A Little Too Perfect

       The foreshadowing in the novel Catching Fire was amazing.  I always knew that there was something more to the plot, but I could never have guessed what was going to happen at the end.  For example, Katniss continuously questions why the other tributes in the arena are being so nice to her and risking their lives for hers.  I figured that they did this because they all formed an alliance to pretend to be friends with Katniss, and then to kill her when she is most vulnerable.  I was wrong; there was much more to this subplot, because some tributes dies to save Katniss and Peeta, which seems to defeat the purpose of the plan I assumed.  Also, It seems confusing at first that the alliance Katniss was a part of constantly received bread from only District Three.  I passed this off, just assuming that bread was the only thing that District Three could offer to stay in the alliance.  The bread also had a deeper meaning than I thought.

       The end of the book wrapped everything up and explained all of the foreshadowing.  For example, the meaning behind the bread is explained by Katniss on page 385.  She says, "The bread we received in the arena was code for the time of the rescue.  The district where the bread originated indicated the day.  Three.  The number of rolls the hour. Twenty-four."  This explains the mystery of the bread by relating it to the plan to start a rebellion against the Capitol.  Also, the explanation for why the other tributes are willing to die to save Katniss and Peeta is that Katniss and Peeta will be the head of the rebellion because they're such strong influence; thus, the tributes risked their lives to save the rebellion, not just Katniss and Peeta.  There are many other examples of foreshadowing in the book, but all of them are neatly wrapped up in the ending.  However, I think that the issues are resolved almost too neatly.  It's as if the author debriefs her readers on the hidden meanings in her book in the last few pages to hastily end the book.  Haymitch explains the whole plan to Katniss and then the book basically ends there.  It would have been better if Katniss had slowly uncovered these things on her own, rather than the ending being told like a documentary.

Peacekeepers or Peace Disturbers?

       One of the most ironic symbols in Catching Fire has to be the idea of the Peacekeepers in the districts.  The Peacekeepers are basically like police that run the districts and "keep them in order."  However, the role of the Peacekeepers is solely to keep peace in the Capitol, by harshly punishing anyone in the districts who steps even a foot out of line.  This strict patrolling is supposed to ensure that no rebellion will ever form against the Capitol; however, the actions of the Peacekeepers generally make the people in the districts despise the Capitol even more.  In District 12, the Peacekeepers were initially very relaxed.  One Peacekeeper, named Darius, was extremely nice and let the strict, unnecessary rules slide in the district, such as hunting game and trading things without the Capitol's knowledge.  The worst Peacekeeper in District 12 was old Cray, who wasn't necessarily violent, but he was a heavy drinker and basically ran a prostitution business for himself where he offered poor, hungry girls money to have sex with him.  Unfortunately, there is no shortage of poor, hungry girls in District 12 because they are so underprivileged.  However, Cray was still a very forgiving Peacekeeper compared to others.

       Once Katniss returns back to District 12 after the Hunger Games, the Peacekeepers in her district are forced to crack down.  A whole new crew of new Peacekeepers are enlisted in District 12 and they're effects are immediate.  Citizens are afraid to leave their houses, wages in the mines are cut, and people are suffering in general all around the district.  The old Peacekeeper, Darius is even sent to be an Avox (a servant in the Capitol whose tongue is cut off to torture them) when he refuses to whip Katniss' best friend, Gale, who was caught hunting outside the fence that encloses District 12.  They also try to set up a trap to catch Katniss hunting outside of the fence, but it fails.  Peacekeepers in general are allowed to, and will kill any citizen that shows the slightest sign of a rebellion.  They once killed a man who started whistling a tune that the Capitol arbitrarily determined at that moment was rebellious.  As you can see, the role of a Peacekeeper in the districts is the farthest thing from keeping the peace.  Instead, the reek havoc in the districts and make sure life for their citizens is a miserable existence.

Is This Brutality Justifiable? (PART 1)

        Throughout Catching Fire and the rest of The Hunger Games Trilogy, I found myself fuming with hatred for the people of the Capitol, especially President Snow. The Capitol basically rules over all twelve districts. I have so much hatred for the capitol for a few reasons. Most obviously, I despise them because they organize the Hunger Games where 23 teenagers are sent into the games to die. They basically sacrifice these teenagers for their own entertainment, which is disgusting. Also, the Capitol lives a lavish lifestyle with all of the food, fashion and entertainment they could ever want. They dye their skin for the sake of fashion with expensive chemicals, while the citizens of the districts die frequently because they can't afford medicine to restore their lives. People in the districts are dying of starvation, while the people of the Capitol drink formulas to make the regurgitate food so that they can eat more because the food in the Capitol tastes so good. People in the Capitol are filthy rich for doing practically nothing, while citizens of the districts work like slaves for long hours with minimal pay to make products for the people in the Capitol. People in the Capitol have hovercrafts to transport themselves wherever they please, while the citizens in the districts must walk if they wish to go anywhere because they don’t even have simple cars to get around.

Is This Brutality Justifiable? (PART 2)     

          The contrasting lifestyles between the people of the Capitol and the people of the districts makes my    stomach uneasy and my heart filled with disgust for the Capitol's citizens.  However, it seems almost hypocritical to judge them so harshly for their actions because they're only doing what society has told them is right.  Their actions appear despicable to us, but to them, it's just the normal way of life.  Often times, grandparents or elderly people will scold younger people for things that just seem normal to younger people, but it disgust elderly people.  I'm sure that if people that lives hundreds of years ago observed our generation's behaviour, they would be astonished by our horrible habits like disregarding the environment, making role models out of superficial actors and performers and killing babies before they're even out of the womb.  Although it seems like the people of the Capitol behave in an inexcusable manner, I am not one to judge them because I am just as guilty as they are.  They just mindlessly follow the actions of their parents and society just like I mindlessly follow the actions of my parents and society.  The only difference between the people of the Capitol and myself is that the society in the Capitol has degraded much more (by time) than the society that I live in.  Who's to say that I wouldn't do the same things as the people in the Capitol, if I lived in their society.     

My Secret Addiction

For the most part, I found that The Hunger Games was impossible to put down.  The beginning of the book wasn't necessarily a "page-turner" because there was a lot of background information that Suzanne Collins needed to explain before the plot could really take off.  However, it wasn't as if the first few chapters were hard to read; they were still somewhat intriguing because the concept of the story was so original.  By the part of the plot when the Hunger Games actually began, I found my eyes glued to each page, obsessing over every word.  I actually became addicted and by homework from other classes started piling up before I realized it.  I believe that what makes this book so incredible is its originality and its wide range of emotions.  Although the theme of the book has been portrayed before, the setting and the plot always kept me wondering what would happen next.  Many books today seem to be quite predictable, but with the unexplored world of Panem, I never knew quite what to expect, and Suzanne Collins never failed to surprise me.

          I also experienced so many emotions while reading this book, which made it difficult to stop reading.  The novel made me excited, because of the intensity of the Hunger Games.  When there was less action, I felt other emotions that were more heartfelt, like love.  The ever-growing affections between Peeta and Katniss was sotouching that I myself has warm fuzzy feeling from simply reading about their relationship.  I also experienced anger.  This emotion was always directed toward the Capitol.  Even when a competitor killed another competitor that I'd grown to love, I wasn't angry at the person who committed the murder, I was angry at the Capitol for putting them in that situation.  In addition, I experienced a lot of despair, like when Katniss' alliance, Rue is murdered by one of the other competitors.  Finally, I felt triumphant when Peeta and Katniss finally won the games and manipulated the Capitol's rules.

         Overall, this book was an excellent read and I'd recommend it to anyone.  I even think it would be a good book to read for a novel study in high school.  Although it's more modern that traditional novels studied in class, Suzanne Collins rights extremely well and there are many underlying themes that could be discussed or debated.

The Power Trip is Challenged (SPOILER: DON'T READ THIS BLOG IF YOU PLAN ON READING THE BOOK)

In The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins seems to be trying to tell the reader to not allow others' power to overcome you.  Throughout the story, Katniss fights challenges different people's power and authority.  She often challenges the Capitol's power, but she also challenges other competitors in the Hunger Games as well.  However, Katniss doesn't just mindlessly challenge authority; she always has a good reason for it, like to be true to herself or simply to survive.  One simple way that Katniss overcomes the power above her is the way she always tries to be herself.  She hates when her stylists put makeup on her and change her image, so she always resumes her original style at any chance she gets.  She proves here that the Capitol's stylists can't change who she is forever, and she is still the same Katniss underneath all of the makeup.  Katniss overthrows her competitors' power during the early stages of the Hunger Games.  Once, she was caught in a situation where she was stuck in a tree with five competitors plotting ways to kill her.  Fortunately, Katniss didn't let he competitor's powerful advantage get the best of her as she dropped a nest of killer wasps, called "cracker jackers," onto her enemies below, and she escaped the tree. 

          Suzanne Collins ends the Hunger Games with a final manipulation of power when Katniss and her friend Peeta are the last two contestants.  The Capitol had promised that this year, two participants could win the Hunger Games if they were from the same district.  However, when it was just the two of them left, the Capitol changed their mind at the last minute, saying that only one person could win the Hunger Games.  Neither Peeta or Katniss could live with killing each other, so they both took a handful of poisonous berries and planned to commit suicide with them at the same time.  Just as the berries were in their mouths, the capitol announced that they had both won, because the Hunger Games would be a disaster if no one won.  Katniss and Peeta both spit out their berries and are named the victors of the Hunger Games, proving that they can't be restrained by the Capitol's rules.  Although I'm aware that rules in our society are put in place to protect us, the rules in the world of the Hunger Games are not civilized and Katniss and Peeta were justified in challenging them.

The Girl Who Was on Fire

       The main character, Katniss Everdeen is definitely my favourite character in The Hunger Games.  She is referenced throughout the book as "the girl who was on fire."  This is because at the opening ceremonies for the Hunger Games, Katniss' stylist, Cinna, decorates Katniss in a costume that has special flames that don't burn skin.  The crowd at the opening ceremonies loved this costume, and eventually nicknamed her "the girl on fire." 

       This nickname couldn't be more fitting for Katniss' personality.  She has a "fiery" temper which she showed when she was trying to impress the judges (aka gamemakers) of the Hunger Games.  She was showing off her special talent, which is shooting arrows.  The  gamemakers were supposed to give her a rating out of 12 which would encourage or discourage people to sponsor her in the Hunger Games, depending on how well she was rated.  However, the gamemakers weren't paying attention to her, so she furiously shot an arrow through the food that they were about to eat and walked away without being excused.  This attitude brings about a certain excitement to her character because the reader never know what she'll do next. 

       Katniss also resembles the way fire interacts with it's environment.  It continues to burn until there are no more resources to keep it alive or if something, like water, extinguishes it.  Likewise, Katniss continues pressing on through the Hunger Games, and life in general, no matter what obstacles get in her way.  This determined characteristic is shown when she seems to be cornered in a tree, with six other competitors trying to kill her at the bottom.  She beats the odds in this situation by releasing a beehive with venomous bees in it onto the others below and she escapes.  However, unlike fire, I have a feeling that Katniss won't be "put out" by anything in the Hunger Games.  I think that she will destroy anything in her path before it has the chance to destroy her.  Katniss is the fire that keeps the reader so deeply engaged in this book.

Between the Past and the Future

The Hunger Games has a very original setting.  It is set in North America sometime in the future.  However, North America in this book isn't at all what our continent is like today.  It is run very much like a communist country, and it is split up into twelve districts.  There used to be a thirteenth district, but it was destroyed, once again displaying the communism of these times.  The twelve districts are very segregated, and it's not like today where you can simply vacation in a different spot anytime you would like.  Once you are in a district, you may not leave unless you receive permission from the higher powers of the districts.  These higher powers are found in the "Capitol," which is the most wealthy and powerful district of all.
       This future North America is caught in the middle of the past and the future.  The Capitol has many cool things that you'd find in a futuristic science fiction novel.  For example, you can get most things at the press of a button and they have hovercrafts that they use to monitor the districts with.  Unfortunately, the twelve districts that the Capitol rules over are much less advanced.  The people living in these districts often live in poverty and can't afford any of the modern conveniences that the Capitol has, thus it seems almost like they're living in the past.
       I believe that this setting is very important to the plot.  It shows the deep contrast between the filthy rich and selfish Capitol and the poor, meagre districts that it rules over.  This novel is about a young girl from District twelve who is forced (by the Capitol) to compete in a competition with 23 other kids around her age.  The competition is basically that they must fight each other until all but one are dead.  It is a sickening thought, that teenagers should be forced to compete in such a contest.  The way that the districts are laid out only gives the reader more reason to hate the capitol, thus enhancing the plot.