The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games is a 2008 series by Suzanne Collins. The plot follows the life of 16 year old Katniss Everdeen, who is a resident of Panem (Post apocalyptic North America), who must learn that suffering can cause change for the greater good. She ends up as a rebel, who fights the Capitol on the basis of torturing her boyfriend, Peeta Mellark. The Capitol itself, is a highly advanced metropolis, holds absolute power over the rest of the nation. The Hunger Games are an annual event in which one boy and one girl aged 12 to 18 from each of the 12 districts surrounding the Capitol are selected via a drawing to compete in a television reality show in which they must fight each other to death.

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Plot

The story takes place in a post-apocalyptic North America, after some unrevealed catastrophe causes the government of Canada and the United States to collapse. Panem, is composed of "a shining capitol, ringed by thirteen grateful districts". The protagonists hail from District 12, located near the Appalachia today. District 12 mines coal, and is a relatively poor district. As punishment for an earlier rebellion, the Hunger Games are imposed upon the citizens, who must send 1 boy and 1 girl to the capitol every year, to fight to the death. In the story, Katniss volunteers for her 12 year old sister, to take place as tribute to the capitol. Peeta Mellark, reveals his undying love for Katniss during the games itself, and due to public opinion strongly opposed to killing the "star crossed lovers", a rule change is implemented, and both tributes survive, to the chargrin of the Capitol, who views it as a poorly hidden rebellion. Afterwards, Peeta is heartbroken when he learns that Katniss's actions in the arena were part of a calculated ploy to earn sympathy from the audience.

Characters

• Katniss Everdeen, the protagonist of the games.
• Peeta Mellark, Katniss's lover
• Haymitch Abernathy, thier state sponsored mentor
• Primrose Everdeen, Katniss's sister
• Madge Undersee, Katniss's friend
• Gale Hawthorn, Katniss's (at the time) boyfriend.

Political Themes

In an interview with Collins, it was noted that the books tackle issues like severe poverty, starvation, oppression, and the effects of war among others". Suzanne Collins compared the story to modern society, with western nations as the Capitol, who's nation building schemes blow up in the faces of the "districts" (other nations), who must support the capitol with cheap labour, resources, etc.

Critics

The Hunger Games has been well received, with major book critics giving it favorable reviews. A common grievance was the "poor copyediting, which was distracting to readers."