Warning: This post has spoilers regarding Carla Buckley's The Things That Keep Us Here.
One of the themes of Carla Buckley's novel, The Things That Keep Us Here is the decision of whether or not to help others when there is risk to our own lives or our family lives.
The book deals with an avian flu pandemic.
For the Brook's family, this happens during a winter storm. So not only are they dealing with a dangerous virus, but also cold weather and a long-term loss of electricity.
One of their neighbors ends up being a survivalist. He has lots of food in storage and a generator. He has internet access. He can find out what's going on in the world.
He is violently opposed to sharing.
A part of me could understand his viewpoint.
I think many of us look at survivalists with scorn. They're nuts. They're paranoid. They're over-prepared.
Many of us have an ability to prepare for disaster. How many of us actually do that?
If we don't; should we expect the well-prepared to come to our aid?
Later in the novel, Ann Brooks (the mother) refuses to take in the baby of her dying best friend. Her friend insists that the baby already had the flu and recovered. He's immune.
Still Ann refuses to budge. She doesn't want to risk the lives of her own children.
Her husband intervenes and brings in the baby.
Another spoiler warning..... (because this deals with the ending)
In the end of the story, the survivalist neighbour is found dead. Somehow the flu got to him. Being prepared didn't help.
The little baby ended up being healthy. He survived and we see in the epilogue that he's become a son in the Brook's family.
The underlying message is that if you reach out to others, even when there's a risk, the universe will reward you.
If you act selfishly, the universe will punish you.
I'm torn about the whole thing.
Peter Brook (the father) saw his wife's actions as being very selfish and horrible.
I saw it as a mother desperate to do whatever she could to keep her own children safe.
Yet what if I was the other mother? What if I was desperate for someone to save the life of my child? I definitely would want them to do that.
The other day I was reading about the Australian outback. There was mention of an area that has cars driving by fairly frequently. If you breakdown...no worries. A car will soon pass by to pick you up.
I felt relieved, because one of my fears is one day we'll go to the outback. And we'll get stranded.
It's nice to know we might be rescued.
But then I pictured us being the ones in the car that still worked.
What if we passed by a stranded driver?
What if he or she looked scary? Dangerous?
What if he truly WAS dangerous?
What if it was a serial killer or a robber?
What if it was all a set-up?
It's like Silence of the Lambs. The serial killer gets his victim by pretending to need help.
I guess in the end, it's about balancing our paranoia with altruism.
What amount of risk are we willing to take to help someone?
As the saying goes...no good deed goes unpunished. But hopefully, if that's true, the punishment is not always severe.
And sometimes good deeds are rewarded. Maybe with money. Maybe by Karma.
Or like with the Brook's family, you end up with a new beloved member of your family. That's a pretty big reward.
One of the themes of Carla Buckley's novel, The Things That Keep Us Here is the decision of whether or not to help others when there is risk to our own lives or our family lives.
The book deals with an avian flu pandemic.
For the Brook's family, this happens during a winter storm. So not only are they dealing with a dangerous virus, but also cold weather and a long-term loss of electricity.
One of their neighbors ends up being a survivalist. He has lots of food in storage and a generator. He has internet access. He can find out what's going on in the world.
He is violently opposed to sharing.
A part of me could understand his viewpoint.
I think many of us look at survivalists with scorn. They're nuts. They're paranoid. They're over-prepared.
Many of us have an ability to prepare for disaster. How many of us actually do that?
If we don't; should we expect the well-prepared to come to our aid?
Later in the novel, Ann Brooks (the mother) refuses to take in the baby of her dying best friend. Her friend insists that the baby already had the flu and recovered. He's immune.
Still Ann refuses to budge. She doesn't want to risk the lives of her own children.
Her husband intervenes and brings in the baby.
Another spoiler warning..... (because this deals with the ending)
In the end of the story, the survivalist neighbour is found dead. Somehow the flu got to him. Being prepared didn't help.
The little baby ended up being healthy. He survived and we see in the epilogue that he's become a son in the Brook's family.
The underlying message is that if you reach out to others, even when there's a risk, the universe will reward you.
If you act selfishly, the universe will punish you.
I'm torn about the whole thing.
Peter Brook (the father) saw his wife's actions as being very selfish and horrible.
I saw it as a mother desperate to do whatever she could to keep her own children safe.
Yet what if I was the other mother? What if I was desperate for someone to save the life of my child? I definitely would want them to do that.
The other day I was reading about the Australian outback. There was mention of an area that has cars driving by fairly frequently. If you breakdown...no worries. A car will soon pass by to pick you up.
I felt relieved, because one of my fears is one day we'll go to the outback. And we'll get stranded.
It's nice to know we might be rescued.
But then I pictured us being the ones in the car that still worked.
What if we passed by a stranded driver?
What if he or she looked scary? Dangerous?
What if he truly WAS dangerous?
What if it was a serial killer or a robber?
What if it was all a set-up?
It's like Silence of the Lambs. The serial killer gets his victim by pretending to need help.
I guess in the end, it's about balancing our paranoia with altruism.
What amount of risk are we willing to take to help someone?
As the saying goes...no good deed goes unpunished. But hopefully, if that's true, the punishment is not always severe.
And sometimes good deeds are rewarded. Maybe with money. Maybe by Karma.
Or like with the Brook's family, you end up with a new beloved member of your family. That's a pretty big reward.
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