(Fiction assignment due 11/12/14) - I give the fiction book 'Catching Fire' by Suzanne Collins a rating of 5 out of 5 stars. 'Catching Fire' is the second book in the Hunger Games trilogy. The book is set in the futuristic country of Panem, which is under the dictatorship of the Capitol and its current president, President Snow. Seventy-four years ago, there were 13 districts, but they all rebelled against the Capitol. The first 12 districts were defeated and the 13th district was destroyed by the Capitol. As punishment for the rebellion, the Capitol forced two children from each district, a boy and a girl between the ages of 12 and 18, to fight to the death in an arena as ‘tributes’. The last one standing at the end of the fight was declared the winner. Thus, the Hunger Games were born.
'Catching Fire' continues the story of protagonist, Katniss Everdeen. Katniss is from Panem’s District 12 and she was the recent female ‘tribute’ of the latest Hunger Games. She, and fellow District 12 male tribute, Peeta Mellark, won the Hunger Games. After their win, Katniss and Peeta returned to their district and moved into Victor’s Village, to live the remainders of their lives in luxury and safety with their families, or so they thought. While Katniss and Peeta should be happy, they aren’t. The Capitol is annoyed with them as they tricked the Capitol into allowing 2 tribute winners during their Hunger Games. Katniss and Peeta were able to win the Hunger Games by pretending to be in love and vowing to eat poisonous berries to commit suicide so that there would be no winner during their games. Thus, the Capitol was forced to allow 2 winners to preserve the games. The districts saw this potential act of suicide as rebellion against the Capitol.
As a result, the districts were now ready to rebel against the Capitol and were looking to Katniss and Peeta to help lead the fight. Katniss and Peeta go on their required ‘Victory Tour’ to all the other districts, which only serves to rile up the districts further against the Capitol. The Capitol becomes angry as the districts try to rebel and sends ‘Peacekeepers’ to try to control them. The Capitol views Katniss and Peeta as a continued threat to their rule and arranges the 75th anniversary Hunger Games, called the Quarter Quell, to be played with former tribute winners, including Katniss and Peeta, hoping that they will be destroyed during these new games.
Katniss and Peeta form an alliance with tributes Finnick (District 4), Mags (District 4), Johanna (District 7), Wiress (District 3), and Beetee (District 3). During the Quarter Quell games, Mags gives up her life to save the others by walking into a poisonous fog. Later, Wiress figures out the game arena is designed like a clock and is able to help the others figure it out too by constantly saying ‘tick tock’. Unfortunately, Wiress is later killed by other rival tributes. During the game, the group overcomes and survives various trials and fights with other tributes. Finally, Beetee comes up with a plan to destroy the force field surrounding the game arena, but ends up unconscious and cannot carry out his plan. However, Katniss is able to carry out Beetee’s plan to destroy the force field by tying a wire to one of her arrows and shooting it into the force field, which is destroyed when lightning strikes the wire. After the force field is destroyed, Katniss, Finnick and Beetee are rescued by Plutarch Heavensbee (Quarter Quell Head Gamemaker) and his rebel allies who plan to take them to the rebuilt, underground District 13. Plutarch states to Katniss, “We had to save you because you're the mockingjay, Katniss. While you live, the revolution lives”. Unfortunately, however, Peeta and Johanna did not escape with them and were captured by the Capitol. The book ends with Katniss distraught when she finds out about Peeta and also that her beloved District 12 has been destroyed by the Capitol.
There are several themes in the book 'Catching Fire', including war, competition, courage, loyalty and love. I thought that one of the most prevalent themes, however, was courage. Katniss and Peeta are ready to die for each other and sometimes act foolishly in order to defend their beliefs, like when Peeta painted a picture of Rue in front of the Gamemakers, because he wanted to hold them accountable for her death, without thinking about any possible consequences. Also, Mags and Wiress give up their lives to protect the others in the Quarter Quell games and Johanna and Finnick risked their lives during the games to save Peeta and Katniss. I thought that one of the biggest acts of courage in the book was when Cinna, Katniss’s stylist, risked everything to give Katniss a costume that promoted the rebellion by having her wedding dress catch fire and change into a mockingjay outfit, the symbol of the rebellion. Unfortunately, Cinna is beaten to death in front of Katniss for his betrayal against the Capitol.
I chose to read this book because I already read the first book, 'The Hunger Games', and really liked it. 'Catching Fire' was fast-paced and hard to put down and I finished it very quickly as I couldn’t wait to see what was going to happen next. I found the relationship between the tributes interesting because though in the games they are supposed to be out for themselves, they all worked together to try to outsmart the Capitol, who was the real enemy in the book. I learned that to survive in the wilderness you must be aware of your surroundings, don’t be afraid to ask for help when you need it, stand up for what you believe in and stay loyal to your friends. I also learned that you should be careful who you trust and that you can be friends even with people you thought were your enemies. This book kept me entertained and was difficult to put down. As a result, I can’t wait to read the last book in the trilogy, Mockingjay, so I can find out what ultimately happens to Katniss, Peeta and the rest of the characters.
'Catching Fire' continues the story of protagonist, Katniss Everdeen. Katniss is from Panem’s District 12 and she was the recent female ‘tribute’ of the latest Hunger Games. She, and fellow District 12 male tribute, Peeta Mellark, won the Hunger Games. After their win, Katniss and Peeta returned to their district and moved into Victor’s Village, to live the remainders of their lives in luxury and safety with their families, or so they thought. While Katniss and Peeta should be happy, they aren’t. The Capitol is annoyed with them as they tricked the Capitol into allowing 2 tribute winners during their Hunger Games. Katniss and Peeta were able to win the Hunger Games by pretending to be in love and vowing to eat poisonous berries to commit suicide so that there would be no winner during their games. Thus, the Capitol was forced to allow 2 winners to preserve the games. The districts saw this potential act of suicide as rebellion against the Capitol.
As a result, the districts were now ready to rebel against the Capitol and were looking to Katniss and Peeta to help lead the fight. Katniss and Peeta go on their required ‘Victory Tour’ to all the other districts, which only serves to rile up the districts further against the Capitol. The Capitol becomes angry as the districts try to rebel and sends ‘Peacekeepers’ to try to control them. The Capitol views Katniss and Peeta as a continued threat to their rule and arranges the 75th anniversary Hunger Games, called the Quarter Quell, to be played with former tribute winners, including Katniss and Peeta, hoping that they will be destroyed during these new games.
Katniss and Peeta form an alliance with tributes Finnick (District 4), Mags (District 4), Johanna (District 7), Wiress (District 3), and Beetee (District 3). During the Quarter Quell games, Mags gives up her life to save the others by walking into a poisonous fog. Later, Wiress figures out the game arena is designed like a clock and is able to help the others figure it out too by constantly saying ‘tick tock’. Unfortunately, Wiress is later killed by other rival tributes. During the game, the group overcomes and survives various trials and fights with other tributes. Finally, Beetee comes up with a plan to destroy the force field surrounding the game arena, but ends up unconscious and cannot carry out his plan. However, Katniss is able to carry out Beetee’s plan to destroy the force field by tying a wire to one of her arrows and shooting it into the force field, which is destroyed when lightning strikes the wire. After the force field is destroyed, Katniss, Finnick and Beetee are rescued by Plutarch Heavensbee (Quarter Quell Head Gamemaker) and his rebel allies who plan to take them to the rebuilt, underground District 13. Plutarch states to Katniss, “We had to save you because you're the mockingjay, Katniss. While you live, the revolution lives”. Unfortunately, however, Peeta and Johanna did not escape with them and were captured by the Capitol. The book ends with Katniss distraught when she finds out about Peeta and also that her beloved District 12 has been destroyed by the Capitol.
There are several themes in the book 'Catching Fire', including war, competition, courage, loyalty and love. I thought that one of the most prevalent themes, however, was courage. Katniss and Peeta are ready to die for each other and sometimes act foolishly in order to defend their beliefs, like when Peeta painted a picture of Rue in front of the Gamemakers, because he wanted to hold them accountable for her death, without thinking about any possible consequences. Also, Mags and Wiress give up their lives to protect the others in the Quarter Quell games and Johanna and Finnick risked their lives during the games to save Peeta and Katniss. I thought that one of the biggest acts of courage in the book was when Cinna, Katniss’s stylist, risked everything to give Katniss a costume that promoted the rebellion by having her wedding dress catch fire and change into a mockingjay outfit, the symbol of the rebellion. Unfortunately, Cinna is beaten to death in front of Katniss for his betrayal against the Capitol.
I chose to read this book because I already read the first book, 'The Hunger Games', and really liked it. 'Catching Fire' was fast-paced and hard to put down and I finished it very quickly as I couldn’t wait to see what was going to happen next. I found the relationship between the tributes interesting because though in the games they are supposed to be out for themselves, they all worked together to try to outsmart the Capitol, who was the real enemy in the book. I learned that to survive in the wilderness you must be aware of your surroundings, don’t be afraid to ask for help when you need it, stand up for what you believe in and stay loyal to your friends. I also learned that you should be careful who you trust and that you can be friends even with people you thought were your enemies. This book kept me entertained and was difficult to put down. As a result, I can’t wait to read the last book in the trilogy, Mockingjay, so I can find out what ultimately happens to Katniss, Peeta and the rest of the characters.