An Alternate view of The Hunger Games (WARNING: SPOILERS FOR THE OTHER BOOKS!)
So I finally went to see The Hunger Games last night, I loved the books so I was excited for the movie. As far as adaptations go it puts me in mind of Goblet of Fire; I loved Goblet of Fire...for what it was, it focussed on ONE part of the novel and let the rest fall by the wayside, but I was okay with that because it covered that one part WELL. The Hunger Games did the same thing, focussed on only one part of the book at the expense of everything else, including in this case proper character development. And the Games were not portrayed as intensely as I was expecting.
But anyway that's not what I really wanted to talk about. The movie got me thinking, Katniss Everdeen was the ONLY tribute with any experience in the woods, and the arena for the 74th games just happened to be a forest? The PERFECT spot for her? Now OBVIOUSLY this is because duh she's the main character. But what if Suzanne Collins was being even more devious?
It's revealed in the second book that both Seneca Crane the Head Gamemaker AND Haymitch are both part of the underground uprising. I'm thinking that Haymitch and Seneca set the entire 74th Hunger Games up as a means of using Katniss as a figurehead for the rebellion. Think about it, Haymitch is smart, VERY smart, and he knows how to play everyone and everything; being from District 12 he would know Katniss's reputation and skills, know that she'd do anything for her sister. He tells Seneca and Seneca designs an arena where Katniss will have an advantage over every other tribute, an arena that is not exciting or creative like the previous arenas he's designed. It's pointed out multiple times that Prim's name should have been one in thousands, that the odds should have been in her favour, but if Haymitch and Seneca were working together, Prim's name could have been on EVERY SINGLE SHEET and no one would have ever known!
It's devious and brilliant and puts everything that happens into an entirely new light. They could have even set it up so Peeta was chosen as well, maybe Haymitch had seen the way he always looked at Katniss. It all fits though, because we later learn that the rebellion is willing to do anything it takes to win, so why not this?
But anyway that's not what I really wanted to talk about. The movie got me thinking, Katniss Everdeen was the ONLY tribute with any experience in the woods, and the arena for the 74th games just happened to be a forest? The PERFECT spot for her? Now OBVIOUSLY this is because duh she's the main character. But what if Suzanne Collins was being even more devious?
It's revealed in the second book that both Seneca Crane the Head Gamemaker AND Haymitch are both part of the underground uprising. I'm thinking that Haymitch and Seneca set the entire 74th Hunger Games up as a means of using Katniss as a figurehead for the rebellion. Think about it, Haymitch is smart, VERY smart, and he knows how to play everyone and everything; being from District 12 he would know Katniss's reputation and skills, know that she'd do anything for her sister. He tells Seneca and Seneca designs an arena where Katniss will have an advantage over every other tribute, an arena that is not exciting or creative like the previous arenas he's designed. It's pointed out multiple times that Prim's name should have been one in thousands, that the odds should have been in her favour, but if Haymitch and Seneca were working together, Prim's name could have been on EVERY SINGLE SHEET and no one would have ever known!
It's devious and brilliant and puts everything that happens into an entirely new light. They could have even set it up so Peeta was chosen as well, maybe Haymitch had seen the way he always looked at Katniss. It all fits though, because we later learn that the rebellion is willing to do anything it takes to win, so why not this?