District 11 is pretty clearly "The South" in Book II with District 12 basically being "Appalachia". My interpretation of District 13 was that it was the east coast, mainly because there must have been SOME reason why the capital was moved out West. My interpretation was that it was NORAD. We don't know exactly what happened, but if it was growing dire enough that they nuked district 13, it's quite plausible that the government was relocated to NORAD (which bears a striking resemblance to the base that's destroyed in Book III). NORAD then became the locus of the nation that grew out of the remains of the U.S. Plus, they still have nukes. How they control everyone is basically through propoganda, weapons, and controling access to technology. And they use Districts 1 & 2 as their army, by allowing them greater goods and services than are allowed to the further districts.
It seemed to be that Collins was aiming toward a capitalist society run amok and thus showing (and exaggerating) how the few profit off the many. And how the few become insulated from the problems they cause by self-aggrandizing propaganda. And how we become obsessed with distractions like fashion, consumerism, and plastic surgery, etc.
Plus Collins admits that she was influenced by the war. How we feed the young and the poor into wars, sacrificing them for Halliburton and Big Oil.
As far as world building goes, I think Collins' approach is sort of the polar opposite of GRR Martin. Martin/Game of Thrones likes to give in depth world building such that we know in great detail things that happened even a thousand years earlier. Collins is keeping very close to first person perspective so what is known is only what Katniss knows or what Katniss is interested in, which in Book I is her family's and her own survival. She doesn't know or care about history or why or whether it was ever any different. For her, as it is is as it's always been. There is some expansion in the series in that Katniss slowly movies into recognizing the problems of the country, whereas in Book I it really is just about her own survival (and Peetas).
Although I still think it's kept small in that, I sort of saw Katniss as becoming the girl who asassinated Marat in the French Revolution. She never really "thought big" but she did see how propaganda was causing the country to destroy itself and that revolutions sometimes turn in on themselves.
And odd if it's about riots... wouldn't it be more of Book II? In the movie there's a riot in Book I, but in the books we really don't see a riot until Book II.
I love Finnick. Oh, Finnick. He was a previous games' victor who comes off as handsome and flippant and a bit of a celebrity post-Games but is in fact far more haunted than he first appeared. (I also love Johanna who shows up in Book II).
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2012-08-14 01:21 am (UTC)It seemed to be that Collins was aiming toward a capitalist society run amok and thus showing (and exaggerating) how the few profit off the many. And how the few become insulated from the problems they cause by self-aggrandizing propaganda. And how we become obsessed with distractions like fashion, consumerism, and plastic surgery, etc.
Plus Collins admits that she was influenced by the war. How we feed the young and the poor into wars, sacrificing them for Halliburton and Big Oil.
As far as world building goes, I think Collins' approach is sort of the polar opposite of GRR Martin. Martin/Game of Thrones likes to give in depth world building such that we know in great detail things that happened even a thousand years earlier. Collins is keeping very close to first person perspective so what is known is only what Katniss knows or what Katniss is interested in, which in Book I is her family's and her own survival. She doesn't know or care about history or why or whether it was ever any different. For her, as it is is as it's always been. There is some expansion in the series in that Katniss slowly movies into recognizing the problems of the country, whereas in Book I it really is just about her own survival (and Peetas).
Although I still think it's kept small in that, I sort of saw Katniss as becoming the girl who asassinated Marat in the French Revolution. She never really "thought big" but she did see how propaganda was causing the country to destroy itself and that revolutions sometimes turn in on themselves.
And odd if it's about riots... wouldn't it be more of Book II? In the movie there's a riot in Book I, but in the books we really don't see a riot until Book II.
I love Finnick. Oh, Finnick. He was a previous games' victor who comes off as handsome and flippant and a bit of a celebrity post-Games but is in fact far more haunted than he first appeared. (I also love Johanna who shows up in Book II).