Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

Categories: Dystopia

Essay, Pages 7 (1608 words)

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The book I am reading is a dystopian novel, it is written by Suzanne Collins, and is named Catching Fire. The main character is Katniss Everdeen. The character changes from being happy about winning the Hunger Games, to losing her home, family, friend, and trust. At the end of the novel, she is stubborn and ignorant. She has gone from having everything to nothing, again. The main character does the right thing when she decides not to kill Finnick and another tribute when they are walking back toward her.

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Instead, she remembers what Haymitch says, and instead blows a hole in the arena, leading an escape route. I cannot identify with the character when she does not talk with the other tributes and does not remember her family when she is mad that the capitol took Peeta. If I was Katniss I would be communicating over my loss and how to get Peeta back. I would be questioning everything I could, but instead she is quiet, maybe of disbelief, or shock, but either way, I would have cared way more than she acts as she does at that moment.

Another character is Haymitch. He is the 50th Hunger Games winner. I believe he does the right thing, and I can relate to him when he does not tell Katniss about the plan to get out.

I can relate to this because I am a very secretive person myself and do not disclose information readily. He does the right thing because he knows although Katniss is strong she has a lot of publicity and is still decently young at 17 years old.

A final character is Gale. Although Gale is not mentioned a lot in this story he is an essential part of the story. He does the right thing at the end of this story by recognizing his importance in this situation Even though Katniss and Gale argued at the beginning he can put this behind them and talk to Katniss and make her speak. I can relate to this because although I have not been in this situation a ton, I have been in it. I act similar to Gale in this section by knowing what I have to do and doing it. The setting in Catching Fire is the same as The Hunger Games, which is the first book in the trilogy.

After North America was theoretically destroyed, the country of Panem arose. Katniss Everdeen lives in District 12, one of the poorest districts in Panem. Katniss has been chosen and will fight for district 12 in the 75th Hunger Games. Catching Fire takes place close to 100 years in the future. Because the setting is not new I believe the story is not as good as it could be. A good story must have a good setting. Although the setting in this book is repetitive the action in the book distracts my attention, so it does not bother me as much. The best theme for Catching Fire, in my opinion, is trying to keep one’s dignity and humanity in every part of one’s life. I believe this is shown throughout the novel by Katniss Everdeen when she is trying to keep her family alive even in this tough time. President Snow is threating to kill Katniss and Gale’s family at the beginning of the book. The only way to stop him from doing this is to show her love to Peeta throughout the Hunger Games and display to Panem not to rebel to the capitol. Even though she does not have feelings towards Peeta, and she is confused about her feelings, in general, she does this to keep her family alive. This book taught me the ends do not justify the means. When Katniss decorates Rue’s body she shows a sense of mercy. She shows the slaughtering of innocent people is not worth the winning the Hunger Games.

The central conflict of Catching Fire was President Snow threatening Katniss’s family if she did not stop rebelling against the capitol. The resolution to this conflict was Katniss escaping the arena. The book starts with Katniss and Peeta after the first book. Their prize was money, they used this money to support their family, and they were considered one of the wealthiest people in District 12. President Snow then tells Katniss to continue showing her love towards Peeta and if she does not he will kill everyone she cares about. He also implies that he knows that Gale and Katniss were kissing outside if district 12. He does not care about this as much, as long as the districts see Peeta and Katniss in love. Katniss confesses she is confused about her feelings and does not love either one of them. Haymitch, the winner of the 73rd Hunger Games, tells Katniss she might have to marry Peeta to trick the districts. Instead of district 11, yelling at Katniss for the death of Rue, they salute to her, a sign of deep respect. To pull off the making, the districts believe Peeta and Katniss are really in love Peeta proposes to Katniss, but President Snow does not think this is enough. Gale confesses he feels emotions toward Katniss and tells her, but because she cannot love Gale she has to put more distance between them. They disagree whether they should run from the district or fight with the district. Before they finish, Gale runs off. Katniss later sees him being whipped for killing a turkey. She sees him in bed later and kisses him with a rush of emotions.

Two people coming from the rebelling district 8 alert Katniss that district 13, the district that was thought to be destroyed, maybe still intact. This is because the same mockingjay has been thought to fly by everytime the capitol shows footage of district 13. When the capitol shows footage later on Katniss sees this same mockingjay. Because this is the 75th Hunger Games the capitol decides to something different. They decide to hold the Hunger Games with all the existing winners. So Peeta, Haymitch, and Katniss all go to the capitol. Later on, Katniss finds out that Haymitch was the winner of the 50th Hunger Games. She then realizes the chances of winning are very high. The Hunger Games then finally start and Peeta and Katniss team up with another two people and find the barrier of the arena. The barrier injures Peeta and they slept for the night. They encounter a fog that burns and blisters then skin, so they have to move. Katniss was carrying Mags, the female she teamed up with, and Finnick, the male they teamed up with, carries Peeta. Mags is too heavy for Katniss. Mags decides to sacrifice herself so the others can escape.

Katniss is confused to why she does this. Peeta is then saved a third time when another random tribute takes a bite from a monkey. She dies shortly after. Katniss then figures out the attacks are timed. The next attack was by a bunch of careers, other tributes, Finnick then takes a spear for Peeta. Katniss still wonders why Peeta has been saved so many times. Katniss and Peeta decide they cannot trust Finnick or the other tributes, but they must stay with them to kill the rest of the careers. When Katniss meets at a tree to meet with the others, she only sees Beetee, a tribute that they are teamed with. Katniss needs to find Peeta. She sees Finnick with a career and wants to kill them. But, she remembers what Haymitch told her before the games. He said to remember who the real enemies are. So instead she ties a knife to her arrow and shoots it toward the barrier. The barrier explodes, creates a hole, and she is pushed back. She wakes up in hovercraft maned by the other tributes, including Peeta. The others all had a plan to rebel against the capitol. They are heading toward district 13. On the hovercraft she is informed that the capitol has taken Peeta. She refuses to speak and Haymitch decides to take her to Gale. She meets with Gale and is told district 12, her home, has been bombed. Gale talks her back into being herself and the novel comes to an end.

Overall, the book was good. I would give it a 7/10. The book was not as good because the setting was boring and repetitive; however, the amount of action, suspense, and morals made it better. In my opinion, fiction books are not the best, so my point of view may be biased. I believe the book was hard to believe because I cannot imagine a society run off of mandatory violence. Another reason why I cannot wrap my head around this book is that President Snow wants Katniss to calm down the citizens of Panem while he puts her in a deadly, arena full of other fighters, all the while theoretically falling in love with a man she does not like. The story was not predictable, similar to the book that proceeds it, it takes a lot of twists and turns and most outcomes are unexpected. The ending of the book was Katniss showing feelings for Peeta and she forgot about her family. The ending was great, and vital because it is a cliffhanger leading to a 3rd. The ending is also famous because it foreshadows the 3rd book is about a rebellion against the capitol.