Hunger Games Summary and Analysis

Summary vs. Analysis of Hunger Games

A novel by Susan Collins

So this post is going to be a summary and then an analysis of Hunger Games by Susan Collins.  Summary is the basic plot outline of a story.  An analysis is what the writer intended the reader to take away from the story.  It is a break down of the different scenarios in the story and their underlying meaning. 

        Hunger Games is a story of a girl, Katniss Everdeen, living in a post apocalyptic society.  She is very talented with a bow and arrows.  Her father dies in a coal explosion, so she has to break the law and hunt for her family's survival.  It is a day to day struggle.  She has a best friend, named Gale, that joins her in this illegal hunting. He too had a father die in the same coal mine explosion. The District they live in, number 12, is ruled by a higher District called the Capitol.  It runs all of the Districts from 1 through 12.  They rule with violence and intimidation.  

          Every year there is a bloody contest held between children, called the Hunger Games.  It is in honor of the squashing of a rebellion that happened 74 years ago. Two kids from each district are chosen to join the games.  They have to fight to the death, only one is the winner.  On the day of the "Reaping", Kantniss' sisters name is called.  She immediately volunteers herself, in place of her sister, as the victim to this horrible game.  Another is chosen, a boy by the name of Petta.  He is a soft spoken boy, whose parents own a bakery.  Katniss and Peeta will be the tributes from District 12, fighting a battle for their lives and each other's as well. Peeta and Katniss are shuttled off to the Capitol to prepare for the games.  They are afforded every luxury, a thing they are not used to enjoying.  Their mentor Haymitch, a previous Hunger Games victor, gives them advice about how to stay alive in the ring.  All of the contestants of the games are interviewed before they fight.  Petta drops a bombshell and professes his love for Katniss.  This is a total shock to her, having never even talked to him before the games.  

The next day the games start.  Katniss immediately takes off for her own survival.  She ends up being chased up a tree, where she sees that Petta has taken up with the bad folks, called careers.  They are the people that have trained to be in the games their whole lives.   She narrowly escapes from the clutches of the nasty group. 

Again, she is cornered by the careers, but this time Petta is her savior.  She narrowly escapes while Petta has a nasty fight with one of the careers.  He ends up in a ditch badly injured. Katniss finds him and nurses him back to health over a couple of days. The whole time she is faking her feelings for Petta.  At first she kissed him for medicine and other things that are needed for survival.  Then it blossomed into real feelings.  The Game Makers announce one night, during the games, that this year there will be two winners.  Of course everybody wanted Petta and Katniss to win.      

They finally get through most of the other opponents, then with three left, the Game Makers send evil animals after them.  Katniss and Petta make it away from all of the animals unscathed.  Then, the Game Makers announce that there can only be one winner.  They both choose suicide over killing one another.  As they attempt to do that, via poison berries, the Game Makers tell them that they will both win this year, because of their love for each other.  After it is all over, Katniss admits that most of the things she did weren't for love, they were for survival.  This truth breaks Petta's heart.  The book ends with Katniss and Petta back in their district awaiting a tour of all the surrounding country, where they have to act like they are in love to keep them and their families safe.

Analysis

  Hunger Games although well written, is mostly for entertainment.  It isn't the deepest book out there.  It's basic premise is how the Capitol uses fear, violence, and psychological warfare, to keep the population in line.  It does make for a good read though. 

    Susan Collins writes about the struggle between the ruling class, the Capitol, and the poor.  Excess abounds in the Capitol, while most other districts suffer famine, disease and other hardships. The Games are the biggest example of violence and psychological tactics used to quell rebellion.  It places all children in danger of facing a brutal death.  Parents fear every year that their kids' names will be called, resulting in massive heart ache and anxiety.  It is shown in every district.  There are mandatory viewings of the brutal murders of children by all the citizens.  Then after they are done killing each other, the victor is paraded around to all the districts, to show that the one who kills for the capitol will get everything they want.    

If your family is facing food shortages, you can get a food allowance, but you name has to be put in the drawing another time.  This greatly increases your chances of getting called during the Reaping.  This equates to, if one is hungry the food is there, but it comes at a price.

The Capitol also has Guards and fences, that encompass the district.  Walls have been used in many different civilizations as a psychological and physical intimidator.  Some walls were more to keep people in than out.  The Berlin Wall comes to mind.  This was also the case in the Hunger Games' society.

Torture was also very readily used by the Capitol.  A prime example is an Avox.  They are servants that had their tongues cut out for transgressions they had committed.  They were then made to serve the Capitol as indentured servants.  The city squares also had whipping blocks and stocks for public humiliation.  Those are prime examples of psychological and physical abuse.    

These tactics aren't anything new to civilization, they've been used in the past and present. Governments are always looking for the best way to keep the balance between function and survival.  If it means a human being has to suffer, for the greater good, so be it.  I know this is a pessimistic outlook on our own and other governments, but it is the reality we all live in.

Image taken from http://ricklax.com/archive/200810