The Hunger Games

Winning means fame and fortune. Losing means certain death. The Hunger Games have begun. . . .

In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV.

Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister’s place in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before-and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that weigh survival against humanity and life against love.^[1]

I love The Hunger Games; it’s a dystopian novel written by Suzanne Collins depicting a corrupt government through the eyes of a 16-year-old girl who just wants to protect her family. Suzanne said in an interview once how she got the idea for her novel by flipping through reality TV channels and Iraq war coverage, noting the extreme contrast in priorities. which led to an unsettling blur of lines between entertainment and violence. She combines this with inspiration from classical myths, specifically Roman Gladiator games, and Theseus and the Minotaur, a Greek myth where people had to send tributes of young people to be sacrificed to the “Minotaur.”

This book is the first in a series of 5, the newest edition having just been published in March of this year (2025). The Hunger Games highlights the distinction between the Capitol and the districts early on, with the descriptions of the poverty-stricken neighborhood of the Seam, and the luxurious decadence of the Capitol contrasting harshly. Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark, who are used to living off scraps and stale food, enter a world of luxury far greater than they have ever seen, only a few days before their most certain death. They see people living in the Capitol who have never had to worry about money or food, and the difference in personality and priorities is distinct; the people of the Capitol see the people of the districts as barbaric or inhuman, while they themselves watch children fight to the death annually and are desensitized to the horror of it. The blatant hypocrisy is clear.

One thing I think Suzanne Collins wrote well is Katniss’s mindset and internal monologue. In The Hunger Games, Katniss details how her father died in a mine explosion when she was 11, and her mother fell into a depressive state where she couldn’t get out of bed. This forced Katniss into the role of the provider of her family at 11, and she struggled to provide food to her mother and sister, almost starving to death before she thought of hunting in the woods. She was taught how to hunt with her father before he died, and he had a couple of bows and arrows tucked away in tree trunks in the woods. Katniss has been hunting for food for her family since then, and has had to grow up much quicker than other people her age. She has had to put her wants and needs behind the survival needs of her and her family her whole life, and she has never thought about trivial topics that other teens her age would think about, like relationships and drama. This is important for understanding her actions in the 74^th Hunger Games arena, where she is under the impression that Peeta is making up his crush on her for ratings and sponsor gifts, leading her to play along while not actually being in love with Peeta.

Something that they leave out of the movie is Lavina. She was a girl whom Katniss saw in the woods one day running from the Capitol with another man; the man was shot and killed, but Lavina was taken by the Capitol ship. Katniss stood there and watched them be killed and taken, with Lavina seeing Katniss before being taken and did nothing to help, which she feels guilty about. This guilt is heightened when she sees Lavina in the Capitol as an Avox, a slave without a tongue. She tries to apologise to Lavina, but is shushed because of the cameras. After Katniss shot the arrow at the gamemakers and thought she got her family killed, Lavina is there to help her clean up her room after Katniss had a meltdown. This is a really nice scene, which shows how Lavina is not mad at Katniss for not saving her, and forgives her in whatever way she can.

The Katniss-Gale-Peeta “love triangle” that Suzanne set up isn’t as much of a love triangle as shown in the movies. Katniss met Gale when she was 14 and hunting in the woods; Katniss always refers to their relationship throughout The Hunger Games as platonic. She has never thought about relationships and dating before volunteering for the 74^th Hunger Games, and she doesn’t see the logic in pursuing someone romantically at all. With Peeta, Katniss initially refuses to play into the “star-crossed lovers” dynamic, but eventually she does end up feigning love for Peeta after it is announced that 2 people from the same district can win.

The rule change that Seneca Crane, the head gamemaker for the 74^th games, implemented was a one-time thing. It was (probably) done without the confirmation of President Snow, since Seneca was killed afterwards. They announced that 2 tributes can be crowned victor if they both come from the same district, most likely hoping to add extra drama to the games and increase ratings. This change was always meant to be revoked in the end; there can only be one victor after all, that’s one of the only actual rules of the Hunger Games. When Katniss and Peeta hear of the rule change, initially, Katniss is stunned; she can’t believe she fell for a trick that should have been obvious to her. Eventually, however, she refuses to die or to kill Peeta, and she impulsively comes up with the idea for both of them to eat poisonous nightlock berries, because they have to have at least one victor. This causes the gamemakers to panic, and declare them both victors in a spontaneous decision.

The ending of this book is especially significant; the subtle warning Haymitch gives Katniss about how the Capitol did not approve of Katniss’ defiance of the rules adds so much tension to the story and perfectly sets up the next book. It adds another conflict to the story that, while present throughout the whole book, was only explicitly introduced as a conflict at the end. Katniss is told by Haymitch how she needs to be so in love with Peeta that it clouds her judgment and how she needs to convince both the Capitol and the districts that she has no rebellious tendencies, because if the districts can see how 2 people can disobey the Capitol and get away free, they might try to rebel also.

Overall, The Hunger Games is a great novel; it has an engaging plot, memorable characters, and a good message of resistance that is explored deeper in the next couple of books. I strongly suggest you read the whole Hunger Games trilogy and the 2 prequels, especially since there will be a new prequel movie releasing in November of 2026.

1. Collins, Suzanne. “The Hunger Games.” Scholastic, Scholastic Inc., 2008, scholastic.com. Accessed 8 June 2026.