Irony in Catching Fire

Over the weekend I was at a late night church service where my brother, Ronnie, was performing a kind of, mini concert, of about five songs. Eager for the songs to finish, as I had a long week, I began to tune out the music and doze off. Then all of a sudden, I had an epiphany! No, not the kind you think I would be having, standing in a church and all—but for this very blog post!

                             

My brother was singing his last song and the chorus was being repeated a numerous amount of times. Too much for my liking if I’m being honest. But, if he hadn’t kept on singing, I don’t think I would have come to this realization… so thanks Ronnie?

Nonetheless, this is how the chorus went:

What can wash away my sin?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus
What can make me whole again?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus

Oh, precious is the flow
That makes me white as snow
No other fount I know
Nothing but the blood of Jesus

Specifically I tuned in to the line that goes “Oh, precious is the flow, that makes me white as snow.”  The artist is explaining that the only thing that can take away people’s sins is Jesus’ blood, and in this case they chose to compare His blood to snow. Typically snow is representative of something that is pure, clean, and even soft in nature. This is what got me to thinking. Suzanne Collins, the author of Catching Fire, decides to name the evil President in her novel, Coriolanus Snow. How ironic.

President Snow does not care one bit about the people that he rules, only himself. He has total power of all of Panem and the districts inside. He takes advantage of this power by basically making the citizens prisoners and taking care of only himself and others inside the wealthiest part of Panem, The Capitol. By making all other districts compete in an annual fight to the death, called The Hunger Games, Snow believes this is the best way to secure fear in the districts and maintain his power. However, he specifically targets the main character of the book, Katniss Everdeen, in attempt to scare her because time after time, her actions threaten his power more than anyone has before.

For example, President Snow has personally visited Katniss at her house (which is never done) to warn her, in short, that he will have no problem killing off the ones she loves if she continues with her rebellious nature (Collins 26-29). And again in attempt to inject fear among not only Katniss, but all of Panem, he makes the decision to send previous victors into The Huger Games (172), basically as a way of ensuring that Katniss will be eliminated and taken off of his hands. And as if just sending her in to the games wasn’t enough, President Snow has Katniss’ friend and designer, Cinna, beaten in front of her eyes just seconds before she enters the arena, as a plan to unhinge her (262-263).

These events each show a side of Snow’s nature that resembles animosity, manipulation, and exploitation, in order to maintain his power. These aren’t qualities of a soft, pure, or even a fair leader, as the word ‘snow’ would lead you to believe; but rather, a tyrant who is hungry for complete power.

So then the question arises: Why would Suzanne Collins choose to ironically name the ruler of Panem something that is completely contradictory to whom he is as a person?

I think it is a chance for us to take a step back, take a break from the book, and reflect on life outside of the novel. Could there be things in our society that pose as something, but mean something entirely different?

Our Government?

                                                   

Entertainment?

The News?

Businesses/Corporations?

 In my opinion, I think Collins’ choosing to do this is brilliant. It speaks to a much larger theme in the book that unfolds the idea that things aren’t always as they seem.

With President Snow being completely unlike any characteristics we would find in actual snow, we begin to undergo the realization that “looks” are deceiving. President Snow is not actually pure, nor is he soft in nature. Our understanding of this irony can open up our minds to parts of the world that may happen to be strategically hidden to us as a people.

P.S.

If you read on to the next book in Collins’ trilogy, Mockingjay, you are able to see Snow’s facade fade away when Finnick Odair reveals a bit more of his character than he probably would have liked…

Collins, Suzanne. Catching Fire. New York: Scholastic Press, 2009. Print.

Nicole S.