Assumptions of Reading

Coming into the OZ book at this point, I was more or less expecting the events of the story to be similar to the film, and for the most part they were. Having grown up with film I guess I was hoping to find the book staying true to it, since the film is all I knew of the story. I generally do not make assumptions about books or movies when approaching them, though. I like to take things as they are and appreciate what is being presented. Obviously any assumptions made on my part will simply be from outside influences such as previews and/or reviews, commercials, word of mouth, etc. Generally I like to experience these things with an open mind.

The Wizard of Oz & The Hunger Games

At first these two stories (in film form) did not seem to be all that similar. It's only when you're made aware of things on a heightened level that similarities begin to surface. But then the same could be said for just about any story, whether it be a film or a novel. Story structure and the development of the characters involved seems so obvious from one to the next once you're able to recognize these element in their most fundamental forms.

Here we have two stories centered around people of lower-level society being injected against their will into more lavish worlds of wealthier and fantastical inhabitants. The main characters must face these conditions by accepting and adapting to the rules of the environment. Unable to return by choice, they must complete an objective to reach their goals and return home.

In Dorothy's case, she's a bit more free in her ability to follow the path under her own motivation. It's not like she's going to die if she doesn't follow the road. She just wants to go home. Katniss doesn't really have a choice in the matter. She's been thrown into a game of survival where her only way out is to stay alive and win the tournament.

Plot details aside, the premise of the two stories is the same. A main female character is thrown (as I mentioned before) seemingly by chance into a world far greater in scope and wealth than her own and, once there, must learn how to adapt to her surroundings in order to drive the story and carry out the plot.

The leaders of these grand places seem to have their own thing going on, though the two scenarios are quite different. On one hand we have the all-powerful wizard. who runs the show under false pretenses from behind a curtain, turning knobs etc. at a control console in order to give the impression that he is more than he really is, which is nothing more than a self-glorified deceiver. The high-class society Katniss encounters isn't necessarily trying to deceive anyone, but rather it is the way in which the games are conducted that gives us a sense that the competition is not entirely all it seems to be from the outside world she comes from. It reminds me of Ridley Scott's Gladiator in some respects here, where in order to control the tournament, and subsequently the emperor, one must win the crowd. It is quite similar in The Hunger Games, where to be victorious, the tributes must win over the media and gain their support, thus having influence over the power of the games' authorities.

Both story lines meet on common ground near their conclusion, where each heroine achieves success through her own means, having adapted to her new environment, and is finally able to return home.