Often thought to be irrelevant are ancient texts such as Beowulf. Although written in completely different times and societies these ancient texts can closely correlate with more contemporary texts such as The Hunger Games. The way these two different types of texts, both contemporary and older epic texts, begin to show similarities is the way that epic heroes are portrayed. Often all texts, epic or new, follow the monomyth or hero's cycle. They also portray the protagonist; possessing certain heroic traits that classify them as epic heroes. The reason why people don't think the older texts are relevant is because of the way that objects, people or places are symbolised. However the differences in the symbolism are because the theme and issues of the text are suited to fit the society of the time.
One example of similar epic heroes is the contemporary text The Hunger Games and the epic tale of Beowulf. The first way that these texts show a similarity is the way Katniss and Beowulf both follow the hero cycle structure that the plot follows. An example of this is when “Call to Action” happens. This is where the protagonist is set their quest or where their journeys begin. In Beowulf this is when Hrothgar needs to find a way to stop his men being slaughtered by Grendel and he requests that Beowulf, the epic hero, kills the beast. This request is confidently taken up by the hero which highlights also his courage. In the Hunger Games the "Call to Action" is shown when Prim Everdeen (Katniss’ Sister) is randomly selected to be a tribute for District 12. Katniss intervenes, to stop this, and then volunteers as tribute to save her sister. Another example of the Hero's journey is when Katniss enters the arena of The Hunger Games. This action represents the "cross over" or "crossing the threshold".
In Beowulf crossing the threshold is the moment in the tale where he travels to the swamp with his men to fight Grendel’s Mother after defeating Grendel at the mead hall. These two situations although altered to fit the time they were written in; both represent the same stage in the narrative structure. These actions alone not only show how the two texts of Beowulf and The Hunger Games follow the same structure;
There are two sides to every story. The events may be the same, but the tone in which the story is told shapes the reader’s understanding of the events. This idea is never more evident than through the disparity between Burton Raffel’s translation of Beowulf and John Gardner’s Grendel. Both novels are based on the idea of Beowulf killing Grendel. However, the two different points of view telling the story create vastly different novels. Beowulf highlights the heroic and positive world in which Beowulf lives. Whereas Grendel elucidates on the miserable life that Grendel is circumscribed to. The consistent variance in tone skews the events in two completely different directions. The tone between Beowulf and Grendel differ in
Dystopian films and books have become popular over the past few years. These tend to reflect the way in which society could possibly soon turn if expecting extremes. Dystopian literature and media also tend to have utopian elements as well. While the societies in these works are strict and controlling, they do offer something that our society could possibly benefit from. Divergent has this element. The population is broken up into five factions that represent the different types of people in society and separate those who would fight easily due to their personal morals. The Hunger Games on the other hand (when modern society crumbled) they punished their citizens for fighting the government. While yes there was a chance for riches in the Hunger Games, it took risking your life to get it. In addition, if one did win the Hunger Games they would have an extremely easy life due to riches and a free luxury house. Divergent does not have this part, as its utopian aspect is the fact different ideals are separated from each other. Utopian literature is a reflection that is a perceived direction society may go. In these stories, mirrors are a device used to symbolically state the universe of the film is a reflection not a reality.
Dystopia is a futuristic, imagined universe in which oppressive societal control and the illusion of a perfect society are maintained through corporate, bureaucratic, technological, moral, or totalitarian control. Dystopias, through an exaggerated worst-case scenario, make a criticism about a current trend, societal norm, or political system.
Humanity is one of the many virtues we as humans believe we are born with. However, living in a world much like the one described in both The Hunger Games and The Road novels, some may argue that turning off one’s humanity is a necessity. Nevertheless, both novels prove that while some characters had to turn off their humanity in a horrific world like The Hunger Games and The Road, the two main characters of each book demonstrated how a barbaric world could not take that virtue from them.
You probably never thought about it, but epic and contemporary heroes can contain similar qualities and characteristics, for example Katniss Everdeen from the Hunger Games and Beowulf from Beowulf. Authors may be trying to bring back old tales of heroism into up and coming generations. After carefully contemplating the abundance of courage, bravery, and leadership portrayed by both Katniss Everdeen from the book the Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and Carolyn McCormick and Beowulf from the epic poem Beowulf by Unknown. It is shown that both characters identify with the same core values of what it truly means to be a hero.
The book I read for this first independent reading assignment is Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury. This novel showed a dystopian world, in which books have been banned outright, and are being burned by the firemen. This work of fiction possessed many elements that had been shown in other works of literature that I had worked with in the past, though it also possessed definite differences, specifically Lord of The Flies, Ender's Game, and finally The Hunger Games.
In The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins expresses two themes. The first one is that we can’t let the government use their power to treat, and use people like they want, they are oppressing them. “At one o’clock, we head of the square. Attendance is mandatory unless you are on deaths door. This evening, officials will come around and check to see if this is the case. If not you will be imprisoned.” (Collins, 16) we can see that the Capitol forces the people to participate in the reaping by threatening them. “When I was younger, I scared my mother to death, the things I would blurt out about District 12, about the people who rule our country, Panem, from the far-off city called the Capitol. Eventually I understood this would only lead us to
Without realizing it in classical literature, many of the epics and stories are the same story even though they talk about completely different topics. A reader can be reading Beowulf and the monsters in it while tying it back to the tragedy of Macbeth. They are very contrasting stories, but they have countless similarities between them. This goes for all classical literature because the stories all reflect and tie back to the idea of what classical literature is. Once you read a few stories from classical literature, the more connections you ill surprisingly find between them all. There are many cultures to look at in classical literature, which also affect how the story goes on, but everything attached to each other once a reader analyze
Intertextuality is the relationship between texts, or the way that one text is similar/influenced by another through techniques such as literary devices and narrative elements. Gone is a novel written by ‘Michael Grant’, and was published by ‘Harpercollins’ in 2008. In the book, everyone over the age of fifteen in the town of Perdido Beach disappears, with a dome barricading those left inside. The kids are left to survive on their own, with some developing powers after a nuclear explosion in the past. The Hunger Games is a also a novel, written by ‘Suzanne Collins’ and was published by ‘Scholastic’ in 2008. The book was adapted into a film in the year 2012 under the direction of ‘Gary Ross’, and will be compared to Gone. The story follows Katniss Everdeen in a post-apocalyptic setting, where children from twelve districts are sent to fight against each other for food, money and other necessities. Both texts share similar themes with each other, so how does setting impact the intertextuality between themes used in The Hunger Games and Gone?
At the beginning of Beowulf, our main character hears of the monster attacking people at Herot. Beowulf sails from his home in Geatland to Herot, determined to slay the monster, Grendel. Upon arriving at Herot, Beowulf and his men prepare to slay Grendel, a demon that would murder men in their sleep. Once the demon, along with other monsters, had been killed, Beowulf was praised for his bravery and skill. Katniss’ call to adventure was not as easily accepted as Beowulf’s, as she decided to fight her foes to save her younger sister from a fate that could be considered worse than death. Katniss volunteers to take her sister’s place in the Hunger Games, “‘I volunteer! I volunteer as tribute!,’” which leads her to become the spark needed to start a rebellion in a post-apocalyptic society (Collins, 22). Katniss becomes one of the only tributes from her district, District 12, to win the Hunger Games in 75 years, along with the male tribute from District 12, Peeta Mellark. Katniss is
In the book The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian Sherman Alexi, known as Junior, goes over all of the hardships he experienced when he was in high school. The book that I feel most closely correlates to this book is The Hunger Games. In The Hunger Games,Katniss and her sister Prim go through significant hardships under the Capitol Wasteland, where family connections are made. . I will review the similarities from an economical standpoint and how family survives in hardship. Katniss and Junior go through the same problems of wanting to better their family, but not able to do so because they're so young. They also go through the problem of being poor, where they don't have enough money for food or transportation. Family is definitely something that is extremely important in both books. These books orient themselves around how family takes care of each other even as they're going through hardships.
The Fahrenheit 451 is a novel published in 1953 by a writer known as Ray Bradbury. The book is regarded as one of the writer’s best works as a novelist. In the book, the writer presents a future American society where there is no freedom or democracy. This is shown through an act where books are outlawed and in a case where they are found they are to be burnt by ‘firemen’. The society is obsessed with the mass media and driving fast cars. The main characters in the book are Guy Montag, Clarisse McClellan, and Beatty. The genre of the book is based on science fiction.
Most people have heard of the Hunger Games, but don’t know the true meaning. People say it’s a book (or movie) about innocent people getting slaughtered. It may look like that but there is so much more depth. When authors write books, they add their perspective and beliefs. It could be about government, religion and many more controversial topics. In the Hunger Games, the author Suzanne Collins shows what she thinks about government. She does this by relating the Hunger Games to the gladiators and Ancient Roman times. Even the names of characters relate. Hunger Games may not be a sweet and innocent book, but there is a good lesson behind all the violence.
British literature like Beowulf and Gilgamesh hold several characteristics that make this type of literature unique. Each of theses stories hold similarities and difference that alter the course of the main character. Both Beowulf and Gilgamesh took vast journeys in their ruling as leaders, but they each took the journeys for different reasons. These two epic heroes of british literature both used the up in coming benefits of christianity in their journeys expressed in the novels, yet the two characters used the beliefs in different ways. Both of these men are viewed as having great amounts of power and through analyzing it can be determined that the men use their powers to different extents. Gilgamesh and Beowulf are two heros that have a number of similarities and differences in their epics.
In the book Divergent by Veronica Roth a young girl named Tris who decides her fate against her parents will. As the cities around her turn to war Tris must stick by her friends and do what is right. Similar yet different, in the book The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins a young girl named Katniss takes the place of her sister in an annual war between 11 other districts. Katniss must choose between her well being and the wellbeing of the people she loves. In this essay readers learn how both books express similarities and differences in the theme, the setting, as well as the usage and meaning of symbolism.