This is my final entry for The Hunger Games blog. In this class I have learned how to apply many different philosophies and ways of thinking to The Hunger Games. From gladiatorial fights in Ancient Rome to the nature of Appalachian culture, I learned just how much has influenced the writing in The Hunger Games. Personally, I loved all of the material that we covered, I thought it was all extremely interesting and thought provoking. My favorite aspect of the course was how the guest speakers educated us on a subject and then we, as students, would apply what we learned to The Hunger Games. The course was very challenging but I feel like I got so much out of it. The course was definitely worth taking and I would wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone thinking about taking it in the future.

I will critique the presentation given by Aisha Ghodbane. Aisha’s topic was very interesting to me because she took Freudian psychology and applied it to The Hunger Games. I did not know much about Freud’s ideas on psychology previous to her presentation and I feel like I actually learned a lot in the short amount of time in which Aisha presented. Her presentation was very informative and kept me interested the entire time. Aisha did a fantastic job on her presentation and I very much enjoyed seeing how Freudian psychology can be applied to The Hunger Games.

I attended an event where a holocaust survivor came to speak in McDaniel Lounge. This experience was very unique and evoked a lot of emotions for me. The survivor told his story and gave a firsthand account of the atrocities committed by the Nazi regime during WWII. One of the most interesting things to me was his loss of faith in God. Someone asked him if he was still a religious man after the holocaust, and his answer surprised me. He said that he had lost all faith in a higher when he saw the horrors that men were capable of committing. This lecture was special for me because in just a few short years, all of the remaining holocaust survivors will have passed away. I feel very lucky to have heard a firsthand account of a holocaust survivor.

 

I believe that this lecture can also be applied to The Hunger Games. The atrocities committed by the Nazis can be equated to those being performed by President Snow and The Capitol. President Snow rose to power much like Adolf Hitler did, through the events of a devastating war. They used the war to fuel their political campaign and gain followers. Once they had their power, they used fear and intimidation tactics to keep opposition to a minimum. Both Hitler and Snow also commit crimes against humanity. Hitler started the mass genocide known as the holocaust and Snow destroyed an entire district that showed opposition to him. Not only did he destroy a district, but he also uses the hunger games a tool to keep the remaining districts in check.

Children of Men is a movie about a world in which people are no longer being born. As in, human beings have just completely stopped giving birth. In this world, a 16 year old girl is found to be pregnant and must be protected if her child, the last hope for mankind to survive, is to born. Her protector, played by Clive Owen, protects her on their journey and ensures that she gives birth to her child.

This movie can be related to The Hunger Games in a few ways. The first, is in the main characters. They are both girls around 16 years of age. These young girls becomes humanity’s hope for survival. The second is that they are born into a world society is in disarray and must face danger around every corner. The last is when they must go on a journey for survival in order to save society and return the world to normalcy.

This week, Dr. Mazeroff came as a guest speaker and lectured about Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey. It is surprising to learn how many contemporary stories can be applied to the basic template of The Hero’s Journey.  With its story structure and archetypes, it perfectly fits The Hunger Games. Katniss is the perfect character to fit Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey. For example, she is called to adventure when she feels as though she is forced to volunteer for the Hunger Games in order to save her sister. Another example is when she crosses the threshold into the unknown when she leaves her home district and enters the capitol. The belly of the whale can be equated to her time in the arena when she is forced to kill or be killed and then released back into the real world.

Another key component of Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey are the archetypes. Most of the archetypes described by Campbell can be easily identified in The Hunger Games. The promise is when she tells her sister Prim that she will win the games and return home. The old man is a mentor figure that can be identified as Haymitch. The shapeshifter is a character whom the reader cannot decide which side he is on. This can be seen in Finnick. A final archetype is the amulet, which can be identified as the mockingjay pin, which gives Katniss strength and the will to persevere in the games.

Last Thursday, President Casey came to class as a guest and spoke about his life and just gave an autobiography about his origins and where he comes from. It gave a lot of insight as to who he is and why he does what he does. The whole lecture just made me admire Dr. Casey even more as a person. As far as application to the Hunger Games, the lecture gave insight to leaders in general, and why they do the things that they do. A lot of the time there is far more under the surface of a leader that you may not expect. These details provide explanation as to why they are leaders and why they have their own particular style of leading. For instance, Dr. Casey grew up in a low income home and loved teaching. Therefore, it makes sense that when he is making school policy, the students will always come first.

Dr. Raley's lecture on conventional romance and gender roles was extremely interesting. She gave a general overview of the sociology behind gender and how we present gender in modern day society. It is interesting to look at The Hunger Games and see Katniss, a female, take on the main role and handle situations better than any of the men. This is something that we don’t see very much in literature, where the men are expected to handle the tough situations and fight all the battles.

This leads to the next point where Dr. Raley talked about conventional relationships. It is extremely obvious that the relationship between Katniss and Peeta is not a very conventional relationship. Again, Katniss takes on the role of protector and provider, generally roles that are supposed to be taken by the man in a relationship. She looks after Peeta in the arena and makes sure that his wounds are taken care of and making sure that they have enough to eat. She even does most of the fighting. Dr. Raley’s lecture opened up a whole new side of The Hunger Games, in which the female lead takes on the stereotypical male roles in order to survive.