(I am going to try to do this without spoiling
anything for those who have not read the book or seen the movie! I will not
reveal the end!)
A
Prelude..
I delayed seeing this movie as long as possible. When
it first came out, I found the very idea of kids watching kids kill each other
repulsive. However, I read a few reviews
that said the book had some excellent political overtones, and that the book
was food for thought. So I put the book
on reserve at the library.
First I read the book and found it to be a very good
read, with no objectionable content for my teenage daughters. The book, the
first in a trilogy, is itself divided into three parts. Part I , “The Tributes”, gives the history of
16-year-old Katniss, her family, town, and the games in general; Gale, her best
friend, an older boy with whom she has hunted for years; and Peeta, the bakers’
son, who will be selected as the other tribute.
Part II, “The Games”, is the suspenseful story of the games. Part III, “The Victor”, contains the climax
and conclusion.
I passed the book along to my 14-year-old, who
stayed up all night reading it and begged me to take her to the movie, which
was still playing in some local theatres. I figured the movie would be
comparable to one of the classic science fiction movies my husband and I have
enjoyed, such as “Logan’s Run”. I asked my 13-year-old to read Part I as a
requirement to go. I felt that Part I gave enough background for her to
understand where the main characters were coming from and the political
purposes of the games. Part II and III
were largely composed of action which would be played out in the movie; she
could catch up on Katniss’ thoughts later if she wished.
Briefly,
the background story from Part I is…
Basically, America has been transformed into 12
districts, ruled by the Capitol. There
had been an uprising, which was squelched by the Capitol, followed by a period
of peace. To keep all the districts in
their place and remind them never to try to revel again, every year each
district must send 2 tributes, a boy and a girl ages 12 to 18 to fight to the
death. The children are selected via a Reaping.
One victor emerges, bringing showers of gifts and wealth to the family
and district.
Katniss is from District 12, which is very poor. She
and Gale hunt outside the district borders, which is illegal, but they are not
punished because the town officials like to buy their meat and fruit on the
black market. They dream of running
away, knowing they can fend for themselves, but know they cannot because their
families depend upon them for survival.
Katniss’ mother was mentally incapacitated when her father died, and she
has been taking care of her 12-year-old sister Primrose for years.
The unfairness of poverty is shown by how it related
to the odds of being selected. For extra
food for the family, an eligible adolescent can put his or her name into the
drawing more than once; Katniss and Gale often have had to do this. Gale’s name
is in the drawing 42 times this year.
Primrose, whose name was only in once, is chosen, and Katniss volunteers
in her place. Peeta is the boy who is
chosen.
Peeta has been in love with Katniss since they were
children – but she does not know this until much later. She knows that once when she was very young
and her family was starving he threw her a loaf of bread; she never forgot this
and felt indebted to him. She doesn’t
know his true feelings for her and distrusts him, knowing they may have to kill
each other in the end.
My
thoughts…
I was not disappointed by the movie. I was glad I had read it in advance, partly
because I knew what Katniss was thinking from the book, and her thoughts were
not narrated in the movie, but also because I knew when to avert my eyes,
because I knew when the deaths and injuries would occur. My daughters laughed at me, watching the
scenes wide-eyed. Watching sideways, I
could see not too much was shown. (“No
gratuitous violence”, one review had promised.)
I was disappointed, however, that the movie changed
the origin of the Mockingjay pin. In the
movie, Katniss finds it on the black market.
In the book, it was given to her as a gift from the mayor’s daughter, a
rich girl with little chance of being selected as tribute. The Mockingjay, an accidental mutation left
over from experiments done by the government, was significant as a symbol of
the government’s totalitarianism.
The movie added in outside perspectives that I had
wondered about during the book, but which could not be revealed as Katniss was
narrating from her singular point of view.
Katniss’ mother and sister were shown watching her on-screen. So was
Gale, as she feigned romantic feelings for Peeta and kissed him in the cave. Haymitch, their mentor, was shown talking it
up with the sponsors to get the much-needed gifts of medicine sent to them, and
even persuading the game makers that they should allow Katniss and Peeta to
continue on because the audience would love the romantic angle.
A poignant scene in the book was the death of Rue,
the 12-year-old girl from District 11 who reminds Katniss of her little
sister. The two girls had temporarily
teamed up, and Katniss found Rue trapped in a net. She didn’t get to her on
time; she was pierced by a spear. In the
book, Katniss shoots Rue’s killer partly out of revenge, partly out of self
defense, and later realizes that was her first intentional kill. In the movie, she gets Rue out of the net and
then sees her attacker; she shoots defending Rue, but the spear still pierces
Rue. She holds Rue in her arms as she
dies, singing her a lullaby she remembers her father singing.
In the book it had also been revealed that she did
not like to sing, because it reminded her of her father, who used to sing to
the mockingjays, and who had died in a mining accident. Gale’s father had died in the same
accident. The movie had opened with her
singing this same lullaby to her little sister, which was lovely for the effect
of her later singing to Rue as if it was her little sister, but this really
would not have happened because she did not like to sing. She does it for Rue, however, because she is
the first real human contact she has had since the games began.
In the book, Katniss remembers what Peeta had said
about hoping he could do something that made a difference in how people thought
about the games. She weaves flowers
around Rue’s hair, knowing that they will have to show this on television. She honors the girl, and for this she is
thanked doubly by District 11: first, by sending her a piece of bread shaped in
the symbol of their district, and second, by the boy from District 11 later sparing
her life in appreciation.
In the movie, Katniss is shown picking the flowers
and placing them around Rue. Then she puts up a hand sign, one that had been
shown by her people after she volunteered as tribute, rather than giving the
expected applause. It seems to be a sign
of solemn respect, one that recognizes that something is wrong with the way
things are being done here. The movie
cuts away to a scene of the people of District 11 watching her, giving the sign
back, and then starting an open rebellion.
This (I believe) is the foreshadowing of what will happen in the next
installment. General Snow is pondering
what to do with her, and this is when Haymitch pulls strings to persuade him to
let her live.
In
conclusion…
I won’t go into how the others died. It comes down
to Katniss and Peeta in the end. I also won’t reveal what happens here, but
there is emotional deception which is necessary for survival, and the way it
ends is not quite satisfactory to the Game Makers. Katniss is warned that they will have it in
for her. There is much to look forward
to in the next installment, “Catching Fire”, which I am going to put on reserve
next.
Just a bit about the name “Catching Fire”. Katniss’
stylist, wanting to ensure she is never forgotten, designs outfits for her and
Peeta that spurt out fire. He says he wants everyone to remember Katniss as “the
girl who was on fire”. During the games,
when Katniss has run far toward the edge of the arena, the game makers send
fire balls to chase her back near the others.
I can see “Catching Fire” as a book about rebellion she has incited, as
well as her being pursued by the government.
I do think this book and the movie, seen together
with your teen, can be an excellent starting point for conversations about
poverty, government, and respect for life.
I would advise reading it ahead of time so you know exactly what to
expect. Only you know if your child is ready for it.
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