The REAL NEWS

OH SCANDALOUS!

"Kim Kardashian West just posted a new selfie on instagram, and sources close to Mrs.West disclose that she does not take her own pictures..  lets not forget Chris Brown tapped a women on the shoulder this morning in Laguardia Airport, for what reason? Also, not to mention the other breaking news concerning Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez being no longer in love, but can this photo of them together tell us otherwise? Their steamy love looked impossible to break.. Lets hope these lovers can find happiness together again! That's it for our important news report, have a great night, this is FOX 5 signing out."

This is important NEWS? Although the text above is fictional and an exaggerated example of what a news report in America looks like; More often then not, I find myself coming across similar types of news reports being weaved into other more serious reports. Figures like Justin Bieber, Kim Kardashian West, Caitlyn Jenner, and pretty much any successful person in the entertainment business becomes a household name from the most inappropriate place, the news. However, I would not be upset about this if there was actually a legit reason for their appearance on screen.

That is not the case most of the time...

With that said, when I began to fall deeper into novel called The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, by Suzanne Collins, I was surprised to see this sense of manipulation and/or celebrity culture being utilized in the novel as well. A character by the name of Caesar Flickerman (The Hunger Games host) plays a huge role in distracting the people of Panem from the important revolts going on in their surrounding districts. His plan for keeping the people ignorant to the revolts was to entertain them with the lives of 'celebrity victors.' These celebrities are individuals who were crowned victors in pervious Hunger Games, and are now forced to once again face off against each other with only one allowed survivor... Sounds pretty twisted and gruesome right?.. Well, Caesar was so good at his job that the people stayed ignorant throughout the entire novel, and they ultimately enjoyed the gruesome battle... because it was.. so entertaining.. These are some quotes from Flickerman that showed his attempt at making the games eventful:

"Katniss Everdeen, you look fabulous! Doesn’t she?" (Collins).


"But, Katniss, on more serious note. I think we’re all here a little disappointed, more than a little disappointed, that a certain wedding did not take place. Aren’t we folks? Mm…alas. But, am I correct in assuming that this is the gown that you would have worn on that day, yes or no?" (Collins).


"I love it! I love it! Don’t you love it, folks?!" (Collins).

Caesar Flickerman was the messenger of the information, but not the creator of it. There were people behind the scenes, who assigned the topics for Flickerman to discuss on the show with hopes of distracting the general public from the events that mattered. I believe this novel mirrors a lot of what America is doing at the moment when it comes to reporting news that is not important. There are wars going on in the world as i write this paper, and I am not aggressively being informed about them. When on the other hand, last year the whole world witnessed Bruce Jenner win the Arthur Ashe Courage Award for becoming Caitlyn Jenner (Bruce became a women). With news being focused on irrelevant things, this makes me believe that just like in the novel Catching Fire, the government or an even higher power is trying to hide important information. Just like the revolts in the novel, legitimate details on the wars America participates in is very difficult to find. Unless you are provided with a good source, or have a first hand look at the action. For all we know, there may be a President Snow somewhere in the world, making sure Americans do not see the desperation, starvation, and impatience of our surrounding countries. If that is to be the case, we can definitely say that Suzanne Collins was trying to give us a warning.

HONEST JOURNALISM IS DEAD. 

-Chris H

Collins, Suzanne, and Elizabeth B. Parisi. Catching Fire. Print.

#5

It's Really Not a Debate

Katniss is a hero. Point blank, but it honestly depends where you stand in the spectrum. Whether you are of that 99% or of that 1%, you can see Katniss Everdeen as the protagonist or just the anti- hero of the novel. You would think that it shouldn’t be a serious debate, but it really is something that can be seen as a highly debatable topic. For instance, if you are of that 99% then you see her as a hero. Much like a role model just because she has shown her true colors in the games and in the lives around her. You can also say she is sympathetic just for the fact that she is rebelling against the Capitol for those like her in the less fortunate districts. She finds excitement and pride when the less fortunate districts receive their food and satisfy the tiniest bit of their overall starvation due to limited resources because she has won the previous game. On another note, she did volunteer as tribute for her sister Prim and that’s something she has remembered through it all especially being attacked in the games by the jabberjays which caused her to believe they were hurting what she has been trying to protect.

“Prim… Rue…. Aren’t they the very reason I have to try and fight?” (123).

On the other hand, she can be seen as the public enemy. Especially to that 1%. They see her as a threat to their society. They see her as an endangerment to their order. People like them like order and people of the inner districts also like what they have compared to those of the outer districts.

Imagine, your world today built on order then suddenly threatened by someone who is an outsider. Wouldn’t you be highly concerned? Wouldn’t you want her to come to her senses and leave everything as is?

“I outsmarted his sadistic Hunger Games, made the Capitol look foolish, and consequently undermined his control” (18). 

That alone should prove that she’s disrupting the community even in the slightest way. Wouldn’t you start questioning the hands of your supposed government if something was becoming unfamiliar to what you expected? But, in an ideal world, there are the norms and there are certainly the outrages of others who are in a sense seen as intruders or violators. In Catching Fire, Katniss Everdeen is that person who is currently breaking the order of it all. She has made it quite complicated for the Capitol to keep it’s order especially because everything is practically aired to the public, but she has been doing what is needed to create an ideal world for everyone. Everyone meaning those who reside in both the inner parts and outer parts of Panem.

“Because I’d love to do just that and more. To break through the smug veneer of those who have used their brains to find amusing ways to kill us. To make them realize that while we are vulnerable to the Capitol’s cruelties, they are as well” (236).

To me, Katniss is a hero—the protagonist to the misfortunes that suffocates her world. She might be cruel in ways and she is definitely not completely sympathetic, but look at the bigger picture: She trying. Not only her but the rebels who support her cause. As of now, Katniss Everdeen is their hope against the Capitol’s reign.

“If I can make it clear that I’m defying the Capitol right up to the end, the Capitol will have killed me… but not my spirit. What better way to give hope to the rebels?” (243).

I honestly don’t see it any other way except for the fact that Peeta potentially is and can be a better protagonist to the novel because he is willing to put himself out there in place for others, especially Katniss, but in the eyes of the public, Katniss shows true.

“The bird, the pin, the song, the berries, the watch, the cracker, the dress that burst into flames. I am the mockingjay. The one that survived despite the Capitol’s plans. The symbol of the rebellion” (336).

As the victor of the previous game and defying the consequences of changing the rules, she has made an impact in society. She has created a change in how things are supposed to be according to the Capitol and those who make up the government like President Snow. She as the symbol of rebellion, has made it one closer step to making everything the way it should be in an ideal world.

Works Cited

Collins, Suzanne. Catching Fire. New York, NY: Scholastic Press, 2009. Print.

Sonthavy Kem

Character Analysis 

Is Katniss the antihero the district needs or is Collins highlighten something else?

Erik L.
I find it difficult how Suzanne Collins portrays Katniss in the hunger games and i'm stumbling upon if she acts on her motives for the greater good or for her own good.She is the symbol of what the capitol did not attend to make, ,as mention in the book, she is the Mockingjay and her rebellious personality fits the role.But there  is some type of  duality going on  I feel when I read how she acts contrary to what we think heroes are suppose to act and how she as women acts against the capitol. She acts like she is better than everyone else, even people from the capitol. I thought heroes were supposed to have certain virtues like humbleness but it seems like Katniss is deficient of that. Her perception of herself being better than other is highlighted in one specific scene. Three of her stylists come to get her ready for her photo shoot and Katniss comments on their conversation.

“After they’ve exhausted the topic of the Quarter Quell, my prep team launches into a whole lot f stuff about their incomprehensibly silly lives… and a long story from Octavia about what a mistake it was to have everyone wear feathers to her birthday party.” (Collins 37).

There is yet another scene where Cinna tells her to act as if she was above everyone else and she was happy to do it because she feels that she is.

“’…I just want you to look straight ahead, as if the entire audience is beneath your notice.’ ‘Finally something I’ll be good at.’ I say” (207).

Yet again there was another scene where she acted as if she was better than the capitol when she gobbling down food ironically she would have never tasted in her district full of miners and barely ate a decent meal.
" I act delighted, but I have zero interest in these Capitol people.  They are only distractions from the food." (78).
She even treats Peeta badly as if he is not going through the same process of ultimately being in this ridiculous hunger games that they have in Panem.
"'What are you so angry about?' Peeta asks... 'Forget it,' I say with a shake of my head. 'It's a lot of things.'" (230).
 I think Collins purposely does this to make us not like Katniss not that she is superior but she isn't acting as heroically and acted more like a woman who is being forced yet again to do things she doesn't want to do. In other words, it is much worse for her because she is a women and not a man , like Peeta , who has to  participate in the hunger games. Katniss never asked to be the head of a rebellion.When she refused to end the game the way the capitol wanted it to, she was just acting like herself rebelling against the norms or the capitol because she didn't want them to have control over her actions. Collins I think uses this as an example of a women going against what a man tells them to do not because it is something  for the greater good but it is for their own good going against something they don't want to do.
I'm not sure of her being a symbol of rebellion , is the reason why she is portrayed the way she is .She goes against the traditional sense of the heroes that  defy our own culturally hegemony.When I think of heros I don't think of Katniss  rebellious nature to be part  of their identity. But i think some of us don't first think of a women to be a hero as well ?.I think Collins wants us to self reflect why we may dislike Katniss in the sense of being an antihero and  take into consideration a woman who has to do certain things that she doesn't want to do. Katniss doesn't want a rebellion to happen but she also doesn't want to be in the hunger games. All these could be used as parallels of how our society force women to do certain things they don't want to do and if they go against it, then they are  not fitting with the standards we set . The same goes for Katniss's situation of affiliating herself emotionally with  Peeta , as something she has to do or else her love ones would die.

Katniss isn't the hero the  districts need but a strong rebellious women that the districts can admire and look up to, so they themselves can unit to rebel against the capitol.

Work cited:
Collins, Suzanne, and Elizabeth B. Parisi. Catching Fire. Print.

Ordinary Katniss Everdeen or Rebellion Leader MockingJay?

Throughout Catching Fire my mind was thrown into a billion directions. For the most part I understood what was going on, but also felt like there was more to the novel. For example, I really think Katniss has become crazy. Honestly who wouldn’t if you were in her situation? You get picked from each district then just get thrown into some map created by the Capitol to run around until someone else kills you! Count me out bro, I would try anyway I could to not be apart of the games. I feel like before the first games, Katniss was a sweet girl, good to her family, a people person. Now, she’s built to be mean, to not want to take crap from the all mighty Captiol. She really is quite ballsy if you ask me. I feel like she represents her cause very strongly throughout the text. You can tell that she’s never enjoyed watching or being in the games, rebel at first sight!

Katniss really started to act crazy again just around the time of the quarter quell. They decide to pick past victors to kill each other in the games. Like you’re messing with everyone’s minds now! Makes a lot a sense that the Capitol would do this though. Katniss is the key to all the rebellions and uprisings throughout the districts. If she somehow dies in these games it will be over. Just what they need. At this point in the novel Katniss really does not know that she is the ring leader for this justice against the Capitol. 

To begin this quarter quell Katniss really doesn't understand her power as of yet. She is the mighty holder of the MockingJay. It is the symbol of rebellion that everyone follows, not directly, but quietly from each of the districts. This was her token from the first games. Going in these games Katniss does not want any allies except Peeta. She wants to protect him and save his life at all costs. She can’t stand the games and before they get put in the game she begins to rebel. This is one of the only instances  in the novel where she actually comes up with he own ideas and does not rely on other people or Peeta. I cannot see Katniss as a leader of such a district wide rebellion. 

 While being at the skills contest for the game makers Katniss wants to rebel. “I go over to knot tying station and get a length of rope. I’ve come up a respectable noose. I drag one of the target dummies out into the middle of the room, using some chinning bars, hang it so it dangles by the neck.” (236) “The flesh colored fabric of the dummy skin makes a good, absorbent canvas. Then I step away quickly to watch  the reaction on the game makers faces as they read the name on the dummy SENECA CRANE” (237). Something that only the game makers, Captiol, and Katniss know about. This makes the crowd the game-makers quite. Katniss has a kink in their armor. 

 Cinna, her costume and make up designer has come to ready her just before the games. He says. “Oh, I almost forgot this. “He takes my gold MockingJay pin from my pocket and fixes to my jumpsuit” (262). During the games things are harsh, many tributes die on the first day and it is a blood bath that has been much quicker than any other games they’ve seen in the past. Katniss is the only one that really shows rebellion towards these games as well as Peeta, little does she know that some of the others are going along with their ideas as well. 

Finnick wanted to be partners/allies with Katniss from the get go, but Katniss being so independent and focused only on Peeta has other plans. She believed this was her job no matter what. “Pushes me out of the way. “Let me.”  Then he pinches Peeta’s nostrils shut.” For surely he intends to make certain that Peeta’s death, too keep any hope of life from returning to him.” Finnick begins to put the spot over Peeta’s heart with the heels of his hands (280). Even after Finnick saved Peeta’s life at the force field, she still had plans of trying to kill him. “All I wanted was to keep Peeta alive, and I couldn’t and Finnick could, I should be nothing but grateful.” “I will never stop owing Finnick Odiair Ever.” “Now I could kill him in his sleep?”(282).  During this time this event Katniss needs to reevaluate things in her life and needs to stop worrying about the task of killing Finnick. “I noticed a gleam of gold on Peeta’s chest.” “My MockingJay has been engraved on it. Is this token I ask.” “Yes. Do you mind that I used you're MockingJay? I wanted us to match he says” (283). This piece of the novel has so much meaning. I believe that there is something more than love between one another but equal justice and for a different life with the MockingJay on him. 

Towards the end of the novel I begin to see that she is the one and only MockingJay, she is uniqued. The rest of the past victors have set up plans to save Katniss and bring her home anyway they can. Katniss can be a hot head all she wants, but in the end she needs to learn to trust the people around her, something that was impossible to do at the last hunger games she partook in, except for Peeta. I believe that Katniss has strong ideas, one that she doesn't even know about yet but will soon find out. She is different then all the others, she is the MockingJay.

Chris S.

Character Analysis 

Collins, Suzanne, and Elizabeth B. Parisi. Catching Fire. Print.

"Catching Bible"

While I was thinking and contemplating on what to possibly write for this blogpost I realized the Susan Collins sneaks in many different kinds of allusions and I went on a hunt to hunt down possible allusions or references. Thinking that this book hints out many situations that may possibly be occurring in our society, such as, income inequality, social class inequality and diversity, capitalism, and so on. Not knowing which to write out I figured that I would search for biblical allusions from the book Catching Fire. Now, I don't really think Susan Collins wrote this book in order to reference Christianity, but hey, it seemed like it could be a fun scavenger hunt. :)

Here are some references, examples, and possible allusions that I found……

THE SCOURGING AT THE PILLAR

During biblical times, while Jesus was on earth, he was accused by the officials for many reasons. When Jesus was sent to Pilot, one of his punishments was receiving a certain amount of lashes while being stripped down of clothes or garments and being tied to a pillar or post. This scourging at the pillar was a popular punishment given in order to dehumanize, humiliate, severely hurt the victim, and publicly display the consequences of doing that crime. Jesus was given 40 lashes, and in the same way Gale from the Hunger Games was accused and brought to the pillar or post in the center of town, he was given the scourging at the pillar punishment as well. Gale was given 40 lashes shirtless, just like Jesus, and he too served as a public example to those in town.

“Gale’s wrists are bound to a wooden post.” (Anderson 104)

“His jacket’s been cast aside on the ground, his shirt torn away. He slumps unconscious on his knees, held up only by the ropes at his wrists. What used to be his back is a raw, bloody slab of meat.” (Anderson 105)

“He was brought to the square, forced to plead guilty to his crime. by the time I showed up, he’d been lashed at least forty times. He passed out around thirty.” (Anderson 118)

BAPTISM IN THE ARENA

Another reference I found took place in the arena, while Katniss and the others were in the jungle, a huge poisonous fog set in and surrounded them. It created blisters and sores on their bodies causing a whole lot of  pain. This poisonous fog represents evil surrounding us, engulfing us in pain, and corrupting us. However, when Katniss places her hand into the water, the sores dissolve away and she feels relieved after submerging her complete body under the water. This can represent the idea of baptism. Baptism is the belief that one has corruptions, pains, and sin and after they submerge under the waters, all of that dissolves away as they come out new. 

“Tiny, searing stabs. Wherever the droplets of mist touch my skin.” (Anderson 298)

“Droplets spring free of the body of vapor. They burn, but not like fire. Less a sense of heat and more of intense pain as the chemicals find our flesh, cling to it, and burrow down through the layers of our skin. “ (Anderson 299)

“And through the blue layer of water, I see a milky substance leaching out of the wounds on my skin. As the whiteness diminishes, so does the pain.” (Anderson 304)

“…opening my eyes underwater, sniffing water into my sinuses and snorting it out, and even gurgling repeatedly to wash out my throat, I’m functional enough…” (Anderson 304)

THE PLAGUES

Another quick comparison involves the clock shaped arena. Every section represented an hour and at each hour, a deadly challenge would be placed in that section. In the Bible, God sent 10 plagues to the people of Egypt, these plagues were horrible and some even deadly. For example, one plague that occurred in Egypt included the river of

 blood, similar to the rain of blood that came upon Johanna in the arena during the Hunger Games. 

“We thought it was rain, you know, because of the lightning, and we were all so thirsty. But when it started coming down, it turned out to be blood. Thick, hot blood. You couldn’t see, you couldn’t speak without getting a mouthful.” (Anderson 319-320)

“Tick, tock. Tick, tock.” (Anderson 320)

“My eyes sweep around the full circle of the arena and I know she’s right. “Tick, tock. This is a clock.”” (Anderson 325)

“A clock. I can almost see the hands ticking around the twelve-sectioned face of the arena. Each hour begins a new horror, a new Gamemaker weapon, and ends the previous.” (Anderson 326) 

-Leslie T. 

WORKS CITED:

Anderson, M.T. Feed. Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press, 2002. Print.

OUR OWN HUNGER GAMES

When we take a close look at the book Catching Fire, we can see glimpses of the world we live in today. AMERICA. A place of equality and justice for all. What does that really mean? Is everyone treated the same? Does segregation still exist? Of course segregation does not exist, that was over years ago! Well, that’s what everyone says, but is it true? Are we really all equals?

In this book, we see a perfect example of how the life of someone living in the Capitol can go in comparison with life in the Districts. There is a major difference when we compare the two side by side. In the Districts, the people are barely surviving, they are starving to death, they are dying from disease, they are dying from punishments, and they are being dehumanized altogether. When we look back at the history of slavery in this country, researchers tell us that slave masters would whip their slaves as a technique to dehumanize them and remind them that they are not humans, but instead, property. Isn’t this relatable to the people of Panem? Everything belongs to the Capitol, and to be more specific, everything belongs to President Snow. The meadows, the animals, the products, the people, and the tributes. 

The Capitol’s government has control of everything and they are well aware of this. One example of this can be seen through the whipping of Gale. He was hunting because his family is starving and there is no other means of providing food, but what happens? Apparently, even the animals aren’t free to the people. Apparently, the animals belong to the Ca

pitol. Apparently, even the people belong to the Capitol and Gale is whipped by Thread to remind himself and the others that EVERYTHING BELONGS TO THE CAPITOL! There is no freedom, there is no equality, and there is no privacy. 

Life in Panem has turned into a forced system where your every move, especially Katniss’s, is monitored and highly influenced by the larger powers of the Capitol. They can’t fight it. They can only go along with it. 

“I can’t fight the sun. I can only watch helplessly as it drags me into a day that I’ve been dreading for months.” 

(Anderson p. 3)

Over and over again, the Districts are forced to remember how they are not humans, but instead are property of the Capitol, available for the Capitol’s work and entertainment, through the annual Hunger Games. 

“Not only are we in the districts forced to remember the iron grip of the Capitol’s power each year, we are forced to celebrate it.” (Anderson 4) 

“Peeta, they bring us here to fight to the death for their entertainment. Really, this is nothing by comparison.” 

(Anderson p.80)

The Hunger Games is a competition, a bloody competition for entertainment and a chance to actually hope you get food and a chance to make it through another year. It was created by the Capitol and besides the fact that innocent lives are taken for amusement, the loved ones of those tributes are forced to watch the games. A similar real life example of this was lynching. Masters (a.k.a. the Capitol) would lynch a slave (similar to the killing and beatings of tributes and towns people) in the middle of town or in front of all the other slaves in order to give them a sign. It was like a billboard on the highway, restating the great power of the Capitol, their control, and an act of dehumanizing the slaves, reminding them once again that they are not humans. 

“…if a girl from District Twelve of all places can defy the Capitol and walk away unharmed, what is to stop them from doing the same?” (Anderson p.21)

“I can’t let the Capitol hurt Prim. And then it hits me. They already have.” (Anderson 122)

Well, if you look at it through the eyes of the people from the Capitol, It’s only two tributes from every District, it’s not like everyone is getting killed. Plus, look at what honor and pride they can bring to their district if they win. So, does that mean that no one else suffers? Wrong. Everyone suffers. Yes, it is only two tributes, but what about their families, sisters, brothers, classmates, fellow workers, friends, etc. Everyone connected to that person is affected. Yes, two risk the chances of not surviving, but the district as a whole suffers with them, especially those that love them. 

And now twenty-three of us will be killed to show how even that hope was an illusion. (Anderson p.176)

This freedom they think they have, isn’t really theirs. In the same way, our freedom isn’t ours. Those of higher wealth and status have the advantage, they have the control. Perhaps, we are not thrown into an arena expected to survive and kill others in order to be able to provide food for our families, but in a similar way, we are thrown into this arena where we fight for jobs and opportunities, where we fight hard in order to be able to provide for ourselves and our families. There are those districts, or social classes, that may have the advantage and then there are those who are in the deeper end. They don’t have connections, they don’t have the same opportunities, and they are trying their best to get through the week. Is this what equality looks like? A place where the government, those officials in charge, and the ones with good status and connections can afford to fill up a pantry, cook meals and still throw out food at the end of the day, when at the same time there are others who perhaps haven't even had one meal that day. We think this isn’t true, but we are just lying to ourselves. We avoid the fact that there is a serious issue going on outside of our bubble because the system purposely entertains us with other things to keep us distracted. So, if we think deeply about it, what’s the difference between life now and life in Panem? Something to think about, right?

-Leslie 

WORKS CITED:

Anderson, M.T. Feed. Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press, 2002. Print.