Social Criticism In The Hunger Games And Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland “Off with their heads!“ (Carroll 122) could be the motto of Suzanne Collins’ bestseller The Hunger Games. Published in 2008, the novel tells the dystopian story of Katniss, a young girl who has to participate in a fight-to-death-tournament with 23 other teenagers. Connoisseurs might have recognized the quotation of the classic Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, first published in 1865. Mostly known as a children’s book, the novel depicts the story of Alice a girl that finds herself in a wonderland, where she meets many curious people and gets confronted with arbitrary brutality. Although they don’t seem to have much in common at first glance and have …show more content…
The capriciousness of the Queen’s decisions becomes even more obvious when Alice attends a trial where the Knave of Hearts is accused for having stolen some tarts which the Queen had made. Not only that the reason for this charge seems ridiculous but when finding no evidence the Queen just overrules the jury and the judge, which again underlines the oppressive power she possesses. Both novels, The Hunger Games and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, therefore succeed in depicting arbitrary measures and brutality as a way to portray government oppression, personified by the Gamemakers and the Queen of Hearts. Being confronted with this oppression, both girls think about which place they take and self reflect their identities. According to Erik Erikson, an important developmental psychologist and psychoanalyst, “identity formation is one of the key tasks of adolescence.” (Beck, Earl 77). Relating to that, both novels deal with the fundamental topic of children’s development. Katniss, although being only age 16, can be described as comparatively mature, at first glance. Since her father died in a mine accident, she has to replace him in being the breadwinner of the family. On closer examination, however, one discovers Katniss’ immaturity: she doesn’t seem to be able to organize her feelings, which lets her appear stubborn in some ways. This is for instance shown in the relationship to her mother who sinks into a deep depression after losing her husband. Katniss isn’t able
In the novel, The Hunger Games written by Suzanne Collins is a dystopian young adult book that is based in Panem that is divided into twelve districts. Each year the districts have to send a boy and a girl into an arena to fight to the death. The novel’s protagonist is Katniss, who lives in the poorest district. Katniss makes the audience think of the important ideas of bravery, societal class and love.
The last difference between protagonists Montag and Katniss are their emotions during their battles with their dystopian societies. In Fahrenheit 451, Montag is scared to be different from his lack of emotion society and to tell anyone he is interested in books, at first, because of the consequences that arise with it. Montag’s feelings are clearly understood when Bradbury writes, “He felt his body divide itself into a hotness and a coldness, a softness and a hardness, a trembling and a not trembling, the two halves grinding one upon the other.” This quote immediately shows the readers Montag’s conflict within himself between being a dutiful member of his dystopian society and deep down knowing something is wrong. In contrast to Montag, Katniss, in The Hunger Games expresses her emotions differently. Although the readers can assume that Katniss may be scared on the inside from everything she has heard about the games, she does not show it. When district twelve gathers to see whose name will be drawn, Katniss’s sister, Prim, was
Both main characters of these novels go through a self-awareness that is helped along by the people they encounter. This gives the audience a way to relate to the characters because they too go through things in their reality that may cause them to re-evaluate the way they think and believe. Throughout her story, Katniss encounters many feelings she has never known before. She is still very young and is just coming into to her own as a woman. She also has to struggle with a leaving her family and facing the reality that she will have to kill someone who loves her to make sure of her and her families’ survival. She has to make some very difficult decisions and is forced to look deep into herself to discover some things she never knew about herself. As the story develops, so does Katniss , and the strength of her character emerges (Collins). Montag also has an epiphany. He begins to wonder and question his world and why things are the way they are. He wants to know why the books are illegal and his curiosity begins to grow ever bigger about what is inside the books. He also meets a girl, Clarisse, who helps him to realize how truly unhappy he is. She asks him “Are you happy?” (Bradbury 7) His wife also helps him to see how the government is wrong in brainwashing the society with technology, as she accidentally overdoses on sleeping pills and is completely oblivious the next day. He increasingly rebels against all he has known so far and gets himself farther and
Katniss Everdeen is not a normal girl, she is a teenager who had to grow up fast within District Twelve. After losing her father to a mine accident, Katniss had to become an adult and be the sole provider for her family. Her mother detached herself from her role as a parent, which meant Katniss not only had to become the provider but also the nurturer of the family. This gives her the role of being the mother and father to her sister
‘The Hunger Games’ written by Suzanne Collins (2008) describes a narrative where there are 12 districts that came from the ruins of North America that is called Panem, 3 of the districts are favoured by the Capitol, the rest of the districts are really poor. Each year a male and female ranging from 12 to 18 must go to the Capitol’s arena where they fight to the death reality television show called ‘The Hunger Games’. The text describes a teenage girl named Katniss Everdeen who lives in the dystopic district (District 12). Throughout the novel she makes friends and enemies. Despite being portrayed as a reality television event in Panem, there is mostly nothing realistic about the hunger games. In the novel the arena is altered and prepared with
Qin Shi Huang calling himself the First Emperor after China’s unification, QIn is a pivotal figure in the history of china, after directing china, he and his chief advisor Li Si passed a series of Important economic and political reforms. He undertook huge projects which lasted years, These included unifying various sections of the great wall of china, which is now a famous city-sized mausoleum guarded by the mighty Terracotta Army, which also includes a immense national road system, this was all at the cost of human lives, in this tremendous stage of power was the establishment of his high status as a fearful leader that ruled China.
“We had to save you because you're the Mockingjay, Katniss, says Plutarch. While you live, the revolution lives” (Collins). Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games is a complex character who epitomizes the archetype of a hero, however, she also shatters the mold by rebelling against the capital and endangering her whole family. She starts out as a hero to her family, especially her sister, and then becomes the symbol of strength to everyone. Katniss sacrifices herself by volunteering to join the Hunger Games in place of her sister, it is a game of survival where a boy and a girl from each district are forced to fight the other members of other districts to the death. By going out of her ordinary world and preparing to join a game where her life could be taken, she fits right into the archetype of a hero. Her bow and arrow, the weapon that only she can wield, will be the only things to help her survive. Despite these heroic qualities, Katniss makes an erroneous decision and blunder mistakes that shows the reader the flip side of Katniss.
For thousands of years, governments have been oppressing their people. Although their reasons for doing so may have been different, the outcomes were all the same: a revolt of the people. There are many examples of this throughout history, such as in the French Revolution and the American Revolution. The Hunger Games, a tale of a dystopian society filled with maltreatment by “The Capitol,” displays the path to insurrection triggered by the mounting cases of misery brought on by their government, that was attacking lower classes of people. By using common themes of oppression and rebellion found throughout history, The Hunger Games is a striking example of how repression by government will eventually lead to a revolt of the people.
To the average reader, the story of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland may seem nonsensical and absurd. However, Carroll was incepting a much bigger picture than just of peculiar characters and poems of a stammering college professor. Indeed, the story of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland was a political satire filled with scenes that ridiculed the government or a legal process. Interestingly, in a scene from the book, Alice attends a trial judged by the King of Hearts whereby the Knave of Hearts is accused of stealing the Queen’s tarts. In the jury-box she sees 12 creatures, comprising of animals and birds, putting their names down on slates for fear they might forget their names at the end of the trial. Furthermore, the King of Hearts, at one point, starts demanding for a verdict from the jury but one never
Katniss Everdeen is an adolescent girl who has been through a lot, emotionally and physically. She is not only a girl from District 12 but she is a girl who takes on challenges that she is not
In the novel The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, the main character and protagonist is 16 year old Katniss Everdeen, a strong and selfless young woman who is far more mature than her age suggests. As the main provider for her family after her father died, Katniss had to become responsible and resourceful at a young age, which forced her to participate in rebellious behavior in order to keep her family alive. She is an unselfish and protective character, putting herself in danger in order to keep the ones she loves safe, especially for her little sister Primrose. Even after the pain and hardships she has had to go through not only in the games, but in her life, Katniss maintains her
In a not-too-distant, some 74 years, into the future the United States of America has collapsed, weakened by drought, fire, famine, and war, to be replaced by Panem, a country divided into the Capitol and 13 districts. Each year, two young representatives from each district are selected by lottery to participate in The Hunger Games; these children are referred to as tributes (Collins, 2008). The Games are meant to be viewed as entertainment, but every citizen knows their purpose, as brutal intimidation of the subjugated districts. The televised games are broadcasted throughout Panem as the 24 participants are forced to eradicate their competitors, literally, with all citizens required to watch. The main character
The Hunger Games, the movie, was adapted from the popular young adult novel by Suzanne Collins. The Hunger Games is sometimes described as another cliche love story for which the young adult genre is infamous. Despite appearances, The Hunger Games illustrates a complex and creative dystopian world with a much deeper underlying message, including topics such as, politics, history, and celebrity worship. The setting appears to be a futuristic version of America. This future America is very classist, and the tyrannical government is sure to keep the classes divided by heavily oppressing the working class. The working class is divided into twelve districts, which used to be thirteen districts until the thirteenth district was annihilated as a result of its uprising. In response to the thirteenth district’s resistance, the President created a game called “The Hunger Games” in an effort to instill obedience in the remaining twelve districts. Through the course of the movie, we learn that “The Hunger Games” are not only a mechanism to force obedience on the working class, but also to serve as entertainment for the elite society who live in the Capitol. The Games require 24 randomly selected children from the working class districts to fight to the death in an elaborately staged battle, all of which is filmed and broadcasted to the entire nation, working class and elite alike. Thesis: The Hunger Games, the movie, has a hauntingly feasible storyline and clear references to real
Katniss is the protagonist of the novel. She is a tough, self-sufficient, extremely loyal girl whose childhood was cut short by responsibility. After her father died, her mother sank into a deep depression, so it was up to Katniss to feed the family. One evening, she was going through others' trash in desperation when Peeta Mellark purposefully burned bread from his family's bakery and gave it to her. She feels like she owes him for that action, because after that she realizes the forest will be how to feed her family. She and her friend Gale regularly hunt wild game and gather food, selling some and keeping some for their families. Katniss dearly loves her younger sister Prim, so much so that she volunteers to go to the Hunger Games in Prim's place. Though Katniss could very easily feel bitter towards her more sheltered sister, instead she is fiercely protective of her. During the Games, this protectiveness transfers to another young tribute named Rue who Katniss grows very close too and mentors as she were an older sister to Rue.
The painting Starry Night by Vincent van Gogh, is an abstract post-impressionism piece of art that was painted by Vincent van Gogh in June of 1889. Starry Night was painted on an oil canvas that shows the view from a window in Vincent van Gogh asylum room. The painting is filled with light to dark colors that blend to show the emotion in the painting. The darkened colored sky seems to brighten up the other lighter colors making them stand out more. The painting shows a variety of curved lines giving the piece an organic shape. Vincent van Gogh applied to his painting a rough texture by heavy brushstroke technique impasto. The painting is created in a 3 dimensional form so that if you look at the bottom of the painting you can see the houses look as if they were a very great distance away. The painting provides us with a shallow space because of the space we perceive due to the landscape of the painting.