The Hunger Games - Survival
Humanity and Inhumanity
Characters in this novel are both humane and inhumane such as Katniss, who faces many situations throughout the novel where she must decide whether to do something inhumane to another person such as killing them to save herself. Or to preserve her humanity and spare a life. The decision made depended on the degree of threat upon who was making it.
Katniss realises that to save herself she must kill other people, this ultimately provides her strength and contributes to personal growth. She feels guilty that she must kill others to keep herself in the game that alike to her have families that will miss them. She is bitter and resentful toward the Capitol and holds them responsible for the suffering inflicted on herself and the other tributes.
"I want to do something, right here, right now, to shame them, to make them accountable, to show the Capitol that whatever they do or force us to do there is a part of every tribute they can't own. That Rue was more than a piece in their Games. And so am I."
Katniss appears to have felt more guilt when she didn't save the Avox girl when they first encountered each other in the forest in District 12 because the Avox girl reminds her of herself. Naturally, evil people are easier to kill than those who are not evil. Katniss found it easier to kill people such as Cato instead of Thresh as Cato didn't show her any compassion.
Survival and Risk
Anyone that needs to survive in an environment with less than ideal conditions adapt and change to fit what they need to do to survive. Katniss is faced with situations where she must assess the risks involved and her potential gain. Katniss developed survival skills in her early years so she could fend for herself and her family, if she got caught hunting and selling the food she could have faced consequences at the hands of the Capitol. When Katniss' Father died, she had to grow up fast this means she missed out on having a childhood. When the games begin, her number one priority is to keep herself alive. Katniss focuses on surviving instead of killing others, that's how she differs from the other tributes and their strategies when they enter the ring. She struggles to develop relationships with others outside the mutual need to survive, such as with Peeta. She is constantly questioning Peeta's intentions and motives, assuming his supposed feelings for her are merely to get a reaction from the audience.
"If the audience really thinks we're in love... I remember how strongly they responded to his confession. Star-crossed lovers... they eat that stuff up in the Capitol." p.165
These robots symbolise The Capitol and how inhumane they are in the Hunger Games. (Even though there are actually no robots in the book) The fire represents that Katniss is trapped within the games by The Capitol.
