First, I would like to take the moment to say that this is one of the greatest books I have ever read. I was weary of whether or not I wanted to put much effort into reading it, but after hearing how great it was from my group-mates, I had to. One night I recall actually reading for about 2 and a half hours straight until about 2 am. I could not put this book down and the end of every chapter left me wanting to move on as it should. I really would recommend it to anyone now to read.
With that said, I felt that this book worked entirely into the theme we have beating to death over this whole semester about information technology, the media, and how our society reacts to all of it. I think this book took a much more drastic measure to express the urgency for us in reality to wake up and realize how we are being manipulated by a more dominant force. And in this book that dominant force was The Capitol. The Capitol was in equivalence to Big Brother and the Feed. All of these things continually held a sense of "rule" over the people within the societies.
Of all of the characters, my favorite were Haymitch and Gale. As senseless as Haymitch was, he came through for his Tributes and aided them to victory. But deep down I would have wanted his feelings to be elaborated on more because in reality his life of "Hunger Games" never ends. Every year he has to be a part of it in a big way. He has to deal with a lot of loss and depression with merely no celebration to be had. His role was under displayed. I hope the movie spotlights him more.
Also, Gale was almost nonexistent once the Reaping was over. But the sense of him was still lurking. I wanted to know his reaction to all of what had been happening throughout the competition and whether or not he had lost his feeling for Katniss, if there were even feelings in the first place. I hope he too is spotlighted more in the movie and next books.
Below I have a video to a song called "Don't Fear the Reaper", kind of a pun to the Reaping and also it fits in well with the story because basically when going to the Hunger Games, you had to relieve yourself of the fear of dying. This song stresses that reality.
I think it's safe to say that we all really enjoyed this book. I like that you connected with Haymitch. His character was definitely not focused on enough. Without him Katniss and Peeta would have been lost. As for Gale, it had to be heartbreaking seeing his best friend fight for her life. I can't wait until the movie comes out!
ReplyDeleteI liked how you brought up Haymitch's role in the book and how there wasn't much emphasis or credit given to him. Now that you bring it up though, I definitely agree. Like you said, as senseless as he may seem, no one really knows what that feeling is like. It's relative to soldiers at war now, but still not even the same. I mean, this guy was thrown into an area to kill people for fun basically. Or at least for entertainment. I can't imagine the affects that this would have on you emotionally, especially since he has to basically re-lives it year after year. Good point!
ReplyDeleteI agree with Evan about your comments on Haymitch. Knowing that he had already been in the games and survived, you think that there would be more information about him or insight from him. It's weird to think that he really doesn't have much to say. But in reality, with being engaged to a soldier, war changes people and they are never the same. My fiance is always real quiet when people start bringing up Iraq or the things they did over there. I don't blame him. Why would you want to remember having to kill people??
ReplyDeleteI've never heard that song before but you are right in that it fits as well.