While we’re talking about parallels between the Hunger Games and Sunrise on the Reaping, can we talk about the silverware scenes in each? Obviously the movie gives us the beloved “That is mahogany!” But the book is different.
SPOILERS FOR SUNRISE ON THE REAPING AHEAD!
Maysilee Donner, the icon that she is, spends a lot of time trying to seem civilized. Not just *as* civilized as the Capitol, but *more*. So when she is presented with obvious finger food, she demands silverware, implying that the capitolites must be savages. This is pretty indicative of her character as a whole. She improves upon other tributes district tokens and tries to prove that they aren’t as backwards as the Capitol thinks. She also points out that the residents of 12 can’t be judged for a lack of style due to their poverty (while insulting Drusilla’s outfit)
Meanwhile, in the Hunger Games, we have the opposite. In the train scene in the book, Katniss and Peeta are eating the food they have been given with the silverware provided. Effie comments on this, saying she’s glad they have manners, since last year’s tributes had eaten with their hands. Katniss notes internally that last year’s tributes had been from the seam and starving. In protest, she pointedly sets down her knife and fork, proceeding to eat the rest with her hands. The point she wants to make is that manners don’t make you superior and that she is no better than the previous tributes (I love her, she’s also an icon)
TLDR: Maysilee uses exaggerated manners to make a point, while Katniss drops hers to make a similar point. Both want to show that they are above the Capitol and that 12 isn’t uncivilized, but a victim of circumstance. District 12 girls for the win!
I will probably post about this book a lot more because it’s living rent free in my brain