How the Hunger Games are Influenced by Appearance

The role of appearance in Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games is more than just superficial judgments of attractiveness or status. Collins uses appearance to make distinctions between tributes who will be remembered and those who will be forgotten. While tributes from District 12 generally fall into that second category, Cinna helps Katniss distinguish herself early on in the games, and ultimately helps her gain sponsors and survive.

Katniss’s first public appearance after the reaping is the opening ceremonies parade. This is specifically important for Katniss, because the contestants from District 12 typically get written off before the games even begin. Katniss has to make an impression at this event to even have a chance at sponsors during the games. Cinna tells Katniss that he sees “it as [his] job to make the District Twelve tributes unforgettable” (Collins 66). The games really begin once the audience sees the tributes for the first time, and Katniss needs to worry about gaining the audience’s attention and sponsorships. Her survival in the arena depends on the aesthetic impression she makes in the few minutes of that ceremony.

            Cinna once again makes an impression for Katniss during the interviews with Caesar. Haymitch stresses that these interviews establish the tributes’ personalities and that Katniss needs to come off as likeable. Katniss is naturally skeptical and seclusive, so acting likeable seems like a difficult task for her. Cinna makes this much easier for Katniss and he designs a dress that makes Katniss feel like “the creature standing before [her] in the full-length mirror has come from another world… the slightest movement gives the impression [she is] engulfed in toungues of fire” (Collins 120). By designing such unforgettable outfits for Katniss, Cinna ensures that she will have a chance to get sponsors and possibly make it out of the games. He knows that she is working against the Capitol’s prejudices against District 12, and he manipulates her appearance to give her an edge during the games.

After the Hunger Games, Katniss and Peeta’s reunion is televised and Cinna once again prepared Katniss for this public appearance. He dresses her in a simple, girlish outfit that she says makes her seem fourteen at the oldest. She notes that it “is a very calculated look. Nothing Cinna designs is arbitrary” (Collins 355). Cinna designs this look specifically to make Katniss look innocent, knowing the consequences of pulling the nightlock out in the arena. Cinna knows that if Katniss can pull off the innocent girl look, then the viewers might accept that she did not intentionally incite rebellion during the games. In this way, Katniss’s appearance is the only way to keep her and her family safe from President Snow, and to quell a rebellion in the districts.

            While strength and skill definitely are factors in winning the Hunger Games, appearance also determines whether tributes will stay safe or be killed. Even after winning, keeping up good appearances to the Capitol is the difference between life and death for Katniss.