Survival: What Would You Do to Survive?

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UNIVERSIDAD METROPOLITANA

DEPARTAMENTO DE LINGÜÍSTICA

LECTURAS I

PROFA. ANA GONZÁLEZ

ESTUDIANTE: ARIANNA NOVAL DI GIORGI

CÉDULA: 25210780

CRITICAL REPORT

SURVIVAL: WHAT WOULD YOU DO TO SURVIVE?

What would you do to survive?

Survival is understood as the act or fact of living or continuing longer than another person or thing in a difficult circumstance, it is a natural instinct. Have you ever tried to keep your breath as much as you can under water? Instinctively, your body asks you to get out of the water and breathe. We, as living beings, have that instinct since the first day we are created, even since the period of gestation.

Take the case of Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games book of Suzanne Collins, a young woman from District 12 of Panem who offered herself as a tribute in The Hunger Games to prevent her younger sister from participating in it. Katniss lived in extreme poverty, her father died when she was young, and because of the way her mother was behaved she was forced to become the provider of the family at the age of 11. She illegally hunted and gathered plants to sell. Every day, Katniss had to fight to make sure her family stayed alive. However, this was a very dangerous action as those who dared to cross the boundaries of District 12 were punished, yet she had the courage to take risks if she knew she would have something to eat that night. She already knew what it was like to be close to die, unlike many of her opponents in The Hunger Games. What helped her survive in District 12 and her family as well were her skills, her intelligence and teamwork.

Katniss and Peeta were the first winners of the same district in The 74th Hunger Games, but what really helped her win? In the first chapters Katniss talks about her life in District 12, how difficult it was to live there, but that she had the ability to hunt thanks to her father, so it became a little easier. In the woods, she could be silent and assertive enough to kill her prey with one shot. Being teamed up with Gale, who was her best friend, also helped her have more food and split the winnings, Gale was an essential part of Katniss' life as her partner.

Living in a district where food is scarce, people die young and peacekeepers are alert to everything you can say or do, it's difficult. But like any complicated situation, it also brings good consequences, in this case the development of Katniss skills. Thanks to her father, he taught her what to do with the bow and arrow, and thanks to the need to feed, Katniss became an excellent hunter. "The bow and arrow is my weapon. But I've spent a fair amount of time throwing knives as well."(Page 57, Chapter 9) says Katniss. During the beginning of The Hunger Games she is weaponless, but still knows how to have some prey to feed herself. This is where you wonder if it really is necessary to have a weapon to survive, if you know about plants and you have skills to kill animals, you could definitely survive, but in a place where there are 23 other people looking to kill you, you should definitely have to defend yourself. Let's talk about how Katniss did not want to kill, besides wild animals, she had never kill a human. The pain of watching Rue -an innocent girl that should be at home with her mother and not trying to not be killed- was what Katniss had to live to have the guts to murder someone? Well, that's what she did. Her first murder. In self-defense, of course. But taking someone's life definitely does something to you too, in the case of Katniss also gave her the courage and the audacity to being determinate to win.

Intelligence plays a key role, definitely having weapons is important, but what about strategy? Since the first day, Katniss has shown great intelligence. The first example was when she decided to follow the advice of Haymitch and Cinna during the interviews, also when Haymitch told her and Peeta right after the games: "When the gong sounds, get the hell out of there. Got it?" (Page 138, Chapter 10). The difference if Katniss had not followed that advice would determine to what extent she had survived. Already in the games, she decides to stay low, going as far as possible from other tributes, sleeping high in the trees, seeing the environment around her and how she could keep herself safe, which actually helped her out to not to die of dehydration during the first days. She began to realize the advantages she had and the others did not, to put her in their places