Theseus and the Minotaur and the Hunger Games

Throughout countless novels society remains a common theme. Societal structure greatly reflects upon the composure of the plot, as well as the characters. In the novel The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, Collins creates an alternate society which is completely controlled by their government, the Capitol. The Hunger Games is reminiscent of the Greek myth, Theseus and the Minotaur. They both share the idea of a society supervised thoroughly by the government, and the idea of a method of rebelling against higher powers.

Collins uses the literary device of allusion to reference her literary work of The Hunger Games to characters and themes found in Theseus and the Minotaur. The Hunger Games and Theseus and the Minotaur both express the themes of sacrifice, oppression, government control, and survival through characterization and allegory. The characters of Katniss Everdeen and Prince Theseus of Athens both illustrate what it takes to sacrifice one’s self for others.

They both have incredible incentives towards their decision of “volunteering as tribute,” yet they have different motives regarding who or what they made their choices for. From the beginning of The Hunger Games, it’s clear Katniss has a true connection to her younger sister, Prim, and genuinely cares for her. “How could I leave Prim, who is the only person in the world I’m certain I love? ” (Collins, 10) Katniss implies that in all matters, she’ll always be there for Prim, who is eventually her motivation for volunteering as tribute for her.

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In Theseus and the Minotaur, Theseus volunteers to end King Minos’s viscous and never ending cycle of tributes sent to fight the minotaur, but are defeated and killed. What Katniss and Theseus have in the common is that they’re both volunteering so others don’t have to suffer. Katniss is sacrificing herself for her family, and Theseus for his country’s bravery. They both have strong motives and something they believe in which is what it takes for someone to sacrifice themselves if it betters their cause.

The Capitol and King Minos have total control over Panem and Ancient Greece. They both make it almost impossible to rebel against them or else they will threaten war, in which the other sides have no chance of winning. The Capitol keeps control of Panem by providing food and entertainment. King Minos keeps control by threatening war and also by providing food and entertainment. The Capitol in The Hunger Games and King Minos in Theses and the Minotaur put their regions under complete government oppression. They both prevent war by reminding their societies of the cost of war.

Theseus and Katniss both have cunning tactics of defeating either the minotaur, or other tributes. Katniss is an extremely strong hunter which helps her with survival in the hunger games. She can climb trees and can hid herself extraordinarily well from enemies. Theseus wins with his smart thinking and problem solving. They both have help from a “love interest” in which case it’s Peeta for Katniss, and King Minos’s daughter for Theseus. Katniss is originally uncomfortable accepting help from others, but as the novel progresses, she has to accept help if she wants to win.

Theseus rather than Katniss takes help from King Minos’s daughter immediately, using any kind of resource he can to defeat the minotaur. Often writers take ideas and conceptions from other pieces of literary work and incorporate it in their own work. This is shown in The Hunger Games with the Greek myth Theseus and the Minotaur. Collins takes Theseus and the Minotaur and incorporates it into the future. If majority of ideas and thoughts all come from other sources, who originally thought those thoughts? The world may never know.

Hunger Games Theme

What would we do if we were chosen at random to fight for our life? Would we just let it happen? Would we fight back and try our best to keep out dignity? Or would we do whatever it takes just to stay alive, even if it means losing site of who we really are? These are all decisions that Peeta and Katniss, two kids from a city called Panem had to make all by themselves. The novel The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins has many themes, but the most important overall, is the importance of keeping dignity and humanity while fighting for our life.

In the Hunger Games, a sixteen year old girl named Katniss and a sixteen year old boy named Peeta are chosen to go into the Hunger Games, where they will fight for their lives. During past years, competitors in the Hunger Games would do a number of unspeakable things in order to survive. Peeta however is the complete opposite. He wants to die with dignity. First off, in the novel The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins, many things go wrong in Panem, the society that the main characters Katniss and Peeta live in. For example, their society is filled with many things such as war, starvation, poverty, and violence.

Peeta and Katnis have been taught since they were little that no matter what you are doing you have to keep your dignity while doing it. Even if it is fighting to the death. The way that both Peeta and Katniss have grown up comes in really handy during the Hunger Games. It makes it extremely easier for them to keep their dignity during the games. However, many competitors will do anything in order to survive, wouldn’t you? Peeta however, is very different; he believes that if he is going to die, he should at least go with his dignity.

This means that while everyone else loses their minds, he will still think straight and won’t do anything outrageous in order to survive. For example, a girl from district 9 said “here’s some advice, just stay alive” (127). This quote shows that she believes the only thing that matters is staying alive. She will risk anything to live, even her humanity and dignity. Peeta however, would basically rather die with his dignity than live knowing he completely lost his dignity and humanity during the Hunger Games. To Peeta, his dignity is just as important as his own life.

The competitors in the Hunger Games family and friends are also loosing spite of their humanity and dignity even though it may not seem like it to them. The family members show their loss of dignity when all of them just sit back and watch as their loved ones battle for their lives. It is just one big game to them. Celebrations are thrown if their loved one kills another person’s loved one. They don’t even comfort the other family at all. Everyone just parties while one family is having one of the worst possible days of their lives. Watching as somebody’s child is being killed isn’t right.

Imagine if our society was like this. We wouldn’t just sit back and watch as our family and friends die before our eyes, would we? The novel The Hunger Games is similar to the novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding in a few ways. The most important however is the characters loss of humanity and dignity, which occurs in both novels. In Lord of the Flies, the large groups of boys that are stranded on the island lose sight of what is really important to them. They get caught up in trying to stay alive and doing whatever it takes to stay alive.

Jack, from Lord of the Flies, ran around chanting “Kill the pig. Cut her throat. Spill her blood” (69). This quote shows us that the boys are starting to lose their dignity. This is exactly what happens in Suzanne Collins, Hunger Games. All of the competitors chosen to compete in the annual Hunger Games get caught up in killing people to stay alive that they forget who they really are inside. Ralph, the boy from the novel Lord of the Flies is very similar to Peeta, the boy from the novel Hunger Games in many ways.

For example, both Ralph and Peeta are one of the only people to keep their humanity and dignity while they are stranded on an island or in this case fighting to the death in a huge arena. All of the boys in the novel Lord of the Flies lose their dignity and humanity except for Ralph and piggy who stay sane. This is very similar to the Hunger Games. Everyone in districts one through eleven go crazy and forget who they are except for two people. Only Peeta and katniss who are from District 12 keep their dignity while struggling to stay alive. Peeta says “at least let me die with my dignity” (167).

This quote shows us that Peeta won’t lose his humanity and dignity no matter what. In conclusion, the novel The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins shows us how society could end up if we lose sight of our dignity. She shows us that just because something bad could happen doesn’t mean that we have to forget what really matters to us, or even forget who we truly are behind all of the violent, or just plain old fake acts that we would have to put on just to live through the Hunger Games. She shows us through the eyes of Peeta that even when something gets tough, we just have to work through it and keep our head held high.

Rebellion in Hunger Games

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins is written in the voice of 16-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives in the post-apocalyptic nation of Panem, where the countries of North America once existed. The Capitol, a highly advanced metropolis, exercises government power on the rest of the nation. The Hunger Games are an annual event in which one boy and one girl aged 12–18 from each of the twelve districts surrounding the Capitol are selected by lottery to compete in a televised battle to the death.

The main idea in the book was teenage rebellion which is shown by Katniss where she and Peeta change the rules at the final moments of the Hunger Games. Peeta and Katniss decide not to fight each other to see who will win the Games, but instead to deny the Gamemakers any winner at all by eating some poisonous berries in a double suicide attempt. As Katniss said " Without a victor, the whole thing would blow up in the Gamemakers' faces. They'd have failed the Capitol. Might possibly even be executed, slowly and painfully while the cameras broadcast it to every screen in the country".

Instead of allowing the pair to kill themselves, the Gamemakers change the rules of the game once again and declare both Peeta and Katniss winners. The double suicide attempt is an act of rebellion towards the Capitol. Even after she's out of the arena, Katniss fears that the Capitol will somehow punish her subversive behavior with the power the government has over them. In reality, teenage rebellion isn't always negative and can be positive like what Katniss and Peeta have done to save their lives. Katniss also shows teenage rebellion where she sacrifices her life on a daily basis by going into the woods to provide for her family.

With hunting being illegal and holds high consequences with the chance of getting caught she and Gale sacrifice their lives to hunt and to bring food for their family. Her courage to provide for her family shows that she is independent. In the movie she slips through wire fences to meet Gale becuase she feels like its her job to provide becuase she doesnt know any other way to. Covering Rue with flowers is an intense act of rebellion against the Capitol. The experience of witnessing Rue's death inspires Katniss to go on and win the Games and to prove to the Capitol that they can't strip the tributes of their humanity.

By calling attention to the sacrifice that Rue made during the Hunger Games, Katniss challenges the idea that Hunger Games – and the people who play them – are mere entertainment for the audiences back in the Capitol. For Katniss, Rue isn't simply a character on a television show. She is a human being who is worthy of respect, admiration, and mourning. When she says "I want to do something, right here, right now, to shame them, to make them accountable, to show the Capitol that whatever they do or force us to do that there is a part of every tribute they can't own. That Rue was more than a piece in their Games. And so am I. "

The Hunger Games Persuasive Essay

The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins By: Sophie When a society struggles, it often looks towards a strong leader for inspiration. In Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen is looked at because of her courage, creative thinking and sacrificing personality. She risks her life many times to save the life of others. She is the perfect young heroine for her society. Katniss Everdeen demonstrates great courage even in the most difficult situations. After her father died in a mine explosion, she keeps her family together and alive by “Making sure there was always enough food on the table” (Collins 10).

This provides great courage because even though her family is going through a rough period, she still has to figure out a way to put the food on the table. It is not that many years past Katniss father’s death that she went into the Hunger Games. She has to use all her past skills from the wood to stay alive, and they helped her win “The annual Hunger Games, designed to discourage the districts from staging another rebellion against the Capitol” (Collins 26). She volunteers after her younger sisters name was drawn to be a tribute, because she knows she has much more of a chance winning than her sister, Prim.

During the Hunger Games, the two last survivors are Katniss and her so called ‘lover’ Peeta. Neither of them wanted to win enough to kill each other, as they could not think of life without one another. Therefore they decided they would die together and eat the poisonous berries, otherwise known as ‘night lock’ and rebel against the Capitol making them have no winner. “I lift my hand to my mouth taking one last look at the world” (Collins 345). The head Game Maker came on the announcements and pleads to not eat the berries and two people from the same District could win.

Katniss has showed Panem, that even in dangerous situations that were not always on your side, you can still turn it around and fight for what you want. Not only is Katniss Everdeen courageous, but she is also smart and tries to understand things in a completely different way. She looks beyond what the average person thinks. When Katniss has no food, she has to figure out a way get it for herself and her family. She decided to go on the other forbidden side of the District 12 fence and risk her life from the wild. “Inside the woods they roam freely and there are added concern like venomous snakes, rapid animals, and no real paths to follow.

But there’s also food if you know where to find it. My father knew and he taught me before he was blown to bits in a mine explosion” (Collins 5). Most of the women would have to move to the very last choice, but Katniss did not want that to be her lifestyle. She thought about it for a long time and realized she could do something that no one else had done, other than her father. Another point in the book would be when Haymitch, her and Peeta’s mentor, sent Katniss the soup after her and Peeta had their first kiss. She clued in and realized that one kiss equals one pot of soup. Haymitch couldn't be sending me a clearer message. One kiss equals one pot of broth. I can almost hear his snarl ‘You’re supposed to be in love sweetheart. They boy’s dying. Give me something I can work with’” (Collins 261). Katniss and Haymitch have a very similar mind and personality, and they don’t exactly get along, but they both understand each other and what they both are trying to say. In the end of the Hunger Games, after the rebellious act with the berries, she has to think of a way to get herself out of the Capitol’s mind as a ‘person who wants to start a rebellion. “Your only defense can be you were so madly in love you weren't responsible for your actions” (Collins 357). She is home from the Capitol and all she can think about is not being punished in anyway for her actions. She has to be in character, one could say, every second because the Capitol is always watching. Katniss thinks outside of the box, and it can help you in the most difficult situations. Young woman should be their self and not have to think what everyone else thinks. They should have there own personal images in their heads. Katniss Everdeen is caring and sacrifices for others.

When her sister gets called up for the Hunger Games, Katniss volunteers her own life to save Prim’s. “‘I volunteer! ’ I gasp. ‘I volunteer as tribute’” (Collins 22). Katniss feels it is her duty to protect her sister after her father dies. Katniss sacrifices her own life for her sisters sake. Katniss also risks her life when she killed the boy, Marvel, who killed her alley, Rue. He almost had his spear in hand, but Katniss reacted quickly and shot an arrow right through his neck. “The boy from District 1 died before he can pul out his next spear.

My arrow drives deeply into the center of his neck” (Collins 233). Even though Rue is already hit, she still came to try to save her, risking her own health and life. She cares for Rue and Rue also reminds Katniss of Prim. In the Hunger Games Peeta’s leg get sliced open by Cato’s sword. Katniss went looking for Peeta and found him camouflaged by the water with moss and mud. She takes him to a safe place in a cave that is hidden. During that week there is a feast, in which it has something each District desperately needs, and for Peeta it is the medicine.

Peeta didn’t want Katniss to go out for him because there was the risk that she would get killed. Later on that day she receives a package from Haymitch that included sleeping syrup. Therefore she gave Peeta the medicine that night and went to the feast. “‘They’re as sweet as syrup! ’ his eyes widen as he realizes the truth” (Collins 277). Even though Katniss knows if she is going to the feast there is a chance that she could die, she would risk that than watch her lover die. A sacrificial and caring personality is something to be proud of, even if it is the smallest things and young woman should attempt to.

Clearly Katniss Everdeen is beyond the ideal role model for Panem. Throughout many events she has showed that she has courage, brains, and generosity for others. Katniss is the sign of hope and the start of the rebellion. Young people of Panem consider her as a hero. Character Index: Katniss - District 12, main character Peeta - District 12, Katniss’s lover Prim - District 12, Katniss’s sister Haymitch - District 12, Katniss and Peeta’s mentor Rue - District 11, Katniss’s alley Marvel - District 1, killed Rue Cato - District 2, cut Peeta’s leg open, 3rd last tribute

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