Hunger Games ‘Shipping Notes

 

ByJohn Originally published June 14, 2010 

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 The fourth in a series of Hunger Games posts by Mary Baldwin College professor Louise Freeman:

Random musings

Prim points out after the first Reaping that if Katniss wins, they’ll be “as rich an Haymitch.”  But the state of his house makes it appears as though Haymitch still lives in poverty, despite a quarter century of Victor’s income, with no dependents to support.  It takes him 25 years to hire a maid?  What’s he supposed to be spending all his money on?  And don’t tell me liquor; with the income of a Games champion he could set Ripper up for life if she agreed to run a personal still for him in his cellar. My only thought is that he funnels his money to revolutionaries. Or perhaps he forged alliances with the other Mentors by providing for the families of the Tributes they lost, as Peeta tried to do for Rue and Thresh’s loved ones.

Peeta Mellark as a Neville-Echo

 

ByJohn Originially published June 7, 2010

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More Hunger Games thoughts from Mary Baldwin College Professor Louise Freeman:

The Peeta-Neville connection

My first impression of Peeta is that he reminded me of Neville Longbottom and my second reading, if anything, reinforced that image. While the “stocky” 16-year old Peeta may be capable of slinging 100 lb bags of flour, I imagine the 11-year-old of Katniss’s memories as a pudgy and not noticeably talented child, similar to Neville in the early years of Harry Potter.  He is bullied by his mother much as Neville was browbeaten by his Gran; though, somehow I don’t see a proud Mama Mellark showing up to assist at the final battle of Mockingjay, as Augusta did in Deathly Hallows.  Like Neville, Peeta showed a spark of heroic potential as a child; he summoned enough courage to defy his mother and toss a couple of bread loaves to a starving classmate (and got beaten for his efforts) just as Neville’s courage in standing up to the Trio got him petrificused by Hermione. But let’s face it, at this stage, a baker’s child with a talent for cake decorating seems to have as much champion potential as a chronic toad-loser with a talent for herbology. But both 11-year-olds tipped a delicate balance in favor of the good guys at a crucial moment; Peeta’s burnt bread gave Katniss the strength to provide for her family, while Neville’s 10 points secured the House cup for Gryffindor. Both are vessels of heroic potential in unlikely packages.

Hunger Games Mark Evanses & Names

ByJohn  Originall published  June 4, 2010

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More from Prof. Louise Freeman at Mary Baldwin College on neglected details in Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games!

“Mark Evanses”

(What is a ‘Mark Evans’? People we’ve heard mentioned in the story but not been told about who could turn out to be important later, or could just as likely be nobodies. Read here for the Harry Potter reference.)

1. Peeta’s brothers. We know Prim from the get-go. We at least meet and learn something about Gale’s siblings: their ages, genders, the fact that little Rory registers for tesserae and was starting to learn hunting. All we know is that Peeta has two older brothers, one likely too old to be in the Games, the other eligible but who Katniss flatly states “won’t” volunteer to take his kid brother’s place.  Either Brother #2 knows of the Pearl Plot and realizes Peeta’s the best to court the Mockingjay, or he takes after his mom.
2. The third District 12 Hunger Games Victor. We know nothing about this person, other than he/she is deceased and presumably won before Haymitch did.  It seems strange to mention this person and never follow up.  Will this person turn out to be a grandparent of one of our protagonists or a relative of someone else we know? Was he/she a contemporary of Mags who inspired revolution by carefully mentoring Haymitch?
3. The fourth District 12 tribute from the 2nd Quarter Quell. The first called was a anonymous Seam girl, the second Maysilee Donner. Katniss is too taken aback by the revelations about Maysilee and the sight of her mother as a child to notice when the first male tribute is called and only appears to pick up watching again when Haymitch shows up on the tape. Again, it seems odd for Collins not to describe Tribute #3, not even in the nondescript way of QQ Girl #1. Could this man have an unrevealed connection to one of the current players?  Or could Peeta, yet again, be hiding something from Katniss and launch into the details of Maysilee, “Pearl” and Mrs. Everdeen as a means of distraction?

Mockingjay Discussion 17: Books vs. Broadcast

 

ByElizabeth  Originallt published: August 27, 2010

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From Hogwarts Professor Louise Freeman in Virginia, thoughts on ‘Mockingjay,’ media, books, and truth, not to mention a contrast with Harry Potter:

“Beauty is truth and truth, beauty–that is all ye know on earth and all ye need to know.”  John Keats.

The Hunger Games trilogy gave us the harshest skewering of the media since Rita Skeeter, and with much less comic relief.  The first two books show the broadcast Games, “reality” TV twisted into a weapon of oppression and packaged as entertainment. Mockingjay shift gears into “informational” broadcasts twisted into weapons of war; they don’t even bother calling them “news broadcasts” but “propos,” a nickname for propaganda. In the end, there’s little difference between the two formats.

However, in Harry Potter, the target of the critique is the printed word:  the Daily “Profit”, the “whatever sells” writings of Skeeter and Lockhart; in Hunger Games, it’s all about television. There is little evidence that print media even exists; for all their electronic expertise, Panem society seems forgotten that the printing press or moveable type were ever invented. The only books we hear about are homemade, handwritten works.

Mockingjay Discussion 21: What the Votes Tell Us

 

ByJohn    Originally published August 28, 2010

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From Hogwarts Professor Louise Freeman in Virginia:

The assembly of the Council of Victors to vote on whether or not to punish the Capitol with a final (yeah, right!) Hunger Games is a pivotal scene of Mockingjay.  The obvious question we are supposed to ask is “Why did Katniss vote yes?” Was she still so bitter over Prim’s death and convinced that the Capitol was responsible that she would go along with the act of vengeance?  Or did she instantly have an “Animal Farm” style realization that Coin was no different than Snow and give the Yes vote as her best chance to kill her?  I have my own idea, but I can see how there would be differing opinions.  It might be more beneficial to ask two other questions:  1) Why did Coin call for the vote?  2) Why did the other Victors vote the way they did?

“Heavensbee? Heavensbee?” On the loss of Philip Seymour Hoffman

 

ByLouise Freeman  Originally published February 2, 2014

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Sad news this morning that Philip Seymour Hoffman, the Hunger Games‘ movie franchise’s Plutarch Heavensbee was found dead this morning at the age of 46,  of an apparent drug overdose. Our heartfelt condolences to his family and loved ones.

Mr. Hoffman had received many accolades for his film roles and his portrayal of the Gamesmaker-turned-revolutionary was one of the many welcome additions to Catching Fire. He had been set to reprise the role in Mockingjay.

Top 10 Reasons You Will like the Catching Fire Movie better than the Original.

 

ByLouise Freeman  Originally published November 22, 2013

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I think we’ve hit that ever-so-rare Wrath of Khan phenomenon, where the sequel to a movie far surpasses the original. And, though I know our Headmaster had his issues with it, the Hunger Games franchise certainly did not start from as low a point as Star Trek: The Motion Picture.

I hit the 8:30 showing with my seventeen-year-old daughter and two of her friends last night, breaking my usual rule of no post 10-PM activities on a school night.  And, I am glad I did because I think this will go down as a memory my daughter and I will treasure. There was a unanimous consensus that this movie was a better and more faithful adaptation of the book.  Personally, I have always thought Catching Fire, though quite good, was the weakest of the trilogy.  It would not surprise me if the movie turns out to be the strongest.