Descriptive Essay
Kiana Aguon
Professor Tiedemann
English 114
01 October 2012
Survival is the act of surviving; to endure or live through an affliction, adversity, misery, etc. The word survives is of the Latin origin from the word Supervīvere super- (over, beyond) and –vīvere (to live). The phrase survival of the fittest was used in the seventeenth century to replace Darwin’s term natural selection, “to kill or be killed”. Although the term survival has various meanings, in reference to Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games, survival is used a verb to describe the act of surviving. Katniss enters the hunger games as a volunteer, and is expected to fight until death, and if she so happens to survive she and her family will go to live in Victor’s Village.
As the story unfolded, Katniss speaks on her fathers death, and how the weight of the family shifted from his shoulders too her shoulders after he pass. Katniss expresses her animosity toward her mother for leaving her and Prim to fend for themselves. “I thought of the hours spent in the woods with my father and I knew how we were going to survive” (Collins, 22). Katniss refers to her seeing the dandelion after seeing Peeta’s bruised face in the schoolyard and how that gave her hope for survival. Dandelions reminded Katniss of the book of plants containing images and medicinal that her father added eating plants to. In the beginning of The Hunger Games, Katniss’ family’s means of survival rested on her shoulders. She associates term survival with vivid memories of her father, and how he used to maintain and take care of their family therefore in the midst of getting meals, and the bare necessities for her family to live she must also remember her father, and use everything he taught her as guide for the survival of their family.
As the games go on and Katniss encounters the fire, and her jacket catches on fire she mentions “This is all I have, what I carry on my back, and its little enough to survive with” (Collins, 101).
Professor Tiedemann
English 114
01 October 2012
Survival is the act of surviving; to endure or live through an affliction, adversity, misery, etc. The word survives is of the Latin origin from the word Supervīvere super- (over, beyond) and –vīvere (to live). The phrase survival of the fittest was used in the seventeenth century to replace Darwin’s term natural selection, “to kill or be killed”. Although the term survival has various meanings, in reference to Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games, survival is used a verb to describe the act of surviving. Katniss enters the hunger games as a volunteer, and is expected to fight until death, and if she so happens to survive she and her family will go to live in Victor’s Village.
As the story unfolded, Katniss speaks on her fathers death, and how the weight of the family shifted from his shoulders too her shoulders after he pass. Katniss expresses her animosity toward her mother for leaving her and Prim to fend for themselves. “I thought of the hours spent in the woods with my father and I knew how we were going to survive” (Collins, 22). Katniss refers to her seeing the dandelion after seeing Peeta’s bruised face in the schoolyard and how that gave her hope for survival. Dandelions reminded Katniss of the book of plants containing images and medicinal that her father added eating plants to. In the beginning of The Hunger Games, Katniss’ family’s means of survival rested on her shoulders. She associates term survival with vivid memories of her father, and how he used to maintain and take care of their family therefore in the midst of getting meals, and the bare necessities for her family to live she must also remember her father, and use everything he taught her as guide for the survival of their family.
As the games go on and Katniss encounters the fire, and her jacket catches on fire she mentions “This is all I have, what I carry on my back, and its little enough to survive with” (Collins, 101).