Culminating Essay ENG 2D1

Submitted By steph_0599
Words: 860
Pages: 4

How can one rebel against what they have been taught their entire life? In the novel Catching Fire, the novelist Suzanne Collins depicts events that cause war by the extreme violence used against the citizens of the country. By examining her work, one can see how Collins portrays unsuppressed experiences that lead to chaos. Collins exemplifies that one must use survival skills to overcome poor living conditions. In the novel, Collins presents that a person must be able to put their own lives at risk, in order to survive on their own. The main character – Katniss Everdeen – constantly has to break the law in order for her family to survive by hunting in the woods to scavenge for food (Catching Fire 9). Katniss is known for being talented with a bow and arrow by her reputation of hunting for food, and her survival skills (Citelighter). Collins shows that one must choose between life and death, in order to help the ones you love survive, using whatever resources that can be found. Utilising her skill of survival, Collins portrays that alliances are essential during the Hunger Games, due to the fact that a person cannot survive on their own. One of the allies of Katniss received a spile – a metal peg – which is later used to find drinking water to help them stay alive (Catching Fire 239). The main character had to rely on her alliances to help her stay alive and overcome the challenges within the Games. Collins’ novel exemplifies the idea of how the skill of survival is an essential trait that a citizen has to have in order to live in the country of Panem. The need to master the skill of survival is influenced greatly on the social class that is affected by the government. The people of the districts were brutally hurt or killed when they disobeyed the government only because they are of lower class. One of the main characters, Katniss, experiences the need to stand up for others and she retaliates against the rules to defend the people who cannot defend themselves (Catching Fire 108). The supreme authority that the government has over the citizens of Panem causes them to be frightened, but some try and stand up for their rights, and what they believe in (The Artifice). The citizens of the districts of a higher number, are considered lower class which gives them less of a say to fight for their freedoms, or else they will be punished brutally if they do not co-operate. The disobedience towards the law causes the characters of the novel to show inequality in the different districts by obtaining better living benefits than the other. The author illustrates that the citizens from the Capitol receive better treatment than those from the other districts, by saying “‘It’s from the Capitol. It’s called morphling,’ my mother answers.” (Catching Fire 116). In a direct quote from a movie review, the writer says, “The Capitol, where the wealthy and the only social class that doesn’t have to compete in the deadly Hunger Games resides.” (CINEMABLEND). The writer exemplifies that the Capitol will always be more superior to any other district no matter what, until Katniss or higher authority citizens stand up for everyone else’s rights and freedoms. To prove the theme of social class, Collins further develops the pressure the districts have in order to have equal rights towards the government within her novel. Due the inequality towards the citizens