The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins, Catholic

[dUSt]

So, according to Wikipedia, the author of The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins, is Catholic.

I didn't know this before reading the books, but it's starting to make sense.

I'd like to use this thread to talk about some of the Catholic symbolism in the books, and what it all means, and possibly work out enough content to flesh out an article or an essay.

Is Peeta somehow tied to St Peter? (Peta)

Does the fact that Peeta makes bread, and saved Katniss' life by giving her bread somehow symbolize something?

Is Katniss symbolic of a Redemptrix?

What about all the self-sacrificing for the sake of others that is a common theme throughout the books?

Some related articles:
[url="http://www.hogwartsprofessor.com/letter-from-a-friend-is-suzanne-collins-a-methodist/"]http://www.hogwartsp...ns-a-methodist/[/url]
[url="http://catholichotdish.com/spiritblog/the-hunger-games-has-it-come-out-in-time/"]http://catholichotdi...me-out-in-time/[/url]
[url="http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/priest-calls-hunger-games-movie-dangerously-prophetic/"]http://www.catholicn...usly-prophetic/[/url]
[url="http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/worlds-best-selling-book/2012/mar/31/religious-and-political-overtones-hunger-games/"]http://communities.w...s-hunger-games/[/url]
[url="http://catholiclane.com/the-hunger-games/"]http://catholiclane....e-hunger-games/[/url]

[dUSt]

Moved to Transmundane Lane to avoid pictures of ponies.

[franciscanheart]

[quote name='dUSt' timestamp='1333555522' post='2412885']
Is Peeta somehow tied to St Peter? (Peta)

Does the fact that Peeta makes bread, and saved Katniss' life by giving her bread somehow symbolize something?
[/quote]
I have yet to read the books but saw the movie and instantly thought of St. Peter. In fact, I thought his name WAS Peter (with a funny accent) until I started reading about the book. Will read soon and post more.

[Ice_nine]

I would like to comment on this as well, but I think we should be cautious of taking an allegorical approach, or assuming that each character perfectly correlates to something Biblical/overtly religious.

DON'T READ IF U NO WANT SPOILERZ (if you've read the first book ur good)



For example, the idea that Peeta is some kind of Christ-figure because he is willing to sacrifice his life for Katniss . . . certainly there are parallels, but Peeta most likely killed the girl from District 8 (the one who set the fire the first night in the arena) before Katniss even killed anyone.

I think bread is heavily symbolic, but I'd make sure not to stretch it too far you know?

I'm reading the series for a second time and taking notes more carefully. I'm about 5 chapters in on the second book. Will pay more attention and let you know what I think when I'm thru.

[filius_angelorum]

I would say that it is a very Catholic thing to adapt two different Classical themes to weave a new story. It shows a certain cultural depth. There is also no mention of religion , which reminds me quite a bit of J.R.R. Tolkien's approach.

[mysisterisalittlesister]

That's very interesting. I have had this gut feeling that Rue symbolizes something or someone, but I still can't figure out what. If I get a lightbulb idea, I'll post it here.

[MargaretTeresa]

I kept tying the movie to Catholicism but, until reading this, didn't realize Ms Collins is Catholic. I'm planning on rereading whilst home for the Easter holiday, and will be taking notes.

Funny, since I was going to do a blog post on it...

[Basilisa Marie]

Hmm, I think this is interesting. Although Katniss and Primrose are named after flowers because their mom was an apothecary. Peeta's named such because it's a kind of bread. People in the story tend to be named after things a district produces or things the people do (mostly the poorer districts), and the closer you get to the Capitol the more stylistic the names get (from Clove, a spice, to Glimmer and Marvel). Then in the Capitol, Latin names are common, which fits with the idea that the Capitol is supposed to be Romanesque with its bread and circuses.

HERE BE SPOILERS FOR LATER BOOKS!!!




Peeta definitely has a sense of Christ-like sacrifice for Katniss, but he also gets kidnapped and brainwashed against Katniss by the government, and Katniss has to work with him to bring him back.

Like Ice said, I think we have to be careful about assigning loads of religious imagery to the books. Although I think there's enough to say that we can see how Collins' Catholicism influence how she decided to craft her tale, I don't believe she meant anything beyond that.

[dUSt]

Yeah, the chances are that she did not intentionally create any type of Catholic/religious symbolism. Even if she did not, I still think it creates a fun and interesting task, to try and relate certain elements to Catholicism. At the very least, it may create a great opportunity to use the stories as a tool to teach people about our faith.

[dantim86@aol.com]

Yeah, I just recently read the past 3 books and saw the movie, I want to see it again. Very thought provoking. Al Kresta from Kresta in the Afternoon on EWTN was/is talking about it on his show. I called in actually. I will post the podcast when it is loaded. This is the audio archive website for it though. [url="http://avemariaradio.net/showArchive.php?id=kpm"]http://avemariaradio.net/showArchive.php?id=kpm[/url]

[dantim86@aol.com]

[url="http://avemariaradio.net/archiveListen.php?file=kpm_20120404_1"]http://avem...ariaradio.net/archiveListen.php?file=kpm_20120404_1[/url] (I am in this one)

[url="http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Favemariaradio.net%2FarchiveListen.php%3Ffile%3Dkpm_20120404_2&h=TAQHuQKDd"]http://avemariaradio.net/archiveListen.php?file=kpm_20120404_2[/url] (This is the second hour)

[Guest hmmm30]

----That's very interesting. I have had this gut feeling that Rue symbolizes something or someone, but I
    still can't figure out what. If I get a lightbulb idea, I'll post it here.----

@mysisterisalittlesister:

It occurred to me that Rue could represent the slaughter of the innocents by King Herod in an attempt to kill Jesus.  Or the representation of the sacrifice of a little lamb.

Just some ideas.

[sixpence]

I just liked how Katniss just trusts Rue even though they are supposed to be enemies in the games, and how Katniss risks her life to defend Rue's and then tries to give her some dignity at her death. The dignity of human life was a very important theme for the series.

[Basilisa Marie]

[quote name='sixpence' timestamp='1337138759' post='2431117']
I just liked how Katniss just trusts Rue even though they are supposed to be enemies in the games, and how Katniss risks her life to defend Rue's and then tries to give her some dignity at her death. The dignity of human life was a very important theme for the series.
[/quote]

I also think it's interesting how the representatives from the poorest districts (12, 11, etc) are the ones who most easily see the human dignity of others and hate the games the most.

[Papist]

I neither read nor seen the movie. In fact, I never heard of it until the all the hoopla over the movie. I looked into it and was turned off by the children killing children theme. Perhaps I am missing something here, but that is what I could not get passed.

[LaPetiteSoeur]

[quote name='mysisterisalittlesister' timestamp='1333566695' post='2412976']
That's very interesting. I have had this gut feeling that Rue symbolizes something or someone, but I still can't figure out what. If I get a lightbulb idea, I'll post it here.
[/quote]
I think that she symbolizes love.

[LaPetiteSoeur]

[quote name='Papist' timestamp='1337195464' post='2431317']
I neither read nor seen the movie. In fact, I never heard of it until the all the hoopla over the movie. I looked into it and was turned off by the children killing children theme. Perhaps I am missing something here, but that is what I could not get passed.
[/quote]

It's a very distopian society. I think that Suzanne Collins' point was to show just how brutal humanity had gone once no one could hold the Capitol accountable for anything.

[Papist]

[quote name='LaPetiteSoeur' timestamp='1337198396' post='2431336']
It's a very distopian society. I think that Suzanne Collins' point was to show just how brutal humanity had gone once no one could hold the Capitol accountable for anything.
[/quote]

Can you see the irony?

[Basilisa Marie]

[quote name='Papist' timestamp='1337199355' post='2431344']
Can you see the irony?
[/quote]

In what? In the way that Lionsgate hyper-promoted the movie, launched a line of Capitol-inspired nail polish, and generally encouraged everyone to be a spectator for kids killing each other? In the way that half of my theater cheered when one of the "baddies" in the arena was killed by another kid, completely missing the point that both of them were victims of a disgusting culture? Nearly all of the media frenzy around the story has completely missed the point of the books.

Well, for what it's worth, I don't think the kids-murdering-kids thing is meant to be glorified, but rather portrayed in a way to display the sheer horror of the situation. I think this was done a tad bit better in the books than in the movie. It's not really a theme, but more so a tool to show how desensitized the wealthy elite are to true human dignity, and that all they care about is being entertained. We're meant to sympathize with the characters who promote human dignity and fight against those who celebrate the games.

[PhuturePriest]

*Spoilers*

This is very interesting indeed. I enjoyed the movie and the books (Save for part three of the third book since my favorite character Finnick [i]dies!!!!) [/i]and I always thought that somewhere there may be some symbolism in it. Like The Lord of the Rings, it doesn't state Religion in an obvious way, and in fact it states the marriages in District 12 are not religious at all, but there's subtle hints here and there. However, I would say it is not near as symbolic as The Lord of the Rings and the symbols it does have are certainly not as deep. When writing to his Priest friend that took care of him and his brother after his parents died, J.R.R. Tolkien wrote "The Lord of the Rings is, of course, a Catholic book", so it's pretty hard to contend with The Lord of the Rings anyway. However, it does have subtle hints, whether they be intentional or unintentional. I will say, however, that I wish Collins had read The Lord of the Rings, or if she did, more closely. Because if she had she would've read what a wise Hobbit by the name of Bilbo said: "Books should end with a [i]happy [/i]ending"!!!!!!