And we’re back! And so is Katniss. Can’t she get a weekend off? Like, one long weekend? Or a regular one? Maybe just a Saturday afternoon and then all day Sunday? Good Lord, Snow.
In The Hunger Games, Katniss had one job: survive in the Arena. For this, she used her skills and knowledge gained through years of surviving in District 12 (although she also was forced to develop skills like being charming and playing to the crowd). In the first section of Catching Fire, she has a new job: calm the districts that had been riled by her act of defiance. For this, she used brand-new skills like pretending to be in love, pretending to care about fashion and luxuries, and getting engaged–basically, going from rejection of patriarchal gender standards to full-on immersion. That implicit compliance now is presented not just as a way to entertain the Capitol masses but also as a way to soothe the oppressed District masses. Will it work? Is she capable of doing it? Will she even be able to just not make it worse? Ready, go.
A reminder here that we’re reading this as if for the first time, so if you’ve already read it all the way through, please do your best not to spoil it for those who haven’t. If you have anything even remotely spoilerish, leave it in comments to the first Hunger Games post yea so long ago, then link to it here using just the names of the characters involved.
Next up: If you’re up for it, next Saturday, June 30, we’re going to take on Part II, chapters 10-18.
My thoughts on Snow’s first meeting with Katniss: He tells Katniss that arranging an accident for her wouldn’t convince anyone, but the population of Panem seems easily convinced of anything. Even if he wasn’t willing to risk it, it would be better to let the unambitious Katniss fade into obscurity than make sure she’s constantly on television. He could command her to appear uncharismatic for the Victory Tour, and then insist that Haymitch continue mentoring tributes in the future so that no one sees Katniss again for several years at least.
Snow displays his lack of finesse again when he cracks down on District 12. In order for bread and circuses to work, they have to be available to everyone. In this world, a minority of people–Capitol dwellers–are well-fed and entertained, but most District residents have nothing. In order to quell the rebellion, Snow should be showing the munificence of the Capitol, not sending spoiled food for Parcel Day and and refusing to honour tesserae claims–that just shows the districts that the government can’t be counted on to keep its promises and makes them feel that they have little to lose. He’s all stick and no carrot.
In District 11, I thought Katniss’s speeches to Thresh and Rue’s families were short but touching. I also like the fact that the crowd’s three-finger gesture was clearly rehearsed and not a spontaneous reaction to her words. It’s realistic that a revolution is not the result of a single, passionately inspirational Jeanne d’Arc figure, but by many people planning together. Katniss is a useful figurehead and widely respected, but not an object of adoration and worship.
I also wondered where District 11 is. I thought it might be the American South, but if Panem covers North America, could it be Mexico? The lack of description of each district is disappointing. Fields, forests, factories, the sea–each area seems to have a single distinguishing characteristic and type of export. They’re also curiously homogenous, though Panem as a whole is diverse. District 12 seems to have just two kinds of people: grey eyes and black hair, and blue eyes and blond hair. No brown eyes. With a total population of just 8,000, I don’t see how the small blond merchant class could survive without inbreeding.
Remember, Snow has a fine line of his own to walk. The people of The Capitol never question much, so they wholeheartedly believe Katniss is madly in love with Peeta. That also means that to have her fade into obscurity would rob the Capitol citizens of their new favourite superstar, and THAT wouldn’t got over well at all. Citizens of the Capitol are happily complacent…but only when they have bread and circuses. Take away either one, and they might start asking unpleasant questions.
I think you have a good point, Medea, about the Capitol not offering the districts enough to maintain its hold. This is where Panem differs from the real Rome, which flourished so long largely because it always made the possibility of citizenship, and a share of the spoils, available to every member of its empire, as a reward for supporting the status quo.
This was probably covered in the previous thread, but I just want to mention how much I love all the bread imagery in this series, because it resonates in so many different directions. This massive cultural history that bread has as the symbol of survival in harsh times keeps being brought into play in new and inventive ways.
Weighing in late–didn’t have a chance to reread these chapters til this morning. Don’t know if anyone is still reading, but why not?
I don’t generally think this is the strongest of the books, but Part I does cover some interesting ground: On the political side, we have the development of revolution, revolt, and increased oppresion throughout Panem, with Katniss at first thinking that escape is an option, and then deciding that only revolution is an option.
On the personal side, Katniss’ interdependence and friendship with Peeta really deepens, but after Gale is whipped, she feels like Gale belongs with her. I do wonder about that. Given Katniss’ penchant for equating love with needing to protect people, whether or not Collins meant it that way, I can’t help but notice that she decides she wants him when he is at his most dependent, even if her mother is the one who actually saves him.
Oh, and Katniss’ mother becomes more of a person in this section–she shows that she’s capable, she shows political awareness as repression gets more heavy-handed, she steps in as a crucial member of the community, providing health care.
I also think it’s really interesting, and I’m not sure if that’s in a good way or not, that what the Capitol expects of Katniss outside the games is pretty gendered (pretty dresses, makeup) while the games themselves pretty much ignore gender and are just about survival, killing, tactics, etc. Not sure what to make of that–a world in which girls are seen as equal physically, emotionally, intellectually, but still expected to perform femininity, and coerced into it if they don’t want to. I may not be phrasing this well, but I also don’t get how anyone who saw Katniss in the arena (which all of Panem did, right?) would buy into her as girly and silly. In love with Peeta, sure. Girly and silly, not so much.
Oh, and the scenes in District 11 were really powerful. Probably the best things in this book.