Suzanne Collins, the author of the Hunger Games trilogy, made sure that every detail of her work was significant. Her work is well thought out, that even the characters’ names are not just labels of identity, but serve a bigger contribution to the story. The tale is of a futuristic place of the name Panem, which is divided into twelve districts and a Capitol. The Capitol controls every aspect of life in the districts, as it hosts annual hunger games. Tributes are taken from each district and battle to the end until one is left standing. This game is broadcasted throughout Panem, is serves as it purpose of entertainment and punishment for the district rebellion. The citizens of the Capitol hold names of historical references, which attribute to their powerful stance in Panem. The citizens of the districts hold names of nature orientations. This would relate to their living conditions opposite to futuristic Capitol, the districts are at poverty state where citizens are truly one with nature as they hunt for their food. Collins not only provided us a developing plot, but also added extra details that created a whole new look at the story. The well thought out names of the characters give each one of them a more complex feature within in plot. The names within the Capitol are important when analyzing not only the characters, but also the plot. The names feature historical references especially from Roman and Shakespearian times. This is a common feature amongst American films. In the article, “The Hollywood Sign,” the term archetype is mentioned, it is defined as, “…anything that has been repeated in storytelling from ancient times to present” (Maasik 367). The characters’ names within the Capitol can be categorized as archetypes. In ... ... middle of paper ... ...o do to obtain sponsors. The name Peeta sounds just as pita, which is Greek bread, and is one of the most ancient breads, it means solid (Krule). Peeta is a baker and he is able to become solid like rock through camouflage, but also he is able to be strong enough to propel heavy objects across the room. This is another name with another significant contribution to the storyline. The trilogy has a mixture of atypical names. When looking deeper into the specific characters’ roles and having knowledge of history and nature, there are definite connections. The characters influenced the author, Collins, through history and nature aspects and they obtained their names with strategic time put into them. Something as small as a character’s name can help us understand the specific personality better through knowledge of outside materials.
In an Amazon.co.uk interview titled “Magic, Mystery and Mayhem: An Interview with J.K. Rowling,” when asked about the way she came up with the names of characters in her books, she replied, “I invented some of the names in the Harry books, but I also collect strange names. I've gotten them from medieval saints, maps, dictionaries, plants, war memorials, and people I've met!” J.K. Rowling chose these names for a reason based on the deeper meanings behind every character's name and the way they relate to their roles and personalities. In Octavia E. Butler's short story “Speech Sounds”, Rye and Obsidian were the names she chose for her characters. Rye, the name of the main protagonist which symbolizes home and earth yearns to reconnect with her family and to rebuild a family of her own while Obsidian, the supporting character, is named after a type of lava stone, which is believed to contain magical properties that “absorbs and destroys negative energy such as anger, criticism, and fear” (Zagata). The names of the characters have two purposes: to describe the character's role and personality, and to give them an identity.
This poem written by Francisco Alarcon describes the life of an illiterate man who finds himself signing away his freedom by placing his mark on a contract. He is unable to read the contract he is signing or even write his name. Being unable to read he leaves himself vulnerable to be taken advantage of and deceived. Alarcon, who was raised in a Hispanic community, was surrounded by illiteracy. Wanting to change the situation in which he was raised in he went to school to become a teacher and now focuses his efforts on eliminating illiteracy. This poem was written from the experience of watching those he cared about around him being taken advantage of because they were unable to read or write. "The X in My Name" shows the mistakes and ill consequences that illiteracy can bring upon those uneducated. It also sheds light onto how social structure and financial class play into illiteracy, and how detrimental illiteracy can be to those on the low end of the monetary spectrum. Though Alarcon only uses a few words it is easy to understand and see how the illiterate can be effortlessly be taken advantage of.
Suzanne Collins has, through her writings, used great imagery to expose the meaningful side of ‘The Hunger Games’, the side that is not all about what takes place in the arena. The Capitol’s rule over the districts, the reality-show part of the Hunger Games and the Mockingjay pin are all fragments of deeper meanings that create the basis of all that the story is. Suzanne Collins has depicted the country of Panem as a place overruled by a large city, known as the Capitol. The Hunger Games is apparently a means to keep peace and a fair punishment for the rebellion of the districts, where district 13 was obliterated in the mess. However, Collins has spun this interpretation around and unveiled a different perspective – that The Hunger Games is
Native American and settler have always been fighting over land, and the movie clip, Pocahontas explains it in a different way. They were fighting because the Native Americans captured John Smith from the settlers. This fight was stopped because Pocahontas jumped in front of the potential murder of John Smith. She did this because she loved him and also she did not want anyone to fight, she told her father about what he caused by capturing him from the settlers. Mike Gabriel inaccurately portrayed the conflict between the settlers and the Native Americans because they never fought and it was stopped by love between a Pocahontas, a Native American and John Smith, a European, Europeans and Native Americans never liked each other.
Charles Dickens often would create names of his characters to correlate with their behavior, which made me as a reader take a further look into the names of characters in books that I read.
... Thus, it is with these three key points that the government of Panem has been able to keep the Games going on for so long, without the system collapsing in on itself. Furthermore, The Hunger Games also shows us just what we as a species could become with the right to social influence and conditioning by an authoritarian force. The peoples of the Capitol and Districts have been taught and conditioned for decades to accept the Hunger Games, especially so in the case of the Capitol, where its citizens applaud and enjoy the Hunger Games, much like many Romans enjoyed the Colosseum in ancient times. It is a rather frightening, but realistic, look at what any of us could become with the right social influences and conditioning.
The title The Namesake mirrors the struggle of Gogol Ganguli, child of Ashoke and Ashima, Indian foreigners to the U.S.A. to get personality in the way of life where he is conceived and raised with his strange name. Names do make them mean in India. A considerable measure of practice is done when a youngster is named in India. An Indian tyke for the most part conveys two names, a pet name and an official one. Pet names are for the family, neighbours and colleagues.
Take note that throughout the entire story, none of the characters actually have a spoken name other than Tom Tit Tot. The 3 main characters are referred to as “the daughter” “the mother” and “the king”, (920-924) the author decided to do this because it shows the importance of Tom Tit Tot’s name and so the reader can only be focused on him. The quote “I’ll give you three guess every night to guess my name, and if you haven’t guessed it before the month’s up you shall be mine” (922) naming him releases her from their deal and without it she will be taken away by him. At the end she is able to learn his name and set herself free from his deal. The naming element is settle but, powerful. It allows the reader to understand that some as simple as name can lead to great power over someone. The daughter was able to earn back her life of riches just by learning the name of the
Although the philosophy, transcendentalism, is thought by some to be outdated, elements of this philosophy are still present in literature today. In the novel, The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins, the character Gale, represents the ideals that Henry David Thoreau, a transcendentalist writes about in his essay. The character Gale lives in the futuristic dystopia country of Panem located in North America. Panem is separated into twelve different districts that operate under one president and each year children from ages twelve to eighteen have their names placed into a bowl. On the day of the ‘reaping’ two names, a boy’s and a girl’s, are chosen from each bowl in each district and placed in an arena and forced to fight to the death, a system
First, a little background on The Hunger Games. Panem, where the Capitol is located, was established and led by President Snow as a totalitarian dictatorship. The nation was divided into districts, called nation-states. Each district was responsible for producing, procuring, or refining goods in a particular industry. Each district provides something different for the Capitol, and in return they have no influence concerning the national politics of Panem.
The Hunger Games that follows, the term that defines a dystopian fiction. One main belief that defines Dystopian society is the development into a “hierarchical society” (“Dystopia”). A hierarchical society plays a big part in the story that outline the whole plot. For example, Capitol is wealthier than all the districts. Some districts are more privileged than others. The Careers, being tributes from districts one to three, are prepared and trained for years before the games. However, this is illegal, but because of the support towards District two from the Capitol, they are let off, along with District one and District four, the other richer districts. In this cas...
The book The Hunger Games, portrays a society where people are treated unfairly based on factors that they cannot control. The people are born into one of 13 districts. There lives vary drastically based on where they are born. Someone born in the Capitol has a completely different life than someone born in district 12. A person born in the Capitol lives a wealthy life and is always treated with respect. On the other hand someone born in district 12 has a life of constant back breaking work. They live in poverty and struggle to survive.
Is it important to know what is behind your name? Now in days, many names are given without knowing their meanings or where they come from. For example, I was given the name of Judith just because my parents heard it and liked it. It depends where and in which culture were they raised. For this purpose I researched my name Judith. Some of the main points I found were interesting to me like the history and my personality.
In a not-too-distant, some 74 years, into the future the United States of America has collapsed, weakened by drought, fire, famine, and war, to be replaced by Panem, a country divided into the Capitol and 13 districts. Each year, two young representatives from each district are selected by lottery to participate in The Hunger Games; these children are referred to as tributes (Collins, 2008). The Games are meant to be viewed as entertainment, but every citizen knows their purpose, as brutal intimidation of the subjugated districts. The televised games are broadcasted throughout Panem as the 24 participants are forced to eradicate their competitors, literally, with all citizens required to watch. The main character throughout the series is a 16-year-old girl from District 12 named Katniss Everdeen.
With names such as Harris or Hughes, people would slightly change and shorten their own names, leading the pronunciation and spelling of their surnames to evolve and change into new names. The meaning of words in our own language also changed. The last name Banker is not an occupational surname like it appears, but instead it is a locational or descriptive one. The intended meaning of Banker was “dweller on a hillside” quoted citation instead of today’s meaning of someone who would have worked at a bank. Other names were misunderstood as people moved from one place to another.