NOTE: I wanted to share something about a book I had read of late, and
compare it to a movie that I have always loved. I shall also say that there is
a spoiler alert, since I do mention events in The Hunger Games that might ruin your read if you haven’t yet
managed to lay your hands on it! So, if you have
read the book, or if you don’t mind the spoilers read on…
For a short preview, you might want to watch The Hunger Games Trailer and the Gladiator- the trailer.
The Hunger
Games, a book by Suzzane Collins, tells the story of a seventeen year old girl
named Katniss Everdeen. Katniss lives in a world where there is an anarchic
rule by the Capitol over twelve districts. The districts had originally
rebelled and this led to the Capitol reinforcing their rigid authority by
introducing something called the hunger games. Here, two children from each
district between the age of 12 and 18 (one boy and one girl) are chosen to compete
each other in an arena until only one survives while the rest of the country
watches the televised version. Katniss, a girl from District 12, which supplies
coal to the Capitol, offers to participate in the hunger games in her sister,
Primrose Everdeen’s, stead.
Through the
three novels that Suzzane Collins spins, we see an act of rebellion against the
reign of President Snow and the Capitol. What is interesting about this novel
is the comparison between a future that Collins creates and a Roman past. After
reading the books, I happened to watch the movie Gladiator (2000) by Ridley Scott and I was struck by the
similarities. It is true that Collins herself has acknowledged the influence of
Roman history in writing her book- Roman senators, the idea of the arena and
the weak pitched against each other or other natural forces (in the
gladiatorial games it would be other animals, while in the hunger games it was
also weather and other natural phenomena), and the people watching the
entertainment.
The gladiatorial
games were for the entertainment of the masses. However, in the movie, Maximus
(a Roman general who becomes a slave and is compelled to enter the arena)
proves that he will not obey the command of his emperor. He, at every possible
chance, throws dirt at the face of Commodus’ reign. Maximus, through three vivid
instances (his three games in the Colloseum), defies the crown causing Commodus
to retch with anxiety and eventually leads to his death in the extraordinary
finale between him and the erstwhile general. Similarly, Katniss, through three
different instances (the three novels), defies President Snow leading to his
overthrow in the end.
It is
fascinating to see the similarities between the appearances of the commentator
and the senators in the film and the gamemakers in the novel. The clothes are
similar: the gamemakers wear purple robes, while the senators don white. The
people of the Capitol are said to dress ‘differently’- with plastic surgery and
plenty of makeup. This is akin to commentator
Cassius in Gladiator.
- Cassius
It was really curious to see
that only the people from the Capitol were named after Romans: Cinna, Portia,
Caesar, Cato, Octavia, Flavia, Plutarch, Seneca etc. While Katniss, Prim and
Gale and elements of nature in them. Even Rue (meaning compassion) and Thresh (related
to the agricultural ‘threshing of the corn’) have more ‘humane’ names. This could
be percieved as a nature-culture shift.
Finally, there is an amazing
similarity between Haymitch Abernathy who trains Katniss and Antonious Proximo,
a gladiator trainer who buys Maximus. Both men primarily look out for
themselves, and yet they accomplish so much more for their chosen candidate.
Both of them have a rather antagonistic and yet protective approach to the
people who go into the arena.
I found a lot of similarities between
the story and the movie. And for those who love the arena, both the book as
well as the movie are a must read/see.
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