This post is for Chapters 13 through 16 for The Hunger Games...
Abby, even though you warned me that your most recent posts were spoilers, I couldn't help but read them anyway. Now that I have read further into the book, I am starting to disagree with my opinion from before that the beginning of the games would be the most violent part of the book, the one you agreed with only halfway. The more the games go on, the more intense everything gets, and it is very hard for a reader to describe just how much detail is put into this book, making it all the better. Like I have said before, The Hunger Games is a story that should be fine for teens to read because the content is not scarring for kids of our age group, but it should be kept away from little ones.
What I want to mainly focus on that can be both a reason that this book should be banned and one that shouldn't, is Katniss trusting her brain more than her instincts. Whenever Katniss thinks of Peeta and of her own survival, she seems to first act on what her mind tells her to believe instead of the messages her body sends her. For example, Katniss was never able to trust Peeta before the games started because her mind told her he would end up killing her, even though her feelings sometimes considered that he might actually want to get attached to her. Trusting one's thoughts is a good thing when one is in a moment that requires careful thinking, but it can turn out to get a person into deep trouble when one is in grave physical danger. Of course Katniss does listen to her instincts sometimes, like when she needs to fight to survive and shoot her arrows, but her thinking-based actions affect the story much more. It is true that the mind can often times be right too, because Katniss turns out to have guessed well that Peeta would join a big group in order to defeat others during the games, and he did join The Career Tributes. This very example shows just how deceiving the brain can be as well since Peeta ended up saving her life when his troop caused her to be put into danger, showing in a way that the former notion of him wanting her dead is false, unless he wants to kill her himself (in which case, it would be unlikely he endangered himself to save her). "Sick and disoriented, I'm able to form only one thought: Peeta Mellark just saved my life." (pg. 194).
This part of the story also shows that one should have compassion for others that are not as able to take care of themselves, because Katniss helps Rue by giving her food and staying with her. It can be seen that it is human nature to want to have power and kill to survive, but getting attached and helping those who can't manage is an instinct that kicks in at times where teamwork is needed. Katniss and Rue plan to get further into the games using each other's trust and abilities, and Katniss takes on multiple challenges and faces many problems in order to keep Rue safe because it seems like she reminds her of Prim. "'Have you gotten anything yet?' I ask. She shakes her head. 'You will, though. Watch. The closer we get to the end, the more people will realize how clever you are.'" (pg. 201). Connection brings love with it, and that is a valuable lesson that one can learn from reading this book. Compassion, love, and sacrifice will never humiliate a person, but instead will raise the respect he or she has in the eyes of those healed and treated.
Abby, even though you warned me that your most recent posts were spoilers, I couldn't help but read them anyway. Now that I have read further into the book, I am starting to disagree with my opinion from before that the beginning of the games would be the most violent part of the book, the one you agreed with only halfway. The more the games go on, the more intense everything gets, and it is very hard for a reader to describe just how much detail is put into this book, making it all the better. Like I have said before, The Hunger Games is a story that should be fine for teens to read because the content is not scarring for kids of our age group, but it should be kept away from little ones.
What I want to mainly focus on that can be both a reason that this book should be banned and one that shouldn't, is Katniss trusting her brain more than her instincts. Whenever Katniss thinks of Peeta and of her own survival, she seems to first act on what her mind tells her to believe instead of the messages her body sends her. For example, Katniss was never able to trust Peeta before the games started because her mind told her he would end up killing her, even though her feelings sometimes considered that he might actually want to get attached to her. Trusting one's thoughts is a good thing when one is in a moment that requires careful thinking, but it can turn out to get a person into deep trouble when one is in grave physical danger. Of course Katniss does listen to her instincts sometimes, like when she needs to fight to survive and shoot her arrows, but her thinking-based actions affect the story much more. It is true that the mind can often times be right too, because Katniss turns out to have guessed well that Peeta would join a big group in order to defeat others during the games, and he did join The Career Tributes. This very example shows just how deceiving the brain can be as well since Peeta ended up saving her life when his troop caused her to be put into danger, showing in a way that the former notion of him wanting her dead is false, unless he wants to kill her himself (in which case, it would be unlikely he endangered himself to save her). "Sick and disoriented, I'm able to form only one thought: Peeta Mellark just saved my life." (pg. 194).
This part of the story also shows that one should have compassion for others that are not as able to take care of themselves, because Katniss helps Rue by giving her food and staying with her. It can be seen that it is human nature to want to have power and kill to survive, but getting attached and helping those who can't manage is an instinct that kicks in at times where teamwork is needed. Katniss and Rue plan to get further into the games using each other's trust and abilities, and Katniss takes on multiple challenges and faces many problems in order to keep Rue safe because it seems like she reminds her of Prim. "'Have you gotten anything yet?' I ask. She shakes her head. 'You will, though. Watch. The closer we get to the end, the more people will realize how clever you are.'" (pg. 201). Connection brings love with it, and that is a valuable lesson that one can learn from reading this book. Compassion, love, and sacrifice will never humiliate a person, but instead will raise the respect he or she has in the eyes of those healed and treated.
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