I Think The Hunger Games Series Sits In A Similar Literary Position To The Lord Of The Rings, As A Piece

I think the Hunger Games series sits in a similar literary position to The Lord of the Rings, as a piece of literature (by a Catholic author) that sparked a whole new subgenre and then gets blamed for flaws that exist in the copycat books and aren’t actually part of the original.

Like, despite what parodies might say, Katniss is nowhere near the stereotypical “unqualified teenager chosen to lead a rebellion for no good reason”.  The entire point is that she’s not leading the rebellion. She’s a traumatized teenager who has emotional reactions to the horrors in her society, and is constantly being reined in by more experienced adults who have to tell her, “No, this is not how you fight the government, you are going to get people killed.” She’s not the upstart teenager showing the brainless adults what to do–she’s a teenager being manipulated by smarter and more experienced adults. She has no power in the rebellion except as a useful piece of propaganda, and the entire trilogy is her straining against that role. It’s much more realistic and far more nuanced than anyone who dismisses it as “stereotypical YA dystopian” gives it credit for.

And the misconceptions don’t end there. The Hunger Games has no “stereotypical YA love triangle”–yes, there are two potential love interests, but the romance is so not the point. There’s a war going on! Katniss has more important things to worry about than boys! The romance was never about her choosing between two hot boys–it’s about choosing between two diametrically opposed worldviews. Will she choose anger and war, or compassion and peace? Of course a trilogy filled with the horrors of war ends with her marriage to the peace-loving Peeta. Unlike some of the YA dystopian copycats, the romance here is part of the message, not just something to pacify readers who expect “hot love triangles” in their YA. 

The worldbuilding in the Hunger Games trilogy is simplistic and not realistic, but unlike some of her imitators, Collins does this because she has something to say, not because she’s cobbling together a grim and gritty dystopia that’s “similar to the Hunger Games”. The worldbuilding has an allegorical function, kept simple so we can see beyond it to what Collins is really saying–and it’s nothing so comforting as “we need to fight the evil people who are ruining society”. The Capitol’s not just the powerful, greedy bad guys–the Capitol is us, First World America, living in luxury while we ignore the problems of the rest of the world, and thinking of other nations largely in terms of what resources we can get from them. This simplistic world is a sparsely set stage that lets us explore the larger themes about exploitation and war and the horrors people will commit for the sake of their bread and circuses, meant to make us think deeper about what separates a hero from a villain.

There’s a reason these books became a literary phenomenon. There’s a reason that dozens upon dozens of authors attempted to imitate them. But these imitators can’t capture that same genius, largely because they’re trying to imitate the trappings of another book, and failing to capture the larger and more meaningful message underneath. Make a copy of a copy of a copy, and you’ll wind up with something far removed from the original masterpiece. But we shouldn’t make the mistake of blaming those flaws on the original work.

More Posts from Nyxoholic666 and Others

3 years ago

what if people made human versions of iconic tumblr posts and shipped them

no. no no no

3 years ago

oh i seeee

i hate diwali <3

2 years ago

aru being a pathological liar is the literal reason why the pandava series even exists


Tags
2 years ago
That’s The Thing About Being An Adult Standing Beside Your Childhood Race Car Bed. Time Collapses,
That’s The Thing About Being An Adult Standing Beside Your Childhood Race Car Bed. Time Collapses,
That’s The Thing About Being An Adult Standing Beside Your Childhood Race Car Bed. Time Collapses,
That’s The Thing About Being An Adult Standing Beside Your Childhood Race Car Bed. Time Collapses,
That’s The Thing About Being An Adult Standing Beside Your Childhood Race Car Bed. Time Collapses,
That’s The Thing About Being An Adult Standing Beside Your Childhood Race Car Bed. Time Collapses,

That’s the thing about being an adult standing beside your childhood race car bed. Time collapses, and instead of the version of you you’ve built from scratch, you’re all the hackneyed drafts that came before, all at once.

[Book Lovers by Emily Henry]


Tags
3 years ago

ah yes, the girl with the knife and the morally gray boy who hates everyone but the girl with the knife, trope


Tags
3 years ago

Desi Culture is "Mama meri blue shirt kahan hai, mil nahi rahi" "Mein ne us ko pocha bana diya" "KIYA-"

1 year ago
HEARTSTOPPER SEASON 2 | EPISODE TITELS
HEARTSTOPPER SEASON 2 | EPISODE TITELS
HEARTSTOPPER SEASON 2 | EPISODE TITELS
HEARTSTOPPER SEASON 2 | EPISODE TITELS
HEARTSTOPPER SEASON 2 | EPISODE TITELS
HEARTSTOPPER SEASON 2 | EPISODE TITELS
HEARTSTOPPER SEASON 2 | EPISODE TITELS
HEARTSTOPPER SEASON 2 | EPISODE TITELS

HEARTSTOPPER SEASON 2 | EPISODE TITELS

1 year ago

VERY IMPORTANT a dam in the Netherlands, the weerdsluis lock, is directly on a migratory path for spawning fish. They have a worker stationed there to open the door for the fish, but they can take a while to open it. So to keep the fish from getting preyed on by birds they installed a doorbell. Only, the fish don't have hands to ring the doorbell. If you go to their website, they have a LIVE CAMERA AND A DOORBELL that YOU RING FOR THE FISH when they're waiting, and then the dam worker opens the door for them! I can't express how obsessed I am with this. look at this shit. oh my god.

VERY IMPORTANT A Dam In The Netherlands, The Weerdsluis Lock, Is Directly On A Migratory Path For Spawning

Please check on the fish doorbell once in a while :)

Loading...
End of content
No more pages to load
  • ladycinism
    ladycinism liked this · 2 weeks ago
  • queenmax
    queenmax liked this · 2 weeks ago
  • zahra-bea
    zahra-bea reblogged this · 2 weeks ago
  • cacophonouslyy
    cacophonouslyy reblogged this · 2 weeks ago
  • characterarc
    characterarc reblogged this · 2 weeks ago
  • whitegownsandflowercrowns
    whitegownsandflowercrowns liked this · 3 weeks ago
  • scywritesbynight
    scywritesbynight liked this · 3 weeks ago
  • homo-clexual
    homo-clexual reblogged this · 3 weeks ago
  • esotericareblogged
    esotericareblogged reblogged this · 3 weeks ago
  • skyfalcon222
    skyfalcon222 reblogged this · 3 weeks ago
  • okra-sama
    okra-sama reblogged this · 3 weeks ago
  • tototoaba
    tototoaba liked this · 3 weeks ago
  • amitysnark
    amitysnark liked this · 3 weeks ago
  • bread-clown
    bread-clown reblogged this · 3 weeks ago
  • schniggles
    schniggles liked this · 4 weeks ago
  • shipptowreck
    shipptowreck liked this · 4 weeks ago
  • manygreetingsfriend
    manygreetingsfriend liked this · 4 weeks ago
  • aphiordie
    aphiordie reblogged this · 4 weeks ago
  • aphiordie
    aphiordie liked this · 4 weeks ago
  • toph-proudfoot
    toph-proudfoot reblogged this · 4 weeks ago
  • killinguwithumbrellas
    killinguwithumbrellas reblogged this · 4 weeks ago
  • magnetothemagnificent
    magnetothemagnificent liked this · 4 weeks ago
  • jewishbuckybarnes
    jewishbuckybarnes reblogged this · 4 weeks ago
  • dame-night
    dame-night reblogged this · 1 month ago
  • fangoddess555
    fangoddess555 liked this · 1 month ago
  • autumn-mirrorball
    autumn-mirrorball liked this · 1 month ago
  • the-glitchh
    the-glitchh liked this · 1 month ago
  • waywardstoryenthusiast
    waywardstoryenthusiast reblogged this · 1 month ago
  • paxwingscale
    paxwingscale reblogged this · 1 month ago
  • sweetgentlecider
    sweetgentlecider reblogged this · 1 month ago
  • impatiensdesigns
    impatiensdesigns liked this · 1 month ago
  • pojjer1059
    pojjer1059 reblogged this · 1 month ago
  • maybeaghost
    maybeaghost reblogged this · 1 month ago
  • actuallyprobablyafaerie
    actuallyprobablyafaerie reblogged this · 1 month ago
  • mako-lies
    mako-lies reblogged this · 1 month ago
  • sunflower-will-flay-your-soul
    sunflower-will-flay-your-soul reblogged this · 1 month ago
  • bird599
    bird599 liked this · 1 month ago
  • artemisadiadoom
    artemisadiadoom liked this · 1 month ago
  • tinynavajoreads
    tinynavajoreads reblogged this · 1 month ago
  • tinynavajo
    tinynavajo liked this · 1 month ago
  • sunflower-will-flay-your-soul
    sunflower-will-flay-your-soul liked this · 1 month ago
  • risecupcake
    risecupcake liked this · 1 month ago
  • caffeinated-bibliophile
    caffeinated-bibliophile reblogged this · 1 month ago
  • pandoratheprocrasticreator
    pandoratheprocrasticreator liked this · 1 month ago
  • kepler-438-b
    kepler-438-b reblogged this · 1 month ago
  • recipeformemory
    recipeformemory reblogged this · 1 month ago
  • hagelliot
    hagelliot reblogged this · 1 month ago
  • sharpsparrow96
    sharpsparrow96 reblogged this · 1 month ago
  • marbylous
    marbylous liked this · 1 month ago
nyxoholic666 - chaos & ink
chaos & ink

"it doesn't matter. I have books, new books, and I can bear anything as long as there are books."

268 posts

Explore Tumblr Blog
Search Through Tumblr Tags