Free Essay

Stories and the Hunger Games

In:

Submitted By ilovefoos1
Words 1858
Pages 8
In The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins, the story of Katniss Everdean unfolds: the story of a young girl living in poverty under a tyrannical government. Katniss volunteers to compete, in her little sister’s place, in a competition held yearly called the Hunger Games. These games consist of a fight to the death between 24 teenagers, a boy and girl from each of the 12 districts under the Capitol’s control. Katniss teaches the reader to persevere and be strong. She shows her strength in adversity and fights against the government that threatens to consume everything she loves. The savageness of human nature is also revealed in this story. The Capitol enjoyed watching the tributes fight to the death in the arena. The Hunger Games is a story worth reading because Katniss demonstrates kindness, courage to stand up for what right, and that people can overcome savage situation through intelligence and trust.

The most striking quotes in The Hunger Games, was a line by Katniss. She questions how anyone could find enjoyment through watching children kill each other in the most brutal ways possible. Upon reading this I was almost forced to turn on myself and close the book, because doesn’t enjoying the novel make me just as bad as the people from the capitol who enjoy watching the blood bath televised live? I tried to justify it to myself saying it would be different in real life, but I was engrossed with the tragic tale which unfolded as I read. The truth is almost everyone has a morbid curiosity in other people’s struggles and pain. I think Suzanne Collins, the author, wanted her readers to understand that everyone has a savage nature. She wanted people to understand how easy it would be to be sucked into this type of society where fear and anger rule.

Katniss, the main character has a strong and brave personality. She knows no other life besides one of constant fear and hunger. Katniss hunts to keep her family afloat after her father was killed in a mining accident. Her mother sunk into depression and did nothing to help, Katniss was forced to learn everything herself and become strong. And strong she became, so strong she’s locked herself away from others. This strength kept her alive in a world so set on seeing her die. I love Katniss because she continues to fight until the very end and never listens to anyone who tells her she can’t succeed. She turns others’ scorn and disapproval into fuel for her perseverance. I think Suzanne Collins wants to excite people to strive for a better world and not to just be content with what we’re given. To most citizens in District 12, being chosen for the hunger games was a death sentence, but Katniss decided to use it as a chance to revolt against the Capitol and the injustice presented her. I respect Katniss immensely for this. It’s so easy to become discouraged and so much simpler to give in; but the satisfaction of persevering and ending up victorious is indescribable. I think Suzanne Collins wants the readers to understand the satisfaction of even a small victory in the face of a seemingly unconquerable enemy.

Just like many other stories throughout time, The Hunger Games, addresses the issue of government. The Capitol controls the twelve outlying districts with fear. The Capitol keeps most of these districts impoverished so they don’t have the resources to revolt. Most of the citizens resign themselves to this treatment but Katniss refuses to settle for such injustice. Instead of violent out bursts or throwing tantrums, Katniss sneakily and subtly finds ways to revolt. After volunteering for the Hunger Games Katniss tries in every way possible to foil the Game Makers strategies and show she still cares for people. When Rue died, instead of leaving to let the hover craft collect Rue’s body, Katniss collected beautiful flowers to ring about her. This was a small way of defying the game makers. Katniss showed them she truly cared for Rue. Rue wasn’t merely a pawn in their game, and neither was Katniss. Perhaps the ultimate victory was the final victory. She delivers a fatal blow to the Capitol’s and Game Maker’s egos when Katniss convinced Peeta to commit the double suicide that leads to a double victory instead. This attack couldn’t be kept from the public because it impacted the entire results of the games. Just like the founding fathers Katniss has a dream of a better place and is willing to put herself into danger to make it happen. She strives to unite the districts against the Capitol and hates each person in the Capitol who is responsible for the desolation she deals with back home.

Many stories contain important morals or lessons for everyday life. It’s often easier to relate to a character in a story than to a definition. For example in the children’s story The Ugly Duckling, the Ugly Duckling is bullied by the other ducklings. The poor Ugly Duckling is hurt by their cruel taunts to the point where he flees to be alone. I think almost every child who reads this story, or has it read to them, can understand this pain. Even without realizing it, the child may subconsciously decide bullying is wrong because it hurts others before they even really understand what bullying is. As a high school student I have received many talks about how bullying is wrong and heard many stories related to this topic; however, The Ugly Duckling, a child’s novel, is the only story that lingers in the back of my mind. Another lesson from The Ugly Duckling is that of patience. At first the Ugly Duckling was sad that he was ugly and felt he belonged nowhere, but soon grew to be a beautiful swan. This serves as a reminder that things will always look up and never as bad as they first seem, it may just take some time to improve. When I feel down I can hear the Ugly Duckling reminding me to never give up.

Stories are how we learn and relate to each other. People who share similar stories get along well, and those who don’t, share their stories so others can learn from others’ experiences. What’s more interesting really: an instructions manual or a novel? I don’t know about you, but when I try to read instructions or educational textbooks my mind tends to wander and it takes quite a few attempts to absorb any knowledge. However, I can remember every character, scene, and many minor details from the last novel I read. To put it simply, novels are an entertaining way to learn of new people, situations, and cultures. I read a book not so long ago about a girl who was the same age as me only she lived half way around the world in the deserts of Saudi-Arabia. I followed her story as she lost her first love and was forced to marry a man thirty years her senior for the good of her family. At first I found it hard to relate to a girl who seemed to have nothing in common with me. Then I noticed little details, like how she loved new clothes, thought there was nothing better than swimming, and her love of animals, that brought us together. I soon found myself walking beside her as she ventured into the dessert to find water and felt the pain of her brothers’ death as if he were my own brother. I learned of the differences in our cultures. There were many things I disagreed with, but some I appreciated. Unlike in textbooks, I learned from the eyes of a native the pros and cons of this culture.

Books have an amazing ability to grab their readers’ attention and allow them to escape their lives momentarily. I think many authors write stories to uplift their readers and allow them a reprieve from their monotonic daily life. I love stories, especially well written stories, because I can slip inside the heroine and be someone else for a little while. I can be a beautiful princess with grace and poise, or a great athlete winning an important race, or a young girl experiencing her first love. It’s kind of nice to have a place to go to escape the little stresses and irritations of my life. If I was an author I would want to create a story that would grab people’s attention to the point where they don’t want to put the book down and would simply enjoy reading it. Stories where I can relate to the main character are the best because it’s easier to slip into their personification. Books aren’t as good when I don’t understand the emotions of the main character. InNight by Elie Wiesel, I couldn’t connect with Elie at all. All these horrible experiences happened to him and he expressed his pain in beautiful poetic phrases, however, I felt no attachment to him so I couldn’t feel sadness or hate. I understood the situation perfectly but it was surreal and impersonal. Conversely the novel The Book Thief, by Marcus Zusak, brought me to tears. The characters in the story were figments of Zusak’s imagination, they never really existed in real life; however, the emotions expressed by a young Liesel Meminger were a great deal more real than those expressed by the living Elie Wiesel. When Liesel found the bodies of her friends and family after the airplane raid destroyed her entire town, I was standing right there with her holding onto each loved one and feeling the tremendous loss that came with each new discovery. I couldn’t tear my attention from the story, it consumed my consciousness. The spell began to wear off as I finished the final chapters but I can still recall that chilling loss the story caused in me. Books like these surpass all others because they leave the reader with emotions they may not have experienced before. Even though the story was extremely depressing I felt happy and oddly satisfied after reading it. I enjoyed the plot and grew to love people I had never met before and will never meet. I think that’s the best part of stories.

Stories have been told for centuries; even before writing, stories were passed down orally. History, lessons, knowledge, and fun accompany each story; which is why they have remained important to this day. Stories have the amazing ability to change someone’s perspective. They can calm a crying child, or bring a grown man to tears. There is nothing as wonderful as a book that broadens horizons and brings happiness in its wake. The Hunger Games was an amazing novel because it shows the depth of human nature and hopefully teaches the reader a bit about themselves. Like a window, this book allowed me to peek into a world where people were starving, children were fighting to the death, and a young girl was still worried over love and friendships. I hope people will continue to enjoy stories and learn from their timeless messages.

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Similarities Between The Lottery And The Hunger Games

...A dystopia is a city that had a perfect image, but failed and has become a place where the government is in control ruining the city. The stories “The Lottery” and “The Hunger Games” which are both based off of dystopias, have a lot in common, but also have many differences. The main story of “The Lottery” is about how population control was needed to take place by giving everyone a piece of paper. If the paper that was chosen had a black dot you would be stoned to death. For “The Hunger Games,” 23 people would be selected to fight to the death with only one winner, but in this story Katniss and Peeta won together bringing anger upon the government since Katniss had changed the rules. Although these stories both have things in common such...

Words: 475 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Hunger Games Hero's Journey

...Hunger Games, Star wars, and Ender’s Game hero’s journey all compare and contrast in their approach to the hero’s journey in many ways. There are many parts of the hero’s journey that are alike and different but the ordinary world, refusal, and test/allies/enemies part of the hero’s journey will be analyzed. The part of the hero’s journey that will be compared in this paragraph is the ordinary world which are similar and different in all stories. The first similarity in all stories about the ordinary world is that they are all facing their own problems in their ordinary worlds but all the problems are different. In hunger games in Katniss's ordinary world she is struggling from being poor and she barely has food for her family to eat. In the...

Words: 594 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

The Hunger Games: The Similarities Between Katniss And Theseus

...and Theseus have done in their stories. Many people haven’t realized that the popular book, The Hunger Games, was based off an old Greek myth called Theseus. Both of these have many similarities but also many differences; this essay will explain and expand on some of them. The subjects that this essay will compare and contrast are the main characters, events, and lastly the plot. In the Hunger Games, Katniss has several specific qualities that can both compare and contrast to Theseus. Some of the similarities between Katniss and Theseus are courageousness, having a positive outlook, and braveness. For example, Katniss was courageous when her sister, Prim, was picked during the reaping and she volunteered for her. Theseus is courageous in the fact that he took on all of his obstacles without much fear. Both Katniss and Theseus have a positive outlook on life even...

Words: 944 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Similarities Between Anthem And The Hunger Games

...dystopian society just like the movie The Hunger Games. In Anthem they have their names picked out, and don’t get choose their jobs. In The Hunger Games they live where their parents live. They are also selected to go to war and not die. There is not much difference between these two subjects. Anthem and The Hunger Games are popular among teens because they can relate to them. In Anthem when the people are old enough they get special jobs picked. For instance, Equality 7-2521 wanted to work as a scholar but instead he was chosen to be a road sweeper. Their names are picked for them like Equality and liberty. They have to go to work they can’t just pretend that they are sick, they are forced to go. During one month and special day they have to go to this place and have their mates picked for the night so that they can try to make another...

Words: 572 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

The Undertaker

...selected in District 12’s annual “reaping” to fight to the death in the country’s televised Hunger Games. Katniss and the male tribute Peeta are taken to the country’s wealthy and controlling Capitol, where they interview, compete for a ranking, and meet the competition. As part of a strategy devised with District 12 mentor Haymitch, Peeta admits on camera that he has feelings for Katniss; the “star-crossed lovers” win massive fan support. In the arena, Peeta pretends to join the group of violent and practiced “career” tributes, while Katniss befriends young Rue. Rue is killed and Peeta injured; Katniss finds and nurses him. The other contestants die one by one until only Katniss and Peeta are left. They pretend to take poison berries in a suicide pact. The Capitol halts the game so both tributes win. - allie-draper. Synopsis print Print document PDF list Cite link Link The Hunger Games After writing the fantasy series The Underland Chronicles, Suzanne Collins departed from the world of fantasy and stepped into a harsh, dystopian creation in The Hunger Games. Published in 2008, The Hunger Games is the first novel in a projected trilogy, and introduces readers to a futuristic dystopian society where an overpowering government controls the lives and resources in twelve different districts. Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, of District 12, is the main character of the story. Each year, as punishment for the now demolished District 13's attempted rebellion, two children...

Words: 942 - Pages: 4

Free Essay

Hunger Games Analysis

...was the Hunger Games. The Hunger Games is a movie about a collection of districts each being represented by individuals. The winner helps their district because after they win the government gives them food. In the end love comes to shock the districts and make a huge change. The chapter i choose to use first is,"....More Than Its Gonna Hurt You: Concerning violence." The Hunger Games is all about violence. To win the Hunger Games the chracters must kill each other until only one is left. As author Thomas Foster says in his book How To Read Literature Like A Professor, "Violence is one of the most personal and even intimate acts between human beings, but it can also be cultural and societal in its implications." I see this as saying even though a killing may just seem like a simple killing, it can mean so much more in literature. I beleive that symbolization in this story is, what people will do to survive, including putting all morals behind. Foster also describes how violence is not only a physical act but how it can be a "narrative violence". He describes how narrative violence is the violence an author uses to help him further the plot. He says it is the violence of the author and not the characters. For example when Rue dies, this is used to further show not only the emotion and love Katnis shows, but to also show the violence and aggresion that the other chracters show. But when the boy from district ten dies, no one knows how. All this does is move the story along....

Words: 1064 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Hunger Games Character Descriptions

...There are many stories in the world that people enjoy reading. But, there are some stories that people enjoy reading more than others. This is because some are just plain better. Some stories are better than others because they have good character descriptions, better conflicts and exciting climaxes. Just like The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. In The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins gives amazing character descriptions. One for example, was when she described Rue. She writes, “She's the twelve-year-old, the one who reminded me so of Prim in stature. Up close she looks about ten. She has bright, dark eyes and satiny brown skin and stands tilted up on her toes with arms slightly extended to her sides, as if ready to take wing at the slightest sound. It's impossible not to think of a bird.”(Collins 96). In this description Collins not only gives Rue's physical details, but gives us an idea of how she moves. Some may say that The Hunger Games doesn't have good character descriptions but they are wrong. Not all authors can describe characters the way Suzanne Collins did. It is very hard to get the perfect image of the characters in the readers head. Collins not only does this but also gives us an idea of...

Words: 547 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Book Review

...A Book Review Presented to Mrs. Evangeline Arguelles In Partial Fulfillment Of the Subject Requirement In ENGLISH III MERIKA MONJORVA III-Courage 17 October 2012 I. INTRODUCTION The Hunger Games focuses more on Katniss Everdeen’s hardships and struggles for survival. She bravely faces challenges that come in her way, especially when dealing with life and death situations. Moreover, she also realizes that she must be strong and determined as she chooses a difficult path instead of giving up, which demonstrates her will to survive. The Hunger Games is a 2008 Young Adult novel by Suzanne Collins. The story revolves around 16-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives in the nation of Panem in North America. The Capitol exercises political control over the rest of the nation. The Hunger Games is an annual event in which tributes aged 12-18 from each of the twelve districts surrounding the capitol are selected by lottery to compete in a live TV Show to death. The Hunger Games is the first book in the ground-breaking Hunger Games Trilogy (New York Times Best Selling Series) followed by Catching Fire (2009) and Mockingjay (2010). Suzanne Collins is an American writer and novelist. Collins was named one of ‘Time Magazine’s Most Influential People of 2010’. The Hunger Games was first published on September 14, 2008. The book had sold 800,000 copies by February 2010. The initial price of the book is $10.99. The aim of this book review is to focus more on the characteristics...

Words: 1459 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Hunger Games

...Hunger Games: Catching fire Written by Suzanne Collins Hunger Games: Catching fire Written by Suzanne Collins Author: Suzanne Collins Publisher: Scholastic Corporation Publishing year: 2009 Book length (pages): 391 (The book’s cover) Catching Fire the second installment of the hunger games trilogy. This time around Katniss and Peeta who already won the games and are touring around the districts. Soaking in the fame and glorious Capitol-life; supposedly… Setting: The setting mainly takes place in three different locations. The first location is Katniss and Peeta’s home; district 12. District 12 is the poorest of all the districts and its main source of income is coal mining. The second district is the home of the game makers and President Snow; Capitol. Capitol is a very futuristic city where all the rich people in the nation live. The citizens there look like they could be Lady Gaga’s relatives, with colorful clothes and excessively much make-up. Moreover, the last location is where the majority of the story takes place; the arena. The arena is electronically created by at least a dozen of workers constantly creating obstacles for the participants to get through. Plot: Catching Fire is a continuation of The Hunger Games. Katniss and Peeta have returned from the arena and are now going on their obligatory tour around the district. President Snow, the leader of Panem, is seeing Katniss as a treat to the establishment and wants to get rid of her. However...

Words: 1158 - Pages: 5

Free Essay

Hunger Games

...“The Hunger Games” Film Review New York Times, John Green- “Brilliantly plotted and perfectly paced” Film Name: The Hunger Games Genre: Dystopian Fiction Director’s Name: Gary Ross Adapted From The Novel and Author: “The Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins Plot Summary The story takes place in a post-apocalyptic North America, known as the new country of “Panem”, with a government known as, “The Capitol”- a metropolis, that exercises political control over its society. The Capitol has an annual event, “The Hunger Games” to remind the citizens of Panem of the “Dark Days”, and to ensure that they never return. The story begins in a poor, coal-mining district, following a young 16-year old girl, Katniss Everdeen and her fellow tribute, Peetah Mellark. Critical Review In “The Hunger Games”, “Katniss Everdeen”, who was played by Jennifer Lawrence, was portrayed exceptional well. Not only does Jennifer’s appearance resemble all of those of Katniss, her attitude does as well. Instantly, you find yourself attached to Katniss and her family, as you feel sympathetic towards their poverty and situation. After you see Katniss volunteer as tribute for her sister at “The Reaping”, you automatically set your hopes high for her to win the games. Throughout the film, you feel all of the same emotions as Katniss, her fear at the beginning of the games, her miss-trust in everyone around her, and her relief when finally winning the games. “Peetah Mellark”, played by Josh Hutcherson...

Words: 897 - Pages: 4

Free Essay

Ya Dystopian

...YA Dystopian Steffan Larsen’s chief points from the article “Why does dad not want to read ‘The Hunger Games’” Young Adult Dystopian fiction has grown as a genre and continues to evolve. But not every generation follows the new genre. Steffen Larsen is giving his thoughts on, why YA Dystopian has not reached his generation, where as books such as Harry Potter have appealed to several generations, including his own. YA Dystopian is one of the biggest and most popular genres today, which is accomplished by hitting the right target group (the teenagers). Steffen Larsen argues why YA Dystopia has not reached his generation as follows: “But most of all- I think- the books tells about manipulation, newspeak and the limits of reality shows”. Here Steffen Larsen reveals his negative view on ‘The Hunger Games’ but also the genre YA Dystopia by using words as manipulation and limits of reality. Particularly the concept of a “reality show” does not have a good renown, especially not in the older generation, where Steffen Larsen belongs. Steffen Larsen’s criticism of ‘The hunger games’ and the genre, could be reasoned with “times have changed” as he also points out: “In the reddish seventies where you overturn capitalist’s and than every thing went good. That is not how it is anymore”. Furthermore, Steffen ironically praises Suzanne Collins for being the only one who tries to dissimulate a new utopia – a dissimulation from which...

Words: 714 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

The Hunger Games Chapter 1

...When I began reading chapter 1 in The Hunger Games, I felt so boring with the first chapter. Because I don’t like the kind of novel is narrator story, it makes me feel sleepy when I read chapter 1, but I try to skip the boring chapter and jump to read chapter 2, I felt exciting again with new details in next chapters. I think that the Hunger Games is an interesting book with some basic detail from chapter 1 to 3 makes reader begin excitedly to understand more about what happen next in this book. There are something that I understand and remember during I read three chapters in the beginning of the story. The Hunger Games is the story with main character and the narrator of the story who is the girl, name Katniss. She is the 16-years-old girl....

Words: 426 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

The Hunger Games Analysis Paper

...Marina Olague English 303 Professor Ludwig 03-05-13 Hunger Games: Confronting Violence in Tween Books In The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, everything is excitingly explicitly violent. The book is based on children, who are literally taken away from their parents, turned into soldiers and are forced by adults to kill each other. The troubling reality is that the Hunger games is a symbolic reference to real life situations. Everywhere, there’s abuse, neglect, bullying and other horrors that make life miserable for young people, forcing them to fight for their own survival. Parents are worried about two main things and that is the exposure to violence and psychological burdens that reading or watching the Hunger Games can bring. How are parents supposed to react to children killing children; therefore is this survival of the fittest? The Hunger Games book has parents worried about their children feeling the burden of economic sacrifice. They view the Hunger Games as a punishment that must be tolerated because it puts physical and mental distress on their shoulders. Parents feel that the book has too much violence. Parents are concerned how to approach their children and talk to them about death. Parents are worried about the way the story is told and the outcome it will have on their children after they read it. Parents are worried about what age is appropriate for their children to see the movie because their worried...

Words: 859 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Suzanne Collins Research Paper

...Have you ever read the Hunger Games book series? Well, if you have not read the series is, it is based on a competition which takes place annually in the country of Panem. Each year, for the brutal competition, a boy and a girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen from each of the twelve districts are chosen to battle in an arena until death. The winner and his or her family is awarded a great life of wealth and happiness, but the losers suffer a humiliating death from their opponent.This battle is televised across the nation. Collins’ style of writing has crossed the world with more than 65 million copies sold worldwide. Why is her writing so unique? It is because of her childhood influence, her avant-garde writing style, and the character...

Words: 641 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Societal Hierarchy in Divergent

...The Hunger Games Trilogy Literary Analysis Paper “At some point, you have to stop running and turn around and face whoever wants you dead. The hard thing is finding the courage to do it.” -Katniss Everdeen (Catching Fire, Pg 118) As I read The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins my mind was constantly bombarded by violence, tragedy and a deadly love triangle. The Hunger Games, Catching Fire and Mockingjay were all emotionally difficult books to read, but they were also very powerful books that made me really think about my reality. The Hunger Games Trilogy also made me think about the meaning of the titles and what significance they have. Words with simple meanings like “hunger” in the title The Hunger Games and “fire” in the title Catching Fire can become vastly complex when used literally and figuratively in a very interpretive context. Before I read The Hunger Games I knew that the title was the name of the games that Katniss is partaking in, but after reading the book I realized there were so many other interpretations of the title. The Capitol’s “hunger” for control is how I depicted the title. The Capitol wants control everything and anything. The Capitol seeks to control how Katniss lives her life. Katniss is constantly told what to do and when to do it, but from a young age she has deliberately disobeyed the laws that the Capitol has forced upon the citizens of Panem. The Capitol claims that they rule Panem in their selfish way for the benefit of the Districts...

Words: 1052 - Pages: 5