Book Reflections: The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins


Book 1 (The Hunger Games) shows us Panem, a post-apocalyptic North America and the central characters. Every year the ruthless totalitarian government picks a girl and a boy, ala-The Lottery, to fight to the death in a televised extreme reality survival game called The Hunger Games. When despite the odds being in their favor, Katniss Everdeen's 12-year-old sister gets picked, she pushes through the crowd and volunteers to take her place. This is the first time District 12 ever had a tribute prompting the entire district population to put three fingers of their right hand to their lips and stretch it out to her as their most respectful funeral salute (equivalent to a 21-gun salute). For me, "I volunteer as tribute!" is right up there with "Not my daughter you bitch!" as one of the most unforgettable lines in contemporary YA literature.

Katniss is joined by a very scared Peeta, who even as a young boy already held a soft spot for her. To him, Katniss is the girl who when she sings, birds stop to listen. To Katniss, Peeta is the boy with the bread. Once, when she was on the brink of starvation, he gave her bread. That became a symbol of hope for her that her family would be able to survive. Speaking of symbols, she also carries with her to the games a mockingjay pin which for the districts mean freedom and survival. With the help of her stylist and Peeta's confession of his love for her on national TV, she quickly becomes a star even before the games began. Her mockingjay pin, her survival instincts, the brokenness she showed when little Rue died, and as the game ends, her unwillingness to kill Peeta and going for a move that wrenches control out of the gamemakers' hands are on display for all of Panem to see.

This book launches the dystopian trilogy of The Hunger Games and as the series progresses, the story becomes darker and darker.  This is not your typical YA fare.  Yes, there's love story, action and drama but the social commentaries alone that the book makes on entertainment today and the way the author brings it to a terrible end will grip many adult readers.