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The Hunger Games Trilogy Symbolism

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Symbolism through Naming in The Hunger Games Trilogy

Names in The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins are rife with symbolism, both evident and hidden. Through a study of the symbolism behind the names of characters and places, readers can see that Collins addresses far more complex issues and ideas in The Hunger Games trilogy that it may initially seem through a simple surface reading. In her book, Katniss the Cattail, Valerie Frankel tells readers, “There are Roman names and flower names, set as opposites in a world poised on revolution. There are military names, echoing battles in our own history and their link to the battles of Panem—history will never stop cycling” (246). Collins evidently agrees with Frankel that history is …show more content…

Suzanne Collins has two distinct classes of names in The Hunger Games trilogy—those from the Capitol who have Roman names and those from the outlying districts who are given nature-related names. Valerie Frankel notes
Districts 11 and 12 offer nature names: the cat Buttercup; Gale’s mother Hazelle Hawthorne and her children Posy and Gale; Rue, Thresh, Chaff, and Seeder from District 11; and of course, Prim and Katniss. All these link the heroes to the simplicity and bounty of the country, filled with the wholesome beauty of nature… By contrast, the Capitol is full of Roman names, echoing their obsession with heedless luxury: Claudius Templesmith, Cressida, Portia, Messala, Fulvia, Romulus, Lavinia, Purnia, Titus, Plutarch Heavensbee, Coriolanus Snow. There’s Katniss’s Prep Team: Flavius, Octavia, and Venia, headed by Cinna. And there are the Career Tributes with Roman names to honor the Capitol: Cato, Brutus, and Enobaria…Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar offers nine characters who appear in The Hunger Game series (Brutus, Cinna, Portia, Purnia, Flavius, Messala, Cato the Younger, Claudius, and Caesar himself).

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Does The Hunger Games Reflect The Cruel And Oppressive Nature Of Society?

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In Kara Hedash’s article “The Hunger Games Title Explained: why It’s Really Called that” suggests that the title of The Hunger Games reflects on its cruel nature of the society depicted in the film. The games are a yearly reminder to the citizens of Panem that they are powerless against the Captiol and that their lives are disposable. The Hunger Games are a violent and entertaining show that serves to strengthen the Capitol's power and control over its citizens. But does the title really reflect the cruel and oppressive nature of society?

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Imagine your world is divided by the color of your blood. Red and Silver. Imagine your best friend is taken away to an arena of death because their name was pulled from a bowl of others names that just narrowly escaped death. Wouldn’t you want change? In King’s Cage by Victoria Aveyard, the world is divided by blood type.

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Dystopian Themes In The Hunger Games

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The Hunger Games trilogy revolves around universal dystopian themes such as :oppression, rebellion, class tension as well as appearance vs. reality ," Collins creates the world that on one hand seems quite improbable and extreme, but on the other, vividly reflects some specific issues in a real world, like social inequalities, ignorance and passivity of the people" (Macanić 7). Oppression is perhaps the most common and prevalent dystopian theme as it serves as a warning against a highly probable dark future through shedding light on the dark side of contemporary trends such as advanced technology and reality TV-shows .The Capitol 's oppression operates on two levels; districts and individuals. The districts in general and districts 11 and 12 in particular have suffered great injustices at the ruthless hands of the Capitol ; however, there is no greater injustice than The Hunger Games themselves not only are the people of Panem forced to surrender their children as tributes for the Capitol 's citizens viewing pleasure for a crime they had no hand in committing ,but they are also forced to watch helplessly as their children are killed in the most brutal of manners .In Catching Fire (2009) , President Snow decrees that " the male and female tributes will be reaped from their existing pool of victors" in order to get rid of Katniss once and for all ,and to further assert the Capitol 's dominance and quell any thoughts of rebellion(172).

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Along with a cabinet of Capitol members with President Snow who assist him with his intelligent governing. The utopian Capitol is very equipped with highly advanced technology and is where all the outrageous, wealthy people live. Their sense of fashion and choice of life is very unique by the varieties of hair and skin colours, creative makeup, and the strange things they choose to dress up in. Districts 1, 2, and 4 are more wealthy than the others and are considered the Capitol’s lap dogs. They are mainly labeled Career Tributes who happily volunteer for the Hunger Games

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Theme Of Survival In The Hunger Games

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The theme of the dystopian novel The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins is survival. Katniss Everdeen is the epitome of this theme; her disposition luckily possesses all of the attributes needed to survive. Katniss displays the theme of survival because she is resourceful, has integrity, and has perseverance. One trait of Katniss's that helps project the story's theme of survival is her resourcefulness.

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Theme Of Abuse Of Power In The Hunger Games

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That’s how Americans get their entertainment. In addition to the previous statement, hunger and starvation is another symbol that describes the abuse of power is hunger and starvation. Hunger and starvation play a huge part in the storyline because the capitol has most of the food but in some districts food is very sparse such as District Twelve which is where Katniss resides. The reason that Katniss is participating in the Hunger Games and the reason why it’s called the Hunger Games is because whoever wins the games will be rewarded with extravagant gifts and mostly food so to speak. Furthermore, there is a lot of violence and war which makes this book gruesome and fun to read.

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Theme # 1- No matter what tyrannical environment you live in, your identity can never be changed The Hunger Games focuses on the theme of identity and how it is immutable in any tyrannical environment. This tells the audience that no one can take away your identity and it can only be controlled by you. In the movie, 24 tributes are forced to enter a game where they kill each other in order to survive which led them to losing their identity and becoming pawns to entertain the people of the Capitol.

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In the beginning paragraph of The Hunger Games, Katniss explains that, “They’re not our kids, of course. But they might as well be. Gale’s two little brothers and a sister. Prim. And you may as well throw in our mothers, too, because how would they live without us?

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For instance, When the Mayor of district 12 begins to tell the history of Panem at the Reaping, Katniss says, “The rules of the Hunger Games are simple. In punishment for the uprising, each of the twelve districts must provide one girl and one boy, called tributes to participate” (Collins 18). The Hunger Games require tributes from each district as a punishment for the uprising that happened in district 13. This punishment by the Capitol is a way to demonstrate to the people that any efforts of revolt against the system in future would result in severe punishments and deaths. Subsequently in the novel, when Katniss questions about the Avox, Haymitch comments, “Someone who commited a crime.

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Theme Of Love In The Hunger Games

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The overarching theme of Suzanne Collins’ novel, The Hunger Games, is that love can make people forget their basic survival instincts as shown by Katniss’ willingness to put herself in peril to save her loved ones such as Primrose Everdeen, Peeta Mellark, and the girl from district eleven Rue. Love 's effect on a person 's survival instincts is first demonstrated by Katniss ' love for her younger sister, Primrose (Prim).In The Hunger Games, every year the districts hold a reaping to choose the tributes that go to the games. Prim gets called at the reaping and Katniss volunteers for her. In paragraph six chapter two of the novel it states “With one sweep of my arm, I push her behind me. ‘I volunteer!’

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