In The Hunger Games, Peeta Mellark's struggle to preserve his personal identity is a poignant reflection of his internal battle against a system that seeks to manipulate and dehumanize him.
📋 Exam Question
In the course of your studies, you may have worked with literary texts, films or television series about characters struggling with their own identity.
Read the excerpt from The Hunger Games (2008) by Suzanne Collins below.
Write a text in which you reflect on Peeta's struggle to preserve his personal identity. Compare this to how another character in a text, film or television series of your choice struggles to preserve their personal identity.
The Hunger Games is set in a dystopian future in a totalitarian country, Panem, which consists of the wealthy Capitol and twelve impoverished districts. As punishment for a past rebellion, each year, the Capitol hosts the Hunger Games, a televised event where one boy and one girl, known as 'tributes', from each district are selected to fight to the death in a vast arena until only one victor remains.
For the tributes, the Games are a horrible struggle where they move through dangerous areas, avoid deadly traps and face other tributes in fights, all while trying to stay alive. Katniss Everdeen volunteers to take her younger sister's place as District 12's female tribute. Peeta Mellark is the male tribute from District 12.
The excerpt below takes place the night before the Games are to begin. The following day, the tributes are to enter the arena where they must rely on their wits, skills and alliances to survive.
- Excerpt from The Hunger Games
The roof is not lit at night, but as soon as my bare feet reach its tiled surface I see his silhouette, black against the lights that shine endlessly in the Capitol. There’s quite a commotion going down in the streets, music and singing and car horns, none of which I could hear through the thick glass window panels in my room. I could slip away now, without him noticing me; he wouldn’t hear me over the din. But the night air’s so sweet, I can’t bear returning to that stuffy cage of a room. And what difference does it make? Whether we speak or not?
- My feet move soundlessly across the tiles. I’m only a yard behind him when I say, “You should be getting some sleep.”
He starts but doesn’t turn. I can see him give his head a slight shake. “I didn’t want to miss the party. It’s for us, after all.”
I come up beside him and lean over the edge of the rail. The wide streets are full of dancing people. I squint to make out their tiny figures in more detail. “Are they in costumes?”
- “Who could tell?” Peeta answers. “With all the crazy clothes they wear here. Couldn’t sleep, either?”
- “Couldn’t turn my mind off,” I say.
- “Thinking about your family?” he asks.
“No,” I admit a bit guiltily. “All I can do is wonder about tomorrow. Which is pointless, of course.” In the light from below, I can see his face now, the awkward way he holds his bandaged hands. “I really am sorry about your hands.” …