THE HUNGER GAMES

                                                                           

The Hunger Games logo

Let´s talk about one of the best trilogies ever written, in my opinion. It's The Hunger Games. Suzanne Collins, the writer, put into these three books the essence of all the genres that I like most: romance; fantasy; action.

It is wonderful to imagine all the things those books bring to our mind, and the way in which the author uses the words makes them really addictive. I couldn't stop reading!

                                                                     

The trilogy has been translated to a lot of different languages

THE PLOT

Every year, in the ruins of what North America was once, the nation of Panem forces all districts to send a boy and a girl, aged between twelve and eighteen, to fight till death in The Hunger Games. This is partly an entertainment for people of the Capitol but it is also a deterrent tactic used by the Government to prevent any rebellion against them like that of The Dark Days, when all the districts rose against the Capitol. The Hunger Games are televised to the whole country. The boys and the girls, who are "the tributes", have to fight each other until only one of them survives.

                                                                       

In this map, you can see The Capitol and
all the districts that are part of Panem

       
                                                                           

In the seventy-fourth Hunger Games, the sixteen-year-old girl Katniss Everdeen, who narrates the story,  goes as a volunteer to the Hunger Games in place of her younger sister, Primrose. Katniss has to face other boys and girls from the different districts. Among them, she knows Peeta Mellark, a boy selected by lottery, who comes from her same District 12.

The tributes of all the districts have to fight each other to death

Katniss carries an amulet of her district- a mockingjay- to the games. With the help of Haymich, a tribute winner of the 50th Hunger Games, they have to defeat all their opponents. When they arrive at the Capitol, they need to impress the Capitol's people and sponsors, so that they can receive help in the form of food or water once they are in the arena. These things, though they may look too simple, can be the keys for their survival. Then, during the interviews, Peeta confesses his love for Katniss, as a strategy to win more sponsors.

                                                                     

Katniss and Peeta are the protagonists and
the winners of The Hunger Games.

   

After all the other tributes have been killed, a rule change is announced midway through the Games, allowing two tributes of the same district to win the Hunger Games as a couple. Katniss finds Peeta wounded and nurses him to health, gaining favour of most of the audience. Trying to look for a dramatic end the Gamemakers change the rules again, forcing them both to kill each other, since only one of them can win.

This makes Katniss pick up some poisonous berries and offer them to Peeta. They are both committing suicide. With this strategy he gets the Gamemakers announce that both Katniss and Peeta will be the winners of the 74th Hunger Games.
                                                         
                                                                 

Jennifer Lawrence is Katniss Everdeen

This final act has a significant influence on the other two books ("Catching Fire" and "Mockingjay"), since it is the cause of the later rebellion. Katniss becomes a symbol of hope for the people of all the districts.

The novel, first published in 2008, has sold milions of copies all over the world and was adapted into a film by director Gary Ross in 2012.

                                                The trailer of the adaptation of The Hunger Games

                                          The trailer of the second part of the trilogy, "Catching Fire"



This article has been written by Tamara Alvites, 1º Bachillerato HCS.