A New Logic of Victory in Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games With Reference to Elements of Intertextuality in William Golding’s Lord of the Flies

Suzanne Collins’ novel The Hunger Games suggests a new logic of victory and set a distinguished focus on the unique personality of her heroin which brings to the mind the permanent correlation between all moral values. The Hunger Games World seems to be much more like one big bowl as it links the past, present, and the future. An Intertextual reference is interwoven in the present research as it brings Golding’s Lord of the Flies to the surface, and it highlights certain similarities between the two texts. In which Ralph, Piggy and Simon in Golding’s Lord of the Flies are the incarnations of stable moral values and hope of surviving ethics and rules in a chaotic and turmoil world. The events in Collins’ book prove that a character is refined and enriched by the challenges he/she overcomes through his/her lifetime. It presents a picture of contemporary life which is characterized by a condensed intellectual and spiritual crisis. The word "Hunger" in the novel is metaphorical; it denotes the uncontrollable need for political freedom, a healthy social system and equal opportunities in life. In the world of Panem's District 12, bread means hope.it represents a survival from hunger. The elites of Panem use hope as a method of control. Katniss embodies the hope of a better world, a liberated Panem. The personal hope to survive becomes a collective hope for the possibility of the existence of a better world. She discredits the present democracy, the present population and those in power right now. It points out the limits of the contemporary political system, tyrannical power, dictatorship and extreme brutality based on supreme authority.


Introduction
The Hunger Games trilogy tackles an unusual mixture of traits in one young adult female. It unfolds the dilemma of a generation of young people who have grown up in the middle of a world of unsafe economic system and permanent war. The book reinforces some new points of view about hope; firstly: Katniss' survival is due to her connection with others. Though she is tough, self-reliant and resourceful she realizes that social connection is more powerful than any of her personal advantages. Secondly: she acquires her strength from social and emotional intelligence. Successfully she motivates the people to empathize her not by logic and reason but by encouraging them to take humanitarian action. Thirdly: Katniss' nightmares which focus on the need to kill other people reveal the normal, the rule and not the exception. Her reluctance to kill represents ours under any circumstances; it proves that human worthiness can flourish even in the most inhuman fortune or destiny. William Golding's Lord of the Flies presents the same idea of preserving humanity throughout inhuman circumstances. It tackles the story of British schoolboys whose plane crashes onto a deserted island. The dilemma begins when the boys are forced to manage their own survival with no signal adult among them which lead to a horrible chaotic end eventually. Yet, in spite of the deadly struggle and the continuous pressure, victory is achieved and the hope for survival is to be there all the time.
Not only political freedom is targeted in Suzanne Collins' trilogy, but it is the freedom from the destructive effect of media that is used by the government to strengthen its authority. Information is filtered and modified to serve the Capitol's best interest. The trilogy is a warning against the obsession with entertainment in the wrong way. Freedom of expression, arts, and literature have disappeared and considered to be too dangerous as well. Instead of rebellion against the capitol, people are divided and kept watching without a word of protest. Each district sends two tributes to the games and only one tribute can win the whole thing. Districts kill each other and that is how the government keeps the people from joining forces and rebelling against the Capitol. The research is thematic in its concern and it uncovers some episodes to prove the researcher's point of views.
In a postmodern point of view, a text cannot be isolated from other texts. It is not an island by itself. The poet John Donne in "Meditation 17" which is one of a series of essays he wrote that "no man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main." (Thu-Huong HaJune, 2016). There is always harmony and interrelation between a text and many other texts. Julia Kristeva calls it (the vertical axis). (Chase, 1984, p.193). In order to understand a text, one must establish a kind of a mental correlation or network in which many texts might be recalled to excavate the codes of one precise text. The French literary critic and theorist Roland Barthes (1915Barthes ( -1980 in 1967 in an essay once stated that: "a text is not a line of words releasing a single 'theological' meaning (the 'message' of the Author God) but a multidimensional space in which a variety of writings, none of them original, blend and clash." (Barthes, 1977, P.146) Then he adds: "No doubt it has always been that way. As soon as a fact is narrated no longer with a view to acting directly on reality but intransitively, that is to say, finally outside of any function other than that of the very practice of the symbol itself, this disconnection occurs, the voice loses its origin, the author enters into his own death, writing begins." (Barthes, 1977, P.143) The new product has fewer things to do with its constructor; it is never original one hundred per cent. Barthes explains that: "a text is made of multiple writings, drawn from many cultures and entering into mutual relations of dialogue, parody, contestation, but there is one place where this multiplicity is focused and that place is the reader, not, as was hitherto said, the author. The reader is the space on which all the quotations that make up writing are inscribed without any of them being lost; a text's unity lies not in its origin but in its destination. Yet this destination cannot any longer be personal: the reader is without history, biography, psychology; he is simply that someone who holds together in a single field all the traces by which the written text is constituted." (Barthes, 1977, P.148) Suzanne Collins, the American novelist has begun her professional career writing for children's television. The first book in her five-part fantasy/war series was "The Underland Chronicles," which became a New York Times bestseller. Then it has been sold into 21 foreign territories. Her next series was "The Hunger Games" in 2008 which is a post-apocalyptic, dystopian young adult novel. It was an international bestseller ever since its publication; the novel received great reviews and became a success ("Suzanne Collin, biography, 2010,)". Many (2012) states that in 2010, "Collins was named to the TIME 100 list as well as the Entertainment Weekly Entertainers of the Year list, the book sold 800.000 copies at this year also, and then it is translated to 26 languages and in 2012". The novel was adapted into a film (Wikipedia) and broke multiple box office records. "The Hunger Game's" was followed by "Catching Fire 2009" and "Mockingjay 2010." The Trilogy became a phenomenon and was considered "the fastest page-turner in publication history". In spite of its great popularity, very few critical articles and books were published about it (Ibid.). It portrays a world struck by wars and people struggling to survive poverty, disease and above all starvation. In a "TV Interview with Bibliostar, Collins stated that she inspired the idea of the novel from the invasion of Iraq in 2003 and reality television": "I was lying in bed, late at night one night and I was channel surfing and I found myself going in between reality television programs and footage of the Iraq war and these images sort of began to melt together in my mind in a very unsettling way and that's when it sort of struck me as the idea of these games (TV Collins)" While "Sharyn Pearce, Vivienne Muller, and Lesley Hawkes studied the trilogy as being inspired by 'Roman gladiators' as cited in Arrows (2012), 'Greek mythology' as stated in McConnell (2016), and 'fairytales'. Sara Buttsworth and Maartje Abbenhuis, for example, connect the games with Brother Grimm Hansel and Gretel fairytale in their book War, Myth, And Fairytales (2017). Suzanne Collins is the daughter of a military historian officer who served in the Vietnam War. (Suzanne Collin, biography, 2010)." In this respect, "Gray (2014)" adds that Suzanne's mother tried her best to protect her children from watching the footages of the horrible sights of the Vietnam War. Yet, that was impossible.
Reality television programs started to seize the attention of the majority of the audience.
It brought to the surface the daily lives of a group of people as it is without any interference of any kind "(Wikipedia about Reality Television)." Here, Finland, (2003) maintains that such programs transpassed the effect of what war soldiers can arouse. It could move the feeling of sympathy of any audience. And that can be seen in reality programs like Survivor (1997present), Big Brother (1999-present), The Bachelor (2002. After realizing the ugly face of war in postmodern life, Collins decided to bring to her readers the miserable lives of young individuals who strive to merely survive after being forced to fight in an unfair struggle which took the shape of games called The Hunger Games. The game makers would heart fully enjoys tricking them and insists on killing them violently on live television. Daniel C. Hallin states that the Vietnamese war paved the way for the first live TV show. It was televised and broadcasted to the audience on time. Then "Alastair Finlan in "The Gulf War 1991" claims that the twenty-fourhour war Media courage of Katniss show while taking part in The Hunger Games it "seems to bring the civilian observer around the world close to the action than before"(p.74) Baldick (2015) mentions that The Hunger Games retells the story of Collins when she lost her father at the age of eleven, and in which she experienced all her sad emotions watching war zone. Chris Baldick explains the term" Allusion" according to the "Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms" as: "an indirect or passing reference to some event, person, place, or artistic work, the nature and relevance of which is not explained by the writer but relies on the reader's familiarity with what is thus mentioned "(pp. 9-10).
Panem is the main setting of The Hunger Games, it was a destroyed country. Class distinction is maximized in this country. People are both rich and aristocratic and those are mainly the government, or very poor and starving to death and this is the case with almost 90% of the citizens of that country. It is an imaginary place but not strange or awkward, it foreshadows what will happen in a postmodern world, precisely in a police-state land. Snow is the hard-hearted president of the rich and rigid Panem. The poor citizens of other districts are starving to death "they rebel against the tyrant ruling over them and drive him from power" (Ziegler, 2013, p. 174). It seems that the government lives on the credit of its people, keeping them in hunger. Once, they rebel against their ruthless president but in vain for they are confronted by a "toxic bombs" (HG, 2008, p. 83). Executions where everywhere and everyone was burned into the ground. In order not to witness such rebellion, the government orders the hunger games asking the makers of the game to make it an impossible mission. They design an arena, select game players from each district and forced them on a televised program to fight against each other. The poor game players or tributes are equipped with the best outfits, sputum and logistics which suits the environment they are going to fight it.
Due to the sever life conditions, diseases, shortage in clean water and lack of electricity and medical supplies, one female and one male are obliged to fight for their lives to provide amusement for the government and to keep a reminder for the president's absolute power and a warning against any rebellion in the future. Live television program ensures the media through which everybody can see the tributes throughout the fight in this warlike game zone. Furthermore; they are injected with trackers to guarantee their position. these equipment were sources of happiness to Katniss, it supplies her with heat, food, medication, weapons and all what she once dreamt of in her old life. Katniss and Peeta Malark are chosen together to fight in this arena. Both have sponsorship and the best equipment. Their strong will, generosity, hope and success in gaining the sympathy of all the audiences enabled them to win the war against all odds. They manage to force the gamekeepers to do some adjustment to the rule of the games. For more illustration, consider the following quote: "If Peeta and I were both to die, or they thought we were. The change in the rules of the games before Katniss' victory was inevitably impossible but the power of unity forced the game makers consequently to submit to the idea of change. In The Hunger Games healthy social life is forbidden. Division and isolation are everywhere. The main cause for that is to keep the citizens weak, hopeless and not unified. 12 districts mean 12 industrial cities including fishing, wheat, coal etc. Industrial districts necessarily are the supporters of the rich city named The Capitol in which people live happily on the expense of those unfortunate industrial districts. The Capitol hosts the hunger games as a means of entertainment on one hand and as control and supreme power on the other hand. Katniss, the heroine of the novel, describes District 12 as a place where one can "starve to death in safety."(HG, p. 6). Her maturity springs from her caring soul, her ability to supply her family with food even in its darkest times. Yet, she witnessed the death of so many people out of hunger and starvation "Starvation is never the cause of death officially. It is always the flu, exposure, or pneumonia. But that fools no one." (ibid., p. 28). Through watching her, the reader would experience the daily struggle for food. She plays the role of a camera reflecting even her eating manners saying "I always eat as I'll never see food again" (ibid., p. 56). Volunteering instead of her sister Prim never filters her anxiety about feeding her family. After being equipped for the hunger games, she starts to practice a set of barbaric eating manners. It was due to her old starving stomach and poor previous life. She even spent time in describing her fascination with the type of food noting that "Barbarism' that is ironic coming from a woman helping to prepare us for slaughter. And what's she is basing our success on? Out table manners" (ibid., p.14). While fighting, her main concern was finding food, in case of failure; she would take out her enemies' food. Her only thought was "no more fear of hunger" (ibid., p.310) because most of her time is "consumed with the acquisition of food. Take that away and I'm not really sure who I am, what my identity is. The idea scares me some."(ibid., p. 311) People in District 12 received a tesserae "supply of grain and oil for one person," (ibid., p. 13) while the people of the Capital get their food easily and with no efforts: "What must it be like, I wonder, to live in a world where food appears at the press of a button? How would I spend the hours I now commit to combing the woods for sustenance if it were so easy to come by? What do they do all day, these people in the Capitol, besides decorating their bodies and waiting around for a new shipment of tributes to roll in and die for their entertainment? (HG, 2008, p. 65)" A collection of Intertextual references and links are to be highlighted between Golding's Lord of the Flies and Collins' The Hunger Games. In his book "Approaching the Hunger Games Trilogy: A Literary and Cultural Analysis", Tom Henthorne asserts that in The Hunger Games "Collins incorporates many stories." (2012, p.151). Very much like Collins' The Hunger Games, William Golding in The Lord of the Flies presents the idea of challenging a new environment where obstacles are surrounding a group of young adults who strive for survival and achieve victory through preserving humanity in spite of all odds. Intertextuality between the two text starts with the similarity noticed in the techniques that authors used including themes, characters, quotes and direct references.
In both texts; the young adults start civilized, creative and innocents in the first chapter; Ralph and Jack looked at each other while society paused about them. The shameful knowledge grew in them and they did not know how to begin confession.
Ralph spoke first, crimson in the face. "Will you?" He cleared his throat and went on. "Will you light the fire?" (1954, p.44) Piggy, on the other hand, used the shell to call and gather the boys together after the crash separates them. It is used to indicate when someone is speaking "That's what this shell's called. I'll give the conch to the next person to speak. He can hold it when he's speaking." (1954, p,36). Then his glasses are used to build fires so they can cook, be warm and also, make smoke and send rescue signals. Jack, on the other hand, used ingredients from nature to color his face in order to get rid of his old personality which is supposed to be civilized. In the fifth chapter Jack Suddenly, pacing by the water, he was overcome with astonishment. He found himself understanding the wearisomeness of this life, where every path was an improvisation and a considerable part of one's waking life was spent watching one's feet. He stopped, facing the strip; and remembering that first enthusiastic exploration as though it were part of a brighter childhood, he smiled jeeringly. (1954, p.83) Gradually, the sense of civilization for some boys starts to diminish and is replaced by savagery. Jack's painted face was the beginning only for a series for endless wild actions that would take place on the island. He states "I painted my face-I stole up. Now you eat-all of you-and I-" (1954, p,81). Golding declares it out for the readers: Jack represents an autocratic government, where power is taken; and Ralph represents democratic governments, where power is given.
Jack's face swam near him. "And you shut up! Who are you, anyway? Sitting there telling people what to do. You can't hunt, you can't sing-" "I'm chief. I was chosen." "Why should choosing make any difference? Just giving orders that don't make any sense-"(1954, p.100) (Placeholder1) The eagerness to practice power upon any living object and on any expense was overmastering even Ralph was shouting: "Kill the pig! Cut his throat! Kill the pig! Bash him in!" Ralph too was fighting to get near, to get a handful of that brown, vulnerable flesh. The desire to squeeze and hurt was over-mastering. (1954, p.126) Similar to Lord of the Flies, Katniss and Peeta in The Hunger Games did not want to kill any living creature and be changed by the Capitol. He says: "I don't know how to say it exactly. Only…I want to die as myself. Does that make any sense?" he asks. I shake my head. How could he die as anyone but himself? "I don't want them to change me in there. Turn me into some kind of monster that I'm not." I bite my lip, feeling inferior. While I've been ruminating on the availability of trees, Peeta has been struggling with how to maintain his identity. His purity of self. "Do you mean you won't kill anyone?" I ask. "No, when the time comes, I'm sure I'll kill just like everybody else. I can't go down without a fight. Only I keep wishing I could think of a way to…to show the Capitol they don't own me. That I'm more than just a piece in their Games," says Peeta. (HG, Chapter 10, p,1) Then, both were changed but for certain extent. Even when they are forced to kill, they kill for a reasonable reason and not to satisfy a brutal personal desire. Katniss and Peeta kill Cato who resembles the evil Jack in The Lord of the Flies. He encouraged them simply by saying: "Go on, shoot. And we both go down, and you win. Go on. I'm dead, anyway! I always was, right? I didn't know that until now. Isn't that what they want, huh? No! I can still do this. I can still do this. One more kill. It's the only thing I know how to do. Bring pride to my district. Not that it matters."(The Hunger Games, Quotes for the movie) Definitely, taking part in these Games, would result in losing a great deal from one's humanity. Katniss is very skilled in bow and arrow, she never hesitates to make one while staying up the trees at night to avoid being found. This ability to survive and challenge all such In both novels, the moral pressure is the motivator for more resistance and perseverance. As if it nourishes the soul for more generosity. Ralph's appreciation to Piggy and Katniss' sympathy with Rue, who reminds her very much of her sister Prim, helps to accelerate their sense of responsibility. It inflamed their eagerness to achieve victory no matter what the cost would be. Expressing her grief about Rue's death, Katniss 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." (HG: 18.38) Instead of falling under the pressure of the hunger games and kill each other, Katniss and Rue developed a kind of a strong friendship and loyalty that would stand and cause to change the welfare of the whole games. Rue was a scapegoat figure as Simon in Lord of the Flies. Her death, as well as Simon's death, starts a kind of a spiritual fire that never loses its strength till the end of the novel and causes to change the events dramatically. They seem to be caring sisters in the following quotation: Recalling back Ralph's appreciation to Piggy brings to the mind his continues demission and withdrawal from the world of fun and games where the other boys spend their most time in. As a teenager, sometimes part of him yearns to spend time discovering new things and practice boyish acts where there is no place for reason. Yet, Piggy's presence and intellectual superiority were always targeting Ralph's. Upon Simon's death, he asks "What's grown-ups goin' to think?" (1954, p, 189), and here he is regretting the loss of values, morals, and rules, that caused his death more than mourning Simon's death. And then he exclaimed about life and the idea of the beast stating that: In a year or two when the war is over, they'll be traveling to Mars and back. I know there isn't no beast-not with claws and all that I mean-but I know there isn't no fear either." […] "Unless we get frightened of people." (1954, p,92) Ralph, Piggy and Simons appeal to rationality and wisdom give them the power to stand the storm of savagery which spread all over the island. All the boys were isolated equally on that island, but the previously mentioned names never surrender to the loss of their humanity. Victory is achievable even on the hand of young adults. In fact, they are the people of the future upon which the hope of the coming generation is depending. Thus, it seems that in moments of hard times, virtuous morals spring powerfully in good-natured people.
In the light of what happens in The Hunger Games, George Orwell's dystopian novel 1984 might be considered as a prophetic literary work, on one hand, William Soskin (1949) notes that: "George Orwell's novel escorts us so quietly, so directly, and so dramatically from our own day to the fate which may be ours in the future, that the experience is a blood-chilling one…The story of official pursuit has the suspense and melodrama of a super-detective novel but instead of an exercise in criminal chase we are confronted with the grim pursuit that hangs over the head of every modern man".
Orwell perceived the future danger that Man was doomed to face, his novel was an attempt to awaken us years ago. He proved the absolute corruption of absolute power. He foreshadowed the barbarian nature of Man, his transformation to an unfeeling machine. Orwell never approved the overwhelming technological advance, never felt optimistic about that. The fictional world of his literary work never got far away from reality. He was always referring and warning about Man's tendencies toward militarism, savagery, dehumanization.
In 1984, Orwell was implicit as usually criticizing that kind of government that was controlling both the intellect as well as the emotions of its citizens. Orwell's created the idea of dividing the government into many parties and ministries. The world of 1984 is divided into three states. It was really an anti-utopian society. He succeeded in portraying the image of a terrifying government. Furthermore, Orwell anticipated the dangerous role played by the media. The Newspeak that is used in 1984 aim was to reduce the number of words in the language. Eventually, that would lead to less opportunity to think. Less thinking equals less question and criticism of the government. That would definitely result in the disappearance of imagination and finally surrendering to the existing system. This was wholly political. It represented a powerful means by which the party retains its hold over its citizens.
Apparently not far away from Orwell's vision of the future Collins created her own vision of The Hunger Games world being set in a near future where countries and people are divided into 12 Districts and turned into wreckage because of permanent war. The centre of all that is called the Capitol and in order to strengthen its absolute power over districts, the Capitol should spread hunger and starvation and only tributes for the hunger games are allowed to enjoy food and luxurious supplies for that warlike arena which is injected with dangerous strategies to destroy the chosen teenagers called tributes. And even the winner in that fight would not win him/herself back because she/he would be a toll in the hand of the Capitol president and constantly under a live media and also under a nonstop physical and psychological struggle which would never end. Katniss experience that but not for a long time. She volunteers as a tribute to set her sister free from The Hunger Games and that started her hidden future rebellion.
Collins addresses today's people, the present representation of nowadays power and authority stating: "Everyone," Plutarch tells him. "We're going to form a republic where the people of each district and the Capitol can elect their own representatives to be their voice in a centralized government. Don't look so suspicious; it's worked before." "In books," Haymitch mutters. "In history books," says Plutarch. "And if our ancestors could do it, then we can, too." (Mockingjay, 2010, p. 45)" It is a clear invitation for the readers to reconsider his/her own actions and help prevent the extinction of our planet. Collins points out the limits of our political thinking and the improvement needed to take place. She never suggests a solution as every system has its flaws and because it is impossible to create the perfect one. Through Katniss, Collins shows her message claiming that improvement is achievable if it concentrates on a global humanitarian effort. Steven Zeitchik, of the Los Angeles Times, adds that Robert Thompson, a professor of media and popular culture at Syracuse University states: The Hunger Games has this feeling of being contemporary and political but without being really clear what its politics are" (P, 2). And as Katniss puts it explaining that through postmodern men dilemmas are complicated yet there is hope for salvation: "But one day I'll have to explain about my nightmares. Why they came. Why they won't ever really go away. I'll tell them how I survive it. I'll tell them that on bad mornings, it feels impossible to take pleasure in anything because I'm afraid it could be taken away. That's when I make a list in my head of every act of goodness I've seen someone do. It's like a game. Repetitive. Even a little tedious after more than twenty years. But there are much worse games to play. (Mockingjay, 2010, p. 390)" Control, supreme authority, and power are the main keywords upon which the political structure of Panem city based on. President Snow embodies all the tyrants and dictators existed ever, he believed that 'even the strongest cannot overcome the Capitol' and warns Katniss against the rebellion's intentions. All his sadistic entertainment and extreme thirst for brutality suggest his tight control and exclusive authority in Panem. And in order to set all his plans in action, he planted the atmosphere of war every now and then in his Capitol.
In the third book where a civil war takes place, a rebellion from the people against the Capitol's tyrannical authority, Collins said herself: "I don't write about adolescence. I write about war" (2018 Collins, An Interview). Collins claims that the major theme of her writings and the mark she wants to reach are the young adults, to gear them up for their coming of age. In Plutarch's words, war is an inner force that is held by humans, rearing by this self-destructive urge to relinquish wildness and fierceness, thus that is why it is inevitable. Then he adds: "Are you preparing for another war, Plutarch?" I ask. "Oh, not now. Now we're in that sweet period where everyone agrees that our recent horrors should never be repeated," he says. "But collective thinking is usually shortlived. We're fickle, stupid beings with poor memories and a great gift for self-destruction. Although who knows? Maybe this will be it, Katniss." (Mockingjay, 2010, p. 379)" In this quotation, Plutarch's words do not bring comfort, yet they are genuine. He has some hope for the future. Because Collins doesn't want to make everything clear, hope is an essential thing according to people as it is the source of fear by President Snow: "A little hope is effective. A lot of hope is dangerous. Hope is fine, as long as it's contained. By Catching Fire, he's modified his stance: Fear does not work when there is hope." (HG, only in the movie, not the book) In The Hunger Games, Collins stresses the essential idea of togetherness by emphasizing the danger of the ultimate power of the government. Games combine people of different sorts but in The Hunger Games these games divided and weakened them in order not to be able to rebel against the injustice of the Capitol. Games are means for fun, amusement and feeling of refreshing and easiness but in Collins' The Hunger Games and Golding's Lord of the Flies they are meant for some other reasons. Golding's use games assist and support the central theme of the novel, what starts as a game and fun eventually turns into an instrument for torture and destruction, Chasing each other as innocent boys and chasing animals for entertainment changed to be a pursuit and tracking for murder inflicting pain on others. Jack's eagerness to satisfy his thrust for absolute power is clear in the following quotation: "His mind was crowded with memories; memories of the knowledge that had come to them when they closed in on the struggling pig, knowledge that they had outwitted a living thing, imposed their will upon it, taken away its life like a long satisfying drink." (1954, p,76) It was merely a practice of sadistic emotions. Enjoying the agony of denotes "man's innate evilness and savagery".(D. David Wilson, 2010, pp. 54-57) Even the act of throwing stones upon the surface of water developed to be the way by which poor Piggy's little head was crashed later on in the novel: "Roger stooped, picked up a stone, aimed and threw it at Henry-threw it to miss. The stone that token of preposterous time bounced five yards to Henry's right and fell in the water. Roger gathered a handful of stones and began to throw them. Yet there was a space round Henry, perhaps six yards in diameter, into which he dare not throw. Here, invisible yet strong, was the taboo of the old life. Round the squatting child was the protection of parents and school and policemen and the law. Roger was conditioned by a civilization that knew nothing of him and was in ruins. " 1954, p,67) Shedding light on Collins' The Hunger Games shows that competition in these games established a class distinction. The government of the Capitol holds most of the wealth and power. They control people by putting them in different districts. Even Katniss is used to gain the power " [Coin…] gives my eulogy". Praise for the girl who survived the Seam and the Hunger Games then turned a country of slaves into an army of freedom fighters. "Dead or alive, Katniss Everdeen will remain the face of this rebellion. If ever you waver in your resolve, think of the Mockingjay, and in here you will find the strength you need to rid Panem of its oppressors." "(The Mockingjay, 21.28)" They will use her voice to gain support from others and then gain power over the capital. Katniss' revolutionary nature enacts a picture of a collective struggle.
"I don't know how to say it exactly. Only…I want to die as myself. Does that make any sense? he asks. I shake my head. How could he die as anyone but himself? I don't want them to change me in there. Turn me into some kind of monster that I'm not. I bite my lip, feeling inferior. While I've been ruminating on the availability of trees, Peeta has been struggling with how to maintain his identity. His purity of self. Do you mean you won't kill anyone? I ask.
No, when the time comes, I'm sure I'll kill just like everybody else. I can't go down without a fight. Only I keep wishing I could think of a way to…to show the Capitol they don't own me. That I'm more than just a piece in their Games, says Peeta." "( HG: 10.71)." Yet, being a skilful hunter never gives her the justification to be a killed killer. Her worst fear was the need to kill other people: "You know how to kill," says her friend Gale in the first book. "Not people," she replies, filled with horror at the idea. When she actually does kill a girl named Glimmer, she's wracked with guilt and throws herself over the body" "as if to protect it. (Jeremy Adam Smith, 2012)" "Lt. Col. Dave Grossman (2007) in his Greater Good essay, Hope on the Battlefield." writes that: "The study of killing by military scientists, historians, and psychologists gives us good reason to feel optimistic about human nature, for it reveals that almost all of us are overwhelmingly reluctant to kill a member of our own species, under just about any circumstance" In times of war, people no longer reserve admiration for the beauty, intelligence, or bravery. They look up to those who possess the skills to ensure basic survival. Katniss is exceptional and unique; she is the standard upon which all rules are measured.
"That's when I hear the scream. So full of fear and pain it ices my blood. And so familiar. I drop the spile, forget where I am or what lies ahead, only know I must reach her, protect her. I run wildly in the direction of the voice, heedless of danger, ripping through vines and branches, through anything that keeps me from reaching her. From reaching my little sister."(Catching Fire, p. 79-80)" Unlike the citizens of the Capitol who violently and brutally exploit the 12 districts of the country of Panem, she gained the sponsorships through winning people's sympathy, and emphasizes Haymitch's advice to the heroes, Katniss, and Peeta when he stated that "If you really want to stay alive, you get people to like you," ("The Hunger Games -Catching Fire, chapter 17)" says their drunken, traumatized mentor, Haymitch. It's the first advice he gives to the heroes, Katniss and Peeta, and a surprising amount of the film's action revolves around their efforts to win people's sympathy, which results in "sponsorships" that help them in their most desperate moments.
The heroes succeeded in arousing a humanitarian action by powerful, heartfelt sympathy and emotions rather than by logic and reason "I wanted the audience to recognize you when you're in the arena" says Cinna dreamily." Katniss, the girl who was on fire." (HG, Chapter 76) Cinna says these words to Katniss in Chapter 5 as he prepares her dress for the opening ceremony of the Hunger Games. She understands how necessary it is to make Katniss stand out, not just for the sake of vanity, but because he knows that appearances in the Hunger Games can have a significant, tangible effect. By standing out during the ceremony, for instance, Katniss can attract fans that might not otherwise have noticed her, and among these fans may be sponsors who could provide gifts that might prove critical during the Hunger Games.
"Katniss' power is unlike the Capital's one. Her power flows from social and emotional intelligence, not strength and evilness "Peeta, how come I never know when you're having a nightmare?" I say. "I don't know. I don't think I cry out or thrash around or anything. I just come to, paralyzed with terror," he says. "You should wake me," "I say, thinking about how I can interrupt his sleep two or three times on a bad night. About how long it can take to calm me down." "It's not necessary. My nightmares are usually about losing you," "he says. I'm okay once I realize you're here". (Catching Fire,p. 88) Manipulating the emotions of the "Hunger Games" audience was the source of victory in these games, on the contrary with the defeated characters who adopted violence and brutal behavior. In his essay" The Power Paradox", GGSC Faculty Director Dacher Keltner presents a new source of power: "A new science of power has revealed that power is wielded most effectively when it's used responsibly by people who are attuned to/ and engaged with, the needs and interests of others." And that: "Years of research suggest that empathy and social intelligence are vastly more important to acquiring and exercising power than are force, deception, or terror." Throughout "The Hunger Games," Collins proves that social connections trans pass absolute power and independence. Katniss' self-reliant character surrenders to her realization of the importance of her interdependent with other people. When one character tells her she's a survivor, her reply is "But only because someone helped me."(HG, Chapter 7) Katniss is tough and resourceful, but, in the end, it's her ability to connect with others that saves her. "Our lives aren't just measured in years. They're measured in the lives of people we touch around us". "(Catching Fire, chapter25 for the movie)" Katniss' victory in "The Hunger Games" is achieved by survival through hardships. Her attitude concerning success creates a new logic of victory. It suggests a distinguished way to overcome moral dilemmas. Perseverance and holding on to hope is more powerful in postmodern wars. Addressing Rue, her new ally, she says I'm going to win for the both of us now: "I really think I stand a chance of doing it now. Winning. It's not just having the arrows or outsmarting the Careers a few times, although those things help. Something happened when I was holding Rue's hand, watching the life drain out of her. Now I am determined to avenge her, to make her loss unforgettable, and I can only do that by winning and thereby making myself unforgettable. (The Hunger Games, 18.62)." Unlike others like Haymitch, who resorted to alcohol after his trauma, or Mrs Everdeen who surrender to silent depression after her husband's death, Katniss faces her troubles and doubts heroically. Collins choice to give Katniss a history of misfortune added to her popularity as a great character. The continuous change and transformation Katniss' undergoes help to give more real features to her. The tone totally changes from Katniss hating Peeta to loving him. She starts to look for him because of the rule change and finds him. Then she starts cleaning him off from the wound that Cato gave him. When Peeta starts talking about if he dies and Katniss won't let him finish and then she kisses him "Yes. Look if I don't make it back-he begins. Don't talk like that. I didn't drain all that pus for nothing, I say. I know. But just in case I don't-he tries to continue. No, Peeta, I don't even to discuss it, I say, placing my fingers on his lips to quiet him. But-he insists impulsively, I lean forward and kiss him, stopping his words" (Collins,p. 268).
The continuous change in her character brings change even to the rule of the games itself. Then comes the part where they changed the rules.
"Claudius Templesmith's voice booms down from overhead, congratulating the six of us who remain. (…) there's been a rule change in the Games. (…)Under the rule change, both tributes from the same district will be declared winners if they are the last two alive. (Collins,p. 244)." Thus, that would end up being the case at the end of the "Games". Katniss' heroic decision to be the face and symbol of the uprising for the sake of others has taken its roots from the act of self-sacrifice often repeated for the good of her loved once throughout the novel. She does the heroic act and saves her younger sister from the Games by sacrificing herself: "Then something unexpected happens. At least, I don't expect it because I don't think of District 12 as a place that cares about me. But a shift has occurred since I stepped up to take Prim's place, and now it seems I have become someone precious. At first, one, then another, then almost every 34 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. (HG, 29)" Conclusion Suzanne Collins gives her readers the hope to promote the almost-gone values in real life. From only a family belonging, Katniss has become a society belonging. Peeta and Katniss refusal to kill one another at the end of the games prove Collins' concept about human dignity which can be preserved even in dehumanizing and barbaric situations. Definitely, she gives us some characters that care nothing for human dignity. But these characters are portrayed more like monsters than as people. The new concept of Victory and the suggestion for getting out of man's dilemmas was fulfilled in "Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games; the book is an updated version and representation about how a heroine is portrayed today's younger generations. (Frankel's, 2010)". William Golding, on the other hand, portrays beautifully the dilemma of modern man's estrangement and isolation. Ralph, Simon and Piggy speak for him in Lord of the Flies, enact his beliefs and convey his messages to the readers. They succeed to preserve their humanity and kept their strong tie to each other. They never lose their generosity and their civilized manners. They prove that victory is achievable only through civilization, science, acquaintance with good people and having a set of decent morals and values. Evil never lasts forever; the navy soldier's first words when he meets the boy assert that assumption.