After falling off the stage at the District 12 reaping and constantly being drunk, Haymitch comes across as completely helpless in terms of a mentor for Katniss and Peeta. In the weeks leading up to the Games, although he gets his act together somewhat, he still quarrels with those around him. However, Haymitch is the best ally the duo has throughout the games and after, even if he has to manipulate them in order to keep them alive.
Even though Haymitch and Katniss clash initially, Katniss has an innate understanding of the messages Haymitch sends her throughout the entirety of the Games. Within the first few days, she realizes that Haymitch withholds from sending her water “because he knows I’ve almost found it” (169). After searching a bit longer, Katniss finds her water source. Once Katniss and Peeta reunite in the ring, Haymitch’s connection with Katniss appears much stronger than Haymitch’s connection with Peeta. Even Katniss understands that “[Haymitch] hasn’t made much of an effort to connect with Peeta really” (305). Peeta reveals that Haymitch has not sent him anything from the sponsors, although he sent Katniss burn medicine. Then, he sends both of them a pot of broth and Katniss realizes, “Haymitch couldn’t be sending me a clearer message. One kiss equals one pot of broth” (261). Katniss is able to understand that Haymitch wants her to ramp up the “star-crossed lovers” act with Peeta in order to get gifts from sponsors.
Although Katniss understands the messages being sent from Haymitch, which are sent to her tied to life-saving resources, she does not yet realize that Haymitch is leaving Peeta in the dark about much of the strategy. Once they win, Peeta and Katniss are then paraded around Panem as the victors of the Hunger Games. Before their initial interview, Haymitch tells Katniss that in order to survive against the Capitol after outsmarting them in the Games, she has to play up her romance with Peeta. She asks if he has told Peeta this, to which he responds that “he’s already there” (357). When Katniss brings up this strategy to Peeta, he tells her that he “didn’t know there was anything to get right” (372). At this point, it is revealed to Katniss and Peeta both that Haymitch was manipulating their relationship by strategizing with Katniss. He knew that he did not have to say anything to Peeta because he actually has romantic feelings for Katniss that are not necessarily legitimate. He simultaneously led Katniss to believe that Peeta had been acting, just as she had been.
While Haymitch does act in their best interest and is one of their keys to survival during the Hunger Games, he tells Peeta and Katniss different things in order to get them to act in a certain way. Again, this may have kept them alive but at the cost of toying with their relationship and emotions in ways that Katniss and Peeta themselves do not even understand until the end of the novel.
I agree that Haymitch used manipulation skills in order to help both Peeta and Katniss survive. While he convinces Katniss to play up the "love" act after it is announced that two victors from the same district can both win, before this is revealed, he is shown to primarily just help Katniss. I think that, between the two of them, Haymitch had more faith in Katniss to make it out alive. Therefore, he put more of his resources and energy into her, while it is unfair to Peeta in this regard, Haymitch believes that in doing so, he could actually bring home a victor from District 12. Obviously, Peeta is unaware how Haymitch helps Katniss in the games, but if he was aware, he would most definitely feel upset and tossed aside. My point is, while I agree with you that Haymitch used manipulation to keep the both of them alive, this manipulation was primarily directed towards Katniss at first, until he discovers that he is able to keep the both of them alive. Although he is depicted as a clueless drunk, these actions through the novel show that Haymitch is much more intelligent than he lets on, which was probably one of the strategies he used himself to stay alive while he was playing in the Games.
ReplyDeleteI love that you brought this to attention - I find Haymitch's character particularly compelling because he completely subverts the expectations set for him at the beginning of the book. Despite his initial characterization, he ends up being a key player in keeping Katniss and Peeta alive, and displays a keen sense of strategy far beyond what we may have expected. In this sense and many others, he is far different from the other adults in the novel, namely Katniss' mother.
ReplyDeleteThrough Katniss' narrative, Haymitch and her mother are characterized similarly; through this narrative, Collins encourages us to criticize characters holding positions of mentorship throughout the novel. Mrs. Everdeen, on one hand, has effectively abandoned Katniss and Prim in the wake of her husbands death. In turn, the responsibility of survival and familiar care falls on Katniss. The role of a failing mentor is then reflected in Haymitch - he is meant to act as their guide through the hunger games, giving them vital information on how to survive. His alcoholism prevents him from doing so originally, and again the responsibility of survival falls on the children, Katniss and Peeta. Consistent characterization of adults as helpless, neglectful individuals provides a grim backdrop to the reality of District 12: those who are meant to protect have left their posts empty, leaving the children alone and in the dark to fend for themselves. This reality can be projected onto the Hunger Games at large: the Captiol, as the government, should serve the members of the country, but instead limits their resources and holds the threat of death over their heads at all times.
Of the adults, however, Haymitch is the only one we see develop over the course of the story to contradict the expectations set before us. He is inspired by Katniss' determination, and agrees to limit his drinking in order to help her and Peeta win the games. In following through on his promise, Haymitch shows he is capable of change; at the same time, by being the first adult to do so, he reminds the reader that such change is possible, suggesting other adults, or even the Capitol, may be capable of such change as well. It is worth noting that Katniss still remains central to Haymitch's development as a character, consider that without her demands he would not have changed. This may potentially foreshadow her role as a revolutionary, or reinforce the idea that the fate of their's and other's futures lies on the shoulders of children.
I agree with your analysis of Haymitch's character as he does play a prominent part in Katniss and Peeta's victory. Without Haymitch working behind the scenes to send gifts such as burn medicine and the various forms of food, Katniss and Peeta may have both died from hunger or injury. I also particularly enjoy reading about Katniss's keen awareness of the messages Haymitch is trying to send her throughout the Games. As you said, Katniss understands Haymitch's reasoning for withholding water from her because she must be near it. Towards the end of the novel I think Katniss starts to understand that Haymitch and herself aren't much different from one another. She finally asks the question of how Haymitch won the Games and comes to the conclusion that he outsmarted the other tributes. Their minds seem to work in similar ways and Haymitch clearly understands this fact and uses it to their advantage. Your point of Haymitch manipulating Katniss and Peeta into pulling off a love story in order to win is well thought out and important to consider. It’s easy to see Peeta’s loving actions towards Katniss and assume Katniss is naturally feeling the same way. However, that would mean overlooking Haymitch’s role in their romantic story which is rather significant and shifts the reader’s thinking towards Peeta and Katniss’s dynamic.
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