Rue is mentioned in the beginning with all of the other tributes, but her importance begins with the tracker jacker nest. Katniss is stuck in a tree with the Careers camped out underneath her and she would not have escaped the situation if not for Rue. Rue points out the tracker jacker nest to Katniss (Collins 185) that she then uses to scare away the Careers below. Rue was not Katniss’s ally at this point, so that means Rue saves Katniss’s—a stranger’s—life with nothing expected in return. She did not save Katniss in search of an ally, either. She doesn’t even believe Katniss when she proposes an alliance, saying, “You were joking, about wanting me for an ally?” (Collins 201). Despite Katniss and Rue never expecting to form an alliance in the game, the two become allies. From this moment, Rue is a very important part of The Hunger Games series.
When it comes just to Rue’s life and actions, Rue is the reason Katniss begins to truly fight to win. When Katniss allies with Rue, she thinks, “And for the first time, I have a plan. A plan that isn’t motivated by the need for fight and evasion. An offensive plan” (Collins 207). She gives Katniss a reason to be offensive rather than defensive because she brings humanity back into Katniss’s life. She has to break out of her survival-only mode in order to care for another person. She knows that “Rue has only me” (Collins 213) and it fills her with purpose. Rue also makes Katniss begin to think about life in other districts. She tells Katniss about her job in District 11 and how they are treated, and her stories are the first Katniss has heard from any district besides her own. She is the first step Katniss needs to begin bridging the gaps between the districts and ultimately leading to a somewhat unified revolution.
Through Rue’s life is important for The Hunger Games, her death is an important catalyst for Katniss’s desire to win and her hatred and defiance of the Capital. In arguably the most realistically human scene in the novel, Katniss promises a dying Rue, “I’m going to [win]. Going to win for the both of us now” (Collins 233). Rue’s death sparks rebellion on Katniss. She does the unheard of and gives Rue a funeral, bringing an unbefore seen humanity to the games. She truly begins to hate the Capitol:
I want to do something, right here, right now, to shame them, to make them accountable, to show the Capitol that whatever they do or force us to do there is part of every tribute they can’t own. That Rue was more than a piece in their Games. And so am I. (Collins 237)
When Katniss is faced with death at Clove’s hands, she thinks of Rue and decides she wants to go out on her own, defiant terms. “I won’t close my eyes. The comment about Rue has filled me with fury, enough fury I think to die with some dignity. As my last act of defiance, I will stare her down as long as I can see” (Collins 286). Without Rue and her death while allied to Katniss, the rest of the books in the series may very well have never happened. Katniss may have died without Rue’s help no more than halfway through the book. Even if she had survived, without Rue’s death Katniss would have never had the spark of rebellion instilled in her. She would have never become the Mockingjay.
To build on what you said, Rue is of great symbolic importance as she, as her effects on the story demonstrate, represents the ability of people to overcome their divisions, no matter the circumstance, and unite.
ReplyDeleteThe first time Katniss sees Rue, she finds herself identifying Rue with Prim, stating that Rue is “very much like Prim in size and demeanor”(Collins 45). Thus, despite the fact that they are from different districts and that they are about to enter a competition where they must kill each other, Rue prevents Katniss from othering her and hence provides unity.
Additionally, Rue’s actions during her life also serve to overcome the divisions that circumstances impose. After all, she, despite the rules of the game giving her no reason to, chooses to save Katniss’s life by pointing out the tracker jacker next, thus rejecting her and Katniss’ status as competing tributes in favor of some recognition of common humanity(184-86).
Finally, even after her death Rue still allows people to transcend what their divisions require of them. Due to the respect Katniss pays to Rue’s body, District 11’s people choose to, in a first, to use their hard-earned money to give a gift to a tribute from another district, consequently rejection the notion that any tribute from another district must be their enemy and reaffirming their fundamental unity with her(Collins 239). Similarly and for the same reason, Thresh decide to “break all the rules to thank” Katniss by letting her live(Collins 288).
Thus, the effect that Rue has on others demonstrate that she is symbolically a unifying force.