The Hunger Games – Suzanne Collins

This is a blog about Suzanne Collins’ “The Hunger Games”. My first impressions on this book is that the story is about a girl who sacrifices herself to save her sister and joins the hunger games, a game that is hosted yearly by the Capitol. In this game a boy and girl are chosen from each district and have to battle each other until only one person survives.

The class discussion was about the citizens of the Capitol that are very occupied with their appearance. This is because they are so deep in the artificial world of appearance that it seems they do not understand the difference between real and fake. Their main characteristic is their appearance, which implies that they do not have or do not want to show their personality. This is also shown in the Hunger Games, the tributes learn how to appeal to their viewers in order to get support from sponsors and have the people in their surroundings view them in the way they want to instead of how they really are. Their appearance also covers the brutality of the Hunger Games. The tributes are placed in fancy rooms and dressed in expensive clothes and are interviewed so that their audience in the Capitol get to know them before they engage in the brutality of the show. Again, appearance is used to hide the ugly truths. This has been discussed in the class discussions, the disillusion and disappointment of the members of Capitol were great after they found out that no matter how extravagant you look or show yourself to be, nothing is what it seems.

The pattern that I saw in the book that there was inequality repeatedly. In the book, Effie Trinket speaks lowly of last year’s tributes, forgetting that the inequality of the two places lead to scarcity of food in the poorer districts. “”At least you two have decent manners,” says Effie as we’re finishing the main course. “The pair last year ate everything with their hands like a couple of savages. It completely upset my digestion.” The pair last year were two kids from the Seam who’d never, not one day of their lives, had enough to eat. And when they did have food, table manners were surely the last thing on their minds.” (Collins, 2008, p. 44). There also is inequality between the districts, district 12 being one of the poorest districts. This is clear in the arena as well. Katniss and Peeta are so poor, they haven’t had the resources to train for the competition. What also occurred repeatedly in the story was hypocrisy. For example, Katniss feels like a hypocrite when thinking about when Peeta saved her and her family’s life when he gave her food. She wanted to thank him but she felt that that felt hypocrite since she was supposed to fight and maybe even kill him. “Maybe if I had thanked him at some point, I’d be feeling less conflicted now. I thought about it a couple of times, but the opportunity never seemed to present itself. And now it never will. Because we’re going to be thrown into an arena to fight to the death. Exactly how am I supposed to work in a thank you in there? Somehow it just won’t seem sincere if I’m trying to slit his throat.” (Collins, 2008, p. 32). Love and compassion is also a pattern in this book. Katniss loves her sister and Gale very much. “Leave? How could I leave Prim, who is the only person in the world I’m certain I love? And Gale is devoted to his family. We can’t leave, so why bother talking about it?” (Collins, 2008, p. 10). Katniss and Gale wanted to escape the poor circumstances in their district but couldn’t since she would then leave her sister behind, which she loves. Gale also can’t leave, because he loves his family too. Love and compassion also occur when Katniss decides to sacrifice herself after she heard that her sister was picked for the Games. Then the crowd shows her love and compassion as well. “But a shift has occurred since I stepped up to take Prim’s place, and now it seems I have become someone precious. At first one, then another, then almost every member of the crown touches the three middle fingers of their left hand to their lips and holds it out to me. It is an old and rarely used gesture of our district, occasionally seen at funerals. It means thanks, it means admiration, it means goodbye to someone you love.” (Collins, 2008, p. 24).

I identify with Cinna, Katniss’ stylist, because it seems that he is the only member of Capitol that recognizes the brutality of the Games and that has sympathy for the tributes.

I think this book is suitable for young adults, because the characters are relatable to them. Katniss and Peeta are sixteen and Gale is eighteen. The language is also easy to follow for young adults whose native language is not English. The main characters are all adolescents and especially Katniss and Peeta struggle with Erikson’s Identity vs. Role confusion. Teens have to develop a sense of self and personal identity (Erikson, 1970). This is hard however, because in the Games they have to portray themselves differently than how they actually are to please the viewers. “Peeta Mellark, on the other hand, has obviously been crying and interestingly enough does not seem to be trying to cover it up. I immediately wonder if this will be his strategy in the Games. To appear weak and frightened, to reassure the other tributes that he is no competition at all, and then come out fighting.” (Collins, 2008, p. 40). The reason why Katniss struggles with Peeta not acting like himself is because of the discovery of the subjective self, which is naturally associated with intensified emotionality and often ambivalent and conflicting feelings (Appleyard, 1991). This is another reason why this book is suitable for young adults.

My final impression is that this book is has a deeper story than I have expected. It discusses inequality, love, hypocrisy, the importance of appearance and many more important subjects for young adults.

Bibliography

Appleyard, J. A. (1994). Becoming a Reader. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press.

Collins, S. (2008). The Hunger Games. New York, United States: Scholastic.

Erikson, E.H. (1970). Reflections on the dissent of contemporary youth., International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 51, 11-22