![]() ![]() In some ways, the story of tesserae is the opposite of the Harry Potter books, where drilling in on the details only diminishes the series’ overt themes. She simply built her setting in line with the universal truth: When rain is falling everywhere, there’s a reason some people get wetter than others. ![]() She didn’t have to directly explain that the Hunger Games were designed to display the Capitol’s dominance over the districts, but the tesserae system was designed to perpetuate class divides within the districts themselves. With tesserae, Collins didn’t have to say that the Capitol’s culling is weighted toward workers who produce the least for elite consumption, not in so many words. The tesserae idea is pure world-building, and it’s a remarkably deft element at that. The other unlucky tribute that year is Peeta, the baker’s son and the mayor’s grandson, who has never wondered where his next meal would come from. It has no bearing on the plot: Katniss’ sister Prim, whose name is only in the globe once, gets picked, prompting Katniss to volunteer in her place. A well-off 18-year-old would have only seven slips in the globe. It’s mentioned in the books that both protagonists, Katniss and Gale, have taken numerous tesserae to keep their families from starving, and to save their younger siblings from increasing their odds. Because for each tessera a child requests in their lifetime, an additional slip of paper bearing their name is added to the globe during the Reaping, every year. The word derives from the ancient Greek and Roman word “tessera,” meaning “tile,” referring both to a ceramic piece and, more relevantly, to a token, as in an object you might purchase at an arcade. Children can sign up each year they’re eligible for the Hunger Games, and each year, they can sign up for as many tesserae as they have family members. In Panem, if a family finds itself without means - the examples we see firsthand are widowed and disabled parents - its children can sign up for a “tessera,” or a year’s starvation rations for one person. This is a ghoulish little detail that’s absent from the Hunger Games movies, and easy to miss in the books. For another, the Hunger Games are weighted toward the poor. A 12-year-old’s name will only be in the globe once, but a 13-year-old will have two slips of paper, a 14-year-old three, and so on. For one thing, it’s weighted toward older kids. Any child age 12 to 18, so long as they reside in the district, could be chosen.īut you might not know the specifics: The Reaping isn’t a totally random lottery. ![]() These “tributes” are chosen in a ceremony called the Reaping, where their names are put on paper slips and randomly drawn from a globe. In the techno-genetic society of Panem, the hedonistic Capitol maintains its dominance over 12 other districts through military might and a yearly, televised debutante-ball-slash-reality-show-slash-battle-royale featuring 24 children from the lesser districts. You probably know the broad strokes of Suzanne Collins’ dystopian YA series. Let’s talk tesserae Photo: Susana Polo/Polygon Why do I, a 35-year-old not-really-a-Hunger Games- fan-fan, keep a Hunger Games poster in the year of our lord 2023? Because it reminds me that you can’t judge a book by its online discourse or its movie adaptation - there’s more Lord of the Rings in the story of the Hunger Games than there is Harry Potter. And at first glance, it’s cheerful: a June Cleaver type, canning preserves with her smiling, pigtailed daughter, who says, “We’ll have plenty to eat thanks to my tesserae, won’t we mother?” At second glance, one might notice the worrying caption, “Don’t let your family starve this winter!” At third, you might recognize the Panem Capitol seal, or actually read the block of bold text beneath that shouts, in unnerving capitals:īE RESPONSIBLE - FEED YOUR FAMILY - YOUTHS 12-18 MUST ENTER THE LOTTERY FOR THE REAPING - NO EXCEPTIONS - ON PENALTY OF DEATH It’s right in my apartment’s entranceway. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |