May the Odds Be Ever in Your Favor
The Love Triangle
The topic of love triangles comes up a lot these days in teen fiction because they are omnipresent. As many chat participants pointed out, the love triangle did in fact exist before Twilight. Not everything is about Twilight people. For me, the love triangle basically worked in THG. Gale was a childhood friend who genuinely knew and had spent a lot of time with Katniss before the games. And after the games, Peeta is now the only person who really understands Katniss, what she has been through and what it has done to her. As far as triangles go, this one makes sense. Katniss has a before and an after and you would want to be able to come back to the life you led in the before, but you can’t because the games change you; war changes you.
Katniss
The moderators asked if Katniss was a likable character, and most people said no. I had never really thought about whether or not she was likable but as someone in the chat pointed out, once she steps in and volunteers to save her sister she has a nobility that is hard not to root for. Plus, in a story about Katniss versus the Capitol readers are going to choose Katniss. I feel that the question of likability is a moot point; these are a group of people who are barely surviving, they are not concerned with friendship and character – they are concerned with not dying, trying to find enough food to get through the day. Most people felt that Katniss was flawed and realistic and that THIS is what made her a great character.
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World Building
Without a doubt, one of the areas where Collins succeeds is in the building of the life in Panem and the Capitol. Life in the districts, the contrast between the districts and the Capitol – these all become a character of its own in the novels.
Plot
Since Figment is an online writing community, the question was raised as to whether or not Collins did a good job of creating a tight, sustainable plot throughout the three books in the series and the answer was almost unanimously no. Most people felt like the story unravelled over the course of the three books and for reasons that I have never understood, most people continue to loathe Mockingjay. I, however, did not and felt that Katniss’s time in a drugged stupor was a reasonable response to being a teen and having killed others and faced death not once but twice. I think it is important to remember that Katniss is in fact a reluctant hero; she didn’t sign up for a revolution, she was simply trying to save her sister. At points, in fact, you could even say Katniss is being used and manipulated by those trying to overthrow the Capitol.
What Makes The Hunger Games YA?
Now this was an excellent question and the most excellent response was this: the characters are disenfranchised and feel a complete lack of control over their lives. This is also, I think, what makes The Hunger Games such a powerful novel for our times. In today’s world we live in a constant fear that the economy if failing, more wars are coming (because 3 in the last 10 years isn’t enough), the terrorists are coming, and we continue to lose civil liberties left and right in the name of safety. Never before in my lifetime has there ever been such an assault on women and their bodily integrity. And the media is used by those in positions of power to control the populace by controlling access to information. Now more than ever we need to be a people who stands up and says that we are all a part of this nation in this together and that we will not be controlled. And I think it is important that in The Hunger Games, it is a woman who eventually does it. Girls need strong role models (as do men). There are enough Bella’s in our world, we need more woman to be like Katniss who will ultimately decide to take a stand for what is right and true in this world. That is our only hope for the future.
Share your thoughts about the #figlitchat in the comments.
For more information, check out the following:
The Hunger Games and Revolution at Galley Cat
Be Your Own Katniss
Occupy the Capitol: Engaging Teens in Politics
Filed under: The Hunger Games
About Karen Jensen, MLS
Karen Jensen has been a Teen Services Librarian for almost 30 years. She created TLT in 2011 and is the co-editor of The Whole Library Handbook: Teen Services with Heather Booth (ALA Editions, 2014).
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