These parallels are always interesting… In fact I think there are much more than just similarities. Who says the authors don’t just take a plot and update it. One way to get around any plagiarism or copyright laws are for an author to just change the names and twist the settings. Is this not then called inspiration? Of course if they do this then the author also succeeds in keeping the settings interesting for todays readers. Ultimately, as is the case of a comparison of Frank Baum’s “The Wizard of Oz” and Suzanne Collin’s “Hunger Games”, the structured Hero’s Journey is still the same plot. The inspiring aspect of these two hero’s being females does speak to new audiences when examining from a historical point of view.
The tales still pick up the nuances of the typical hero’s journey as our mainstay characters of both stories are from a rural “scraping by just to exist” lifestyle. When circumstance thrust both Dorothy and Katniss into a new worlds they must rapidly learn to adapt. A slight dose of intensity is injected as one heroine follows her destiny only to return home while the other must do so for survival. The situations and scenes end up exposing each to sights of jeopardy, splendor, fear and wonderment.
Some of the underlying morals are similar too such as the power of hope that can see one through the most disparaging of times. The need for alliances is true for both Dorothy, as her companions all seek attributes from the Wizard and Katnis who forms alliances with Cinna, Rue and Peeta. Some of their journey is to expose the façade and corruption behind the cities of Emerald and Capitol.
Along each of the plot line they must follow their destiny to discover a sense of identity, self-worth, and a transformation to maturity. However, in “Hunger Games” the primary theme in the story allowed Collins to inject aspects of combat, tyranny, starvation and poverty in levels that Baum could not in his time of writing American literature for children.
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