Spark. Notes: The Hunger Games: Themes, Motifs & Symbols. Themes. The inequality between rich and poor. In Panem, wealth is heavily concentrated in the hands of the rich. Capitol and certain of the districts. This disparity reveals itself in numerous ways throughout the novel, but. In the poor districts, many of the residents do not. Katniss notes that starvation is common in District 1. What is the theme of violence and war mean in the hunger games? Most short stories only have one theme, but The Hunger games has many. The main themes in Th. Start studying Hunger Games Themes and Symbolism. Learn vocabularly, terms, and more with flashcards, games. violence/ war. the Hunger Games. Need help on themes in Suzanne Collins's The Hunger Games? color and icon to each theme in The Hunger Games. The Hunger Games Themes.' LitCharts. The Hunger Games study guide contains a biography of Suzanne Collins, literature essays. This theme is reflected in a running conflict of passion vs. reason. The Hunger Games Themes and Issues. VIOLENCE. The Hunger Games is. Novelist Suzanne Collins developed the idea for The Hunger Games after flipping stations. The Hunger Games present the tributes’ suffering as mass entertainment, and the more the tributes suffer, ideally in battle with one another, the more. The novel suggests that most of the district’s residents are not. Katniss’s. family has, it is still more than many of the other families in her district. Furthermore, all but the most basic foods are luxuries. Katniss later learns. Peeta’s family, which owns a bakery and is thus one of the more well- off in. In contrast, when Katniss arrives in the Capitol. The food is. rich and abundant, and Katniss, for the first time, tries hot. Perhaps the best example of the inequality between rich and poor can be. Games. In theory, the lottery by which tributes are chosen, called the reaping, is. But in reality, the poor are much more likely. In exchange for extra rations of food and. Hunger Games can enter. Most children of poor families. They’re more likely to be picked as a result. Moreover, the rich who do become. Games and volunteer to do so. These trained tributes, which. Katniss refers to as Career Tributes, are generally bigger, stronger, and better. Hunger Games than those poor tributes. They are consequently more likely to survive. For these rich. tributes, it is an honor to compete in the Games, while for the poor tributes it. Suffering as entertainment. The Hunger Games present the tributes’ suffering as mass entertainment. Games become. The main draw of the Games for viewers is its. Katniss at various points talks about past Games and what. The principle is best exemplified in. Cato’s slow death at the end of the novel. Once the muttations have defeated. Cato, they don’t kill him immediately, and Katniss realizes that the Gamemakers. Cato to remain alive because it creates an exceedingly gruesome spectacle. It is the finale of the Games, and so they want to deliver prolonged suffering. The suffering, however. It can be psychological as well. Katniss’s. and Peeta’s romance, for instance, is the subject of so much fascination because. They become the “star- crossed lovers,” meaning. In essence, the Games are the equivalent of a televised sporting event in. Katniss even refers to the tributes. Games of past years. Most of the. players, however, are unwilling, and winning entails outliving the other. In both these ways the Hunger. Games recall the gladiatorial Games of Ancient Rome (notably, the gladiatorial. Games were one of the most popular forms of entertainment of their time), in. That the Games are televised and discussed incessantly in Panem’s media. Games and reality TV. This parallel. suggests that reality television, though perhaps not quite as barbarous as the. Games, still offers up real life as entertainment, and in doing so. Their value becomes determined by how. Reality television, the novel suggests, is a form of. The importance of appearances. Throughout the novel, Katniss and her team use her external appearance. At the reaping ceremony, for instance, she won’t allow herself to. Moreover, at the opening ceremony of. Games, the novel emphasizes how important appearances are by focusing a. Katniss’s preparations. The main feature of this focus is the. Cinna creates for her. It is covered in synthetic flames, earning Katniss. Katniss stand out among the. Drawing attention is more than just vanity in the Games. The tributes. that are most memorable tend to attract sponsors, who can provide gifts that may. Games. Katniss hides her tears during the Games for a. A. tribute’s appearance and behavior can therefore serve as a significant part of. Perhaps the most notable part of Katniss’s strategy involves her romance. Peeta. This romance is not entirely genuine on Katniss’s end. She cares. about Peeta and develops a romantic interest him, but her feelings don’t have. For the cameras, however, Katniss plays up her feelings for Peeta and works to. Capitol, that she’s deeply in love with. The act is one Haymitch devised for strategic reasons: Katniss’s and. Peeta’s love story elicits more gifts from sponsors than if they’re simply. Capitol’s decision to allow two. Consequently, the. Katniss puts on has a significant effect on both her and Peeta’s survival. Through these events, the novel suggests that what cameras show, on reality. Motifs. Fire. Fire plays different roles throughout the story, but most often it. Katniss. Notably, fire is the element that gives the various outfits. Cinna designs for Katniss their character. Her first dress, for example, is. Katniss’s fire dress earns her the epithet “the girl who. After. Katniss’s surprisingly high training score is announced, Haymitch explains that. Cinna calls her “the girl who was on fire”. Katniss’s spirit and temperament. During the Games, the phrase takes on a literal meaning after Katniss is struck. Gamemakers must be laughing at “the girl. Defiance. The novel is full of acts of defiance against the Capitol despite the. Capitol’s authoritarian control over the people of Panem. Katniss’s and Gale’s. Capitol’s rules. The same can be said for the existence of the Hob, the bustling. District 1. 2. The gesture of respect the residents of District 1. Katniss after she volunteers as tribute is similarly a form of defiance in. Capitol wants, and expects, to see. The. mockingjay, which appears throughout the novel, represents defiance in that it. Capitol’s failures, and Peeta essentially hopes to defy the Capitol. Gamemakers when he tells Katniss he wants to retain his identity and show. Games. The most significant acts of defiance. Katniss, however. Decorating Rue’s body after her death directly. Hunger Games, which demand that tributes show no. Katniss’s idea for her and Peeta to threaten suicide. Gamemakers’. rules. Hunting. Hunting reappears numerous times in the story, but it takes on vastly. Katniss, we learn at the. District 1. 2. In fact, she spends. Gale, and consequently it. Hunger Games. For instance, most of her stories about her father revolve around. She also met Gale while hunting, and one of her favorite stories, the. Peeta about how she managed to get a goat for Prim, begins with. Hunting also allows her to stay alive during the Games when there is no. In these circumstances, hunting to Katniss is always a. In the context of the Hunger Games, however, hunting takes on a very. When Katniss talks to Gale before she leaves for the Training. Center, he wonders if hunting a human will be any different than hunting an. As Katniss discovers, it is substantially different, and despite her. Moreover, Peeta often refers to the Career. Tributes as “hunting” when they’re searching for other tributes to kill. Though. the act of hunting remains essentially the same in the arena, the connotation. Katniss to an entirely negative one. Symbols. Mockingjays. The mockingjay represents defiance in the novel, with the bird’s symbolism. The mockingjay, we learn, came about as a. Capitol to spy on the rebellious districts. Katniss describes them as “something of a slap in the. Capitol.” The mockingjay pin Madge gives to Katniss is at first an. Later in the novel, however, the birds come to. Mockingjays become a link between. Katniss and Rue, with the two using the birds to communicate. When Rue dies. Katniss decorates her body with flowers as a means of memorializing Rue, but. Capitol. When Katniss later sees mockingjays, they remind her. Rue, and that memory inevitably stirs her hatred of the Capitol and her wish. The mockingjay consequently takes on an. Capitol, but also Katniss’s specific desire to defy it. Panem. Panem is the country in which The Hunger Games takes place, and it. United States. The word panem is Latin for “bread,” and. Hunger Games to the gladiatorial Games of Ancient. Rome, it recalls panem et circenses, or “bread and circuses.” The phrase refers. Roman Caesars’ strategy of quelling public discontent by providing the. The entertainment, of course, was. Games. In the novel, these gladiatorial Games. Hunger Games. Setting Panem in. United States, and retaining parts of U. S. culture like the mining industry of Appalachia that we see in District 1. But the metaphor gets more complicated because of the. Ancient Roman influences of Panem. The result is a triple metaphor that uses. Panem to draw connections between Ancient Rome and the modern United States, and. United States has something like its own panem et. Games. The metaphor offered by Panem, however, does not align perfectly with. Ancient Rome’s panem et circenses formula. For one, that formula is designed to. Panem are decidedly not content, at. In fact, the Hunger Games, unlike the. Games which appeased the masses, play a significant role in their. The Games were created as a reminder to the districts of their. Capitol ended in defeat, and it. Games to. be killed. Second, a key element of the panem et circenses strategy missing from. Panem is the bread. Most of the people in the districts are severely underfed. It leads directly. Katniss’s illegal hunting and the. District 1. 2. Rather than commenting on the. Panem, it instead comments the real United States in the ways. U. S. Katniss’s dresses. The dresses Cinna designs for Katniss not only give Katniss her epithet. Cinna designs. the first dress to reflect the main industry of Katniss’s home district, coal. Cinna creates a dress that would be. This dress begins the association between Katniss and. Katniss her epithet, “the girl who was on fire.” That. Katniss generally, however, and not just how she. Cinna’s designs. Haymitch, for instance, explains Katniss’s high. Katniss also thinks the Gamemakers may have targeted her with fireballs in the. The dresses, notably the. Cinna. creates for Katniss’s interviews, serve as outward, nearly literal. Katniss’s inner “fire.”. The Hunger Games - Book Theme. Poverty. Poverty, or extreme deficiency in normal levels of goods or resources is a common issue within the world of the Hunger Games and the districts of Panem. The problem is never more apparent then it is for the people living within District 1. Katniss makes mention of the respect those who survive to old age are given. Because of the prominence of poverty within District 1. Hunger Games for meager amounts of oil and grain. Similar Themes: Economic Hardship. Starvation. Much like poverty, starvation is among the greatest problems plaguing the citizens of Panem, especially in District 1. Due to the lack of proper food supplies given to the citizens, young boys and girls often receive tesserae in order to feed their families for a short period of time. For some, the tesserae may not have even been enough to live on. Katniss Everdeen and Gale Hawthorne, and a good number of the citizens in District 1. Despite this, starvation remained the greatest reason of death in District 1. Panem. Similar Themes: Extreme Deprivation. Government Control. It is apparent quite early within the Hunger Games that the Capitol restricted the permissions and abilities of its citizens, going as far as to institute the Hunger Games as a way to keep their power over the other districts. The Capitol goes as far as forcing its citizens to watch the Hunger Games on giant televisions around the districts. Peacekeepers as they are ironically named are assigned around Panem, enforcing their cruel laws and restrictions. Public beatings are a common sight throughout Panem for those brave enough to question these laws. Similar Themes: Oppression, Big Brother, Power. Effects of War. The country of Panem came into being after natural disasters destroyed much of the landmass it calls home. After the districts of Panem rose against the Capitol unsuccessfully they were punished with the Hunger Games. Forced to battle to the death, the mental burdens acquired by the districts and tributes show no limits. War in Panem, whether it be actual war or brutal psychological stress, has caused the poor standard of living and the deterioration of previously respected individuals. A prime example of such deterioration being former Hunger Games winner Haymitch Abernathy who had turned to drinking to drown the memories. Similar Themes: War. Individualism. The Hunger Games often forces a once kind individual to drastically evolve in a relentless murderer in order to survive. Refusing these temptations is a scary alternative, and one that may ultimately cost a tribute their life. The idea of remaining true to oneself is an idea first presented by Peeta Mellark who made mention of not wanting to die as anyone besides himself within the Games. What he meant is that he didn’t want to become the aforementioned relentless murderer, that he would rather die true to himself rather than survive a different person. It’s a noble wish in an otherwise un- noble world. Similar Themes: Self- Preservation, Personal Independence, Identity. Love. Real or not real, love is very prominent within the Hunger Games. Love has a strong effect on people, and it is no different here. Katniss Everdeen is forced to illegally hunt in order to feed and protect her family after the death of her father, a death that shatters the soul of her mother. Later we are introduced to Peeta Mellark, who unbeknownst to Katniss is in love with her. The resulting ‘star- crossed lovers’ facade ultimately plays a major role with the two winning the Games. The idea of love may be elusive to some, but within the Hunger Games you would be hard- pressed to find a more important theme. Similar Themes: Community, Family. Sacrifice. The willingness to lose everything is often considered an heroic trait, rightfully so. Putting the needs of yourself on the back- burner is rare within Panem, and a way of thinking that could kill you. Katniss Everdeen is often sacrificing her own protection and life for those she loves and holds dear. Her desire to protect others started well before she volunteered in her sister’s place within the games, way back when she knowingly hunted outside the district 1. Her willingness to sacrifice herself comes to fruition again towards the end of the story when she is more willing to let herself die than kill the person would do the very same for her. Similar Themes: Heroism. Survival. If you were to pick the main theme of the Hunger Games series, the ability and desire to survive would rightfully come first and foremost. They are stories of survival, physically and mentally. Due to the poverty and starvation issues within Panem, survival is no sure thing. More apparent is the obvious fight for one’s life within the actual Hunger Games where teenagers literally must kill to simply preserve their own lives for one more night. For some free- thinking tributes, survival also includes keeping yourself in the face of utmost fear and danger. Being able to survive, something that should be a given to anyone, is often a scare commodity within Panem. Appearance. Making the way one looks as a top priority the way the citizens living within the Capitol do is a superficial way of living. Possibly more important than an entertaining Hunger Games, is the latest fashion within Panem, no matter how crazy or absurd they may be. Before the Games even begin, the tributes are assigned to a unique team of makeover specialists who assure they will be beautiful beyond recognition if necessary. Effie Trinket, the official escort for district 1. Even so, there are much worse games to play than fashion roulette. Similar Themes: Identity. Rebellion. Rebellion, or defying the socially accepted normalities plays a very important role in the plot of the Hunger Games. Early on we learn about the initial rebellion which ultimately led to the creation of the Hunger Games as a punishment. Unknown to Katniss Everdeen, she quietly defies the Capitol multiple times throughout the story, beginning as early as the first few pages where she begins to hunt outside the fences of district 1. In addition to wearing her mockingjay pin, Katniss rebels against the cruel Capitol with the way she respects Rue after her death, and later by her plan to consume the Nightlock berries. It may be more of an undertone, but it is fair to say that rebellion is the main contributor to the current way of life within Panem. Similar Themes: War. Suppression. The Capitol often puts a quick end to ideas and actions they oppose. Katniss notices during the after- Games segment while they watch highlights of the Hunger Games that the Capitol purposely left out her decorating Rue’s body before it was retrieved. Showing this would have been a bonding moment for the district’s, something the Capitol could not allow in order to continuously cease full control. The districts are regularly denied information from other districts in an effort to keep them separate. The time citizens are allowed to speak to one another about their districts are within the Games when such stories don’t really matter. Even then, Katniss assumes these conversations are private between each other, as the Capitol would prevent this information from being heard throughout the entire nation of Panem. Similar Themes: Big Brother, Government Control. Stoicism. Katniss routinely masks her own emotions in an attempt to remain calm and strong in the face of uncertainty and danger. Intentional or not, Katniss is perceived as quite the stoic, which ultimately end up being one of her greatest strengths as she is often able to survive and live in situations that would prove difficult to others. Throughout the course of the story, Katniss does eventually become more in tune with herself, but after years of having to be the sole provider for a family of five (if you include Lady and Buttercup as mouths to feed; Katniss does), her own emotions are often put on the back- shelf. A good example of this being her consciously trying to remain emotionless during the chariot rides and pre- Games interview. Tragedy and Loss. Tragedy and loss within Panem is quite common. The first tragedy we learn about is the mine explosion that killed Katniss’ father and countless others. In district 1. 2, citizens are known to perish from malnutrition quite regularly. Tragedy in a greater sense of the word occurs very frequently within the Hunger Games themselves with the passing of each tribute. Katniss is forced to deal with loss throughout the story quite often, most noticeably with the way she handled Rue’s death and the subsequent tribute she pays her. Tragedy, as bad as it is acts a true guiding force, driving the focus of the tributes to survive. The loss of life puts into perspective the real value of your own, which is something most of the tributes don’t take lightly. Similar Themes: Death.
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