From an
educational standpoint The Hunger Games
by Suzanne Collins could be used well in a variety of circumstances. The
structure and style of Collin’s story telling and prose can give a teacher of
any level a lot of freedom to focus on different concepts of The Hunger Games. I think it would be
appropriate to teach The Hunger Games in
high school or college classes, given that the teacher choosesto focus on the
right things.
For a high
school class, The Hunger Games
provides a great lens in the use of literary symbolism, motifs and themes. For
readers who are just learning to read into an author’s prose, The Hunger Games provides an accessible
and easy medium for students to analyze an author’s writing. For example, a
high school class could spend a great deal of time analyzing the significance
of fire, or, if a class were to read the entire trilogy, they could discuss the
symbolic meaning of the Mockingjay.
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| (Should we be looking deeper into The Hunger Games? |
For a
college student however, The Hunger Games
needs to be taught in a different way. As students who are familiar with
symbolism and motifs, the overt nature of Collins’ allusions is elementary, if
not off-putting. Do you think that fire might have something to do with
overthrowing the capitol, which just so happens to be led by a man named Snow?
Do you think Katniss, while competing in the Hunger Games is really apiece in
someone else’s bigger game? Collins’ slams her motifs down the readers’
throats, and as someone who has read all three books her social commentary may
be even more blunt. In my opinion, the beauty of a motif lies in its subtlety.
You’re not supposed to catch it the first time you read it and the author isn’t
supposed to make it obvious. As a case study of symbolism, The Hunger Games proves much to elementary for college students.
Yet there
are areas where The Hunger Games can
provide meaningful lessons to undergrads. The
Hunger Games proves an excellent example of the difference between good
story telling and good writing – a distinction that is probably lost, if not
meaningless to most high school students. Collins shows us how versatile
writing can be, and that creativity can outweigh the “rules” of writing.
In addition The Hunger Games is representative of a powerful new movement in
Young Adult Literature that could be interesting and worthwhile to analyze.
While many Young Adult novels are dystopian, few are as morbid and dark as The Hunger Games. The Hunger Games is also unique in that its protagonist has so
little control over her own life; almost all of Katniss’ actions are dictated
by adults whether she knows it or not. Additionally, Katniss Everdeen is a unique new female protagonist. She breaks a lot of typical norms for the roles women play in literature, being a hunter, and the provider for her family. Furthermore, unlike her counterpart in the Twilight series, Katniss seems able to put her love life on the back burner, and focus on more important things - like ya know, not starving to death or getting murdered by psychopathic teenagers.
Finally, the ending of the entire
trilogy is truly tragic. Katniss loses almost everything that she sought to
save. Her family is torn apart and her home is in ruins. Her salvaged
relationship with Peeta is little consolation to readers who can look past the
genre and see the bigger picture. In a college class it could be interesting to
discuss whether or not Katniss “won” in the end. I would argue that she didn’t.
Since this is Young Adult novel, however, Collins’ target audience might
disagree, caught up more in the Twilight-esque
love triangle than Katniss’ truly tragic downfall. As older readers, this
discrepancy opens and interesting conversation into the importance of author’s
intent.
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