Revolution, Rebellion, and the Corrupted Balance of Power

The Capitol knows best. We are superior. Don't you want to follow us? It will be good for you. Translation: Do what we tell you to, and perhaps we won't obliterate your District as we did to 13...

This is what the citizens of the Districts of Panem must feel like on a daily basis. The Capitol tries to make them think they are good rulers. The boundaries (such as the fence between the fence separating District 12 from the woods, or not letting citizens of the Districts visit other Districts) are for their own good. They say they give them a choice, but how is it a choice if they give them only one option? The Capitol holds the annual Hunger Games to reinforce the idea that they are in charge. Except all the Hunger Games do is hate the Capitol more.

When Katniss and Peeta are in their chariot, wearing nearly the same outfit, their stylists tell them to hold each other's hand. I believe Haymitch then says something along the lines of that being the perfect touch of rebellion.I had to read that sentence a few times to really unpack what it meant. There's a lot more to it than meets the eye. I think Haymitch meant that while all the other tributes were separated, just reinforcing the idea that they were ultimately going to have to kill the other if they wanted to hold on to their own lives. Katniss and Peeta were together. At that point, they were a team. They were solid. They didn't do the normal thing that the Capitol established-they did the unexpected. And they continued to do the unexpected throughout the entire book.

The double suicide Katniss thought of was the ultimate act of rebellion and revolution. The Capitol needs to show the people of Panem their victor, or else the whole idea behind the Games is lost. The Capitol uses the Games as just another way to show the citizens of Panem that they are in control. They can do whatever they want. They can take away their kids, and have them killed by other kids who they have taken away from their parents. If there was no victor, well...they lost. They were not in control. They don't have proof to go around and flaunt off to people. She simply outsmarted them.

Katniss is a lot like Haymitch in that aspect. Peeta was right. Both of them don't like the Capitol, both of them outsmarted the Capitol, and both of them know exactly what the other was thinking. The first person Katniss ran to when she was out of the arena was Haymitch, after all. Both of them have the will to survive. They understand what the arena is. They know what the Games are all about. Keep the audience entertained, get sponsors, stay live. The Game Makers want to see action. The phony people in the Capitol live for the bloodshed that is the Hunger Games. They need some excitement in their plastic lives. So many times, Katniss could, "just hear Haymitch's voice, telling her" something or another. Whether it was that water was near, or to keep kissing Peeta. Katniss was like an actress in a movie, taking cues from Haymitch, who is her director, who has to do exactly as the producer (who is the Capitol) wants.

Katniss mentions early on in the book that she thinks bad things about the Capitol, but keeps her mouth shut in case someone is watching. When she was on her way to training, an Avox (capitol slave/ servant if you forgot) with red hair. Katniss couldn't shake the feeling that she knew her from somewhere, but she couldn't quite place her. Then Haymitch and Effie told her she couldn't possibly know an avox, as if avoxes were in a lower cast system than them, which to the Capitol, they were. Haymitch said, "She's probably a traitor of some sort." ( pg 77) Katniss thought, a traitor to whom? but it was clear that they meant to the Capitol. That is just what the Capitol does to people who disobey them. Today, treason is a federal crime, in some states punishable by death. If you think about it, out world is not that different from Katniss'. The Hunger Games are similar to reality television, and treason in both places is very bad for you. We may not live in such a dystopia as Katniss does, but our world certainly isn't perfect. I think that in a perfect world, people would have all the rights they want to, until it inflicts upon the rights of others. The People would have power, but the government would still keep everyone in check.

Unfortunately, neither Katniss or any of us live in a perfect world. If I could, I would go rescue Katniss from that awful place and bring her back in time to our world. I wonder if she would find it any better...

Love vs. Katniss

          I believe that the fact of love itself is an antagonist in the book. Throughout the series, love is a major theme, and Katniss who had never "experienced" it, is battling it head on. She is in a crazy state of whom to choose, Peeta, the boy who had saved her and her familt's lives because Haymitch said she needed to be convinced, or Gale, the boy was her hunting partner for nearly five years, with his plan killing Prim. This problem often was brought into Katniss's mind during the Hunger Games in the cave, where she and Peeta were stayin in. She once thought about what Gale was making of all the kissing. Though it does not say right out what he does  make out of it, but I infered that he was either sick of it, or knew that Katniss was acting, since Katniss found out that they had feelings for each other in Mockingjay.
          Peeta on the other hand, seems as if he liked Katniss from the beginning when he replied to Katniss shoving him right after he confessed his love for her with "She's just worred about her boyfirend". He also showed hints of his actual love for her when he found out that katniss was acting her love for him to survive the Games, which caused him to have an angry outburst. Though Katniss, in the end, chooses Peeta, love affected the whole plot of the rebellion, so in a way, not only is the idea of love the antagonist, but also like a deuteragonist, or a tritagonist (the second or third important character in a book).

Justice

       Katniss has always had a hate for the Capitol. She has done little things to defy the Capitol long before becoming part of the Hunger Games. I think that her acts of defiance give her a feeling of justice. The Capitol takes everything away from them, but in her small acts of defiance, she takes back something, the Captiol receives a small mount of the justice it deserves. She is naturally rebellious and active in being so. When Katniss noticed the Game Makers ignoring her and paying attention to the pig that had been brought in, she shot an arrow at them into the apple in the pigs mouth. She didn't even think before doing this. 
       She has a natural fire in her, and is a born leader. I think that this is because she has missed out on her childhood since the death of her father, making her more mature and making her much more intolerant of injustice. I also think that the Capitol played a big part in her having such a low tolerance of injustice. 
       The Capitol is cruel, absolutely unfair, inhumane, greedy, oppressive, but they are also powerful. I believe that Katniss cannot stand the injustice of the Capitol, but she is also unable to release this flame in major acts of defiance because even she knows that she would quickly be killed if necessary. The small things she does are what allows her to blow off steam and prove to the Capitol and to herself that they don't own her, and that she won't be a piece in their games.

Acting until it's Reality

     In the Hunger Games, it's made clear to us throughout the entire series that, while in the Games, Katniss, Peeta, and presumably all the tributes are told to act a certain way to curry favor from the audience- but, to the audience, everything they see they think is completely true. So what happens when the Games are over? All winning tributes are followed by cameras for the rest of their lives, so how can they stop pretending? The answer is, they can't. The lie that's given to them to save their life becomes their life, because what other choice do they have? To the audience of the Hunger Games, the tributes become friends, heroes to them- if it was found out that they lied, there would be outrage.
     This runs parallel to today's reality television. It's the same thing, really- think of shows like Survival, Wipeout- we like to think that the Hunger Games are a sick perversion of today's television, but we already watch people eat bugs and get hurt! It's really a very small leap to watching people kill each other. And that's acting too, really- it's a known fact that televised wrestling is all acting. We like to think that we're above seeing people kill each other and fake things about themselves, but just look at reality televison. We're really not.
      To add, the main thing I'm thinking off when I post this is Katniss faking her relationship with Peeta. In the end, before Katniss goes on an interview with Peeta, Haymitch hurriedly tells her that "Your only defense can be you were so madly in love you weren't responsible for your actions." That's where she realized that the acts she put on won't end once she's out of the Games- they'll go on until she learns to live them. Because the capitol audience loves their heros, and the heroes have to play to the audience.

Was It All a Lie?

Peeta loves Katniss. There is no question about it. I don't even think it is up for debate. 

Katniss didn't start off liking Peeta, but she ended up falling for him. Did she fall for him for her, or for the games? Personally, I think it was a bit of both.

Katniss was all about survival. Survival for her family (her sister more so than her mother, but her mother too) and for herself. At the beginning of the book, when she was on the train, she was thinking about all the possible outcomes of the Hunger Games for herself. She was thinking about what would happen to her FAMILY after she shot the arrow at the Game Makers. She thought they would hurt them, maybe even kill them. For a moment she was worried, but she realized that the Game Makers couldn't hurt her family. They couldn't hurt them without giving away what happened in her session, and they absolutely couldn't do that. 

Katniss had some serious walls put up around her. The only people who could truly penetrate them were Prim and Gale. Even with Gale, it took her a long time to let him in. Before the games, she always kept track of the boy with the bread, only because she felt she was in debt to him. Once she was put in the Games with him, she got the chance to pay back that debt, but only after he had done more for her than she had ever imagined. He saved her out of love-Katniss saved him because of the feeling that she owed him, and she would never stop owing him (and yes, a little bit of love there too towards the end). Once she let Peeta inside her walls, I think she was glad to do it. She was afraid of letting people in, possibly for the fear that they would either betray her, or she would lose them, like she lost her father. Peeta is genuinely a good guy. Everything he did in the arena he did for her out of love. Katniss' motivations had a little to do with that, but also to do with her survival. They were not whole-heartedly towards love. 

Peeta mentioned in the arena how alike Katniss and Haymitch are. They think alike. They understand each other. They both know how to survive. Peeta is ignorant of the fact that Haymitch had been communicating with Katniss with his gifts, or lack of gifts. When Peeta found out that it was all a big show, Katniss defended herself by saying she did what she had to do to keep them both alive. The trouble is, she really did develop feelings for Peeta, but since she didn't have them from the beginning, Peeta was unsure she even had them at all. 

The thing is, no matter how much Peeta wanted it to be real, and even how much Katniss may have wanted it, it couldn't have been real. Not in the arena, and maybe not even back in District 12. The capitol would always be controlling them (until Mockingjay, but they don't know that yet; don't you love dramatic irony?) so they wouldn't be able to live the free life that so many covet. Katniss mentions she never wants to have children for the risk that they would have to compete in the Games. Being in a slaughter house like the arena does something to people. Something that you can never reverse. 

This is how the Capitol controls people. Through fear. Fear is not a good way to lead, ever. People in the Capitol are shielded from the real world. They think life is just dandy. Food at the press of the button. Anything they want is at their disposal. Out in the Districts, life is hard. If they didn't hate the capitol, I would wonder about them...The capitol controls everything and everyone, and they want to keep it that way.

They wanted Katniss to kill Peeta, and the other way around. They wanted to drive two people who love each other, (yes, at this point I think they were in love) to kill each other. Anyone with any type of morals would never do that. You have to be sick to try to do that to people.

Panem is like a movie, just a fake show, a messed up horror/sci-fi show, and the Capitol is the director. The districts are the actors, who are forced to improvise. If the do one thing the director doesn't like, they're fired. Gone for good.

If things continued the way they are, Katniss and Peeta could never lead a happy life together.

****Sorry it is so late Ms.Robbins!! I didn't have internet connection on vacation, and I got home at 11:30 last night! I had it written but I couldn't post until today! :( 

Unexpected Things That I've Noticed

1) Katniss's character is actually really innocent in some matters. As in how she's uncomfortable thinking someone might view her as something other than herself. Like when Haymitch asked her to come up with an angle for her interview, she failed at everything that he suggested. Katniss can't act, and she needs to do something that inspires her. Further on in the Games, she decides that she has to put on a show for the sponsers or else she'll never survive. Whether it was intentionally or not, Katniss decided to help put together a story for the viewers.

2) Haymitch is behind everything. The first time that I read 'The Hunger Games', this was shocking to me. Even when he had been sending the gifts to Katniss with a certain timing to give her the messages of what he wants her to do, I never fully understood how smart he was. This becomes especially important in the second and third books.

3) When Clove was being killed by Thresh, she called out to Cato to help her. Just moments ago, she had been threatening to slice Katniss's lips off. I wonder if the person telling the story of the games censored that moment...? It shows that the people in the games don't necessarily want to kill each other.

4) Cato is more like a little kid. Maybe he got too much attention in District One, because I'm assuming that he volunteered for the Games. I think he was encouraged to volunteer by most of the people that he knew. He's made out to be a killing machine as he jokes around with the Careers and from his attitude about finding and killing Katniss. But why did he want to kill her? Katniss wasn't a danger to him, unless you counted her high score in training. Cato's score was lower than hers, so maybe he was jealous. I feel as if he's not used to someone doing better than him. Things have to go exactly his way, and when they don't, he gets scared and tried to hide that be doing something violent.

5) An eye for an eye. The theme appears in random places in the book. It first appears when Katniss knew she could never pay Peeta back for giving her the bread, and then again when she throws the cookies his father gave her out the window because she didn't want to owe him more than what she already did. It's there again when Peeta saves her from accidentally saying that she recognized an Avox, and when he claimed he was in love with her during his interview.

6) Glimmer had no value to the Careers. She couldn't shoot anything with the bow and arrows that she got from the Cornucopia, and she really contributed next to nothing as she fell asleep when she was supposed to be on watch at night. Yet she also had a ring with a poisoned spike as her token from her district. Where they aware that she wasn't a killer and trying to help make her into one?

7) Titus turned cannibal but he was eventually killed by an avalanche. Katniss thinks that it was Game-Maker engineered because they didn't want a cannibal to win. It made me think about what images they want victors to give. The Capitol really doesn't focus on Haymitch or any of the morphine addicts as much, which makes me think that they want the image of a happy, healthy person who is very attractive and living life to its fullest. Like how advertisements are with super models. Was it perhaps shocking to the residents of the Capitol that some of the lesser known victors became so old and decrepit?

No More Owed

'Conflicting emotions cross Thresh’s face. He lowers the rock and point at me, almost accusingly. “Just this one time, I let you go. For the little girl. You and me, we’re even then. No more owed. You understand?”

I nod because I do understand.

About owing.

About hating it.'

-HG pg. 288

Katniss feels that she should always give back something from what she's gotten. I think that the Seam has a big influence to that. She was surviving on providing. Never getting. Anything good that happened to her had to be paid back. Like it says in the book, there’s always strings attached.  

Thresh let go of Katniss because she was an ally to Rue, and tried to save her. He asked if she killed the district 1 kid who killed Rue, and she said yes, and buried her in flowers. This changed Thresh’s mind because not only did Katniss help Rue, but their district sent her bread as well. I think that he felt that he had to let her go because of everything that she did. It was a small sacrifice, but meant a lot. What he did kind of reminded me of the saying ‘an eye for an eye.’ Thresh let Katniss live because Katniss helped Rue. I think that if Katniss was in the same position as Thresh, she would have done the same thing.

Back to what I said about the Seam being an influence to Katniss, on page 292, Peeta says in disbelief that Thresh let Katniss go. When she replies by saying: “Yes. I don’t expect you to understand it. You’ve always had enough. But, if you lived in the Seam, I wouldn’t have to explain.” I think that that was very shallow of her. I say this because on page 309, Peeta says that almost everything that he ate was stale because it was all so expensive.

This also goes back to when Katniss first met Peeta, and he gave her the bread. She said that she will still never stop owing him, even though she did save his life. What’s also interesting about that is the fact that Katniss says the first gift is always the hardest to pay back.

Along with that, when Katniss finds out that Thresh is dead, she says a silent goodbye for him, and thanks him for her life. She also promises that if she wins, she will do something to help his family and Rue’s. This resembles some of Katniss’s personality. That she will always give back, no matter what.

 I think that everyone in the world should reflect her behavior. No one ever seems to enjoy what they have anymore, and we all need to learn to love what we have. There should always be moments where we give back, and thank those who have given. I truly respect this characteristic. 

Team Katniss

"Wow" was basically all that I said when I was finished reading this critical essay. This essay basically sums up just about every single idea, thought, and question that had ever gone through my head while reading this trilogy-twice. There were so many ideas, so much detail, and all of her thoughts put on the paper that it was as if she was talking to you. And let me tell you- she made some mighty fine points. Just so you know; this critical essay hardly had anything to do with the love triangle. I was baffled; I’m team Katniss to now!

There was actually more than one interesting idea.

1.)    “Clearly, this pre-reaping Katniss identifies as a loner, never getting too close to other people, never expecting too much of them so that she is never disappointed.

Katniss, schools her face to be devoid of emotion, refusing to let the rest of the world see her tears, and this reluctance to give the Games’ viewers anything real continues throughout the series.”

My thoughts exactly! I feel that Katniss never had the intention of being outgoing and all out there because she doesn’t want to be known. I can also relate this part to her emotional feelings because not only does she not want the Games’ viewer to know how she really feels, but she also wants to steer clear of any of these feelings because she thinks that getting too close to other people always ends up hurting her.

2.)    “Katniss isn’t the kind of hero that were used to seeing in fiction”

I never really thought about that. After I read this:

“Katniss never gets to sacrifice herself. She survives- and that leaves her doing the hardest thing in the world: living in it once so many of the ones that she loves are gone.”

This got me thinking that’s so true. She never really got to have the heroic ending. She wasn’t even the typical heroin. I think that’s what makes her distinct from every other character in every other book. Katniss goes through obstacles that no author would probably dare to write, and has an ending that leaves all of the reader’s kind of going...um…what just happened…

3.)    “Katniss has strikingly little self-awareness.

You can get a better sense of Katniss’ character by looking at The Cat Who Refuses To Die.”

I never even paid attention for a second to the cat! When I was reading this paragraph, my mouth dropped open. The comparisons were endless. They both were just about exactly the same thing. I loved it. This made me think that Suzanne Collins had way more intentional parts in the story that I thought. This also made me respect the author of Team Katniss as well for finding this. I was truly amazed. It was something that I was completely oblivious of and didn’t even think twice about. That explain just about how many ways you can take an idea or character!  

4.)    “She expects better of those who know her best.

Like Haymitch.”

I thought about this idea as well. I had no idea why Katniss did get all worked up on Haymitch’s comments. There was also this part in the book where I finally did understand why. It was the part on page 259, when Peeta tells Katniss that she was always Haymitch’s favorite, and that they were exactly alike. This also brings up the idea of the cat, and how there were so many similarities between all of these characters.

Reading this critical essay made me think about many different ideas that I never had thought about before. I am now more open to reading, and I hope to catch a lot of the minor details and dwell on them to see the hidden meanings or to better understand the story. Some part of this essay was hard to understand, but as I read on, I did get what the author was trying to say. It did benefit my reading, a lot. I feel as if I can relate to this author because I want to learn how to make my writing sound more sophisticated, yet like me at the same time. I am hoping that this reading experience will help me improve on my future responses, and will use this as a reference and mentor text. I am truly amazed and grateful that I have come across this critical essay.

The Act of Rebellion.

“I wanted to do something, right here, right now, to shame them, to make the accountable, to show the capitol that whatever they do or force us to do there is a part of every tribute they can’t own. That Rue is more than a piece in their games. And so am I.”

-HG pg. 236-237 (Katniss)

Well...Rue dies.

I think that Rue dying made Katniss more determined to win than in the beginning of the games. I'm not really sure, but I think that at the end of the games when everyone is watching the recaps, they cut the scene where Katniss cover's Rue's body with flowers. This simple act was the beginning of the rebellion.

Why did Katniss cover Rue with flowers? That’s the question that came to my mind when I first read the book. Now, I can see why. In the book, it Katniss says that Rue was more than a piece of their games. I think that she felt that if she could get the game makers to see what was happening, not just as game makers but real people, then the Hunger Games would stop. She had to at least do something important to catch their attention, and just doing that did. 

I feel that her actions are remarkable and very noble. Katniss is so brave and if I was ever in her position, I would never be able to do that. 

Back to the cutting of the tape; when the capitol did cut the tape, I think that they did it to cover up what was really happening. The reason for the Hunger Games is to entertain people; just not in the right way. I feel that the Capitol did this so that they didn't want to show what was really going on. Even if it was just a small action, it was very noble, and stood for a lot. 

The capitol kind of reminds me of Hollywood, or reality T.V. 

Its still fake no matter how real it looks.

Family Comes First

For Katniss, family is everything. When you think about it, family is at the center of everything around Katniss. Prim is the reason she volunteered for the games, after all. She couldn't bear to see her fragile sister die, because for Prim the Games meant certain death. Some might argue that the Capitol is the reason for everything, but I strongly feel that is not the case. In the beginning of the book, Katniss is only concerned about her family's safety. After she shoots the arrows at the Gamemakers, she doesn't really think about how everything is the Capitol's fault, she is only concerned about what will happen to her family. Will they kill them? Hurt them? Turn them into avoxes? I believe Katniss thinks to herself that as long as her family is safe, her life is fine. As long as they are okay, she is okay. 

It is very interesting to me that at the beginning of the series, she is fighting for her family and herself (in that order), but towards the end of the series she is fighting for the rebels, against the Capitol. Self-importance changes to the well being of an entire country. And it all started with family.

Another way family comes to play is when Katniss allies with Rue. She mentioned a few times that Rue reminds her a lot of her sister. Perhaps if Rue didn't have some much in common with Rue, Katniss might not have allied with her. Also, Rue' death is what lead Katniss to her first real kill. If that tribute hadn't killed Rue, Katniss wouldn't have sent that arrow flying into his heart. Most of Katniss's decisions come off of what is best for her family.

I believe that Katniss's fire for surviving came from knowing her family would not survive for long without her. So, my question to you is, do you think family is REALLY what sparked everything? If you don't agree with me, then I would like to know what you think IS the reason for everything. (Maybe  it leads back to more than one thing?)

Katniss Overlooks the Obvious [SPOILER ALERT]

           Katniss has always known who Peeta was, but has never actually known him. After they both became the District 12 tributes, they were frequently together, preparing for the Hunger Games. Katniss realizes that Peeta is a very kind person, and at first her reaction is to simply no longer have anything more to do with him, so that she won't become attached and be unable to handle having to fight him in the Games. But once she starts to notice him doing nice things for her, she instantly looks past his sincerity and assumes intentions of trying to make her an easy target once in the arena. Peeta really loves her, but it won't be until much later that she comes to realize this fully, and their love will become essential to their survival. I find this so upsetting for a lot reasons. First of all, Peeta loves Katniss, but she doesn't realize that it isn't an act. Sceond of all, Katniss pretends to love Peeta in order to survive, but he thinks that her act is sincere. Lastly,  even if they both truly loved each other, they would both know that there could only be one victor of the Hunger Games.

Love...sort-of?

The way that Peeta is described in this book is really fishy. I believe that Suzanne Collins portrays him as a character that acts as if he is a certain way, but truly feels differently. Kind of like he's being controlled. There are a couple parts in this book that did make me feel this way.

For example, on page 135 of the book, Peeta “claimed his love for Katniss” but the way he said it, and what he said afterward, it made me think that he wasn’t really lying.

He said:

“She’s just worried about her boyfriend” when clearly he knew that Katniss and Gale were just friends. Also, when Katniss apologizes, he all of a sudden turns cold instead of rejoicing the fact that he was going to live because of the love scandal.

These parts made me feel this way because I get the feeling that he kind of likes Katniss but can’t really say it because of the Hunger Games. I sort of know what happens in the end but not completely, therefore, what are your thoughts on the love scandal? 

Trust Issues.

Topic: Illusion vs. Reality

Theory: Why is Katniss Doubtful?

           

It’s still unclear in the end, but I think that Peeta truly does love Katniss. They’ve been through so much together, and yet Katniss still can’t see what’s right in front of her face. She still has doubts. She still wants to go back to her old life, when she can never get it back anymore. She still is afraid of getting hurt.

            In my illusion vs. reality part of my sheet, it mostly consisted of Katniss doubting every thought, every word, even every movement of Peeta’s. This goes all the way back to when they were kids. “Why did Peeta go through getting a beating just to give me a loaf of bread?” (pg. 31), “Why did Peeta insist on giving Haymitch a bath?” (pg. 49), and “Why did Peeta save me from Cato?” (pg. 197) The thing is; Katniss can’t trust anyone. She’s all ways been the independent type. Whether it was struggling to find food for her family, or surviving in the Hunger Games, she’s always doing it on her own, or with Gale. Gale’s reasons are already said in the book: Because they both are providing for their families, but Katniss can’t even let Peeta into her life. I feel as if even the simplest gesture, like saying ‘Hello’ would probably make her go crazy.

            The thing that gets me the most is the fact that in the end of the book, Katniss is still doubtful. For example, on page 343, when Claudius Templesmith announces that only one can be victor again, unaware, Katniss pulls out her bow and aims it straight at Peeta’s heart.

Crazy, huh? After all that they both have been through, she still can’t believe that he’s not even harmful.

My reasons for Katniss acting this way is because she is afraid. I think that she feels as if when she isn’t in charge, nothing will go right, and there’s always going to be a consequence. The motto ‘it’s better safe than to be sorry’ comes to mind when I think of her.

Now I go back to the beginning where Peeta loves Katniss. She doesn’t understand that he likes her. How can someone remember how this girl looked on the first day of school without having the hint of a crush? Its common sense! I feel as if Katniss tries to avoid all of her emotions, and completely ignore any thoughts that come to her head on her feelings. How will she get it?!