Katniss the Cattail: An Unauthorized Guide to Names and Symbols in Suzanne Collins' The Hunger GamesWho was Cinna? What do the hawthorn and primrose symbolize? Or President Snow's roses and Peeta's bread? What about Katniss's last name? Bringing details from myths, herbal guides, military histories, and the classics, English professor and award-winning pop culture author Valerie Estelle Frankel sheds light on the deeper meanings behind Panem's heroes and villains in this hottest of YA trilogies. In her series, Collins not only weaves a heroic tale of deep complexity but harnesses the power of Shakespeare and Rome to retell an ancient epic of betrayal, violence, and glory on the stage of an apocalyptic future. The perfect treat for fans of all ages. Everything Hunger Games, packed into one volume. From Alma Coin to Wiress you'll learn about* Why roses are a flower of death* How eighteen of the characters are used in Shakespeare's plays* Katniss's nickname Catnip* The meaning of "The Hanging Tree"* Peeta's pearl and Katniss's salvation * Effie the saint and Finnick the Irish hero |
Contents
INTRODUCTION | 11 |
THE NAMES OF PANEM | 23 |
Fulvia Cardew | 43 |
Purnia | 56 |
SYMBOLS | 63 |
ALLUSIONS TO LITERATURE AND LIFE | 78 |
FINAL THOUGHTS | 85 |
91 | |
97 | |
Common terms and phrases
Abernathy Ahenobarbus allies Alma Coin Annie Antony Antony’s Avox battle Battle of Alma Beetee Boggs bread Brutus Buttercup Caesar Flickerman Capitol citizens Career Tribute Cato the Younger characters Cinna Claudius Templesmith Collins’s Coriolanus Coriolanus Snow Cressida dandelion Darius death District Eight District Eleven District Thirteen District Twelve Dystopia echoes enemy Enobaria Everdeen famous fight final book Finnick Flanders fields Flavius flower friends Fulvia Gale Gale’s Gamemakers girl Granger Hanging Tree Hanks and Hodges hawthorn Haymitch hero heroine heroine’s Hunger Games Johanna Julius Caesar Katniss Katniss’s prep team killed last name Lavinia Lucius Cornelius Cinna Mark Antony Maysilee Messalla military Mockingjay murder nickname nightlock Octavian Panem pearl Peeta people’s plant Plutarch Plutarch Heavensbee Plutarch’s Lives Pollux Portia President Snow Prim Primrose Purnia Quarter Quell rebels revolution Rome Romulus Rue’s Shakespeare’s Snow’s survive Suzanne Collins symbol There’s Titus Titus Andronicus Trantor Unlocking The Hunger Venia Wiress