I hate that there are no more Hunger Games books. The day after I finished the last one I was driving home from work being happy that I could go home and read more and then I remembered I finished and I died a little inside. Full disclosure: I also loved Twilight and know most of the words to Taylor Swift songs, so I'm not sure how seriously I can be taken as an adult reviewer. Also, SPOILER ALERT!!!
The first book grabbed me when Katniss talked about Prim's shirt sticking out like a duck tail and I couldn't put it down. The second book felt a little been-there-done-that, but I still couldn't put it down. That Peeta sure is charming. The third book made me so mad I thought I hated it until I realized I was only mad at it because I loved it so much.... ah, love. Which brings me to some points I need someone to talk to me about:
Hey teachers: Would you teach Hunger Games in your class? Take a look here: http://www.ltftraining.org/TeachingCommunity/TeacherForums/LTFEnglishForum/tabid/549/aft/1141/Default.aspx
There are a lot of things I liked about the books - there was a lot of action, the settings were interesting, it didn't hurt my brain - but mostly it was the semi-unlikeable, human characters who didn't turn into happy, shiny heroes in the end. Katniss started out selfish, moody, unfriendly, and impulsive (like most teenage girls) and somehow at the end of everything was still a teenage girl. It wouldn't have been right for her to have some kind of cathartic breakthrough and start being Pollyanna. Haymitch remained a drunk. Mother Everdeen didn't take care of her daughter. Peeta continued to follow Katniss around like a puppy. Gale ran off into the sunset without Katniss... actually, that part didn't seem right to me, but I guess you do what you gotta do.
The first book grabbed me when Katniss talked about Prim's shirt sticking out like a duck tail and I couldn't put it down. The second book felt a little been-there-done-that, but I still couldn't put it down. That Peeta sure is charming. The third book made me so mad I thought I hated it until I realized I was only mad at it because I loved it so much.... ah, love. Which brings me to some points I need someone to talk to me about:
- Why was I rooting for so many unlikebale characters, namely Katniss? I wanted her to win! I didn't want her to kill Peeta, but you know Peeta is willing to sacrifice himself for her (stupid boy) so it's hard to pull for him. And I loved Haymitch and wanted things to be okay for him. I never liked Katniss, but she's a fighter and so many other people wanted her to win I jumped on the bandwagon. But I think I would have sent my silver parachute presents to Finnick.
- Was it necessary to kill off Prim? They had just blown up a whole bunch of little kids; is that not enough?
- Why did Gale leave? He's supposed to love Katniss but he runs off to take a fancy job and leaves her behind? Why, because she didn't shoot him when the bad guys had him? Come on! I don't think she loved him, but I also don't think he really loved her. I don't think of him as the "if you love something, let it go" type, especially not if he really knows Katniss. She's not going to chase you down.
- Oh, Peeta. Would he be a better character if he didn't love her to distraction? I would love to be loved like that, but I was a little disappointed that he only tried to strangle her in the third book because Snow had messed him up with tracker jacker venom. I liked thinking Peeta was man enough to recognize that Katniss is a selfish bitch who was willing to play him like a fiddle or possibly kill him... and then love her anyway. Am I disappointed in him for never calling her out?
- How relevant is dystopian fiction in an instant gratification society? Redemption does not come at the end of this series. Katniss is left motherless, sisterless, and best-friendless in a district that has nothing for her. She was the face of a rebellion that offered her only anguish and sacrifice. Yes, future generations will benefit from the struggles faced by the characters in this series, but is that enough for a society that is programmed to expect instant results? I'm not so sure. Part of me wonders if the message recieved will be that if you try to take on the man, you might win, but not before you've lost everything you were trying to save. And then what's winning worth?
Hey teachers: Would you teach Hunger Games in your class? Take a look here: http://www.ltftraining.org/TeachingCommunity/TeacherForums/LTFEnglishForum/tabid/549/aft/1141/Default.aspx
OK, I’m going to take a crack at answering these.
ReplyDelete1. The closest I can come to explaining why I was sort-of ok with Katniss is that she was what she needed to be. She had to be hard, selfish and a little ruthless to accomplish her task. Sort of like batman, she wasn’t the hero we wanted but maybe she was the one we needed. Honestly, I kind of liked the fact that I never connected with the main character all the way to the point of actively disliking her. It was an interesting twist. I do wish that she wasn’t written to be so appalling naïve, but if that is my only real complaint I guess it was fine.
2.Yes. Yes it was necessary. Not to prove that District 13 was evil, killing the kids was enough for that. What made it necessary was Katniss. Any time she had a hard choice to make she only ever ended up doing the right thing because she was “doing it for Prim.” If you let Prim stick around at the end of the book it still leaves your main character with no internal moral compass. You have to get rid of Prim so that Katniss can start doing the right thing for the right reasons. Otherwise what good is she as a hero?
3.You can’t have it both ways. You are made that Gale left but you also don’t like that Peeta never calls Katniss out. Gale put on his big boy pants, realized Katniss was selfish and never going to be what he wanted her to be and moved on. End of story. Smart choice, in my opinon.
4.I agree that Peeta probably should have choked that chick out long before he did. I have my suspicions that the tracker jacker venom was more an excuse than a root cause if you want to know what I think. However, he still puts up with her time and time again without ever putting her in her place. If more people were honest with her then its possible Katniss might grow up a little. Not likely, but possible.
5.I like this question! It is interesting that things come completely unglued at the end. I don’t get the message that no matter what you lose from this. The message I got was never trust a rebel. District 13 sounded great until they got in power. Turns out what they objected to was not so much the situation as the regime. Once the coup was accomplished the new rulers changed… nothing. The only thing that changed was the name of who was in charge. That is a very real world message. If you don’t believe me look at Sudan. Or Afghanistan. Or any number of Latin American countries. So the message to me is not that you can’t win. The message is “power corrupts”. Being an idealist is great but unless you have a hard dose of realism in there as well you can’t expect any improvement.
And... discuss.
I don't want it both ways with Gale and Peeta. Those two aren't really connected. Calling someone out for being a selfish punk is not the same as leaving without saying goodbye or sharing his plans with her. I don't care how mad you are at someone, that's a bitch move. My point is that Gale didn't love her enough as a friend to have loved her as more than that, so I feel like he lied to me through the whole book. Bastard. Peeta, frankly, loves her too much for that to be healthy, but they seem to be the only two semi-functional people left in District 12 at the end of the book so more power to them. Peeta was my favorite character, but if he were a real person I'd respect him a hell of a lot more if he grew a pair and stopped being her afterthought.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that there was a clear message that power corrupts, but I don't think that was the only message. I still think there's the 1984-ish lack of redemption that may or may not be completely necessary. Would a bright spot have diminished the quality of the story? I don't think so. I disagree with "never trust a rebel". Katniss was a rebel and we're supposed to trust her. She's still meant to be the "hero" in the end, so it seems more like never trust the government or never trust the person in charge more than never trust a rebel.
I don’t necessarily disagree with your assessment of Gale. He was always aloof and seemed more into the concept of Katniss than the actual person. When he actually spent time with her again and they weren’t in the same situation they had always been he discovered she wasn’t all that great. It happens. Peeta either has brain damage or will eventually grow out of his worship of Katniss, I think… At some point that honey moon phase of crazy puppy love has to wear off because the things he says imply he also isn’t seeing the real Katniss and is instead focused on “what she could be.” In other words, “what I can change her into.” This is a trap that happens to anyone who falls for bad boys or bad girls. Grow up.
ReplyDeleteI suppose it depends on what sort of bright spot you were looking for? Do you have a suggestion for an alternate ending that would fit the story and not be so pessimistic? And I’m sticking to my guns on “never trust a rebel.” I think, if you look at it, Katniss proves my point. She betrayed nearly every one at some point or another. In some cases she tried to make amends, but not always. And she always had her own agenda that differed from her public claim. That is exactly what I mean by never trust a rebel. She might be the hero but I don’t think she does a very good job of portraying the heroic archetype you’d expect in a YA novel. She is definitely the protagonist, but I think hero is a stretch.
I think the theme of never trust the person in charge and never trust the government is a little played out, to be honest. That message is definitely embedded in this story, but I think it is unnecessary and unrealistic. There are individual rulers that you should certainly not trust. And you should always be skeptical of those in power and watch to make sure that what they do and what they say match up. I do not think that a government that raises taxes or cuts entitlement spending is necessarily headed to the arena to pit fight our children, though. I think this novel starts out with the premise “to the victor go the spoils”, follows up with “might makes right” and then ends with “power corrupts”. It’s a pretty dark philosophy and focuses on some of the worst aspects of human nature written large.
You can write a YA novel that is about "don't trust the government" and expect teenagers to read it if it was only about tax cuts. It had to be about something more violent and exciting. To me, Snow and what's-her-name from 13 were the people we weren't supposed to trust and they weren't rebels. I think we're kind of saying the same idea but pinning it on different characters.
ReplyDeleteAs far as a bright spot goes, her mother could have stayed with her and that would have been enough for me. I'm willing to accept that Prim had to go, but here's my perfect happy ending: Mother Everdeen takes care of her child, Gale and Katniss go back to being friends and get the hob going again, and Peeta marries Annie.
I read something on a blog yesterday that made me think about Katniss as the protaginist and why we root for her even though she's not especially likeable. It basically said the hero has to be an underdog because stories about people on top are called corporate annual reports. So very true.
You *can't* write a YA novel....
DeleteSo I'm jumping in late and honestly i skimmed the above posts because they are Looong but I did want to point out, as mentioned above that these are Young Adult novels. They are meant for children at a developmental stage where questioning authority and testing out there own personal ethics is healthy and necessary. Because of that I think the 'dystopian' ending is appropriate. leaving the ending imperfect allows each one of us to insert our corrections and therefore extrapolate what we would have done differently...helping us build up our sense of personal morality. As for the question 'would I use this in class' maybe in high school or freshman year of college. I found the novels extremely disturbing and graphic but I have a runaway imagination and weak stomach for gore and horror. Don't get me wrong I like them, I just had nightmares. Also I think the triangular relationship between Katniss, Peeta, and Gale is at least as retarded as some of my high school romances and maybe if we were all 16 we would "like, totally get it"
ReplyDeleteI also want to add that I saw the movie this weekend and it is excellent. This was a rare case in which I think I liked the movie as much as the book. I liked that in the film you see the way the games are developed and they seem to be produced like a football game or awards show or some other live event, which adds another layer of creepiness to the whole concept. I thought Katniss was more likeable in the film, but that could just be the actress' personality coming through. There was not enough Woody Harrelson for my taste.
ReplyDeleteCan there ever, truly, be "enough" Woody Harrelson. Zombie World, anyone? I'm just saying.
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