No heart is ever normal.

Getting to read any piece of age appropriate literature is a difficult task, probably because there are so many titles out there that we could read. But I chose something special written by playwright Larry Kramer, The Normal Heart. It is a play that takes place at the height of the AIDS epidemic in New York City and a man's journey to form an advocacy group to raise awareness of this strange disease plaguing only one group of people. I chose the play because it is a powerful story about a time where millions of people were terrified about a disease and how New Week’s overcame his fears to fight the stigma of AIDS. 

Some of you may or may now know but I am  part of the Erika’s Lighthouse club at school, and we advocate for teen’s struggling with depression. I am not saying depression and HIV/AIDS are similar. But to me it is important to be the voice for people that do not have the power to speak up, or too afraid to say something. So far it is clear that other characters are being very cautious about advocating for the disease. There has been zero research done and this group of men are on their own convincing people that this disease should not go ignored. Ned has made the connection that it is similar to the Holocaust. They are two different things, but what the public does is similar: nothing. They ignore the issue because they believe that “gay” or “Jewish” problems are not a “straight” or “Christian” issue. But the play is teaching me, the reader, that a problem for the country or a specific group of people is my problem. It is my problem because I advocate for those who can’t. It is my problem because I care about the health of everyone all around the world. 

I am almost halfway through reading the play and I love it! It has moments of seriousness, love, and even humor. Kramer has minimal stage directions, which leaves the actors to do as they wish  on the stage. The words in every single scene give me a feeling of desperation. The men and woman working to get something from the government to help with AIDS need someone to listen. Ned and his friends are doing all they can to get more people invested into this issue and the feelings of desperation and hopelessness are apparent. They are hoping that the work that they do will lead to a resolution of the problem. 

So so far I can talk about a lot of things for the big paper. I have written some main points above that could be of some use. They AIDS epidemic in the U.S., health politics, similarities to the Holocaust, and dealing with ways to find hope in something that seems hopeless. But I know one thing is for sure, I need to read the Times article that printed in the 1980’s.