Loss

Mockingjay, the third book in Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games series, has many different plots and ideas.  But there is one very important one that really stands out to me when I think about this book.  It is about Peeta, Katniss' "star-crossed lover".

When the book starts, Peeta has been captured by the capital.  From the TV episodes that Katniss watches, you can tell that Peeta is being abused and harmed intensely by the capital.  But when District 13 captures Peeta and brings him back, you realize that it has been more than physical abuse inflicted upon Peeta.  All of his memories have been altered so he does not know what is real and what is not.  And in addition, the capital has made it so Peeta thinks that Katniss is a horrible "mutt" who demolished District 12 and his family.  When Peeta saw Katniss for the first time after coming from the Capitol, he tried to kill her.  

This situation is terrible on Katniss.  Even though she knows Peeta has just been "hi-jacked" by the capitol, she still feels like Peeta is telling the truth.  Katniss feels like Peeta is just truly just saying how she is, and believes that he used to just not see the really her.  

In addition, Katniss has lost Peeta.  Peeta was her on-again, off-again love, and more so one of her closest friends.  Peeta was the person she could relate to, and the person who cared about her more than anything else.  Peeta was the person who was willing to risk his life for her.  And now he is just some Capitol-altered, confused, hating person.  Katniss has lost him.  It is really hard for Katniss to deal with loss and grief.  She keeps re-convincing herself that she is over Peeta, only to be thinking about him and worrying about him the next day.  She doesn't know what to do.  While Peeta was in the Capitol, Katniss knew he was being harmed, but she at least knew he was alive, and she would be able to get him back.  And she still knew he cared about her.  But now she realizes he is lost forever.  Peeta is never coming back to her, or at least not the Peeta she used to know and love.  I think the hardest part is the fact that Peeta is somehow within reach, yet just too far away to grasp.

Thinking About Others

Right now I am reading the third book in Suzanne Collins' series, The Hunger Games.  This book is called Mockingjay.  In this book, Katniss, the main character, has survived the Hunger Games not once,  but two times.  Now, she is living in District 13, and a war is raging between the districts and the capitol.

In the beginning of the book, while Katniss was in 13, she was very quiet and distracted.  She didn't follow the schedule, and mainly only came out for meals.  She didn't really care about anything or anyone, except for her family and Gale.  But the rebel leaders wanted her to be more.  They wanted her to be the "mockingjay".  The "mockingjay" would be the symbol of the rebels, she would keep everyone motivated and get everything going.  But Katniss didn't want to do that.  She didn't want to do anything except what she had to, and that was mainly eating and sleeping.  She refused the mockingjay offer over and over.

But, as the book went on, Katniss began to realize her role and importance.  She realized that if she decided to be the mockingjay, she would be helping out her side so incredibly.  As the mockingjay, Katniss could get everybody worked up, and help them realize how they needed to fight.  

Even though being the mockingjay was the last thing Katniss wanted to do, she realized that everything wasn't about her.  There was such a huge difference that she could make.  She could be the deciding factor in the war.  Katniss  became the mockingjay because she realized she should be doing more important things, and she realized how important she could be.

That part of the story has a really important lesson.  It is important to think about how you can help the world before thinking about yourself.  It is important to know that you are not the only person in the world, and if you are given an opportunity to help you should take it, even if it's not your first choice.  

Am I Blue?

In Bruce Coville's short story, "Am I Blue?" is about a boy named Vincent who is having a hard time thinking about his identity.  In the story, Vince is struggling with the concept of him being gay or not.  When the story starts, Vince is getting beat up by a boy in his grade named Butch Carrigan.  While Vince is sitting there after getting beat up, he meets a "fairy godmother", Melvin.  Melvin is there to help him along in his struggles.  While at a cafe with Melvin, Melvin gives him special vision so he can see if someone is gay.  The way  he can do this is if they are blue or not.  If they are blue, it means they are gay.  While using the vision, Vince sees that so many more people are gay then he could ever think of, even people that are strongly against homosexuality.

Acceptance is a main theme in the story.  Many people in this story have to learn to accept others as well as themselves.  For example, Vince has to learn to accept himself.  In the beginning, he was really scared of the fact that he might be gay. He is really defensive of himself.  This is shown when he says, "Are you making fun of me?" to Melvin.  He was really paranoid of people being judgmental of him.  He is still sort of judgmental of gay people, and of being gay.  But, as the story progresses, he becomes accepting of whomever he may be.  This is shown when in the last paragraph Vincent says, "Maybe when I meet the girl of my dreams.  Or Prince Charming.  Whichever."  This shows that he is accepting himself and is open to whoever he may be or become.

"Am I Blue?", the short story, shows us many important things.  A major lesson is being accepting of people.  The lesson in the story reaches out everywhere, to anything, not just in terms of being gay.  It is important to accept people for who they are, not judging based on anything.  If you don't accept people, they will be afraid to be themselves.  What this story taught me is that you have to accept people no matter what.