Hunger Games didnāt really eat holes in my brain the way that it did for some other people but god the opening lines. The opening lines. Katniss wakes up in bed and immediately, instinctively reaches beside her, only to find the bed empty and cold. Before we even know her name ā before we know literally anything about her or this world or her place in that world ā we know that she loves someone. We know that she is reaching for where Prim should be, sleeping safe and warm beside her, but Prim is not there. She is not there, and her half of the bed is cold and empty.
People talk about characters being ādoomed by the narrativeā when most of the time the character was literally just a well-foreshadowed death, but Prim WAS doomed by the narrative. Itās the very first thing we learned. Itās the most key, integral, important piece of information weāre given about everything that is about to happen: Every single choice Katniss makes is to protect her little sister, and it isnāt enough. In the end, Prim still dies. Prim was dead before the story even started.
Katniss, reaching. Primās side of the bed was cold and empty. There is no version of this story where Prim could have been saved.
Katniss, reaching. The very first thing she does in the series. She wakes, and she reaches, but Prim is already gone.
THAT is how you do Doomed By The Narrative.
Edit: Also it is key that there was literally nothing Katniss could have done differently. If she had not acted to save Prim, Prim would not have survived the Hunger Games. But by acting to save Prim, Katniss accidentally kicked off an entire rebellion and ultimately massively increased the amount of danger Prim was actually in. The key is that this is irrelevant. If Katniss had done literally anything differently, Prim still would have died. If Katniss had faltered or changed course at any point, Prim still would have died. There was never a point where Katniss could have changed Primās fate.
Thereās no version of this story where Prim lives to see the end of it. Sheās dead before the story begins. Thatās doomed by the narrative.
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