Friday, March 23, 2012

The Hunger Games - Panem a Parellel to our world?

 What if your whole life you have lived in fear of a cruel Capitol? What if your whole life you have lived in fear of being chosen? What if the person you cared most about was the name they called out, shrill and clear, to go and compete against twenty-three others for a chance at life? What would you do?

 When Katniss Everdeen’s sister is chosen to be District 12’s tribute for the Hunger Games, Katniss knows that there is no choice but to volunteer. This choice means an almost certain death, it means becoming piece entertainment for the Capitol and it means being one of the Gamemaker’s 24 puppets. But in the end it means asking the question, do you have what it takes to win, and if you do, living with the memories?

 Katniss stands out among the characters that I admire because of the messages her story sends that are parallel with the faults of our own world. The first book is based on the legend of Theseus, but it as the series progresses, there are more and more hints suggesting the roman saying 'Bread & Circus'. Even the basic names in the story, like that of the country, ‘Panem’, and the ‘Hunger Games’ suggest the saying. What I think the writer is trying to communicate is that leaders nowadays are implying the same strategies with the media.

 The book also mentions a lot about the different classes. There are 12 struggling districts working for the comfort of the citizens of the Capitol. The people in the city sit back and relax while the children of the districts must fight for their lives, not even conscious about the reality of the deaths of 23 innocent lives, year after year.  It sounds like the way lower class citizens must sometimes risk their lives in the army while we sit back, wrapped up in our own lives.

 So finally, the reason that I admire Katniss is because she was vital in the end to the suffering of the Districts. She stopped the constant violence. So in a way she solved all of our problems with hunger and war. It’s refreshing to finally have someone, not necessarily in our world, solving all of the problems and creating a perfect world.
        

No comments: