practicing his spear-throwing techniques from fifteen yards away from a dummy ( The Hunger Games , 95). One of her earlier fears during her first Games is that she’ll be killed by spears or clubs ( The Hunger Games , 149). And even later, Peeta hoists a spear over her, but then stops as he sees that he’s about to kill Katniss ( The Hunger Games , 193). Maybe worst of all, poor Rue dies by spear in The Hunger Games . This is a poignant scene, with Rue screaming Katniss’s name right before a boy from District 1 kills her. Katniss can’t make it to her friend on time, and when she reaches the body, she sees that the spear is embedded up to its shaft in Rue’s stomach ( The Hunger Games , 233). The weight of the scene is heavy because as readers, we know how much Rue means to Katniss, we know that she identifies Rue with her little sister Prim. Even more poignant is the fact that her first kill is the boy from District 1. She begins to wonder if she’s what I call a “killer kid” in chapter 8, “Killer Kids.” Has she been programmed and desensitized to killing? Is the taking of a human life really all that different from that of an animal’s life? At this point, Katniss feels terrible about killing other children. At this point, she realizes that they have names and families and friends, just as she does. Finnick, we learn, is also good with a spear, particularly with a trident, which is a type of spear used in his fishing district ( Catching Fire , 209).
A spear, of course, is a pole that has a shaft and a sharpened point. Spears are often made of wood, which might be the case in the Games—we don’t know—but they can also be formed out of bamboo, obsidian, bronze, or iron. Typically, the sharpened point is shaped like a triangle.
Wooden spears have been in use for at least 400,000 years. Neanderthals made stone spear heads 300,000 years ago. Early humans constructed complex spear heads from stone more than 200,000 years ago. Spears were a popular form of weapon during the Stone Age, but fell a bit out of favor once firearms were discovered.
It’s interesting to note that the pan troglodytes verus subspecies of chimpanzees know how to create and use spears. The chimps strip the bark off straight tree limbs and remove any branches, then they use their teeth to sharpen one end. They use the resulting spears to hunt and kill galagos.
Poseidon’s three-pronged spear , or trident , given to him by Cyclops . According to Greek mythology, Poseidon created water using his trident, and by slamming the earth with the spear, created tidal waves, storms at sea, and tsunamis.
Trishula Spear of Hindu god Shiva . This god always holds a trident in his right hand, and it represents Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas, the three Gunas through which Shiva rules the world.
Gungnir Spear of Norse god Odin . This magical spear always hit its target. Wagner’s opera Siegfried immortalizes the Gungnir Spear of Odin, whereby the spear is from Yggdrasil, the tree of everything in the world.
Holy Lance , the spear that pierced the side of Jesus’ body when he was crucified . This is also known as the Holy Spear, the Spear of Christ, and the Lance of Longinus, among others. As the story goes, to make sure Jesus was dead, a Roman soldier named Longinus thrust the spear into his side.
Octane Serpent Spear of Zhang Fei during China’s Three Kingdoms period .
Among the vast number of spears worldwide are simple wooden spears from Western Australia; barbed fancy spears from Hawaii; bone-barbed spears from the Solomon Islands; Roman javelins; iron-bladed spears with colored hair on the shaft from the Naga people of Asam; barbed, iron-bladed spears of the Mobati people of Zaire. Sizes vary, as do the types of spear points.
THROWING AN AX
The techniques for throwing an ax are similar to those of throwing knives and spears. But as you may have guessed, they differ in some ways. As mentioned in earlier sections, the
A spear, of course, is a pole that has a shaft and a sharpened point. Spears are often made of wood, which might be the case in the Games—we don’t know—but they can also be formed out of bamboo, obsidian, bronze, or iron. Typically, the sharpened point is shaped like a triangle.
Wooden spears have been in use for at least 400,000 years. Neanderthals made stone spear heads 300,000 years ago. Early humans constructed complex spear heads from stone more than 200,000 years ago. Spears were a popular form of weapon during the Stone Age, but fell a bit out of favor once firearms were discovered.
It’s interesting to note that the pan troglodytes verus subspecies of chimpanzees know how to create and use spears. The chimps strip the bark off straight tree limbs and remove any branches, then they use their teeth to sharpen one end. They use the resulting spears to hunt and kill galagos.
Poseidon’s three-pronged spear , or trident , given to him by Cyclops . According to Greek mythology, Poseidon created water using his trident, and by slamming the earth with the spear, created tidal waves, storms at sea, and tsunamis.
Trishula Spear of Hindu god Shiva . This god always holds a trident in his right hand, and it represents Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas, the three Gunas through which Shiva rules the world.
Gungnir Spear of Norse god Odin . This magical spear always hit its target. Wagner’s opera Siegfried immortalizes the Gungnir Spear of Odin, whereby the spear is from Yggdrasil, the tree of everything in the world.
Holy Lance , the spear that pierced the side of Jesus’ body when he was crucified . This is also known as the Holy Spear, the Spear of Christ, and the Lance of Longinus, among others. As the story goes, to make sure Jesus was dead, a Roman soldier named Longinus thrust the spear into his side.
Octane Serpent Spear of Zhang Fei during China’s Three Kingdoms period .
Among the vast number of spears worldwide are simple wooden spears from Western Australia; barbed fancy spears from Hawaii; bone-barbed spears from the Solomon Islands; Roman javelins; iron-bladed spears with colored hair on the shaft from the Naga people of Asam; barbed, iron-bladed spears of the Mobati people of Zaire. Sizes vary, as do the types of spear points.
THROWING AN AX
The techniques for throwing an ax are similar to those of throwing knives and spears. But as you may have guessed, they differ in some ways. As mentioned in earlier sections, the
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