The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins, takes place in the future America, now called Panem. However, the world is completely different from what we know or any idea that has been conceived of the future. There are now twelve districts that are ruled by the oppressive capital. The capital has two ways to remind the districts that they are still in control and there is no point of rebellion. The first way is to continue to show footage of the now extinct district thirteen which was bombed during the war between the districts and the capital seventy-four years ago. The second way is the worst; the capital makes each district send two tributes, one boy and one girl between the ages of 12 and 18, to fight against each other to the death in The Hunger Games. The story follows the 17 year old, Katniss, who gets chosen as the girl tribute for district 12 for the seventy-fourth Hunger Games.

This is the second time that I have read The Hunger Games; including the other two books in the trilogy, Catching Fire and Mockingjay. Even for my second time through these books I found them just as engaging and thrilling as I did the first time. The story is incredibly unique, in all the time I have spent reading books and watching movies I have not come across anything that is like The Hunger Games. I also really appericate the way that Collins deals with the subject of war, these books could have been a disaster if this subject had not been dealt with correctly. War and rebellion is not glorified, but is instead something that is nesscary to end the oppression of the capital. War is not something that Katniss enjoys and she always feels grief and remorse when someone gets killed, even if it is someone on the opposing side. The themes that are in this story are thought provoking and meaningful. The themes are things that everyone should think about at some point and these three books help to guide your thought in a productive way.

I want to take a moment to talk about how perfectly these three books are titled. The titles each give hints about what the books are about without giving away anything to do with the plot. The Hunger Games deals with the history of Panem, why The Hunger Games started, and what it is like if you are selected as a tribute in The Games; it really lays the groundwork for what is to happen in the following two books. Catching Fire deals with the spark that ignites the beginning of the rebellion within the 12 districts; it literary is like a fire starting and you get to watch it build up until it is a full out fire. Finally, Mockingjay deals with Katniss becoming the symbol of resistance for the districts, or the Mockingjay, and deals the most with the concept of war. I don’t think that I have read any book that has been better titled than these books. It is often the title the of book that draws me in and the titles in this trilogy work perfectly to accomplish just that, they draw the read in and create interest in what story these titles could hold.

I don’t think that I can give enough praise for The Hunger Games Trilogy. They are brilliantly written thought provoking books that I believe that everyone, teen or adult, should read. I really believe that everyone should take some time to think about the themes that are presented within the story and that in doing so the world might become a little bit of a better place.

In closing I leave you with two videos. First the trailer for The Hunger Games movie, which is to come out next year, and second the video for Alex Carpenter’s song “In The Hunger Games”.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAWODq_dMFI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRA7_MnRKmk&list=FLIiNIT3Fu7YZHhK1GCFZ2Vw&index=26