Greek civilization is credited with giving the world the method for today’s popular movies and books. This formula is in Suzanne Collin’s novel “The Hunger Games,” the story of Katniss Everdeen, a girl from District Twelve in post-apocalyptic earth, who faces many trials and terrors when she is sent to participate in the annual Hunger Games. The formula, also known as The Hero’s Journey, is seen all throughout this story. The method begins with ‘The Call,’ or when something calls the main character to make the journey or quest that he or she is about to go on. In this novel, Katniss, who possesses a great ability to hunt, is called when representatives from the capitol of her world come to her district for the annual reaping, or when two people are chosen from each district to participate as ‘tributes’ in the Hunger Games. Things seem to go as normal, but when Katniss’s younger sister Prim is chosen; she does something that had never been done before and volunteers herself to go in her sister’s place. She is chosen to go alongside the son of District Twelve’s bakers, Peeta Mellark. After the reaping, she and Peeta are sent to the capitol, where they are prepared to face the capitol, and then the Hunger Games. Katniss then goes into the phase of the formula called ‘The Preperation.’ She and Peeta are both given Prep Teams who dress them up to help them get sponsors. After going through various steps of preparation, Katniss and Peeta are finally sent to the arena where the Hunger Games take place. Once in the arena, Katniss takes off by herself and tries to figure out a way to survive. She faces many tests, including a large forest fire when she is near the edge of the forest, other tributes (including Peeta), and things such as hunger, thirst, and illness. Many of these things nearly cause Katniss to die, but she manges to escape from them. Her road of trials and tribulations leads her to make a few allies in the Games. She forms an alliance with Rue, the little girl tribute from District Eleven, and the two of them set up some traps for some of the tributes. Later on however, Rue is killed by another tribute, which leaves Katniss alone again. She continues on alone until an announcement is made saying that the rules of the game have changed allowing two winners from the same district, she than goes on a quest to find Peeta again and they form an alliance that lasts through the rest of the games.
As Katniss and Peeta continue on through the Games, they find a cave down a stream and set up a temporary camp there. They found a place that the other tributes are not able to find. After Rue’s death and Peeta’s injuries, Katniss finds herself debating on whether or not to give up. After thinking and talking to Peeta, and receiving a special medicine to heal Peeta, Katniss finds her saving experience, or resurrection, and decides not to give up. Peeta and Katniss form a plan to help them win the Hunger Games. They travel to a place called the Cornucopia, where they both fight their last battle against the remaining tributes and monsters. After the fight is over they are told that the rules have changed again and that only one of them can be the victor, but neither one of them is willing to kill each other, so they both attempt to commit suicide by eating poisonous berries. Before they can eat them, an announcer declares them both winners and takes them out of the arena. The Hunger Games are finally over, Katniss is able to get cleaned up and finally return home to her mother and sister.
The Hero’s Journey is an ancient Greek method that plays a large role in popular movies and books today. Katniss from the novel “The Hunger Games” is an example of this and shows how a hero in a novel progresses from the call to the return.