May The Odds Be Ever In Your Favor

       Human suffering is as old as time. In Giovanni's piece, she describes how human suffering is seen everywhere in history- from the Holocaust to the Native Americans to just everyday crime in cities. She brings out this fault in the world and makes a call to action for us all to escape this labyrinth.
       She criticizes the fact that Harry Potter is merely just a boy who lived. His story is similar to many people's lives today. He was simply one out of millions who "[bloomed] in the noise of the whirlwind" Giovanni makes fun of the fact of how modern day people praise Harry Potter for the magic, wizards, etc, and often overlook the important moral lesson hidden behind the plot. His mom's unconditional motherly love prevails and sets a platform for him to live on. He seizes this opportunity as he grows older to bloom through the suffering. Giovanni criticizes Harry Potter as well because his story isn't that spectacular. Why don't people give Neville any recognition? He was an orphan who suffered just as much as Harry.
       The point is that suffering is everywhere. Even the elephant story showed the struggle in the savannah but the motherly love protected the infant so he could have a chance to bloom. Blooming means finding your identity, but Giovanni shows how in this world of chaos it is often very difficult to do it through all the suffering. "I am neither the white man you think I am nor the Black man I hope to be."
        After watching Catching Fire this weekend, I realized that the morals of human suffering and "blooming through the whirlwind" are also prevalent in this story. Katniss blooms in the whirlwind as the Capitol casts suffering to the districts. Just like Harry Potter and the elephant, Katniss shows "motherly" love towards her sister as she sacrifices herself. She becomes the hero of the story who serves as a symbol of hope. Another point worth noting is that people are often only consumed and concerned about the love triangle that surrounds the story, and often overlook the deep moral lessons- such as the corruption of the capitol and how much the poeple are suffering. The Hunger Games isn't just a story about some heroine with some hot boys, it's about love, hope, sacrifice, and suffering. That's just like how people are often only drawn into the magic, wands, and wizards of Harry Potter.
       Just as Giovanni is trying to say- there is hope for change before the savannah completely vanishes but humans need to take action now.