Review: The Hunger Games (Collins)

Here's a review the junior Book Monkey recently completed as a book report for her fifth grade class.  Two items: first, spoiler alert - certain plot twists are revealed.  Second, Hunger Games is written for "young adults," but the central story is about kids hunting and killing other kids in a gladiator-type spectator sport, a subject of a future post.

 “Whatever the truth is, I don’t see how it’ll help me get food on the table.” This was the line that hooked me into The Hunger Games, a novel by Suzanne Collins. It hooked me because it shows Katniss’s spirit in helping her family. The Hunger Games is the first book in a trilogy, the other two books being Catching Fire and Mockingjay. I purchased the trilogy on my Nook Color because my next-door neighbor said she liked them.

The protagonist of the story is Katniss Everdeen, age 16, the head of her family since her father died in a mine explosion when she was eleven. Katniss doesn't forgive others easily and dislikes owing them even more. She breaks the rules, and even the law, to provide for her family. She cares deeply for her sister, Prim. Katniss is viewed as a selfless person who will go to any length to protect her loved ones, even if it means sacrificing herself. The antagonists of the story are the "tributes" from the other districts of the nation of Panem. Tributes are children who are randomly chosen to participate in the Hunger Games. The tributes from Districts 1,2, and 4 are bloodthirsty brutes who train for this their whole lives for the Games, the ones Katniss particularly needs to watch out for. Katniss calls them "Career Tributes." She must also be wary of Peeta, the other tribute from District 12.

The Hunger Games takes place in a ruined future, within the glistening Capitol and twelve outlying districts in the nation of Panem. Once, in a time period called the Dark Days, the districts rebelled against the Capitol. Unsuccessful, the districts were forced to participate in the Hunger Games, a "game" where each year, they are forced by the Capitol to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen (you become eligible for the reaping at age twelve and your name is entered once, at thirteen twice, fourteen thrice, and so forth) to participate in a brutal and terrifying fight where only one can survive.

The story starts on Reaping Day, the day when the names for the Hunger Games are selected by lottery. When the names are pulled, Katniss hopes her name isn’t selected. And it‘s not. It’s her sister. Katniss knows what she must do. This is the conflict of the story, where Katniss enters a man vs. man struggle so her sister can live. She shouts “I volunteer! I volunteer as a tribute!” No one has volunteered in decades because tribute is basically the same as corpse in District 12. After she volunteers, the boy tribute is called, and to her disappointment, it’s Peeta Mellark. The boy who she owes her life to. For, when Katniss’s father died, her family was left starving. She was digging in the rich people’s trash bins, hoping to find something, anything to eat, when the baker’s wife yelled at her. Shortly after, Peeta, the baker's son, who witnessed the exchange, dropped two loaves of bread in the fire. His mother beat him and told him to feed it to the pig. But when she wasn’t looking, Peeta threw the bread to Katniss and went inside. This is the bread that saved her life, as well as her family's.

On the train to the Capitol, she meets Haymitch, her mentor, a drunken former Games winner from District 12. When she reaches the Capitol, the Gamemakers (the people who can rig the games and give you a training score) assign her to her stylist. The next day, Katniss and Peeta are as shown to the Training Center, their home until the Hunger Games begin. Katniss’s new home is much more sophisticated than her District 12 home and food is plentiful. At dinnertime, Haymitch talks about strategies for survival, starting with how to secure a high training score. Training scores are important because they can win you sponsors, who can give you advantages during the Games. They can also determine if the Career Tributes will target you in the arena. When the Gamemakers come to watch her train, Katniss goes immediately to the bows and arrows, which she handles with ease. Mad that the Gamemakers are giving a roast pig more attention than her, she shoots the apple out of the pig’s mouth, then walks out without being dismissed. Despite her disrespect, she gets 11 out of the 12 points possible, the highest training score of the Games.

After the training scores were revealed, in the tributes’ televised interviews, Peeta reveals a hidden love for Katniss. After the interviews, Katniss is upset by Peeta's announcement. She thinks he made her look weak until Haymitch explains that Peeta made them the only district anyone will think about. The star-crossed lovers from District 12 are the tributes the Capitol sponsors will most want to support.

The following day, the Hunger Games commence. Katniss is awakened and taken to the arena, a large mass of land with forests, fields, and a lake. Everywhere the tributes go, they will always be followed by cameras. They are placed in the portion of the arena where supplies are scattered. Katniss sees the only bow and arrows in the arena, but can’t reach them in time, and only gathers some measly supplies.

Through a combination of wits and skill, and perhaps some luck, she finally claims the bow and arrows from the Careers. Along the way, she befriends Rue, a young tribute from District 11 who reminds her of her sister Prim. Together, they take out the Career’s food supply. After they do this, Rue is caught in a net and killed by a Career. Rue’s death fills Katniss with a renewed desire to with the Games.

A couple days later it is announce that two of the tributes may live if they are from the same district and are the last two alive. Katniss is relived, and starts to go looking for Peeta because even though they aren't the star-crossed lovers they're pretending to be, she still feels apprehensive about killing Peeta or having him killed. The next day finds him expertly camouflaged in a mud bank but badly injured. Then she moves him to a cave, where they have their fist kiss which prompts the ever-watching sponsors to send them a pot of broth.

　

After Katniss nurses him back to health, Peeta says, “I wonder what we’d have to do to get Haymitch to send us some bread.” Katniss remembers that one kiss equals one pot of broth, and tries to act romantic. They end up talking about when they first saw each other and then share a genuinely sweet kiss that captures the hearts of the Capitol. The sponsors reward them with a feast.

　

A few days later, it’s the climax of the story. There’s only Katniss, Peeta and Cato, a large, violent Career Tribute from District 2, remaining. Not only have the Gamemakers driven them to the lake by draining all other water sources, they have created wolves that represent the dead tributes. The wolves were created in a lab, programmed to believe they’re avenging their own deaths. The pack is howling below them. Peeta has been bitten in the calf, and blood is pouring. Cato has him in a headlock that’s cutting off his windpipe. If Katniss kills Cato, he’ll pull Peeta down into the wolf pack with him. Katniss shoots Cato’s hand, forcing him to release his grip on Peeta and fall into the pack. Then, the cannon signaling Cato’s death fires.

However, the Gamemakers insure that a plot twist remains. It is now announced that only one tribute can live; only one winner can be allowed. Katniss and Peeta both insist that the other survive until Katniss remembers the deadly berries that they had discovered earlier in the Games, ones that kill you once you swallow them. They put them in their mouths, but don’t chew them. The Gamemakers understand that they need a winner, and can’t allow both Katniss and Peeta to die. So the announcer tells them to stop, that they can both live. They spit the berries out, and are lifted into a hovercraft, where Peeta is taken away to be healed.

When Katniss is rested, she is congratulated by Haymitch. As she prepares for her victory interview, Haymitch warns her that the president isn’t very happy with her, because he thinks that she was trying to defy the Capitol when she pulled out the berries. He tells her that she must try to make it look like she only pulled out the berries because she was madly in love with Peeta.

In the interview, she is reunited with Peeta. President Snow comes on stage and when he looks in Katniss’s face, his eyes tell her that he wants to punish her for this act of defiance, even though he has no basis. In their interview, Katniss and Peeta talk about their love foe each other and their time in the arena. In the end, Haymitch nods, showing them that they’ve said the right things.

Next they are taken home on a train. They discuss how much of their relationship was real and how much was for the Games. Peeta is disappointed at how much was for the Games. There is no denouement in The Hunger Games, because it is part of a trilogy, so Suzanne Collins can leave the end as a cliff-hanger.

The theme of this book is how far are you willing to go to survive? All the things in this book (the love angle, the alliances, the blowing up, and the killing) are means of survival. I like this book because it also shows independence, and love, like how Katniss volunteered for her sister at the reaping. One of the things I didn’t like about the book, however, was how children (like the Career Tributes) wanted to kill other children. But, in all, I enjoyed reading The Hunger Games and urge you to read it too.

 SFM