her and cheer for her.  As she starts to realize that the capital is dangerous, she starts to rebel against President Snow and his laws. She causes chaos in the districts and gets publicity because of this.  I noticed that in this movie everyone still knows who she is because of this publicity and instead of being liked, she is wanted dead.  She gets a lot of publicity from videos that are sent out the districts and the capital but this publicity isn't good because it puts her at risk of being hurt. Also, once the publicity is sent out about her, and what she does, it cannot be changed even if it is false information or not the truth. Many people are talked about in the paper or on television but a lot of the times it is bad publicity.  People are famous for the bad or embarrassing things they did and that is the only reason why they are being talked about.    

In Mockingjay President Snow has a hard time getting people to obey and listen to him.  Many people of Panem don't agree with the capital's rules and they rebel and fight against them.  When a ruler or leader is abusing their power and using it to harm instead of protect people, then it is fair to disobey a leader.  When someone goes against what President Snow says they are killed and murdered. He takes advantage of his power when people don't listen to him.  In Panem, there is a lot of violence, but even in a smaller situation if a leader is not listening to others and not being respectful then followers should not just obey what a leader has to say.  In our everyday lives people rebel against their leaders and stand up for what they believe in because a leader can still be incorrect and abusive.  

In conclusion, these ideas of publicity and rebelling against leaders comes up a lot in the movie and sends a message to people watching.  There are many other ideas hidden  in the movie but they are important questions that we ask ourselves everyday.  The Hunger Games may seem like a totally fictitious world that could never be real, but a lot of the conflicts you find in the movie are conflicts that we are faced with as well.