The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins                                                     Beverly R. Hall

"We control life, Winston, at all its levels. You are imagining that there is something called human nature which will be outraged by what we do and will turn against us. But we create human nature." – O'Brien, Inner Party member

Collins, Suzanne. The Hunger Games.  New York: Scholastic Press, 2008.                         

374 pages, ISBN: 978-0-439-02348-1. Also: available in paperback and e-book format.    Recommended grade levels: 7-12

Survival is a form of resistance. - Mendel Le Sueur

In a distant future, here on earth, a reaping will be held yearly - 24 young people will be selected and the games will begin – only 1 will survive.

Over time, North America has been ravaged by both natural and man-made disasters and war. What was once the United States is now the nation of Panem.  Panem consists of 12 districts, under the rule of a central government -The Capital.  A thirteenth district existed but was destroyed when the people attempted an uprising.  Every year, The Capital sponsors The Hunger Games – a brutal, televised game that pits twenty-four young people between the ages of 12 to 18 years – one boy and one girl from each district – to fight to the death -last person standing. 

This riveting story revolves primarily around the twelfth district and a sixteen year old girl named Katniss Evergreen. In a district where the primary occupation is coal mining and starvation is not an unusual occurrence, Katniss is the head of her family.  With a mother who seems removed from reality and a 12 year old sister, Prim - Katniss has assumed the role of provider since her father’s death.  Luckily her father and a young man named Gail have taught her skills that enable her to survive the extremely harsh conditions of existence in the twelfth district. When Prim’s name is drawn as the girl participant for District 12 in the annual Hunger Games, Katness, who regards herself to be more like Prim’s mother, volunteers to take her sister’s place. Will the skills she possesses enable her to survive the brutality of the games, take the lives of others when necessary, and bring prosperity to her family or will she perish?

The Hunger Games is a fast paced, science fiction story of a “fascist” government where there is a vast difference among the living conditions of its people depending on where they fit in society. Each district is isolated from the others with visitations strictly controlled by government and no one goes to The Capital city without an invitation.  The government strictly controls what is televised. 

Despite the brutal concept of this book, it is a story that keeps you reading – it is a  “I cannot put this book down” story. Luckily, I had in my possession both sequels to the story – Catching Fire and Mockingjay –                 and just went on reading.  In reading this story, I could not help but think of factual human history which has demonstrated man’s inhumanity to man – the gladiators of ancient times who were cheered on as they slaughtered each other, the Christians and the lions, slavery, the Holocaust,  Rawanda,  and Darfur, to name just a few. So, is it so farfetched that the future will hold some form of brutality against certain segments of the earth’s population?

  I also found myself making connections between other books, where future life is pleasant for some, but distinctly unpleasant or downright cruel to others. 

The Giver by Lois Lowry - Is utopia all it appears to be?     

           The Handmaiden’s Tale by Margaret Atwood  

 The Maze Runner by James Dashner