Can we trust the narrator?
We have a natural tendency to love our narrator. If it is written in a first person point of view, then it is even much easier for us to trust out narrator because she is the one who provided us with the story, emotions, thoughts, and ideas. As we read the story more, we will merge with the narrator of the story. We hopes her wishes come true, we pray her safety, and so on. We believe so much in her that we often forgot there is such thing as unreliable narrator.
This is what I felt when I read the conversation between Peeta and Katniss during their first training. Peeta told Katniss how "people will help you in the arena. They'll be tripping over each other to sponsor you." (pg 91) Even his mother predicted the winner will be Katniss. At this point, we (or at least I) already had mixed feelings about Peeta. We know Peeta largely from Katniss point of view. Katniss has described Peeta as a kind person, but also believe that he will kill her. Katniss even made a statement that "a kind Peeta Mellark is far more dangerous to me than an unkind one." (Pg.49) From here on, we are more careful about every move he makes. Even when Peeta was showing kindness to Katniss by giving her his jacket at the garden (pg. 83), Katniss stepped back for a second before decided to accept his kindness. Through many of these little incidents--Peeta's kindness that was responded by Katniss' suspicious feeling, that are built up throughout the story, we came to a rather skewed understanding of who he really is. The information that Katniss provides to us wasn't enough for us to know who he really is, especially with the addition of her own mixed feelings of adoration and suspicious towards Peeta.
When I read the conversation between them about how Katniss is much more likeable than Peeta, we finally see his vulnerable side right from himself which was not filtered through Katniss's narration. There is a tone of anger and betrayal coming from him when he said "But you don't! You'll be living in some tree...." (pg. 90) He cut her off, trying to argue her humility for lacking ability to wrestle and trying to show his weakness especially because he has lack of support. For a second, I sympathize him. Especially after the next paragraph when we know that his mother said "she's a survivor, that one" about Katniss. We also see how this topic affected Peeta's habitus. "He runs his fingernail along the wood grain in the table, refusing to look at me." This gesture, especially how he refused to look at her, shows how Peeta feeling weak, disappointed, and perhaps a little bit of shame.
I sympathize for him for this. I also sympathize for him for lacking the support for mother. But I also sympathize for him for seeing him as a suspicious character who can potentially kill my dear Katniss. I sympathize for him because I trusted Katniss too much, believing her that "a kind Peeta Mellark is far more dangerous to me than an unkind one." (pg. 49)
Katniss had this moment of confusion too. She had a flashback when Peeta gave her bread behind the bakery, years ago. This flashback acts as such a great spectacle in this scene. The flashback scene was so short, composing only 3 sentences:
We have a natural tendency to love our narrator. If it is written in a first person point of view, then it is even much easier for us to trust out narrator because she is the one who provided us with the story, emotions, thoughts, and ideas. As we read the story more, we will merge with the narrator of the story. We hopes her wishes come true, we pray her safety, and so on. We believe so much in her that we often forgot there is such thing as unreliable narrator.
This is what I felt when I read the conversation between Peeta and Katniss during their first training. Peeta told Katniss how "people will help you in the arena. They'll be tripping over each other to sponsor you." (pg 91) Even his mother predicted the winner will be Katniss. At this point, we (or at least I) already had mixed feelings about Peeta. We know Peeta largely from Katniss point of view. Katniss has described Peeta as a kind person, but also believe that he will kill her. Katniss even made a statement that "a kind Peeta Mellark is far more dangerous to me than an unkind one." (Pg.49) From here on, we are more careful about every move he makes. Even when Peeta was showing kindness to Katniss by giving her his jacket at the garden (pg. 83), Katniss stepped back for a second before decided to accept his kindness. Through many of these little incidents--Peeta's kindness that was responded by Katniss' suspicious feeling, that are built up throughout the story, we came to a rather skewed understanding of who he really is. The information that Katniss provides to us wasn't enough for us to know who he really is, especially with the addition of her own mixed feelings of adoration and suspicious towards Peeta.
When I read the conversation between them about how Katniss is much more likeable than Peeta, we finally see his vulnerable side right from himself which was not filtered through Katniss's narration. There is a tone of anger and betrayal coming from him when he said "But you don't! You'll be living in some tree...." (pg. 90) He cut her off, trying to argue her humility for lacking ability to wrestle and trying to show his weakness especially because he has lack of support. For a second, I sympathize him. Especially after the next paragraph when we know that his mother said "she's a survivor, that one" about Katniss. We also see how this topic affected Peeta's habitus. "He runs his fingernail along the wood grain in the table, refusing to look at me." This gesture, especially how he refused to look at her, shows how Peeta feeling weak, disappointed, and perhaps a little bit of shame.
I sympathize for him for this. I also sympathize for him for lacking the support for mother. But I also sympathize for him for seeing him as a suspicious character who can potentially kill my dear Katniss. I sympathize for him because I trusted Katniss too much, believing her that "a kind Peeta Mellark is far more dangerous to me than an unkind one." (pg. 49)
Katniss had this moment of confusion too. She had a flashback when Peeta gave her bread behind the bakery, years ago. This flashback acts as such a great spectacle in this scene. The flashback scene was so short, composing only 3 sentences:
"Suddenly I'm behind
the bakery and I can feel the chill of the rain running down my back, the
hollowness in my belly. I sound eleven years old when I speak. "But only
because someone helped me." "
Despite its short length, it is so powerful because the story itself is powerful--it is a reminder of how kind Peeta is, despite the hunger and poverty he was enduring too. And it was perfectly placed, which was right after Katniss "see the pain in Peeta's eyes and know he isn't lying." This spectacle, the flashback, becomes even more powerful. As a reader, I gain more sympathy for Peeta because he seems to be a really sincere and nice guy, but even his mother didn't believe he will win.
Katniss sympathize for a second too. But, as a strong young woman as she is, she dismissed that idea right away and replaced it with a series of internal dialogues, which is another spectacle in this scene. "What on earth does he mean?" Her word choice clearly shows her frustration. She wasn't just asking "what does he mean?" but she was actually asking herself "who am I really?". She had a moment of doubt, especially about her own strength and principle.
"I'm a tough trader. Or am I? What effect do I have? That I'm weak and needy? Is he suggesting that I got good deals because people pitied me? I try to think if this is true. Perhaps some of the merchants were a little generous in their trades, but I always attributed that to their long-standing relationship with my father. Besides, my game is firsti-class. No one pitied me!" (pg. 91)
She went from criticizing Peeta, defending herself, questioning herself, making assumptions about what people think of her, and finally she went quite fussy because of her own judgment. I think this is a big reflective moment for her. It was so big, so sudden, so demanding of her attention that she couldn't proceed further. The series of big questions she had was concluded by a single sentence of "sure he meant to insult me." End of discussion and they moved on, as if she was scared to find the real answers.
At this point, as a reader, I question along with Katniss, but at the same time I wonder why she was so sarcastic. This is how I was being positioned. It seems that she just came for a realization of something about herself that she didn't understand before. It seems that she was trying to be humble at first, but then she turned around and showed her pride for being independent. This scene was definitely an eye-opening moment for her and for us as readers, even though she dismissed it soon afterwards. And this was achieved through the flashback and a lot of internal monologues. Of course, even if she was an unreliable narrator, it is still for an important purpose in the story. As we move forward in the story, we live together with her, fight with her, cry with her, which acts as a magnet for readers. But personally to me, this scene reminded me how bias she can be as a narrator and how much her emotion is intertwined in the story, affecting our understanding of the story and the characters.
Despite its short length, it is so powerful because the story itself is powerful--it is a reminder of how kind Peeta is, despite the hunger and poverty he was enduring too. And it was perfectly placed, which was right after Katniss "see the pain in Peeta's eyes and know he isn't lying." This spectacle, the flashback, becomes even more powerful. As a reader, I gain more sympathy for Peeta because he seems to be a really sincere and nice guy, but even his mother didn't believe he will win.
Katniss sympathize for a second too. But, as a strong young woman as she is, she dismissed that idea right away and replaced it with a series of internal dialogues, which is another spectacle in this scene. "What on earth does he mean?" Her word choice clearly shows her frustration. She wasn't just asking "what does he mean?" but she was actually asking herself "who am I really?". She had a moment of doubt, especially about her own strength and principle.
"I'm a tough trader. Or am I? What effect do I have? That I'm weak and needy? Is he suggesting that I got good deals because people pitied me? I try to think if this is true. Perhaps some of the merchants were a little generous in their trades, but I always attributed that to their long-standing relationship with my father. Besides, my game is firsti-class. No one pitied me!" (pg. 91)
She went from criticizing Peeta, defending herself, questioning herself, making assumptions about what people think of her, and finally she went quite fussy because of her own judgment. I think this is a big reflective moment for her. It was so big, so sudden, so demanding of her attention that she couldn't proceed further. The series of big questions she had was concluded by a single sentence of "sure he meant to insult me." End of discussion and they moved on, as if she was scared to find the real answers.
At this point, as a reader, I question along with Katniss, but at the same time I wonder why she was so sarcastic. This is how I was being positioned. It seems that she just came for a realization of something about herself that she didn't understand before. It seems that she was trying to be humble at first, but then she turned around and showed her pride for being independent. This scene was definitely an eye-opening moment for her and for us as readers, even though she dismissed it soon afterwards. And this was achieved through the flashback and a lot of internal monologues. Of course, even if she was an unreliable narrator, it is still for an important purpose in the story. As we move forward in the story, we live together with her, fight with her, cry with her, which acts as a magnet for readers. But personally to me, this scene reminded me how bias she can be as a narrator and how much her emotion is intertwined in the story, affecting our understanding of the story and the characters.
Terrific analysis of credibility of a narrator in first person with supporting evidence with how Katniss views Peeta through her lens, rather than giving a complete unbiased description. I couldn't help but think about connecting this to what we learned through Maus and how the narrator again can't be trusted, let alone any narration or retelling of a story simply because all memories are never the truth. Memories retold by Spiegelman, which were told by his father, have been filtered through many times before reaching the reader. At least with Katniss, we get her first person story, only through one filter of her mind. I took on Katniss' pragmatic personality towards others when introduced to Peeta. Because the reader is instantly bonded with Katniss when the book begins in first person, we kind of take on the personality of the narrator (whether or not we like it) and view everything through their eyes. I sympathize with Peeta later on in the book more and more, just as Katniss begins to warm up to him. Whatever we feel, or are positioned, is only because Katniss is being positioned that way. I think it's important to note that if Peeta really wasn't to be trusted, Katniss would have picked up on it, and so would have the reader. Katniss already uneasy and distant from anyone she met, I believe, would make her the most sensible and safest narrator for when separating antagonist and protagonists to the the character.
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