Throughout the novel Katniss is carefully choosing the way
she displays herself, her actions, and watch she says, knowing that the whole of
Panem is watching her. After being forced to watch the Hunger Games every year
for her whole life Katniss has picked up on important strategies which tributes
have executed over the years. From the moment she volunteers to take her sister’s
place in the games Katniss has complete control of her emotions, forcing
herself not to cry no matter how upsetting it is. She explains that “when they
televise the replay of the reapings tonight, everyone will make note of my
tears, and I’ll be marked as an easy target. A weakling. I will give no one
that satisfaction” (23). This realization that her every move will be watched,
analyzed, and possibly used against her pushes Katniss into survival mode. Once
she has entered this focused zone Katniss is able to hide her true emotions
regarding most things, and conforms to whichever character best suits her
goals. Even as Katniss says goodbye to her mother and sister she asserts, “I
cannot afford to get upset, to leave this room with puffy eyes and a red nose.
Crying is not an option. There will be more cameras at the train station” (34).
The fact that Katniss knows this without any coaching from Haymitch or Effie
shows the extent to which all characters in the novel twist their actions and
emotions as a result of the knowledge that they are constantly on television for
all of Panem to see.
Once Katniss is in the arena her exploitation of the
audience grows to any even higher degree. Katniss knows that in order to
survive and be able to go home to her mother and sister, she must charm the
capitol citizens watching her every move, so that they will sponsor her and
send her gifts when she needs them. When Katniss learns that Peeta is working
with the careers her immediate thoughts include, “how does this affect the
betting odds? Will we lose sponsors? Do we even have sponsors? Yes, I feel certain we do, or at least did” (165).
Katniss’ only focus is on survival, and without the cameras I do not believe that
Katniss would be acting the way she does within the arena. As she hunts Katniss
even remarks, “I’m glad for the cameras now. I want sponsors to see…that I’m a
good bet” (164). Katniss specifically shows off her good hunting skills,
exploiting the cameras so that possible sponsors are able to see how
resourceful she is. Katniss’ careful conformity to the character the capitol
wants her to play is the reason she acts how she does throughout the novel, and
is ultimately the reason she is able to survive and win the Hunger Games.
As Emma points out, Katniss is very concerned with making sure she is at an advantage with the sponsors. She is very calculating in what she does and how she appears, so as to make herself desirable to the sponsors. However, she is not the only person working to make herself a popular tribute. Peeta “made [her] look desirable” when he confessed his love for her during his interview (136). He is the one who is best at manipulating sponsors from outside the arena, he “has the audience from the get-go” (130). Katniss is best at not showing emotions, being a tough, albeit atypical, tribute, rather than exploiting the Capitol citizens’ emotions.
ReplyDeleteAlthough Katniss remains oblivious, it is pretty clear to the reader, after the tracker jacker incident, when Peeta tells Katniss to run, that Peeta is in the Games for Katniss, not himself. Katniss doubts Peeta for a good portion of the book, until after it is announced that there could be two victors. After the rule change “[w]hatever doubts I’ve had about him dissipate because if either of us took the other’s life now we’d be pariahs when we returned” (247). This is the turning point when Katniss takes up the role of a star-crossed lover. As for Peeta, “there’s no question that he is carrying this romance thing on his shoulders” (363). He is just as concerned with manipulating the sponsors as Katniss is, he just has a different goal than her.
The way Katniss and others in the arena appeal to the audience so sponsors "rain gifts" (Collins 302) on them carries parallels to the way modern reality TV personalities often do anything they can to appeal to the audience. As Emma points out, as the stakes rise, Katniss’ desperation to gain and retain sponsors becomes more and more of a driving force behind her actions. Ultimately, the sponsors come through in a big way, providing Katniss with the tools she needs to keep both herself and Peeta alive. While modern reality TV is not life and death, the stakes are often high enough for contestants to turn into cartoon personalities.
ReplyDeleteAnyone who has seen any of the thirty-seven seasons of “The Bachelor” can attest to the show’s ridiculousness. Behind the premise that will never work, contestants often exaggerate their personalities to gain air time and popularity with the audience. While contestants’ goal in the show is technically to be proposed to by the bachelor/bachelorette at the end of the season, it’s no secret and no surprise that many contestants are focused primarily on promoting themselves. A prime example of this is Corinne from the newest season, who played herself up as the ultimate childish, entitled brat. She quickly rose to being a focal point of the show, as producers (ie. Gamemakers) saw her outlandish behavior as something that would surely keep an audience engaged. While Corinne’s motive (fame) differs greatly from Katniss’ (survival), both put on acts to get what they want.
Katniss' acute knowledge of the sponsors and how the Games work, I feel, was in reality one of her biggest strengths in the book. While her hunting skills and experience with strife and struggle to survive are important, I feel like more important is her ability to continually discern and question the cameras, and how to appear best before them. Even with Peeta before the Games, Katniss remarks "It’s messing with my mind too much, trying to keep straight when we’re supposedly friends and when we’re not. At least when we get into the arena, I’ll know where we stand." (95) Katniss has a continual awareness of the tricks and personas played at the Hunger Games, and thanks to this awareness, she knows both how to exploit the viewers and the sponsors. Even with Peeta's declaration of love she thinks "The star-crossed lovers…Peeta must have been playing that angle all along. Why else would the Gamemakers have made this unprecedented change in the rules?" (247) It is because Katniss keeps this awareness that she can save both herself and Peeta from the games, and beyond simply surviving, she turns the Hunger Games into a historic event. Perhaps her hunting skills alone could have won, but it is because of her exploitation and manipulation that she can make something noteworthy out of these games, a fact that is shown in later books in the trilogy.
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