Reaction to The Hunger Games

I was completely enthralled by the first book in The Hunger Games trilogy written by Suzanne Collins. In fact, I read the entire book in one sitting because I could not seem to put it down. What really kept my attention and interest in the novel was the constant uncertainty of acts of trust and deception. The idea of the Hunger Games is to remind the districts that they are still under complete control of the Capitol and that the Capitol has the power over life and death. Thus, while it would it seem that the free will of these characters was at a bare minimum, that was not the case. Rather, they were faced with innumerous amounts of choices, for example, in deciding to pair up with other districts tributes or not. In the end, it is this exercise of free will that ends up forever distorting The Hunger Games, as Katniss and Peeta force the Capitol to announce a tie.

The fact that such pure acts of selflessness could occur with complete acts of betrayal defies normal societal boundaries, which arguably made this such an amazing piece of fiction. This dichotomy can really be seen with Katniss and Peeta’s characters. Katniss’s first act of selflessness comes when she offers herself up as a tribute in the games when her sister, Prim, is picked as the girl tribute for district 12. Likewise, Peeta’s first selfless act is seen before the games too, when he secretly throws out bread from his family’s bakery, knowing that Katniss will find it and be able to feed her family. There is an instant attachment the reader forms with these characters. Yet, when they are both forced into the Hunger Games, things change. For a while Peeta is seen allied with the wealthier districts, thus betraying Katniss. Just as quickly as we fell in love with Peeta, the reader soon starts to hate him. Furthermore, we somehow fall in love with Katniss, even though she sets a bee hive and kills many other tributes in the game as well, deceiving even Peeta at times. It is really interesting that when put in a situation where you are forced to kill others or die yourself, cruelty and deception almost become the norm and not the exception.

Thus, this is also why the ending was so shocking for me. Collins continuously plays with the dichotomy of altruism and deception throughout the novel. At the end, you would assume that these characters are so worn out and assimilated into this world of barbarianism that they would end in an all out blood battle because there is no sense of human decency left. Yet, this is not really what happens. The novel ends in acts of kindness, with Katniss saving Peeta, who was hiding in mud and leaves due to his bad injuries, and then both Katniss and Peeta deciding they rather die than kill one another. It is only when they work together, that Haymitch gives them their rewards, and they are able to defeat the other tributes. Thus, when it seems that there is no hope left in this novel, acts of kindness still appear, once again forcing the reader to step outside the bounds of right and wrong.

The world of The Hunger Games is impossible not be sucked into. While the reader knows it is a piece of fiction, there is some sense of reality in the novel, so much so that I found myself critiquing the novel for putting on an act at times. For instance, I hated that it was unclear, and still is unclear, whether Katniss ever really felt anything for Peeta, or if she was truly just following Haymitch’s instructions in which she had to pretend to like Peeta to put on a better show, to receive the gifts she needed to survive. When they are both declared winner’s they are immediately separated, yet still have to act as if they are in love, otherwise the entire plan will be ruined and dire consequences will occur from the Capitol. In the novel there is a blur between what is real and what is not, is it the world of the Hunger Games or that of the districts? For the reader, there is the same blur, while I know it is a piece of fiction, I am still confused when the characters put on an act themselves. The Hunger Games forces you to truly think about the norms by which society is governed and what happens when these are removed, when citizens turn into barbaric monsters unconstrained by the bounds of a civil society. Suzanne Collins may have successfully topped the infamous wizard world of Harry Potter with her excruciatingly tantalizing world of the Hunger Games. 

By: Taylor Rothman