"If I can overcome step one, I can face the 99"

I remember when Dr. Mortimore first had us read “The Lottery.” I was quite confused how this all would tie back into our theme, but then as I began reading Hunger Games, it finally occurred to me. I can easily say out of all the books we have read this semester that Hunger Games was by far my favorite. I read the book in two days… which is shocking to me because I am a slow reader and because I don’t really enjoy reading. I found it difficult to put the book down. Half way through the novel before they announced there could be two winners if they were from the same district, I immediately had an urge of excitement—Katniss and Peeta could both survive! I was also led to believe that Katniss and Peeta were genuinely falling for each other, which I was disappointed towards the end of the book to discover that although Peeta was genuinely in love, Katniss didn’t reciprocal the feelings. I knew that she had some sort of special bond with Gale, but I thought with everything she has been through with Peeta, that her feelings would surely change. But for the most part, I really enjoyed the book. I may even buy the next book in the series because I am dying to know what happens next!

The novel definitely works into our conversation for the semester. Each novel that we have read has an element of control. In Culture Jam, the element of control was the “American brand” and the influence on everything we see and hear. We have become obsessive and have created this brand. In Feed, the element of control is everyone’s feeds. All the characters in the novel have a feed except for Violets dad. The concept of the feed was created and everyone jumped on the opportunity to get one. The feed runs the characters lives and people can’t imagine living without feeds and thinking for themselves. In 1984, Orwell created a society that was controlled by the Party and Big Brother. Every aspect of their lives were watched and scrutinized. If they did one thing in spite of the Party, they would soon get caught. Orwell creates a utopia that people dread. Last but not least is Hunger Games. In Panem, all twelve districts are run by the Capitol. The Capitol is control of each district and they reinforce this idea through the Hunger Games. There is a reaping each year to decide which boy and girl will be sent to the Games. As you can see each novel has the underlining topic of some sort of control. 1984 and Hunger Games seem to be the most familiar because they both hold the same idea—government control. 

I found myself responding to Katniss. I admired how self-sufficient she was. Ever since her father died she was the one that held most of the responsibilities to ensure her family would survive. She could hunt, sell/trade items, had some gathering skills, and picked up some tips from her mother about healing. I also admire how she stepped up at the reaping to take the place of her younger sister Prim. She couldn’t bare to see her sister go into the Games because she feared she didn’t have the skills in order to survive. Not many people would do this. In fact, in the novel it was stated that there hadn’t been a volunteer in a long time. They were even rusty on the rules when someone volunteered. I really liked her character throughout the whole book, but as mentioned before, was somewhat disappointed at the end to learn that she did not have feelings for Peeta. Originally I wanted her to be with Gale, but after the Hunger Games and everything she went through with Peeta, I thought they established a “real relationship.” 

I found a clip of the movie trailer for the movie “Hunger Games,” which is supposed to come out in 2012. When I first began reading I was thinking to myself that the novel would make a great movie and then I was shocked to learn that it is becoming a movie. I will definitely be going to see it in theaters. I really like the song featured in the trailer. It’s very suspenseful and goes along really well with the graphics and clips they show. It basically shows an outline of the plot line with the most dramatic parts of the song along with the most climatic parts in the novel. The trailer is below:

I found a song that I thought went along really well with the novel called “One More” by Superchick. This song connects directly to Katniss and her drive to survive; in essence I think it “narrates” Katniss’ experience in the arena. She is constantly pushing herself. Every time something happens that knocks her down, she gets back up and continues on to fight for her life. The lyrics talk about needing to go 100 steps to go, but she will go 99 tonight. This just shows the urge to succeed. The last part of the song is as follows:

“I have everything to lose

By not getting up to fight

I might get used to giving up

So I am showing up tonight

I am my own enemy

The battle fought

Within my mind

If I can overcome step one

I can face the 99”

The last part of the song is basically saying if I don’t try then I am being my own enemy. I will be the cause of my own death. But, if I try and take one step then I can finish the remaining ninety-nine to succeed. I think this song could be featured in the film. I could see this song being placed in the film after Katniss sees the hovercraft come and take Rue’s body. Katniss is angry and determined to get back into the fighting mode. There are other parts within the story plot that the song could be used as well. I just really like not only the context in the song, but also the element of suspense. It is kind of a dark song too.