Eh, the Prim think was rather predictable. Also, during my rants I occasionally flipped the names around and had to edit because they're practically interchangeable, so I feel sort of like...Rue shouldn't have needed to be exactly like Prim to count, her being a scared kid when Katniss has spent years taking care of a younger sibling should have been enough.
In regards to the bread, I can see the District pooling their resources to help Rue. It might not have been necessary but I think morally it would have helped a lot.
Unfortunately, it's stated that everything sent costs far more than the price of the item normally. I'm not sure what the conversion rate is, but whatever it is it's enough that the richer districts don't seem to support their trained kids. So yes, it would have been incredibly nice to Rue and remind her that her district cared, and a small sign that not everyone is a sociopath. But it also means her five younger siblings may starve to death this year. If in her district, poverty was an issue of new clothes and not going hungry, it'd be different, but we're told they're starving like the rest.
but to buy that the Districts think that poorly of each other that an act of kindness and decency would mean that much is a pretty cynical state of affairs.
It wasn't even that much. Katniss killed the boy who killed Rue, which is what she was supposed to do to survive anyway. I guess it might be the flower thing alone, but Katniss doesn't even know if they showed it and anyway, the flower thing is just not a big sacrifice on her part.
More, District 11 still has another kid in the games, so it's not simply that they're sacrificing, but they're actually hurting their own surviving kid.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2011-04-07 05:22 pm (UTC)In regards to the bread, I can see the District pooling their resources to help Rue. It might not have been necessary but I think morally it would have helped a lot.
Unfortunately, it's stated that everything sent costs far more than the price of the item normally. I'm not sure what the conversion rate is, but whatever it is it's enough that the richer districts don't seem to support their trained kids. So yes, it would have been incredibly nice to Rue and remind her that her district cared, and a small sign that not everyone is a sociopath. But it also means her five younger siblings may starve to death this year. If in her district, poverty was an issue of new clothes and not going hungry, it'd be different, but we're told they're starving like the rest.
but to buy that the Districts think that poorly of each other that an act of kindness and decency would mean that much is a pretty cynical state of affairs.
It wasn't even that much. Katniss killed the boy who killed Rue, which is what she was supposed to do to survive anyway. I guess it might be the flower thing alone, but Katniss doesn't even know if they showed it and anyway, the flower thing is just not a big sacrifice on her part.
More, District 11 still has another kid in the games, so it's not simply that they're sacrificing, but they're actually hurting their own surviving kid.