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).

Gale vs. Petta

The Hunger Games is a book about adventer but is that all? I think not, the Hunger Games is also a very romantic story. Katniss is in the center of a love triangle, both Petta and Gale have hopelessly fallen for her and it is up for her to choose. Both boys have wonderful but very different personalities. Who would you choose?

I have fallen for Petta ever since I read about him risking being punished by his parents to spare Katniss some bread, he wasn't doing it because they were best friends or because he had something to owe her. He was simply doing it out of the kindness of his heart. Petta has proven himself to Katniss and all the Hunger Game readers many times. He has risked his life for Katniss many times and has always stood by even if he wash't physically or mentally prepared for the challenge ahead. I admire Petta and would have made the same decision as Katniss.

Gale on the other hand is very different from Petta. He has been Katniss's friend from the start. They had many years to develop a friendship and learn to trust each other when they made the unspoken agreement of hunting together and working to put food on their families plates. I have always imagined Gale as the handsome, athletic, daring, and mysterious boy of the Hunger Games. Gale would have made a great husband but he did have some important flaws, he has managed to get caught up in the moment in many different situations. For example when he was creating a bomb he set it off before he realized that it would kill many innocent people including Prim.

I am and will always be team Petta. I would be very interested to hear your opinion of them!

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! :( 

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.

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?!