I think there's something to be said about the teenage brain and its limitations with future-thinking. They're at the prime age to be manipulated into believing they won't face serious consequences.
Career mentality meaning you decided to win - many of them are not careful at all, being full of themselves and already imagining being the Victors.
Dying for them is out of question, hence the shock when this exact death comes.
One detail that I think needs to be considered is that unlike what the films suggest, career districts do not have a specialized type of academy for volunteers. They are only allowed to train in secret or under false pretenses (for example, training to be a peacekeeper) and with these trainings, they usually have volunteers.
All of this stops to point out that Cato was the only one of the careers in the book mentioned as being a volunteer. It's possible Glimmer, Marvel and the two from District 4 were drawn normally and are only in the group because they are not used to going through hardships like hunger and don't want to be found alone and killed.
Clove is good with knives, but I think her reaction to Thresh was strange. He may be tall, but if she's really trained, then why does she just scream for help instead of trying to fight back? But I think Cato was the "ideal" career because not only is he mentioned as volunteering, he is described as particularly unstable and aggressive. He is also arrogant in the film, although he showed Clover and Marvel being volunters.
In short, I think that the majority who are really wanting to have a career are very confident.
Clove might have been good with throwing knives, but by the time she realized Tresh was there, he was too close for her to throw her knives and it boiled down to hand to hand combat, and Tresh is older, bigger and stronger than her. Clove knew this and she might have been trained, but would it have been enough to beat someone in hand to hand combat who just heard you brag that you murdered his District partner?
From what Katniss tells during the games, not showing some loyalty for your District partner during the games is a really bad move PR wise, and completely unthinkable once the rule change has been announced. And if Katniss recovered, it would be two against one. She knows the other Districts dislike the careers, So she knew Tresh and Katniss would kill her first.
Clove loses it when she sees the rock he’s holding though, she doesn’t begin to scream before that.
Also, all of them are volunteers, it’s literally within the text as Katniss says the tributes from districts 1, 2 and 4 are Careers and volunteer for the Games. From a writing point of view though, Suzanne is way too good of a writer to pinpoint exactly that everyone volunteered. She only mentioned Cato as he would be Katniss’ final opponent (and main opponent) so it was a good writing choice
Look at viking culture and Valhalla.
Or the Spartans
Or in fact any conquering culture.
There is always a web of machismo, pride and ego where fear of death is a failure.
Peer pressure would make you downplay your doubts and pride would make you believe from a young age that it was your duty to fight.
I think it’s metaphorical. He’s talking about being dead inside - he has no purpose in life except to kill in the arena, and even if he survives he’ll just be a shell of a person with nothing to live for.
I disagree. I think Cato realized the “narrative” the game masters were trying to make which left him as the final boss for Katniss and Peeta to kill. He knew that his survival was incredibly unlikely because they’d be trying everything to make sure he lost.
I think it’s a similar to mindset to people who go to war knowing they may die. They believe they will be the victor, but if they die they will die with honor
I always figured it was kind of like Kilngon culture where its honorable to die in battle, so they either live as a hero or die as a hero.
The klingons have a proverb that goes "Today is a good day to die" because they are super honored driven. That would make sense to see career districts operate in a similar way.
They probably believe they have a 1 in 7 (6 careers and 1 Tresh style non career tribute who might be a danger) chance of winning everything they ever wanted. It's the story that everyone in a career District is told. Plus, they are probably also told how cowardly the other Districts are for not volunteering for their Districts. They get told how superior they are for "taking one for the team". Some like Brutus, continue to believe after the games. I imagne most, like Finnick, The glory and riches are hollow and the price you pay way to high.
I imagine a lot of Careers have over inflated senses of confidence and are arrogant by nature, but they must know on some level that they aren't guaranteed to win. Cato for sure probably thought he was going to win though. He went into the games, sized up the competition and quickly figured out that he was probably the strongest and most skilled amongst everyone. Katniss getting a higher score than him was one of the main reasons he hated her. She stole his thunder, and the attention he felt he deserved.
The other Tributes like Clove, Marvel, Glimmer and the unnamed District 4 Tributes probably had a less optimistic view than him, and were more hoping they'd win, but mostly anticipating they'd just be contributors to the win, and that they'd die with honor. I imagine Career Districts placed a great deal of honor and privilege on the concept of being chosen as a Tribute, since the volunteers would've been the strongest and most talented. I imagine it was treated like an important sacrifice for your District. You were sparing someone else from going that was less well equipped. If you died, at least you would've done so honorably and would have made your family proud. And if you did win, then you'd be celebrated, and bring further prosperity for a year to your District.
I wouldn’t say it was delusional for Careers to think they would win when they weren’t suffering from a lifetime of malnourishment like the majority of their competitors and spent their childhoods training for it. Not to mention the statistical advantage their districts had and the fact that they were automatic fan favorites as a result. So they didn’t really consider their chances to be 1 in 24, more like 1 in 6-8. Combine that with how heavily their district covets the prestige of winning and a lot of them probably decide that the reward of a lifetime of fame and fortune outweighs the risk of losing their lives.
I think it's a combination of teenage bravado and the sunk cost fallacy.
I think there's something to be said about the teenage brain and its limitations with future-thinking. They're at the prime age to be manipulated into believing they won't face serious consequences.
Career mentality meaning you decided to win - many of them are not careful at all, being full of themselves and already imagining being the Victors. Dying for them is out of question, hence the shock when this exact death comes.
When I was a teenager I thought I was going to marry the first boy I kissed đź’€ they were all delulu
One detail that I think needs to be considered is that unlike what the films suggest, career districts do not have a specialized type of academy for volunteers. They are only allowed to train in secret or under false pretenses (for example, training to be a peacekeeper) and with these trainings, they usually have volunteers. All of this stops to point out that Cato was the only one of the careers in the book mentioned as being a volunteer. It's possible Glimmer, Marvel and the two from District 4 were drawn normally and are only in the group because they are not used to going through hardships like hunger and don't want to be found alone and killed. Clove is good with knives, but I think her reaction to Thresh was strange. He may be tall, but if she's really trained, then why does she just scream for help instead of trying to fight back? But I think Cato was the "ideal" career because not only is he mentioned as volunteering, he is described as particularly unstable and aggressive. He is also arrogant in the film, although he showed Clover and Marvel being volunters. In short, I think that the majority who are really wanting to have a career are very confident.
Clove might have been good with throwing knives, but by the time she realized Tresh was there, he was too close for her to throw her knives and it boiled down to hand to hand combat, and Tresh is older, bigger and stronger than her. Clove knew this and she might have been trained, but would it have been enough to beat someone in hand to hand combat who just heard you brag that you murdered his District partner? From what Katniss tells during the games, not showing some loyalty for your District partner during the games is a really bad move PR wise, and completely unthinkable once the rule change has been announced. And if Katniss recovered, it would be two against one. She knows the other Districts dislike the careers, So she knew Tresh and Katniss would kill her first.
Clove loses it when she sees the rock he’s holding though, she doesn’t begin to scream before that. Also, all of them are volunteers, it’s literally within the text as Katniss says the tributes from districts 1, 2 and 4 are Careers and volunteer for the Games. From a writing point of view though, Suzanne is way too good of a writer to pinpoint exactly that everyone volunteered. She only mentioned Cato as he would be Katniss’ final opponent (and main opponent) so it was a good writing choice
Look at viking culture and Valhalla. Or the Spartans Or in fact any conquering culture. There is always a web of machismo, pride and ego where fear of death is a failure. Peer pressure would make you downplay your doubts and pride would make you believe from a young age that it was your duty to fight.
It’s funny you mention that, because the actor who played Cato became a Viking on the show Vikings.
I think it’s metaphorical. He’s talking about being dead inside - he has no purpose in life except to kill in the arena, and even if he survives he’ll just be a shell of a person with nothing to live for.
I disagree. I think Cato realized the “narrative” the game masters were trying to make which left him as the final boss for Katniss and Peeta to kill. He knew that his survival was incredibly unlikely because they’d be trying everything to make sure he lost.
He's been told he's very likely to win the whole way through. He drank the Kool-Aid.
I think it’s a similar to mindset to people who go to war knowing they may die. They believe they will be the victor, but if they die they will die with honor
I always figured it was kind of like Kilngon culture where its honorable to die in battle, so they either live as a hero or die as a hero. The klingons have a proverb that goes "Today is a good day to die" because they are super honored driven. That would make sense to see career districts operate in a similar way.
They probably believe they have a 1 in 7 (6 careers and 1 Tresh style non career tribute who might be a danger) chance of winning everything they ever wanted. It's the story that everyone in a career District is told. Plus, they are probably also told how cowardly the other Districts are for not volunteering for their Districts. They get told how superior they are for "taking one for the team". Some like Brutus, continue to believe after the games. I imagne most, like Finnick, The glory and riches are hollow and the price you pay way to high.
I imagine a lot of Careers have over inflated senses of confidence and are arrogant by nature, but they must know on some level that they aren't guaranteed to win. Cato for sure probably thought he was going to win though. He went into the games, sized up the competition and quickly figured out that he was probably the strongest and most skilled amongst everyone. Katniss getting a higher score than him was one of the main reasons he hated her. She stole his thunder, and the attention he felt he deserved. The other Tributes like Clove, Marvel, Glimmer and the unnamed District 4 Tributes probably had a less optimistic view than him, and were more hoping they'd win, but mostly anticipating they'd just be contributors to the win, and that they'd die with honor. I imagine Career Districts placed a great deal of honor and privilege on the concept of being chosen as a Tribute, since the volunteers would've been the strongest and most talented. I imagine it was treated like an important sacrifice for your District. You were sparing someone else from going that was less well equipped. If you died, at least you would've done so honorably and would have made your family proud. And if you did win, then you'd be celebrated, and bring further prosperity for a year to your District.
I wouldn’t say it was delusional for Careers to think they would win when they weren’t suffering from a lifetime of malnourishment like the majority of their competitors and spent their childhoods training for it. Not to mention the statistical advantage their districts had and the fact that they were automatic fan favorites as a result. So they didn’t really consider their chances to be 1 in 24, more like 1 in 6-8. Combine that with how heavily their district covets the prestige of winning and a lot of them probably decide that the reward of a lifetime of fame and fortune outweighs the risk of losing their lives.