When it comes to the Hunger Games,
appearances are everything. From the
moment the reaping begins to the countdown at the Cornucopia, how each tribute
looks has the chance to determine whether they survive or perish once they
enter the arena and blood begins to spill.
Everyone dresses up for the reaping. Gale tells Katniss to “wear something pretty”
(14), and she, her mother, and Prim all wear nice clothes. Katniss washes her hair, and her mother gives
her one of her old dresses to wear, which is special because Katniss’s mother’s
old clothes “are very precious to her” (15).
The reaping is where Effie Trinket—the character who is, arguably, the
most obsessed with looks—is introduced.
In typical Capitol fashion, she is decorated in unnatural colors: a “scary
white grin” and “pinkish hair” that “must be a wig” (17-18, 20). Effie’s obsession with looks and fashion play
a large part throughout the novel, but most of that happens later, after the
reaping. Upon volunteering, Katniss
speaks harshly to Prim because she doesn’t want to cry (23). The people at the reaping—the people of the
district as well as officials such as Effie—all dress and act in order to keep
up appearances because they are being watched.
Everything they do is seen by the Capitol and the other districts. The show is just beginning. And the reaping is the first of many times
when Katniss must force herself to keep up appearances upon being thrust into
the spotlight by volunteering to enter the Hunger Games.
The most prominent examples of
appearances and their importance occur in the time leading up to the games,
when all of the tributes are basically on show for the people watching the
Games, especially people in the Capitol.
This is when Cinna is introduced.
He is the other person most concerned with appearances, behind
Effie. His concern is different from
Effie’s, however, because he is more selfless and concerned with the tributes,
whereas Effie tends to focus on herself and how the appearances of her tributes
affect her and her appearance. Before
the games, Katniss is forced—mostly by Effie and Haymitch—to change her looks
in order to better her chances of getting sponsors and, in turn, surviving in
the arena. Cinna plays the greatest role
in this by turning her into “the girl who was on fire” (67). With the burning outfits, Katniss and Peeta (through
the work of Cinna) leave a very important impression on the viewers. They call attention and drama to themselves,
making sure that everyone will remember them.
This puts them in the spotlight for later interviews. It makes them known. And that is what gets sponsors.
And then, before going into the
arena, Cinna places the finishing touch on Katniss’s outfit: the mockingjay
pin. This pin symbolizes Katniss and her
home. It is a very personal addition to
Katniss’s appearance, and is more for herself than for other people (which it eventually
comes to be).
Appearances draw attention and
sponsors in the Hunger Games, and can mean the difference between life and
death. That is why people such as Effie
and Cinna know how to play the game of the Capitol, using appearances for
purpose of entertainment as well as of safety and survival.
Appearances are very important to the Hunger Games, as Josie rightly highlights. That is why all the tributes are assigned stylists. Katniss’ stylist, Cinna, is a pivotal character, her only relationship in the Capital that does not have at least some elements of antagonism. Katniss even says that “[o]f all the people I’ve met since I left home, Cinna is by far my favorite” (122). Beyond being support in a hostile environment, Cinna is a large part of making Katniss into the memorable “girl who was on fire” (67). When Katniss cannot come up with an angle to play in the interviews, Cinna is the one who guides her, not Haymitch, her mentor. Cinna advises Katniss to be herself, and provides her with clothing that allows her to do so.
ReplyDeleteCinna tells Katniss he “ want[s] the audience to recognize you when you’re in the arena” (67). While he may have put her in the most sensational costume of the night, a cape lit on fire with synthetic fire, Cinna does not want to supplant Katniss’ identity. Katniss is “the girl who was on fire”, not anyone else (67). After the Games when the Gamemakers want to alter Katniss surgically, so as to hide the fact she has been starving, Haymitch and Cinna compromise with a padded dress. The dress is designed “largely eliminating any help the padding would have given my figure” (355). Cinna again does not let Katniss be something she is not.
As both Josie and Kylie have suggested, appearances play an important role in The Hunger Games. While Josie asserts that appearances are used by individuals to put on a show for those around them, Kylie believes that appearances are rather guises through which individuals can reveal their true selves. Either way, one’s appearance sends a message to the world around them, detailing their lives and past experiences. Throughout the novel, Suzanne Collins highlights the drastic differences in appearance between those from the Capitol and those from the Districts to highlight the contrasting lives those individuals lead. After reaching the Capitol, Katniss meets her prep team, whom she describes as, “a trio of oddly colored birds pecking around my feet” (62). Always having had enough food and never having had to worry about day-to-day survival, the Capitol’s inhabitants spend their time and money on altering their physical appearance to insane lengths. In contrast, after surviving the Games, Katniss compares her appearance to the crystal-clear glass of orange juice she’s handed. “How wrong it looks in my bloody, filthy hand with its dirt-caked nails and scars” (347). Katniss describes herself as “bloody,” “filthy,” “dirt-caked,” and covered with scars. Her gruesome appearance not only sets her apart from the world of the Capitol, but also reveals her experiences in the Games, one in which she had to fight for her life and survive.
ReplyDeleteRalph Lauren once said something to the tune of 'the best fashion has its roots in practicality.' I think this is more or less Suzanne's message when she talks about appearances. As someone who hasn't read the Hunger Games before, I was a bit shocked by how much time Katniss and Peeta spend gallivanting around the Capitol in pretty clothes. Perhaps Cinna's reserved sense of style is intended as a word of encouragement to teenage readers in desperate need of a confidence boost. Regardless, I think the Katniss and Peeta's conversations on the fashion minded citizens of the Capitol pose an interesting point. Both came from a place where anything more than practicality placed your survival at risk. The Capitol's opulent display of wealth and luxury would reasonably come across as grotesque to someone from such a humble background. When Peeta and Katniss were gazing out at the Capitol on the eve of the games, Peeta remarked that he couldn't be sure if they were wearing costumes or everyday clothing. Fashion is fundamentally art in the form of costume, and perhaps the lavish style of the Capitol is Suzanne's commentary on excessive concern with appearances. Perhaps we too risk placing style over practicality.
ReplyDeleteWhile appearance as far as clothing is extremely important in winning over the audience and sponsors in the Hunger Games, emotional appearance is just as, if not even more, vital in Katniss’s game play. From the second she volunteers for Prim in the reaping, she is controlling what her facial expressions say about her inner thoughts. As Katniss makes her way to the stage, she thinks to herself “I don’t want to cry…everyone will make note of my tears, and I’ll be marked as an easy target” (23). The games haven’t ever started yet, and already Katniss is carefully calculating every single thing the country will be able to see. And when the games do begin, she continues to think about every move she makes, particularly when she finds out Peeta has teamed up with the career pack. She knows the audience will be watching, that the cameras will be zoomed in to capture her reaction, so instead of looking betrayed and like she wants to kill the boy from her district (both things she actually feels in that moment), she turns her head and gives a small smile, with the precise intention of confusing the people watching her and letting them figure out on their own what she is thinking (164). Like Josie said, appearances are everything, which is why Katniss can’t let hers down for a split second, not even while she’s fighting to stay alive.
ReplyDeleteWhile I agree that maintaining appearances is a major theme throughout the novel, The Hunger Games, the lack of interest in appearance by many of the main characters at the beginning of the novel and how this changes throughout their journey is more important. In District 12, Katniss does not have the privilege to worry about her appearance like the other tributes from the Capitol or the higher districts. She spends the majority of her time providing for her mother and Prim by hunting with Gale. Because Katniss is fighting daily against starvation and hunger in District 12, Collins emphasizes through her descriptions that appearance is often the last thing on her mind everyday. Collins refrains from describing Katniss’s beauty until Effie Trinket gives her a makeover for the opening ceremony of the Hunger Games. Katniss exclaims, “I am dressed in what will either be the most sensational or the deadliest costume in the opening ceremonies. I'm in a simple black unitard that covers me from ankle to neck. Shiny leather boots lace up to my knees. But it's the fluttering cape made of streams of orange, yellow, and red and the matching headpiece that define this costume. Cinna plans to light them on fire just before our chariot rolls into the streets” (89). Like explained in the post, this is the first time in Katniss’s life that her appearance is manipulated and used to her advantage. However, appearance for Katniss is more about conforming to what others are expecting of her though out the rest of the novel and the series.
ReplyDeleteFor the rest of the novel, appearance becomes important to the plot of Hunger Games but never necessarily important to Katniss. However, from this point forward she must deal with the way the rest of Panhem views her. In the end, Katniss learns to manipulate her appearance and use it to her advantage. Haymitch explains, "He [Cinna] made you look desirable! And let's face it, you can use all the help you can get in that department. You were about as romantic as dirt until he said he wanted you. Now they all do. You're all they're talking about. The star-crossed lovers from District Twelve!" In the same way, that Katniss only used to rely on her hunting skills to her keep her and her family alive. She has now learned how to use her appearance, with the help of Effie, Cinna, and Haymitch, to keep her and Peeta alive in the games.