Hello, hello!
Once again, a big round of thanks to those who have joined in during this “Hunger Games in 30 days” project! It’s hard to believe it’s over. I updated the ‘Chapter Chats’ tab at the top of the page, so if you’ve missed any chapters or want to revisit them, the links there should work.
Like I mentioned the other day, I can’t promise to post daily from here on out, but I hope to post something a couple of times a week at least. If you have an idea for an essay or discussion question for the site, drop me a line at sarahinprint@yahoo.com and let me know!
Enough business; let’s talk Part Three!
Real/Not Real
I know, that binary doesn’t officially enter the canon until Mockingjay, but I think it still applies here. We’ve talked a lot about how Katniss is working through her emotions toward Peeta and particularly that she is surprised how he can so easily sound truthful. But the idea that he IS telling the truth is too confusing for her. What is sad for me is that she just doesn’t have the time to sort through her feelings. She counted on being able to get back to District 12 to just have time to THINK, but it didn’t work out that way as Peeta found out Haymitch had been coaching her on what to say and do.
The story ends with Katniss feeling sadness at the thought of Peeta slipping away from her emotionally. Do you think she would have felt that way if he hadn’t found out? Is this a “Don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone?” scenario? Thoughts?
The Games:
They are barbaric–that’s sort of the base level understanding that is sometimes easy for me to forget. It’s ridiculous, even the idea of it. It bums me out when people don’t want to read the books because of that very thing (“Kids killing kids? No thanks”, they say) because it’s about MORE than that and it’s about taking something very wrong and trying to make it right, or at least, going back to Peeta’s rooftop declaration, keeping that purity of self and knowing, even for yourself, that you haven’t let the evil seep in.
What do you think of Suzanne Collins and her way of dealing with each child’s death? When we look at someone like Foxface, as some of you have mentioned–she wasn’t the worst. For me, though it’s crazy, it almost seems okay that she died by accident. By that time, I was gritting my teeth to it like Peeta and Katniss and just saying “they are this much closer to District 12 and ending this thing” with every death sometimes, you know? With Cato, I think it’s significant that Katniss had to deliver the last blow, though the author is careful to make it another (somewhat) heroic moment– a merciful moment and not out of rage. Is that to help keep Katniss’ character ‘pure’, as much as possible? Thoughts on all of that? I am interested in what you think–on everything, but particularly this.
But here in review, I’m wondering what your favorite or least favorite moments were?
Other Literary Elements:
Once again, I’ll open this up for discussion. In what ways have we seen the below? What stands out to you the most as important?
Conflict:
Man vs. Man
Man vs. Self
Man vs. Machine
Man vs. Nature
Man vs. Society
What themes, settings or images stand out to you the most in this third section as a whole? Silver parachutes? The cave? Mockingjay?
How did the mood shift in the story, even in the very last two chapters? Where there should have been victory, why (besides the fact that it’s a trilogy, haha) would Suzanne Collins fill the final moments with such dread?
Did Katniss grow as a character? How about Peeta? If so, in what ways?
The comments are open! If you’ve never commented before, why not comment today?
MYOBEIYF,
Sarah
