The hunter games and twilight

[Student’s Full Name]
[Professor’s Full ]
[Subject]
[Date]
Bella and Katniss Letters
Dear Katniss.
I don’t know if you have read my “so-called” life. If you haven’t, I’ll give you an insider perspective of what it is like. I will make it quick because I have to talk to you about another thing. Before knowing Edward, and thE Cullens, my life was quite ordinary. Actually, I could say that if it weren’t for all my experiences around Edward, I’d be in my bedroom, doing nothing. What can I say about me, Kat? –I hope you don’t mind that I use that nickname-. I’m an average everyday American girl. A product of my era. I could even say that I don’t resemble any kind of person in specific. I don’t know if you have read Jean Eyre, but it might give you an idea of my personality. Being true to myself, it seems that I don’t have distinct qualities that differentiate me from the rest of the American girls. Sadly, being like that have always made me feel like a leaf in the wind. It seems that where my “sweethearts” go, I go as well. For a reader like you, that might seem sordid, or even uncomfortable. The thing is, dear Katniss, that we are products of different eras, and different minds. Throughout my life, I’m rarely seen as exceptional. It is only to love what makes me unique. I am exceptional in another’s eyes. In this case, in Edward’s. I’m not pretty; I’m uncoordinated and generally rather clumsy, but when Edward looks at me, that seems to fade away. It is like love transfigured me, turning me from a regular girl, into a whole different person.

That might be seen as something bad, or even sad. However, I don’t see it with that light. To me, it is rather nice, to be able to discover my real worth in the eyes of a person that loves me and almost idolizes me.
To be an average girl, and having a supernatural experience such as having a vampire boyfriend is enough to lift a girl’s spirit, isn’t it? That is wy many girls can relate to my experiences because even if you are a regular girl, something magical can happen to you. Although I don’t want to picture myself as a damsel in distress, I understand the media has portrayed me in that light. I strike most people as a lonely girl that needs to be saved, and that might be true. However, I don’t mean to be saved from the supernatural, as I wouldn’t have been in touch with it if it weren’t because of Edward. I mean saved from myself and my dull life. In a moment, I even thought I couldn’t live without him, and I did a series of stupid things just to hear his “voice” that sounds rather neurotic, doesn’t it? Well, Katniss, the thing is that I consider love one of the most powerful forces in the world, and sometimes it seems that I get carried away by the emotion. I have always thought that this is sad and sweet at the same time. Why? If you read my story, you’ll see that I don’t have a great relationship with either of my parents. On the contrary, our relationship is quite cold. Charlie is an excellent dad, but he is kind of like me, a loner. I used to leave him alone most of the time, and so did he. He didn’t even notice my transformation from the beginning. Either he is as clumsy as I do or he doesn’t care much. He is a cop; he should be keen on details. My mother might strike people as a lovely woman, but she rather sending me to Washington when she saw that I was starting to feel blue. If she had noticed me before, I might have become a regular teenager with a regular boyfriend that goes to therapy and tries to life a real life. But no, she sent me far away as if she didn’t want to deal with my problems. The truth is that it’s not hard to see why I gave in entirely to my relationship with Edward. My parents are emotionally weak, why would I try to draw something from them, if they cannot give me proper advice, or attention, you really think they will offer me something else? I don’t think so. On the other hand, Cullen family opened their arms and offered me what I have always thought a family was. People that was always there for you, and wouldn’t leave –they are vampires, they are not going to die-
Throughout the story, I’ve felt so powerless, Katniss. There are always people capable of doing things better than I do, and I always end up messing things up and having other people fixing it. Even Jacob, who briefly became one of love interests, had to make my life for me. I was in a catatonic state, Katniss. It seems that the only moment when I finally was powerful enough to do something was after my transformation. After Edward had transformed me into a vampire, I was actually capable of doing things on my own. It seems that my humanity and mortality really upsetted Edward, as he was constantly afraid that I might die. Later, when he realized I wasn’t going to kick the bucket, he left me alone. That was a change, but my new powers allowed me not to feel sorry for it. Instead, it felt liberating. For instance, being able to intimidate people, or even make them do my will, was a strange concept for a girl as squeamish as me. However, it felt great.
Katniss, our world are very different, and I wouldn’t say we are alike, but in the world like mine. Clearly dominated by men, sometimes a girl has to just that, a girl. I’m not sad nor sorry for not being the heroine stereotype. I’m sorry that I don’t have much emotional depth, nor real motivations to draw from. Throughout my story, I had to trust men, for they had the answers I didn’t feel fit to find on my own. Sometimes I wanted to be stronger, to be able to do the things people surrounding me did, but even the other women at my side shared the same vision of things. You have to learn to trust those around you because sometimes that is the only way actually to live. The Cullens wanted my blood, but they didn’t take it, as the felt that my life was to precious to spill it. I know we come from different contexts, and you are used to trusting yourself and your instincts first, but maybe around you there is people who want you to believe in them. Me, the only way I had to reclaim my power was through a transformation; I transformed from an average everyday girl to an everyday average girl vampire. Now that I’m not going to die, I learned not to fear life.
Dear Bella.
I must say that your letter leaves me baffled. I don’t mean to be rude, but how could you be so depressed in the world that has it all. You have free time; freedom of speech; money; school, and you keep on complaining that you don’t receive all the things you deserve. My story, if you haven’t read it, is placed in a dystopian world that could have been yours. Sadly, politics, and wars torn it apart You see, our districts are rigidly controlled, not by politics but by force. This makes living well, quite hard. I wouldn’t say we are alike. In fact, I think we are completely opposite. You see, I don’t mean this to become a critic of what you do, and how you do it, but I can’t seem to find another way to write. I don’t mean to hurt you but sorry, I can be blunt and straightforward sometimes. I won’t try to make this letter about our differences. Instead, I shall tell you how the circumstances were revolving my life, made me who I am.
I used to have a father; he was a kind man and a great dad. He taught me how to hunt, and trap animals. A skill that although illegal, helped with my family’s sustenance. After he had died, my mother, very much like yours became unaware of the real things surrounding her, and I had to take action. If it didn’t who would’ve done it? Gale? No, I wouldn’t have let him, he’s got his own problems. Besides, it is my duty to take care of my loved ones and myself. If I had given up my autonomy, I wouldn’t have forgiven myself. That is why I stepped up to do what I had to. Perhaps if my father hadn’t died, things would have been different. However, I’m not mad at the outcome of the events. Actually, it’s better this way. You see, Bella. I don’t have a protector. My father died; my mother suffers from severe depression, and my sister is a child. I have to do what I must to ensure their happiness, in a way, I think that my father prepared me for what was to come. You see, people see me as a selfless person and an active person. I might be, but I’m like that because the circumstances led me to that kind of life. I became a provider, a huntress only because I needed to, sometimes I wish I had someone to rely on, but in the society I live, that’s impossible. Not even Peeta, my so-called “partner”, sometimes I think I have to take care around him. Living my life is hard, Bella. I have to tread carefully every time. Not trusting anyone has become part of my life. You might welcome masculine interference, but I don’t. In fact, I don’t welcome and kind of intervention. What I do, I do it for myself and my loved ones. I don’t mean to please, nor to appease a crowd.
Actually, I don’t even mean to be a heroine, nor the archetype of a “strong independent woman”. That kind of role models disgusts me since I don’t consider that they are meant to actual real people. Instead, they try to create ideal girls, like you, for example. Me, I like to think that I’m far from the ideal. If I had to take a manly position it’s not because I specifically asked to, I just did what I had to. I know that I have stressed that situation quite a few times throughout the letter, but I consider important that you realize the importance of stepping up and do something for yourself. Instead of expecting the men in your life to take the matters out of your hands. Sure, you might argue that I became a product of Panem’s entertainment and that I’m being used. I can give you that, but aren’t you used as well? I think that we are all employed at a moment of our lives, but if you make the most out of that moment, we might emerge as the winners. In the same way, after I won the first games, I didn’t make a big deal out of it, nor I overused the riches I got. I just want to live a quiet life with my family; that’s all.
Panem is the world full of inequality, Bella. I wouldn’t expect that you understand that, coming from the United States. However, I invite you to see that our differences might draw us closer. You can see in me the need to be self-reliant, and in you, I can see that we have to trust the others, and not to believe that the rest of the world is inherently evil. However, strictly speaking, Bella, you’re a wuss. Your love has no sacrifice; you never surrender anything to be with those you love. You pass from the custody of your father to Edward’s and then to Jacob, As an object, I wouldn’t want that to happen to me. That is not the kind of love I root for. Are you willing to sacrifice something for those you love? I don’t think so. I think that surrendering your mortal life isn’t a sacrifice either, since you’re offering something that has no value for you, only to be surrounded by your new artificial family, the Cullens. What about your real family, those you shunned away to live in a vampiric bliss? I bet you haven’t thought of them in ages. However, Bella. I neither pity nor envy you. You are the epitome of the stereotype “good girl” girl. I might be a constructed heroine – something I never wished for myself -, but I control my destiny; I control my every step. I can give you that I might strike people as masculine, and over-manly. However, that is the price I had to pay to live in a society that wants me dead. I’m not saying that your threats are less valid, as I would be scared if a troupe of vampires was looking to kill me. What I’m saying is that you were never alone, nor lonely. You always had your friends to have your back. It’s like having a safety net. You always had someone to rely on. I didn’t. That is our primary difference Bella, you were afraid to live, and I couldn’t afford dying.