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Theme Of Identity In The Hunger Games

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Identity is defined as, “the qualities, beliefs, etc., that distinguish or identify a person or thing”(dictionary.com). Every single person has one aspect of themselves that is different from everybody else; their identity. It is especially unique to their personal qualities and beliefs, yet can be influenced by others, or even a community. A community heavily influences the beliefs of everyone inside it, due to its display of propaganda, oppression, and inequality between its people. Suzanne Collins displays propaganda from the oppressive rule of the Capitol to the oppressed citizens in her novel, The Hunger Games. In The Secret Life of Bees, Sue Monk Kidd displays how a community can change a person’s beliefs, therefore changing their …show more content…

Therefore, the identity placed upon them is poverty-stricken coal miners who are oppressed by the Capitol, and don’t have a say in their culture or sense of living. Due to their lack of income, each person has to fight for food, water, and even clothing: Katniss says that, “On the way home, we swing by the Hob, the black market—we easily trade six of the fish for good bread, the other two for salt”(Collins 11). Most citizens come to this “Hob” in order to survive. They trade in goods or food that they produce, and in return they can get clothing, food such as bread, and even household items. Citizens are deprived of goods like cooked birds, fresh produce, and leather furniture; instead they find themselves constantly bartering for goods that they need to survive. The lack of development inside this community has influenced the people within it, causing them to shape their identity and their way of life around it. In The Secret Life of Bees, Lily Owens is the main character who is shown in two different types of communities within the novel. The first is with her father T. Ray, and an African-American woman named Rosaleen in “Peach Country.” T. Ray lost his wife due to a horrific gun accident and has since become abusive and cruel towards Lily. Lily says, “I’d been kneeling on grits since I was six, but still I never got used to that powdered-glass feeling beneath my skin”(Kidd 24). Lily grew accustomed

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