Hunting is of central importance in
Suzanne Collins The Hunger Games. What
is interesting though is how it is shown as both a positive and a negative attribute depending on the specific context. In
the beginning of the novel Katniss uses her above average hunting skills to
provide for her family after the tragic death of her father. After her father’s death, Katniss had to step
up and become the head of her household.
Hunting allows her to take care of her family in the extremely barren
times facing District 12. Hunting back
home in District 12 not only allowed her to eat, but also introduced her to her
best friend Gale. Gale’s friendship
provides Katniss’s difficult life with a small piece of happiness. The only time Katniss appears happy is when
she is hunting with Gale. Other than her
sister and her mother, Gale is the only other person who Katniss loves. This love gives something Katniss to live for
while she is in the games. Hunting has
obviously proved beneficial in the context of her home in District 12. It also is advantageous during the private
sessions with the Gamemakers. Her bow
and arrow skills she devolved from years of hunting allow her to earn an
intimidating score. This high score is
the first time any of the other tributes began to consider Katniss as a
threat.
While
hunting does appear to help Katniss in many ways, it also hurts her. It is actually her best friend Gale who
questions if hunting humans in the games is going to be different than hunting animals
in the forbidden woods. It turns out it 100 percent is. Katniss has an extremely difficult time
separating the emotional aspect of hunting humans from the physical aspect, and
therefore hunting takes on a new meaning once she is in the arena. Furthermore, because she depended so much on
this one skill alone, she never felt the need to develop any other defensive
skills. In this case, her hunting
abilities actually limited her. For
example, it isn’t until she steals the bow and arrow off of Glimmer’s dead body
that she becomes an actual contender in the games.
Going along with my previous comment about the theme of appearance throughout Hunger Games, I believe that one of the biggest themes throughout Hunger Games involves the transition that Katniss makes in her life from District 12 to when she becomes a tribute in the games. The ironic correlation between Katniss using her incredible hunting skills with her bow and arrow to help keep her family alive on a daily basis and to how well these skills transition to help her stay alive in the games themselves is a main emphasis in Collins’ plot. From the very beginning, Katniss is deemed as a skilled hunter. Peeta even describes her work to Haymitch by stating, “she's excellent," says Peeta. "My father buys her squirrel. He always comments on how the arrows never pierce the body. She hits every one in the eye” (56).
ReplyDeleteDespite her skill, Katniss never kills just for sport. One of the biggest contrasts that Collins makes in the killing, or hunting if you will, that Katniss does in the games with the other tributes is she never kills maliciously either. Most of her kills are out of necessity and she is further removed from the subject who is dying. This is a comparison with the hunting she did in District 12, as well. Katniss never hunted for sport, she only hunted out of necessity. This is a defining characteristic of how Katniss plays the game differently than the other tributes. Especially the tributes who are the Careers and have been brought up to kill and hunt in the games since they were very young.