Notesale: Turn your study into money

Document Preview

Extracts from the notes are below, to see the PDF you'll receive please use the links above

---

The Hunger Games: A Feminist Text?

Loss of Agency:
Collins is adamantly critical of societal beauty standards in The Hunger Games, portraying
the makeover Katniss undergoes in the Capitol as a frivolous, negative experience
...
The implication that Katniss is not human until she has been beautified by the Capitol
is one we see in the real world: Women who are not seen as conventionally attractive are often seen
as less than human
...
When they
televise the replay of the reapings tonight, everyone will make a note of my tears, and I'll be marked
as an easy target
...
”(p23)
...
Emotions are seen as a
feminine trait, but also a distinctly negative one: a woman showing extreme emotions is often
accused of being hysterical or hormonal, and rarely taken seriously
...
We see
this again during the Games when Katniss is careful not to react upon discovering that Peeta has
joined the Career tributes, carefully monitoring her facial expressions when she thinks the cameras
are watching for her reaction and thinking “there! Let them figure out what that means!”
...
This conflicting information is reminiscent of the makeover scene in Mockingjay in
which Fulvia wants Katniss to appear “scarred and bloody” but also “stunning”and asks “just how
grimy can we make her without disgusting people?”(Collins, )
...
Additionally she is forced into the arena
once more despite having been previously assured that her status as victor afforded her immunity,
and is later deemed the face of the rebellion and placed into the Mockingjay role without having
any input
...
But Peeta wanted them so badly” (Collins
389), despite having stated previously that “I never want to have kids” (Collins 9)
...
In The Hunger Games it is because of Peeta's
confession of love that Katniss is seen as likeable and worth sponsoring: through his love story and
affection she becomes a likeable character for the games audience
...
We see this
phenomena again in Catching Fire when Peeta announces (falsely) that Katniss is pregnant, without
first asking for her permission to do so
...
After this Katniss does not make a decision of her own volition until
she elects to shoot Coin rather than President Snow
...
Additionally, according to President Snow, whom Katniss chooses to believe, it was Coin
that ordered the attack on the Capitol that contained the bomb that killed Prim
...
They can give me a full body polish, dress
me up, and make me beautiful again
...
I no longer feel any
allegiance to these monsters called human beings, despite being one myself” (Collins 380)
...


Masculinity in The Hunger Games:
Throughout the novel we see a clash of personalities in Peeta and Gale, as they arguably
represent opposite ends of the Masculine spectrum
...
This is what we typically view as the Alpha Male mentality
...
W
...
Yet very large numbers of men are complicit in sustaining the
hegemonic model” (Connel 2005)
...
Hegemonic masculinity presents men as strong protector types and leaders
...
He's good-looking,
he's strong enough to handle the work in the mines, and he can hunt
...
Later on in
the trilogy, Gale fully embraces extreme hegemonic masculinity and becomes a formidable war
general: “'not if we blow it up', Gale says brusquely
...
Gale
has no interest in preserving the lives of those in the Nut
...
This is one of his death-traps”
...

If Gale represents Hegemonic Masculinity then Peeta arguably represents Marginalized
Masculinity – he enjoys typically 'feminine' activities such as baking and painting, and is much
more in touch with and open about his emotions than both Gale and Katniss
...

But there are things you don't question too much, I guess, when your home always smells like
baking bread, whereas Gale questions everything"
...
And I mean loud loud, as if he's stomping his feet or
something" whilst she later describes Gale as having a “velvet tread” on the same page (314)
...
Katniss's confusion over her feelings or lack thereof for
Peeta and her unresolved potential romantic feelings towards Gale help to drive Katniss's character

development: we see different aspects of Katniss depending on which love interest she is interacting
with
...
In contrast, when Katniss is with Peeta she is more
focussed on her own emotions and caring for Peeta in way that could be considered motherly or
romantic
...
The person Katniss is when she is with Gale is
primely Utopian, fighting for survival and living hand to mouth, perpetually unsure of where the
next meal will come from, whereas when she is with Peeta Katniss's thoughts and actions become
more Utopian – she dreams of a better future, and is influenced by Peeta's sensitivity and emotional
vulnerability, allowing her to examine her feelings
...
I have plenty of fire myself
...
The bright yellow that means rebirth instead of destruction
...
That it can be good again
...

The contrast between the marginalized male and the hegemonic male is a common theme in young
adult fiction love triangles – for example, in bestseller Twilight, Bella's main love interest Edward
can be considered an example of Marginalized Masculinity – he is quiet and bookish, plays the
piano and enjoys classical music
...
It is also interesting to
note that in both the cases of The Hunger Games and Twilight, it is the marginalized, beta male who
eventually gets the girl
...

So, is it a feminist text?
Collins' dystopian series is a pro feminist text
...
Whilst some critics may argue that Katniss also adopts a

mothering role towards Prim and Rue, it is this rare display of genuine femininity in Katniss that
sparks the revolution – were it not for Katniss's maternal feelings towards his sister, she wouldnt not
have volunteered for The Games and inadvertently started the revolution
...
By using the trope of the reluctant mother, Collins cleverly turns Katniss into a
feminist symbol who is capable of both mothering and fighting in a revolution -as is shown at the
close of the trilogy when Katniss reveals her and Peeta have two children
...




---