Assumptions Based on Reading Oz and the Hunger Games

The audience of a film or novel, especially ones that follow a sort or preliminary set of guidelines to the classic "hero's journey,"will immediately recognize the patterns or events and characteristics of a character when reading or viewing the story. This is the most dominant assumption that I had when approaching The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and The Hunger Games. Although I had not read the original Oz nor seen The Hunger Games before, I fully expected the template of the typical hero's journey to enlightenment, adulthood, experience, and all assortments of life-lessons to be present as the protagonists, Dorothy and Katniss, conquered each obstacle. Another assumption that I had when approaching Oz was the preconceived notions that I had gathered from the iconic film that I had grown up watching. The more child-like adaptation of the film was very much broken down into a much more gruesome and real version that takes place in the text. As a new viewer to the story of The Hunger Games, I saw the comparisons between the more cynical nature of it and the Oz text more clearly. I assumed that the "classic" childhood story of a young female protagonist would follow a more Oz-like (as in the film version) connotation and set of values, such as "there's no place like home," something that Dorothy never even said.