The book I chose to review is The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. This book is about the fictional nation of Panem where the twelve districts each have to send one boy and one girl to fight to the death in an arena. The Capitol is the wealthiest and most technologically advanced city of Panem. All of the citizens in the Capitol enjoy lavish lifestyles, indulging themselves and not having to worry about where their next meal is coming from or bargaining for basic necessities. The Districts, however, suffer immensely and live a miserable life. They are forced to watch the Hunger Games and are powerless, meanwhile the Hunger Games is entertaining and a huge festivity for those in the Capitol. The Hunger Games and the societal dynamics of Panem can very well relate to the ideas of subaltern and “Othering.” The power dynamics between the Capitol and the Districts is largely imbalanced, where the Districts do all the work yet are stripped of their rights and basic needs. Yet, the Capitol holds so much power over the Districts and also place so much fear in the Districts, that the people of the Districts have no voice and have to watch as their kids get picked to fight to the death in the arena. The people of the Districts are treated as less than human, deprived of basic necessities, thus they are the “Other.” The Capitol treats them just as entertainment, a means to get the products they need, and almost comical. There is such an ignorance and lack of being in touch with reality that consumes the people of the Capitol, that they abuse their power and delicacies, thus being the “One.” Nevertheless, the Capitol deprives the Districts and uses fear in order to maintain power, thus injustice plagues Panem.

In Toni Morrison’s “Recitatif,” readers see the dynamics of being unwanted or an outcast at play. Twyla and Roberta are not quite orphans yet end up both getting put in a shelter by their mothers. The older girls don’t see them as one of them for this reason, as they aren’t orphans, thus Twyla and Roberta become outcast by the older girls. Maggie, who works in the kitchen at the shelter, is also an outcast as she is disabled and frequently picked on. Interestingly enough, Morrison never discloses Maggie’s race, only that she was sandy-colored.

As Twyla and Roberta grow up, their relationship ebbs and flows, and race has much to do with this. When they were younger, they recognized each other as Twyla being black and Roberta being white, yet still had this bond of understanding. While they were different races, they were both unwanted by their mothers and outcast by the older girls, which brought them together. However, years later they meet multiple times and each time the encounter is different.  At the diner, Roberta is snarky to Twyla and again at the school. This goes to show that when Roberta was finally “above” Twyla, as she married well and finally wasn’t unwanted, she changed her attitude toward Twyla, someone she didn’t view this way when she was a child.

Throughout the story, there is a theme of social isolation that creates outcasts and can relate back to Adichie’s idea of “One” and “Other.” When both girls were outcasts, they were both “Others,” to the older girls, to their moms, and to the world. However, as they grow and segregation takes root, Roberta becomes “One” and Twyla becomes an “Other,” especially we can see this at the diner when Twyla is serving Roberta and Roberta treats Twyla poorly. Another example would be when Roberta flips the story saying that Twyla was the one that kicked Maggie, and then doesn’t help Twyla when the other women start rocking Twyla’s car. Therefore, when Roberta is finally above all of her shortcomings she had to overcome as a child, she disregards that as children, her and Twyla weren’t really that much different and instead conforms to society by taking her position as “One.”