ShmoopTube
Where Monty Python meets your 10th grade teacher.
Search Thousands of Shmoop Videos
21st-Century American Literature Videos 14 videos
One minute, we're crying out of sadness; the next thing you know, we're crying out of laughter. Arnold's diary puts ours to shame. Excuse us while...
In order to understand Arnold's diary, you'll have to speak his language—cartoons. Huh, now that we say it out loud it doesn't sound too difficul...
If you're still eating pie on a regular basis, you probably haven't read this book or seen the movie. If you have and it hasn't swayed you...well,...
Catching Fire (Part 2) 6719 Views
Share It!
Description:
“Happy Hunger Games!” Or not. Katniss’s Hunger Games experiences left a not-so-happy effect on her. This video will prompt you to ponder if Katniss is better off in Catching Fire than she was before. She has to deal with tough issues such as fame, love, guilt. We’re not sure how we feel about her behavior in the sequel, but we do know that we definitely Team Peeta. Obviously.
Transcript
- 00:10
Catching Fire, a la Shmoop. Becoming a celebrity is apparently not all
- 00:18
it’s cracked up to be.
- 00:22
Katniss should really be enjoying her newfound fame…
- 00:25
…attending exclusive parties…
- 00:28
…hobnobbing with the social elite…
Full Transcript
- 00:32
…and putting out her own line of leather tote bags.
- 00:41
But in Suzanne Collins’ sequel to The Hunger Games…
- 00:43
…our hero finds that celebrity is… something of a mixed bag.
- 00:50
Is Katniss actually better off now than before she participated in the Hunger Games?
- 00:56
At a glance… heck yeah.
- 00:56
She’s uber-rich. She can eat whatever she wants,
- 00:57
...no more having to hunt down food in the woods .
- 00:57
Which really cuts down on her monthly arrow expenses.
- 00:58
Let’s check out this passage from the book and see if we can get inside her head:
- 01:03
I mourn my old life here. We barely scraped by, but I knew where I fit in, I knew what
- 01:09
my place was in the tightly interwoven fabric that was our life.
- 01:14
I wish I could go back to it because, in retrospect, it seems so secure compared with now, when
- 01:20
I am so rich and so famous and so hated by the authorities in the Capitol.
- 01:25
Okay, so she lives in a nicer place now, with all of the amenities she had ever only dreamed
- 01:31
about. But we have a feeling Katniss isn’t shallow.
- 01:32
Now that her stomach’s full, is she content? Or is she still… hungry for something?
- 01:34
While the luxuries are nice… are they keeping everyone in the other districts fed, clothed
- 01:40
and safe? Katniss is also “hated by the Capitol.”
- 01:45
At least when she was poor, she was unknown. And not reviled by an entire government body.
- 01:53
Does it really even matter whether Katniss is better off now?
- 02:00
Her friends and neighbors are certainly more well-fed these days.
- 02:03
Her victory in the arena means that people in District 12 get more food for the next
- 02:08
year…
- 02:10
…and while there’s a rebellion a-brewin’…
- 02:13
…there’s a lot less pain and suffering among those Katniss cares about.
- 02:25
She has become a symbol of change and progress…
- 02:28
…so the question may not be whether things are better in her world…
- 02:32
…but whether things are better in the world as a whole.
- 02:36
What do you think?
- 02:37
Is the path to Katniss’ happiness through her stomach?
- 02:42
Is something inside her still growling?
- 02:46
Or is it… not all about her? Shmoop amongst yourselves.
Related Videos
They say that honesty is the best policy, but Jack lies about his identity and still gets the girl. Does that mean we should all lie to get what we...
Ever wish you could remember everything that you ever studied? How about everything that everyone has ever studied? Yeah, pretty sure our brains ju...
Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man is an American classic. Hope you're not expecting any exciting shower scenes though. It's not that kind of book.
Do not go gentle into that good night. In fact, if it's past your curfew, don't go at all into that good night. You just stay in your good bed and...
