Questions to ask the author of the hunger games

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At the beginning of the novel, Katniss is a committed stoic, who keeps her features in an "indifferent mask" to aid her survival through tough conditions. After being named tribute but before going to the arena, she is confronted both with her guilt at not helping the Avox, and with Peeta's "purity" of wanting to stay himself until death despite the barbaric pressures of the arena.

Peeta's seeming betrayal convinces her a stoic philosophy is best, but she nevertheless allies with Rue and comes to accept her emotional side when she plans Rue's funeral. This happens in larger scale when she decides to help nurse Peeta back to health, and falls for him despite herself. Finally, she refuses to win the Games unless they win together, even if the cost is suicide.

By the end of the novel, Katniss is far more confused than at the beginning, but this confusion indicates that she is becoming a much fuller person. The influence of both Greek and Roman civilizations is significant in the novel. The Greek influence starts with the story of Theseus and the Minotaur, which is a similar tale of children forced to fight to their deaths, a strategy used by the ruler to keep the population in line. The idea of the Roman games, brutal events that gave the lower classes a spectacle to discourage rebellion, is also central to the conception of the Hunger Games.

Several of the names in the novel help further this connection, as does the idea of tesserae. The most obvious strategy is the spectacle of the Hunger Games. By distracting its population from the true injustices of Panem, the Capitol keeps them from considering rebellion.

This strategy is successful in no small part because it makes the population somewhat complicit in the brutality. Class divisions are another way the Capitol discourages dissent.

By separating the Districts from one another along strict lines of wealth, and then encouraging class resentment through tesserae, the Capitol keeps citizens distrustful of one another so that they will not turn their eyes collectively towards their true oppressor.

Lastly, the Capitol keeps the Districts from knowing much about one another. Katniss learns this when she talks with Rue about District 11, and notes to the reader that the Capitol is probably not airing their conversation in order to discourage education. The most direct aim of Haymitch's strategy is to create a narrative in the Games that will attract sponsors and hence help Katniss and Peeta in the arena. Haymitch likely gets the idea when he realizes Peeta is in love with Katniss, and knows that their "love story" will make them popular.

But the effects of the strategy are more wide-reaching. Katniss, so conflicted by her commitment to stoicism and her class resentments, might have had more trouble trusting Peeta if she hadn't had the excuse that it was all part of the show.

By using this defense, she is able to delude herself that she isn't actually falling for Peeta, even though it's clear to the reader that she has feelings for him. Finally, the strategy has a touch of rebellion to it.

The whole concept of the Hunger Games is to keep people separate from one another, to discourage rebellion. But this plan actually suggests community, and that manifests in Katniss's suicide ploy at the end of the Games. She uses the love narrative to protect herself once they return to the world, but the rebellious sense of community has already been suggested. Most of the story's themes involve Katniss's growth as a person. The theme of identity and the contradictions Katniss feels are aided by the irony that exists between what she observes in herself and what the reader observes.

It is clear to the reader that Katniss is slowly learning to accept her emotional side as a strength, but because she is narrating the story in present tense, she isn't always able to recognize that in herself. This is most clear in her relationship with Peeta, where she insists that her affection is mostly for the show, even as her feelings are clearly genuine.

The theme of rebellion also manifests even as the narrator does not recognize it. She learns to accept community as a source of strength throughout the novel, though her primary stated goal remains survival.

Because Katniss is our only lens to the story, it explores how our identity is shaped even when we don't recognize it. The Hunger Games is meant to offer Panem a brutally realistic glimpse into human nature and adventure. However, the entire event is in truth about superficial image rather than reality. This is clear from the first stages, in which the tributes are introduced to the audiences through high-profile events.

The amount of work that goes into shaping their images suggests that what the audience sees are not the tributes themselves, but rather a shaped image of them. Katniss goes through much preparation with her prep team and Cinna, and she and Peeta stay near each other not from any true feeling, but because Haymitch has told them to.

And then in the Games themselves, the Gamemakers frequently change the rules and the environment in order to up the entertainment value. Overall, the appearance of reality is all that matters in the Hunger Games.