Hunger Games and 1984

          Sometimes your biggest enemy can become your best friend at the end. The books, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and 1984 by George Orwell, expresses themes about relationships. In The Hunger Games, a 16 year old girl named Katniss from district 12 is sent to the Hunger Games which is entertainment on television for the the people and government called the Capitol. Peeta Mellark is also sent to the games which is a problem for Katniss because of past events. They both are trained and taught by their mentor, Haymitch to try to survive and win in 74^th Hunger Games. The book 1984, is about a lower class middle aged man named Winston living in London that doesn’t agree with the laws of the higher power, The Party. The Party limits the privacy of the people by watching them with devices like the telescreen and thought polices. But even so, Winston goes on to breaks rules several ways including engaging in a relationship with a fellow rebel name Julia and by trusting a man named O'Brien to build on his rebellion. At first, Katniss has doubts about having any relationship with Peeta just like Winston did with Julia, but when they both do have one, Katniss is more loyal in her relationship than Winston is in his relationship.

          In 1984 Winston can't like Julia because she might be part of the Party but once he does start a relationship with her it is not a strong one. This is shown when Winston catches the dark haired girl, Julia, looking at him and the book describes the moment saying, “The sweat started out on Winston's backbone. A horrible pang of terror went through him.... Why was she watching him? Why did she keep following him about?.... Quite likely her real object had been to listen to him and make sure whether he was shouting loudly enough.....It was terribly dangerous to let your thoughts wander where you were in any public place....” But then when Julia gives a note to Winston saying she loves him, the book explains Winston’s thoughts, “ He thought of her naked. Youthful body, as he had seen in his dream. He had imagined her a fool like all the rest of them....A kind of fever seized him at the thought that he might lose her....” At first, Winston sees Julia as a big threat and worries about being near her. He assumes the worst about Julia by saying she was watching him and is part of the Party, trying to gather up information from him. He also describes her like a telescreen which is controlled by the Party and sees and hears everything you do. This tells us that Winston is very cautious of what he does and his surroundings, not trusting anyone if he doesn't know them specifically. But, as soon he sees the note saying Julia likes him Winston is immediately excited. Everything about him being cautious and her being a spy is forgotten. Not only is his cautiousness gone, but his sexual desires start to process in his mind. Also in this moment, Winston doesn’t even know her name his “Julia” and doesn't seem to care either. From this we can infer that Winston desire for love and sex overcomes the awareness of his safety from the Party. But his love for Julia is proven fake when Winston is in room 101 with his biggest fear which O’Brien explains saying,”These starving brutes will shoot out of it like bullets.... sometimes they attack the eyes first. Sometimes they burrow through the cheeks and devour the tongue”....The mask was closing on his face...But he had suddenly understood that in the whole world there was just one person to whom he could transfer his punishment.....”Do it to Julia! Do it to Julia! Not me! Julia! I don’t care what you do to her. Tear her face off, strip her to the bones. Not me! Julia! Not me!” If you truly love someone, you would do anything for that person if you had too. But Winston actually endangered his lover, Julia. But we can understand the situation and how he was faced with rats which he is very much afraid of. But when Winston figured out that O'Brien would be satisfied if he says to put Julia in his spot, Winston didn't hesitate and said it loud and clear right after the idea crossed his mind. He also unnecessarily added to the effect by saying punishments like “tear her face off'”. This tells us that Winston probably loved Julia because of his sexual desires and not because of Julia and her thoughts on the capitol . Even after, when O’Brien put the rats away from his face Winston didn’t feel the slightest bit of guilt or sorrow. This can mean that Winston never experienced loving or being loved which also says he hasn't experienced guilt when you betray someone.

         But however, in the Hunger games Katniss also has doubts on liking her fellow tribute, Peeta, but once she does, she is loyal to Peeta than she is to herself. As Peeta insists on helping their drunk mentor Haymitch, Katniss infers this act in her mind and thinks, “The idea pulls me up short. A kind Peeta Mellark if far more dangerous to me than an unkind one.. kind people have away of working their way inside me and rooting there. And I can't let Peeta do this. Not where we're going. So I decide , from this moment on, to have as little as possible to do with the bakers son” But then as Katniss is treating Peeta's wound in the near end of the Hunger Games, they have a conversation, “Yes. Look, if I don’t make it back----” he begins. “Don't talk like that. I didn't drain all that pus for nothing” I say. “I know. But just in case I don't----” he tries to continue. “No, Peeta, I don’t even want to discuss it,” I say, placing my fingers on his lips to quiet him. “But I---” he insists. Impulsively, I lean forward and kiss him, stopping his words.” First of all, when Peeta was being nice, she immediately assumed he was trying to trick her and make her soft. She also explains that when people are nice to Katniss, she becomes soft towards them and is able to get to her mind. We can assume that her quick inference to Peeta's kindness was influenced by previous events that happened in her life. She also explains how she cant let her weakness bring her down, “not where were going”. This tells us that Katniss is a strategic person that understands her weakness and plans things out way before it was gonna happen. At first when Katniss was focusing on trying to win, one of her goals was to try to stay away from Peeta. But in the middle of the actual Hunger Game, the conversation shows how Katniss cared about Peeta. When Peeta kept assuming he was gonna die, Katniss kept saying he won't in a caring way without having in mind that she had to be romantic with him. Also, when she kisses him, she did it to make him stop talking but she did it impulsively, meaning she didn’t think it through. This two acts tells us that she was being caring and loving on purpose and not because she had to for the viewer' entertainments. But, Katniss then shows her loyalty to Peeta when they find out there can only be one winner to the Hunger Games, “No” he says “Do it” Peeta limps toward me and thrusts and the weapons back in my hands. “I can't,” I say. “I won't” “ Do it. Before they send those mutts back or something. I don’t want to die like Cato,” he says. “Then you shoot me,” Peeta is still very weak and would be an easy kill for Katniss. He even insists and tells Katniss to kill him so she can be the winner. But Katniss is to much of a loyal friend and a lover that she won't. And not only did she refuse to not kill Peeta, she even asked him to kill her. This is saying that her relationship with Peeta is so strong that she would give up her life, and also her sisters and mothers life because they cant live with out her, so Peeta would live.

          Both Katniss and Winston had a problem with liking their pair, Peeta and Julia but when they start a relationship with their pair, Katniss was more devoted in her relationship with Peeta than Winston was in his relationship with Julia. Katniss had different reasons for liking Peeta than Winston liking Julia. Katniss from the start knew Peeta was a nice person but soon found out more like his strength and humor. Winston never really goes into Julia’s personality and almost only talks about her youthful body and looks. And this was the reason why that both relationship started the same but Winston’s relationship ended with distrust and betrayal while Katniss continued strong and holding hands.