give me twenty good reasons

Post 17 :: Poisonwood :: Willing to Die for What?


I


Okay, well... This was originally part of the artist role that I chose for the Poisonwood Bible. You may or may not recognize it from an earlier post. I kind of screwed up with the eyelashes though. I realize that they were described as a snowy white, almost. Right? (It's kind of supposed to be Rachel.)

I do have another sketch of her, as well as one of the twins, Adah and Leah. I'll save that for my second post, though.

Rachel was probably the easiest for me to visualize because she's described as being so materialistic. I also love the idea of nearly-white hair. I think it's pretty neat; that might have been one of the reasons it was easy for me to picture a Rachel in my head. Of course, this is just how I picture her. She struck me as someone who would be pretty aloof, but pretty in a sort of cold way.

It's a little hard for me to interpret a lot with my role as an artist, which kind of makes me think I would have been better off choosing the role of the psychological analyst; however, I did have a lot more fun doing this. When one needs to draw images from text, he/she is forced to look deeper, to check for anything that could determine expressions or mannerisms. Anything that could change the way the character acts and/or the way what she does is interpreted.





II


I came across a blog post earlier that mentioned being willing to die for something giving one the extra inch needed to win the race. Is this true? Does being willing to die really bolster your confidence? Does it mean that you've accepted death, and in a way, accepted failure? Or does it mean you have so much conviction and drive that you will follow it 'til the end?

(Sleep deprivation and a late night blog entry make for little literacy. *Warning)

Somehow, I can't bring myself to agree with the idea of being willing to die for something so easily. If you're willing to die for something, you have to want it damn bad. You should have thought about it logically and with your heart, or "bravery" and such becomes recklessness and/or disregard for others in my eyes. Life is extremely short -- you only live once, and you'll only get one chance (unless you happen to believe in reincarnation). It's invaluable. I don't think anyone should be able to give that up so easily. Even if it's to save someone else. Don't blindly throw yourself in the "path of the bullet." Stop. Think. When you die, it's over. Nothing else happens -- that's it. But what about the people you leave behind?

I mean, I realize that there are some situations where there's no other choice. It's an amazing thing for someone to be willing to die for the sake of something or someone. An act of sacrifice shows an amazing conviction and loyalty; I just can't think of that as... I don't know. I'm probably just rambling at this point. But really.

Why can't we be "willing to live" instead of "willing to die"?