By The Time Of The Trilogy, Careers And Their Volunteering Has Become A Common Practice As Katniss Is

By the time of the trilogy, Careers and their volunteering has become a common practice as Katniss is faced with one (books) to possibly three (movies) volunteers from the so-called Career Districts.

In the prequel, volunteering is not yet a common practice. The tenth Hunger Games lack the entertainment quality the trilogy has, where we possibly get the first parade (TBOSAS, 9), a first version of stylists (TBOSAS, 11), and a sponsor system (TBOSAS, 7) with many more changes to come in the epilogue. Many have theorised that Quarter Quells did not yet exist and would later be invented by Snow and his mentor.

The First Quarter Quell remains a mystery to us outside of its premise. We learn that “as a reminder to the rebels that their children were dying because of their choice to initiate violence, every district was made to hold an election and vote on the tributes who would represent it.” (CF, 12).

Due to its voting for a tribute, it could be possible that the First Quarter Quell popularised volunteering in some Districts.

The initial task for the First Quarter Quell indicates punishment: It wants to remind the rebels that their children are not safe, thus targeting those within the District communities who had fought against their oppressors. The election is meant to sow distrust among each other: fear that one’s neighbours will vote for one’s child. The Capitol wants to prevent another uprising by separating community.

However, some Districts might have defied this concept: They could have talked amongst each other who would be the likeliest to survive the arena, and possibly had children volunteer to be elected. This concept would have offered safety for everyone else, and those who volunteered to be voted for would likely have been seen as brave protecting those who might have had to go into the arena instead.

This tactic could have gained popularity in the Career Districts—District 1, 2, and 4—and could have been brought up the year after the First Quarter Quell:

If tributes had been seen as heroic protectors of the community, why not apply this system for the years after the First Quarter Quell? Why not have the strongest volunteer?

Through this, a culture could have developed: Different Career Districts would likely develop at different speeds and into different directions. District 2 might have developed this concept faster and moved more into the general bravery of the tributes, whereas District 4 might have taken longer and moved into the aspect of protecting the community more.

The First Quarter Quell as the starting moment for professionalised volunteering marks it as an interesting moment in history. It would line up with the other two known Quarter Quells, which both defied the Capitol in unexpected ways: Haymitch’s abuse of the forcefield as a weapon, and Katniss’ destruction of the arena are both ways that left the Quarter Quells with long-lasting effects against the Capitol.

This Quell, then, too, is a means of defying the Games. Children in the Career Districts no longer need to fear the Capitol in the same way they used to. Instead, weaker and poorer children would sleep safe and sound knowing someone will volunteer in their place.

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do you ever think about just how many kids were supposed to die fighting in the hunger games.

we know that there were at least 80 quarter quells planned by the creators and game makers. thats 2,000 games. assuming all those games played out and the only year with more than 24 tributes was the second quarter quell, which had 48 tributes, 48,024 district children should have entered the arena. 2,000 should have gone home.

at least 46,024 district children were expected to die in the hunger games. we don’t have official numbers re: casualties from the first rebellion, but given how small the capitol is compared to the combined 13 districts it was battling, there is no way 46k capitol children even existed during the rebellion. the hunger games were never about revenge, they were always about control. crassus never wanted the districts to suffer in exchange for the suffering they caused. he wanted to watch kids fight to the death. the games were always a fantasy of pure gladiatorial combat conducted for entertainment purposes and nothing more.

not counting the third quarter quell, 1,725 district kids lost their lives in the arena. the remaining 75 tributes - a good number of whom died before the second rebellion - were permanently traumatized physically and mentally.

all because of one man and the son who grew up to be his replica. crassus and coriolanus have the blood of 1,725 children their hands and were prepared to sacrifice 44,300 more.

What I think is kind of interesting is that if Dean Casca Highbottom, seeing exactly how good of a student Young Coriolanus Snow was, had taken the boy under his wing instead of despising him and trying to get revenge on a boy that never knew his father (and who only had of his father the words of others about the great man that he was), he might have had a good helping hand in stopping the games he so deeply despised.

It would have been, at the same time, quite a revenge on Crassus Snow to use his son to dismantle the Games the man helped implement. Not only that, but it would have offered young Coryo a person to depend on during his most formative years where he had to grow up under the immense pressure of keeping up appearances, taking care of an ailing grandmother and fighting everyday to keep himself and his family fed.

What Casca failed to realise during the 10th Games was that there weren't 24 tributes, but 25. Snow was fighting for survival just as much as the rest; of course, with the caveat that Snow was never in danger of losing his life. But, for a boy who had for all his life to survive instead of to live, those two might have been the same thing. In saving himself, Coryo would also save Tigris and his grandmother, while all the other tributes were saving mosty themselves since they would be going home with nothing to show for winning the games other than their lives and some (crippling in some cases) trauma.

Maybe things would have played out differently, maybe not, but we have seen time and time again through all four of the Hunger Games books, the power of a kind gesture: Peeta with the bread, Rue healing Katniss, Katniss singing to Rue, Mags sacrificing herself, Boggs treating Katniss like a young traumatised girl when no one else did. Who knows if Snow (and, in turn, the rest of Panem) wouldn't have benefited from it?

pet peeve but i hate when annie is written as a weak character so that it “makes sense” for her trauma to be presented so intensely.

like it basically downplays the hunger games if you think about it. if annie is already a scared, timid girl who is constantly crying, she’s practically just the same when she leaves the arena.

like yeah, added trauma but not much different.

whereas, depictions of annie being a career, being a promising tribute who had potential to win, adds more layers to how traumatic the games are. if she was vulnerable witnessing her district partner’s beheading, she would’ve drove herself to suicide in the most likely / realistic case.

writing her as a strong, level headed career who is reduced to a shell of herself after her games just adds to the brutality of the games, showing just how consuming the aftermath of the games are on victors.

Peeta : If it weren’t for the baby

Katniss : OMG HE TOLD EVERYONE ABOUT THE BABY!

Katniss : ….

Katniss : What baby?