Hunger Games Book Review (RD)

Rough Draft of Introduction

The setting takes place in a nation known as Panem, sometime in the future. The once thriving United States no longer thrives and a form of government cruel to its people has arisen. People are separated and put into districts, where they are limited of food, water, and shelter. Young children are sent out to provide food for their families, as is the situation of the main character Katniss, and failing in doing so can result in starvation for the whole family.

Power is obviously the main theme of the book. After putting down a rebellion put forth by the thirteen separate districts of Panem (and destroying the thirteenth district), the Capitol created the Hunger Games to take place each year. How the Hunger Games works is that they choose one boy and one girl from each district (both children) from a box full of names. The result is a number of twenty-four children put in an arena to fight to the death until one is left. The reasoning behind the games is to remind the people of the districts how powerful the Capitol is and how they can kill them in an instant by taking their children away. It works because the Games have put enormous fear upon the people of Panem and even though the games take place once a year, the fear it brings is present year round.

The government has made the situation into an Olympic like scenario, in which they hold festivals for the Hunger Games when truly, the people of Panem despise of it. Unfortunately, any word of resentment coming out of the mouths of the people of Panem and they will be immediately executed publicly, to set an example of what can happen to others:

“Taking the kids from our districts, forcing them to kill one another while we watch - this is the Capitol’s way of reminding us how totally we are at their mercy. How little chance we would stand of surviving another rebellion” (pg. 18).

8. Pick a character that interested you and write about them in depth. You can also analyze a relationship between two different characters.

             

In The Hunger Games, the main character Katniss stands out not only because she is also the narrator of the book but because of the distinctive and unique characteristics she exemplifies throughout the Hunger Games. Katniss was a key part in giving hope to not only her twelfth district, but to all of the people of Panem. Her diminutive acts of rebellion against the Capitol that started ever since she volunteered for the Hunger Games to take the place of her weak younger sibling, Prim, play key to what can eventually lead to a second rebellion against the Capitol.

            

 Katniss also demonstrates many characteristics not seen by any ordinary sixteen year old. She demonstrates leadership and self-perseverance that plays an important role to her and her family’s survival.

Book Review: Hunger Games Part II

After finishing reading the second and last part of The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, a big reoccurring theme integrated throughout the book is once again, Power. In the first half of the Hunger Games, I discussed in my previous post the manipulations the Capitol (the totalitarian government of Panem) have put forth upon its people how evident the theme of power is in the book. After reading the second half of the book, the theme of power is still evident but a new theme, Love, is integrated in the book.


Power is obviously the main theme of the book. After putting down a rebellion put forth by the thirteen separate districts of Panem (and destroying the thirteen district), the Capitol created the Hunger Games to take place each year. How the Hunger Games works is that they choose one boy and one girl from each district (both children) from a box full of names. The result is a number of twenty-four children put in a arena to fight to the death until one is left. The reasoning behind the games is to remind the people of the districts how powerful the Capitol is and how they can kill them in an instant by taking their children away. It works because the Games have put enormous fear upon the people of Panem and even though the games take place once a year, the fear it brings is present year round.


The main character, Katniss, puts a twist to this year’s Hunger Games. When her younger sister is chosen to take place in the Hunger Games, she knows theres no chance shes coming back out alive. In a split second she heads for the stage to take her sisters place, in which the Capitol agrees to. The people of the twelfth district show a small act of rebellion towards the Capitol when the representative for the Capitol asks for a round of applause for Katniss volunterring:

“I stand there unmoving while they take part in the boldest form of dissent they can manage. Silence. Which says we do not agree. We do not condone. All of this is wrong. At first one, then another, then almost every member of the crowd touches the three middle fingers of their left hand to their lips and holds it out to me. It is an old and rarely used gesture of our district, occasionally seen at funerals. It means thanks, it means admiration, it means good-bye to someone you love” (24).

Though this simple act might seem meaningless, it is in fact a sign of rebellion against the Capitol, something rarely ever seen ever since the huge rebellion took place before the Hunger Games. Into the Games, we see similar small acts of rebellion by Katniss all throughout the book. Katniss play a big role into opening hope for all twelve districts of Panem. She becomes a favorite to all those watching back home, especially with her daring move towards the end of the book, which got under the skin of those back at the Capitol.

Book Review: Hunger Games Part I

Halfway through the book, The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins, a lot of major themes have already popped up out of the book. The setting takes place in an nation known as Panem, sometime in the future. The once thriving United States no longer thrives and a form of government cruel to its people has arose. People are separated and put into districts, where they are limited of food, water, and shelter. Young children are sent out to provide food for their families, as is the situation of the main character Katniss, and failing in doing so can result in starvation for the whole family.
     
Going back to the themes brought up in the book, we can see that the main character demonstrates a theme of Independence and leadership. At the age of fifteen, she has become the head of the family, bringing home firewood, bread, and whatever is available in the black market created in the society made by the government:

“Most businesses are closed by this time on reaping day, but the black market’s still fairly busy. We easily trade six of the fish for good bread, the other two for salt” (pg. 11).

In the black market, Katniss at a young age has to provide food for her younger sister and mom. Without Katniss’s self-preservation and leadership, her family will instantly fall apart.


The book also brings up the theme of government control. Instead of a world where the people make up the voice, the people of Panem are treated like slaves. They are separated into districts and each year, the Hunger Games occur in which a boy and girl from each district enters and fights for their lives until the last one standing. The government has made the situation into a Olympic like scenario, in which they hold festivals for the Hunger Games when truly, the people of Panem despise of it. Unfortunately, any word of resentment coming out of the mouths of the people of Panem and they will be immediately executed publicly, to set an example of what can happen to others:

“Taking the kids from our districts, forcing them to kill one another while we watch - this is the Capitol’s way of reminding us how totally we are at their mercy. How little chance we would stand of surviving another rebellion” (pg. 18).

By the looks of things so far in the book, there have been a lot of foreshadowing showing possible themes of love and betrayal while at the same time, anything can happen.

Family History Connections

Looking through Google Reader, I found a lot of similar family histories by my classmates that shared various connections with the one I shared about my dad’s difficult journey in his home country Yemen. Not all connections were clear at first but in some way, each one of these parts from my classmate’s family histories showed a connection.

In Vy Troung’s family history :

“My parents were raised during the Vietnam war as they were getting older they knew that to get a better life for their family they would have to move to the United States. When my parents got married and had my sister. My dad and his brothers were forced to work in mining for the
communist. They did not want to work because they were scared of getting sick or losing their family so they decided to take their family and run.”

In Vy’s family history, she tells us about the difficult journey her parents went through just to get into the Philippines and eventually, America. They were going through hard times, especially since the war had begun to devastate their country. By arriving to America, the hope of a better life for her parents and the thought of their children in mind was going to work. In Vy’s story, her family goes through extreme hardships so that she can grow up to have a good life. Though my parents didn’t go through the same rigorous journey, they had the same idea in mind of gaining opportunity and a better life in America for both them and their children.

Leaving out the love story, Max’s dad also traveled to America in search of opportunity:

“Leaving the states for the first time was a big step for him, he had never been so far away from home and family before. So he said his goodbyes and ventured to America. As he arrived he was already bewildered by the things he saw. Though quickly ignoring them on focusing on task, with the little money he had left he got a taxi and got a ride to Liz's place.”

As Max says, it was a big step moving to the United States. There is a life that you must leave behind and once in America, start a new one.

Cyclical Patterns in JLC

In The Joy Luck Club, by Amy Tan, we see a lot of cycles throughout the book. We see cyclical patterns connecting from the beginning of the book connecting to the end of the book, connections between two different mother and daughter relationships, and also we see patterns and cycles located in the last two pages of the book connected to many areas of the book before those two last pages. Yes, this sounds confusing but just like the cycles, a lot of it is not clear at first. Here is one quote that shows a cyclical pattern in the book:

“I’m shaking, trying to hold something inside. The last time I saw them, at the funeral, I had broken down and cried big gulping sobs. They must wonder now how someone like me can take my mother’s place. A friend once told me that my mother and I were alike, that we had the same wispy hand gestures, the same girlish laugh and sideways look. When I shyly told my mother this, she seemed insulted and said, ‘You don’t even know little percent of me! How can you be me?’ And she’s right. How can i be my mother at Joy Luck?” (Pg. 27)

In the book, we see the repeated cycle in which a lot of the daughters in the book are coming just like their mothers. From the beginning, the cycle is already beginning to appear. In the beginning, Jing-mei’s mother has recently passed away. Her mother and a group of friends once lived in a war effected city in China where the people are at a place and time where they are suffering dearly. The can barely get through the day and being able to have food and water for their families. Instead of going through this misery, the mother’s decide to make the Joy Luck Club to rid of their miseries and take their minds off things such as the war. Eventually, the Joy Luck Club travels all the way to San Francisco and her mother keeps her position in the club. But after her death, her position became vacant and who was to better replace her than her daughter, Jing-mei.

What I think the special twist to these patterns are that throughout family, things are always passed on and on. Whether its personality, looks, wealth, and so on, we see a lot of cyclical patterns within our families as well.

My Family History

   Growing up in one of the poorest Arab countries in the world, life in Yemen was not easy. My parents both grew up in the same village located a little more than a hundred miles south of the capital, Sana’a. Not a lot of money flowed in and out of this area so the income level was real low. As a kid, my dad was already given huge responsibilities. He had to sleep overnight in a tent to watch over the family farm from thieves, water each and every crop almost every three or so days since the climate was real hot and dry, and watch a number of over a hundred cattle, recounting the total every night. Then one day, he got a break when his family went for a visit in the neighboring village to see his uncle and aunties. Unexpectedly, it became much more than that.
   
    The village was only about five or ten miles away from my parent’s village but for some strange reason, the climate here was very different. Every time it would shower in my parent’s village, it would pour heavily in my dad’s relatives village (I’ve noticed this myself in the many trips i have made to Yemen). Upon arrival, my dad and his family exited the car and gratefully greeted their relatives since its been a while since they have last seen each other. Though he loved his relatives dearly, my dad never liked the visits out of their village. He always thought that they were boring as a kid because of his unawareness of the area. He would end up sitting down with adults and their boring conversations ranging from politics to weather, basically catching up on one another. When everyone was settled in the living room and began to have their conversations, my dad couldn't but help to notice a new face in the room. Unlike my dad, this kid looked fancy with brand new clothes, combed hair, and even his own wristwatch. My dad was curious: who was this kid? How did his parents get so rich in such a country? My dad decided to go greet him.

    My dad got out of his seat and away from the boring conversations and approached the kid. He sat beside him and greeted him and they got into a conversation. It’s been a long time since this day occurred so my dad does not remember the name of the boy so we’ll call him Tom. My dad found out that Tom’s dad moved to the capital of Saudi Arabia, Riyadh. There, he was able to carry a decent job and also support those back home in Yemen. Tom’s dad was a good friend of my dad’s uncle back when they were kids which explains their presence here in this living room at this very moment. They decided to leave the adults and go to the local bazaar and get a bag of chips and maybe a snack. On their way out, they noticed that it was getting real dark, a sign of things to come. Both, my dad and Tom are unaware that what they have coming for them is one of the huge rainstorms that come through here often, something they are going to get blindsided by due to the fact that they are both coming from two different places.

    As they walked along the dirt paths that served as roads for vehicles, it started to drizzle. That’s when they started walking at a faster pace towards the local bazaar, which was quite a distance from the house but wasn’t too far away. They walked past the corn crops that filled the area that belonged to the people of the village, past the cattle grazing on the rich grass, and past the wells that were built to water the crops sourced by the drizzling rain. Their walk down this path eventually led them to the bazaar. There were numerous displays of corn, papayas, watermelon, peaches, guavas, bananas, apples, lemons, oranges, mangoes, grapes of all variety, dates, figs, pomegranate and it goes on and on. All are freshly picked, organic, and ripe which made it all the better. All of this could not be possible without the help of mother nature. My dad and Tom decided to each get a pomegranate since it was the cheapest fruit available and it was all they can afford at the moment. Then, all of a sudden, things went for the worse.

    Out of nowhere, an enormous discharge of lightning was released from above the tenebrous clouds above them. The hearts of my dad and Tom nearly erupted out of their chests! They have heard thunder before but never so loud. Immediately after they heard the loud thud of thunder, a heavy artillery of raindrops barraged onto the ground. The bazaar stands were put away and locked up into their stores. All of the merchants went back into their stores and locked up their belongings along with themselves to hide from the shells of water being fired from above. My dad and Tom just stood there shocked and soaked while the lightning continued to light up the sky. Luckily, an elderly man invited them into his shed. It was dark and a candle kept light within the small shed but it was okay as long as it kept them away from the rain. The elderly man offered them a sheet to wipe off the water that filled their clothes but their worries were not over yet.

They had to get back home and the rain did not look like it was going to lay off and give them a break anytime soon. As they stood at the door of the shed, they anxiously waited for the rain to stop or at least grow weaker. Instead, a big ball of lightning lit up the sky and the ground beneath it, followed by an even bigger bang of thunder than before. And the rain kept pouring with even more force. That’s when my dad made the decision to go back home through the rain considering it was not going to lay off anytime soon. So at that very moment, my dad and Tom ran as fast as they could. About ten seconds into the run, every part of their body and piece of clothing was soaked which began to slow them down but they knew there was no time to slow down and persisted to run. Finally, they were able to take a rest under a piece of metal veiling over them that was connected to a house. Again, they had a plan of resting until the rain settled down a bit. Unfortunately, the same results occurred as before as the rain began to pour even harder. The rain got so bad that it was hard seeing what was about twenty feet in front of them. My dad nearly got to the verge of tears but knew he had to stay strong if he wanted to make the journey home.

So once again they ran and ran in the direction they came from. Snot was running down out of their noses and they were ice cold but they could not give up. Not now. The journey continued and they found another veiling shed from another house. This time, they weren’t waiting for the rain to calm down for it was obvious the rain was not going to settle. Instead they took about a twenty second break and went for another run. About a minute later, the rain finally started to settle but still continued to poor. To their relief, the house was now visible in front of them. They approached with a slower pace now that the rain wasn’t as powerful. They were about forty feet away from their house when another disaster appeared. Where once lied a empty ditch about fifteen feet wide and whose length seemed to go forever, was now a raging river! The force was so strong that when my dad threw a rock into it, it was out of their view in mere seconds.

Once again, my dad was almost on the verge of tears. He never wanted to leave his village in the first place. My dad looked over to Tom and he was going through the same thing. They tried to go through by holding on to each other in one hand and advancing forward slowly. But as soon as one of them put a foot into the shallow river, about four feet deep, their foot sank about ten inches into the mud. So helplessly, they sat next to the river in the rain, speechless. They tried one more time but this time, Tom fell in! My dad instantly grabbed him and pulled him out. Tom was now crying and my dad wanted to join.

About five minutes after the rain stopped pouring, there were kids seen playing in the same river! To their amazement, the river finally settled down! So one more time, my dad and Tom tried going through the same river that almost killed them and without force, they walked steadily and made it to the other side. Finally, they were home! They ran to the house but to their surprise, none of the adults noticed they were ever gone!

Why do you think this story has survived in your family? Why has it passed on from older to younger generations? What makes it significant to your family history and culture?

I think this story has survived in my family, specifically my dad, because of how much of an adventure it was to him. At one point, he thought his friend was going to die or that he would never make it home. These fearful stories in which they at one point keep us on the verge of tears, stay in our memories to be passed on to younger generations to come. It was passed on from my dad to me mainly because he wanted to share his childhood in which he went through numerous adventures, in which this is only one of them. He also wanted to share how his childhood activities differed from mine, where the only fear we see in going to the store and back is looking both ways and avoiding getting hit by a car, not a raging river and rain that flooded the whole village. It was significant to my family history because it symbolized the hardships my parents went through as children. My dad eventually left Yemen and traveled to Dubai to work as a police officer for a couple of years before making the trip to America. His hard journey to America was to help me and my siblings avoid the difficulty he had as a child and so we can live life to the fullest, which drives my motivation to achieve the best that I can in getting a good education.

Tiger Mom vs Joy Luck Club

In The Joy Luck Club, we see many similarities and differences between the relationships of the mothers and daughters (specifically, “The Twenty-Six Malignant Gates” section) of the book and the relationship Amy Chua has with her kids in real life. Amy Chua enforces a strict set of rules she has for her children that she thinks a majority of Asian parents also share. The rules Amy Chua has as expectations for her children include: being the number one student in every subject, get A’s and nothing but A’s, not attend sleep overs or having play dates, and not being able to choose their own extra curricular activities. In some ways, the stories in The Joy Luck Club, we see Amy Tan reincorporating Amy Chua’s guidelines on how to raise Asian children in the mother and daughter relationships of one particular story called “Two Kinds”. Here is a quote from the "Tiger Mom" article by Amy Chau:

"A lot of people wonder how Chinese parents raise such stereotypically successful kids. They wonder what these parents do to produce so many math whizzes and music prodigies, what it's like inside the family, and whether they could do it too. Well, I can tell them, because I've done it."

In the story, “Two Kinds”, Jing-mei’s mother is ashamed of her daughter, Jing-mei. Her mother has always wanted her daughter to be a prodigy. It didn’t matter what kind of prodigy she was to become, as long as she became real good at something, it was okay. Her mother became especially agitated after she had enough of the bragging that Waverly’s mother would do about her daughter being the amazing chess player she is in the whole city. But through out the story, Jing-mei’s mother believed that she would eventually sprout out of her shell and find that hidden talent within her. That’s when her mother saw a show showing an amazing kid piano player and believed Jing-mei can do the same and began to send Jing-mei to piano lessons.

I picked this particular story because one of the guidlines Amy Chau had in her article was to not let her children play any instrument besides the violin and piano. Well, in “Two Kinds”, Jing-mei is eventually forced into playing the piano (just like Amy Chau gives her children the piano and violin as the only options of instruments to play). So yes, I do think that Amy Chau’s article is endorsed by The Joy Luck Club in many ways and I predict that many stories along the way of the book will do the same.