Career Tributes are tributes that train throughout their
life for the honour of competing in the Games. It is illegal to train
for the Games, but because of their wealth and close ties to the Capitol, they
tend to get away with it. It also goes without saying, that the Career tributes
are all fit and strong, as they have been well nourished their entire lives,
which is partly the reason they are to be feared. Career Tributes come from the
higher class districts; 1, 2 and 4. All three of these districts are in favour
with the Capitol. They are treated much differently from those in lower
districts, such as 11 and 12. They are all incredibly wealthy, and so
starvation has never been an issue. There are similarities between 4 and 11, in
that both of them produce food for the Capitol and the nation. However, 4 are
in favour with the Capitol, and so their citizens are not exploited in the same
way they are in 11.
While being well fed may seem like a strange disadvantage,
during the Games it can definitely be considered one. Tributes from the lower
districts are generally used to going without food, or with little food for
long periods of time. During the Games, the only food available is that which you can
acquire from the initial bloodbath at the Cornucopia. You can also forage
for food; children from lower districts have much better basic survival skills,
while Career tributes do tend to go hungry. Having less food than they are
used to makes the Career tributes much weaker during the Games.
So if we ask how food relates to survival, Career tributes
have never had to go hungry in their own districts, where food has always been
in abundance. However, being well fed is generally a disadvantage when you get
into the Games, as it is the first time many of these kids will experience any
kind of starvation and they are unable to handle it.
It is very interesting that in YA literature there is a hierarchical structure and a struggle for food, in comparison to Children's Literature where there seems to be an abundance of food and no one goes without. Perhaps as children move in to the adult world they must realise that life isn't handed to them on a plate, and that they must work hard to survive.
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