“And of Clay Are We Created” – Sumi Paul

When reading this story, I connected the situation of being quarantined to Rolf Carle’s epiphany towards the end of the story. Being quarantined, we are stuck at home only to fill the void with our thoughts. Me personally, with the time I have I tend to overthink situations from the past and think about how things could have been different. Thoughts would come to my head about situations that I forgot even happened. When Rolf was with Azucena, he felt like he was stuck metaphorically like how Azucena was stuck literally. That feeling of being stuck allowed him to remember things from his past that he wanted to forget and not think about. With this time we have, being in quarantine, it allows us to have the time to self reflect and use this time to better ourselves. 

Media was highly examined in the story because that is where the narrator is able to learn about what is happening with the little girl and her boyfriend. Even though she was not physically there, through the media broadcasting what was happening, she felt as if she was there. The story talks about the media in a negative and a positive aspect. In the story, the narrator had portrayed to the readers how the media was able to bring all these equipment with them, but were not able to help transport a pump needed to help the little girl. The media was only there to broadcast the little girl because she would bring more views. However, the media is not all bad because it does allow us to learn what is happening around us. It keeps us informed of things, even if it may be tragic. Especially during this time we are living in, when we turn on the news, all they talk about is the virus, how many people have the virus, how many died, and what the government is doing to “help” the country. Although the screens do not show us the full picture, they give us a glimpse just to keep us aware of the situation. They allow us to be informed but also causes us to worry and stress. During this time of the pandemic, it is useful to have the media keep us informed about the virus, however too much of it causes us to worry because it makes us think if it is possible for things to get better and if we could soon resume normalcy. In the story, the president had come to see Azucena and promised to bring a pump, however, he never did. He was only there for the media to show to the public that he cares. This is like how the president is during this pandemic. He does not care for the people or he would have taken precautions early on. He shows the media that he is working with other officials to help stagnate this pandemic in the country but he is not doing anything to help. He does not wear a mask in public, he does not social distance and when asked questions he brushes them off as if this pandemic is not that serious. As president, he should take more charge to help the public. However, the only government official we see working diligently to help the public is Andrew Cuomo. The media broadcasts him often to allow the public to be more calm and not panic. 

Dealing with this pandemic is very difficult for me. When my parents got sick, I kept remembering about how I saw on the news the number of deaths kept rising. It did not give me any peace of mind and kept making me think negatively. I eventually stopped listening to the news but I would still see things about it on social media. When my parents started to feel better, I still worried because I would see how there could be a second wave of the pandemic and that just because someone gets the virus once does not mean they will not get it again. This fear and worry is still there. I feel as though even if I don’t watch the news on TV, I would still be informed about it through social media. The time we live in, media is everywhere and we cannot really escape it. As of now, I try to keep myself informed about possible vaccines and about the projected time frame of when things can begin to look normal.