Originally posted by IolantheAlias:
Wow. What a powerful chapter. You captured the true immorality and evil of the Hunger Games - not the killing (although that's a big part of it), but the corruption of the innocence of the players. Especially the corruption of the winner. The conversation that Clark just had with Rachel is good - and very chilling.
Look at how Haver and Matilda have to drink/drug themselves to get through the day. Look at how Clark is no longer the boy he once was. Look at how Clark has killed - and we know that Superman would never do such a thing (but of course, Clark isn't Superman yet.)
The Lois/Rachel/Clark love triangle - that was powerfully written too. Well done. And well done again.
One of the things the Hunger Games novels looks at is just how messed up many of the victors are (Haymitch drinks constantly, as does Chaff, some victors are addicted to morphling, Johanna is cold and brash, Katniss has terrible nightmares, Peeta paints very disturbing pictures to get the memories out of his head, etc.)
Clark doesn't want to hurt anyone, and he's extremely remorseful about the two murders he committed in the arena, no matter how accidental or merciful they were. He's still a decent person, though he doesn't believe it. He can't drown his memories in drugs or alcohol, though--he's immune to those things. There are no crutches for him, and learning to cope can be a long, hard process. (I've read that one of things Suzanne Collins based the Hunger Games series on was her father's experiences in Vietnam, a war well-known for leaving many participants with varying degrees of PTSD (not that other wars haven't done the same thing to people--they have, but more attention was paid to the problems after Vietnam than after earlier wars).
Clark does care about Rachel, but she's rightfully angry with him, even if he doesn't believe that his relationship with Lois was anything more than friendship. He doesn't want to hurt Rachel, but it was inevitable that she would be hurt. He's serious about never marrying and having children--he has no intention of giving the Capitol more victims.
