The lack of food in District 12 unfortunately represents the situation that some Americans are in during the Corona virus pandemic. The depletion of food and supplies in stores now is due to some businesses being temporarily shut down and the fact that many people are stocking up because they do not know when the next time they will be able to go to the grocery store again. The latter is an interesting phenomenon. When people are unaware of the future, we turn on our animalistic senses and suddenly its every man for himself. The Hunger Games can be seen as almost an exact parallel to this scenario. The fates of no tributes are guaranteed during the Hunger Games; the two choices are either life or death. When they wake up, tributes do not know if they will make it long enough to be see the sun set that night. Because of this, their animalistic and barbaric behaviors are revealed. Right as the starting gong rings, less than a minute into the Hunger Games, Katniss recounts that “already the other tributes have reached the Cornucopia and are spreading out to attack” (150 Collins). The violent behaviors of the tributes are expected by everyone, especially the Capitol, whose interest in the games is fueled by the violence. Interestingly enough, it is Katniss’s lack of violence that deems her a hero. Katniss only directly kills someone significantly late in the Hunger Games. Nonetheless, her killing is only a reaction to the fact that this boy kills Rue. Even after Katniss kills him, she cannot help but feel guilty at the fact that “I killed a boy whose name I don’t even know” (243). This further reveals that, even in a high stress situation, violence is not her natural instinct. Other than this, Katniss does not show any signs of violence or barbarity. In the eyes of the struggling and starving members of the poorer districts, especially 11 and 12, Katniss’s peaceful and selfless acts regarding Rue’s death make her a hero. However, these somewhat defiant actions push her to become less and less appealing to the game makers, who ultimately want entertaining bloodshed, not a proper burial.
Vitoria, I agree with you that Katniss does not possess a violent nature. But, I don’t necessarily think that it follows that she does not possess or give into barbaric or animal instincts. I believe that hunting, at its core, is an animal instinct. The ability to kill in order to survive– it’s as animalistic as it gets. It’s how the earliest humans survived. At the beginning of the novel when Katniss is discussing her and Gale’s hunting excursions outside of District 12, she writes that “most of the Peacekeepers turn a blind eye to the few of us who hunt because they’re as hungry for fresh meat as anybody is” (Collins, 5). To me this invites the question of why hunting is prohibited in the districts. Is it because the Capitol fears that the districts will overtake them again? Or is it the fear of violence itself, and what it can cause people to do? Perhaps a way to rephrase your claim about Katniss’ non-violence is that she is appropriately violent– in situations of self-defense or protection, but never just for the sake of being violent, as some other tributes exhibit.
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