Joining The Hunger Games- Manette Tanelus

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The Hunger Games
                                The Hunger Games is often understated as a fun little book for young adults, but overall it uses amazing literary techniques to convey a great plot. One of the most prevalent ones is symbolism. The mockingjays are meant to represent an attempt of the government to spy on District 12, and I think that could also play in as an illusion to Big Brother, where “they” are watching to ensure you behave. I also think that Fire is used to represent Katniss because she is strong and has a fiery personality. I wish that she was more of that strong, and defiant girl all the time. However, Collins often makes her out to be cold or too emotional. Was it necessary to make Katniss so untrusting of Peeta? Or to make her spend so much time in her head comparing the two guys while she should have been fighting for her life? She states in the novel “All the pieces are still fitting together, but I sense he hasn’t accepted his death. He is already fighting to stay alive. Which also means that kind Peeta Mellark, the boy who gave me bread, is fighting hard to kill me” (Collins 60).
                I enjoyed the fact that Panem represented a dystopian United States of America, and that The Hunger Games were similar to popular reality shows Americans watch such as, Survivors, and Big Brother on a more extreme level. This is Collins’ way of showing America how cruel we can be in a sick and twisted way. Yet, what I uniquely focused on was analyzing each character and questioning why they are the way they are. For example, I feel that Cinna and Effie are parallels of each other. She is a rich privileged woman who has no regards for the poor or the feelings of others like many of our upper class citizens in America. Cinna on the other is also rich but he identifies with poor people like Katniss and he uses his talents to defy the government and support the less fortunate, like many activists nowadays. Also, the Peacemakers in District twelve are a lot like cops tend to be in a bad neighborhood. They tend to look the other way in the face of certain organized crime because they understand some people need it to live. In the words of Katniss, “Most of the Peacemakers turn a blind eye to the few of us who hunt because they’re as hungry for fresh meat as anybody is” (Collins 5).

                Overall, I do have some issues with way Katniss, Peeta, and many of the women are portrayed in the book. I also wonder why Collins would put them in such a situation due to the fact that she too is a woman who has undoubtedly studied literature and Feminism Theories. However, the overall plot, and techniques within the novel are some of the most interesting I have read. The idea of a hunger game and the descriptive images she provides are absolutely amazing during The Hunger Games, and it feels as though you are living The Hunger Games.  

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