Significance of berries in hunger games

Peeta saw the signs of starvation and hopelessness in Katniss. He had compassion on her. So, he sacrificed himself to give life-saving bread to Katniss. But he willingly took that beating from his mother, from someone he loved, so that he could offer food, salvation and hope to Katniss.

The significance of bread is shown in the opening meadow scene when Gale gives some bread to a shocked Katniss. She sniffs it in a way that suggests it is a rare occurrence to have such a luxury. Is this real? Gale Hawthorne: Oh, I forgot. Gale Hawthorne: Yeah!

It better be. It cost me a squirrel. Gale Hawthorne: Forty two. Like Caesar Flickerman, Effie symbolises all that is wrong in the capitol.

She has no idea what life is like for the people in the district and represents the views of the people in the Capitol. Effie is more concerned about the table than the fact that they are facing certain death. Just like the people of the Capitol who only see the lives of these tributes as a means of entertainment for them. Despite the plush nature of the Capitol, with their abundance of colour, clothing, soft furnishings and accessories, there is still something cold and harsh about the setting, that reflects their cold and harsh personalities.

The brutality and killing of the games serve to keep the people of the districts quiet and prevent them from revolting against their horrific treatment. The people of the Capitol need this brutality to pay for their lifestyle, so in effect the brutality pays for the pretty surfaces at a huge cost to the people of the district. You get people to like you! Caesar is a minor character and is a symbol of all that is wrong in the society of the Capitol, that they have been conditioned to behave in an abhorrent way towards the District people.

His character. They are so brainwashed by the Ideology belief system of the privileged in the Capitol that they cannot understand what it is like to live in the districts and be subject to the will of the Capitol people. They cannot see the inhumane treatment of the district people and how they, the people of the capitol, treat them in a cruel and unjust way. There is no empathy, which means to walk in another persons shoes and see things from their point of view.

Their excitement of the Games and the brutal murder of the Tributes is highlighted when Katniss is watching previous Game footage during the journey to the Capitol:. Symbolise their deception of the Capitol in order to survive in the Games. Katnis is not in love with Peeta but he is with her. Katniss stopped him from eating any, remembering her father's warning, though she and Peeta kept some in a bag in case they could trick Cato into eating them. On the last morning of the Games, after Cato had been killed by the wolf-mutts , the previous rule change allowing two victors was revoked.

Instead of battling against Peeta, however, Katniss pulled out the nightlock berries, which she and Peeta threatened to consume and leave the games with no victor at all. Before they could swallow them, Claudius Templesmith took back the change, and are both were announced as victors of the 74th annual Hunger Games. This scene was not included in the Capitol 's 3-hour long recap of the Games, as it was a sign of " rebellion ". Head Gamemaker Seneca Crane later loses his life for allowing both Katniss and Peeta to emerge as victors.

His specific manner of death is never explained in the novels, though near the end of The Hunger Games film, he is locked in a room containing only a bowl of nightlock berries. The shot ends before anything else happens, though the implications are clear. This cruel twist was likely ordered by President Snow. During the Second Rebellion , soldiers from District 13, including Katniss herself, were given specifically formulated poison capsules to swallow in the event they were captured.

This bread symbolism persists not only through The Hunger Games but also in its sequel Catching Fire. In this second novel, the districts attempt to rescue the tributes from the arena and start a rebellion against the Capitol. A code is developed to inform the tributes of the rescue plan and signal when it would take place: bread from District 3 is sent to the tributes, indicating that the rescue would happen on the third day of the Games, and twenty-four rolls of bread are sent, informing them that it would happen during the twenty-fourth hour of the day Collins, Catching Fire In this case, bread signifies the hope that the victors have of being rescued, as well as their hope for a successful rebellion against the Capitol.

It also represents the moment where life in Panem completely changes. At the moment indicated by the bread code, the rebellion against the Capitol officially begins and everyone is forced to pick a side. This conflict culminates in the bombing of District 12, turning the district into a wasteland and forcing its people to migrate to neighbouring districts.

Bread is the most significant and prominent example of food symbolism that appears in The Hunger Games trilogy, but there are many more examples. Immediately after being chosen for the Games, Katniss and Peeta board a train that takes them to the Capitol.

On the train they are fed a multi-course meal, which they can barely keep down after eating out of pure excess. Coming from the impoverished District 12, Peeta and Katniss are in awe at the amount of food on the train Collins, Hunger Games This multi-course meal represents the overindulgence, excessiveness, and ignorance of the Capitol.

While the districts are starving and barely making ends meet, the citizens of the Capitol indulge in multiple courses per meal and consume more food than a single citizen of the districts eats in an entire week.

There is an excessive amount of food at this banquet and two citizens of the Capitol urge Peeta to keep eating. Peeta responds by saying he wishes he could, but is too full to try all of the food. The dinner table is also viewed as a neutral territory throughout the novels and is often a place where matters which may be difficult to talk about are confronted and discussed. The food symbolism continues through the use of apples in the novels, which represents the forbidden nature of various places and objects.

In this scene Katniss picks up a bow—something that she is normally extremely skilled with—but the composition of the bow is different from what she is used to and the difference causes her to completely miss the target.

The Gamemakers laugh and proceed to ignore Katniss by talking amongst themselves. After becoming accustomed to the new bow Katniss manages to hit a bullseye, but the Gamemakers fail to notice and instead focus their attention on a roasted pig that was brought into their private area. The pinned apple represents the forbidden nature of the area into which Katniss launches an arrow and those individuals that she challenges.

No glass is needed to protect the Gamemakers from arrows because the tributes know their place and would never harm them out of fear for what might happen to themselves, their families, and their districts.

Apples make a further appearance in the novels when Katniss sabotages a stockpile of supplies left by the Careers: tributes from richer districts who were trained to fight in the Games from a young age. In this scene, the Careers build a pyramid of supplies and surround the area with mines so that anyone who tries to steal or sabotage the stockpile risks tripping a mine and being killed. Photo by: Wikimedia Commons. Rue The rue plant Ruta is an evergreen "herb-of-grace" that carries many metaphors.

It's been called the plant of purity and it is featured in many cultural and religious ceremonies. In literature, it has been used as a symbol of both regret and freedom. And so it is an apt name for the young girl who befriends Katniss during the games, whose death serves as a turning point in the narrative. When Rue is killed, Katniss's regret becomes a sense of freedom, prompting her to launch the critical rebellion.

Nuphar luteum left ; Nymphaea mexicana , native to the southern United States right. Katniss's survival plan sounds very pleasant—a picnic by the lily pond. Collins does not mention the species, so the lilies of The Hunger Games could be any species of the most common three genuses— Nuphar , Nymphaea , and Nelumbo , all of which have edible rhizomes.

Pond lily roots are enormous, spongy, and sold in many street markets think of the lotus root, which the Chinese call a "cooling" food, thought to restore balance in the body. With little else to eat, Katniss turns to a pine tree. Its soft inner bark can be a good meal and its needles are a good source of Vitamin C.

Native Americans often chewed on pine tree bark during the winter months to conserve food reserves. Dandelions "I had just turned away from Peeta Mellark's bruised face when I saw the dandelion and I knew hope wasn't lost. I plucked it carefully and hurried home. I grabbed a bucket and Prim's hand and headed to the Meadow and yes, it was dotted with the golden-headed weeds.

After we'd harvested those, we scrounged along inside the fence for probably a mile until we filled the bucket with the dandelion greens, stems and flowers. In the story, the dandelion becomes a symbol of hope for Katniss, and evidence of her resourcefulness and expert foraging. When she sees the field of dandelions, she gains confidence in her ability to feed her family.