By: Suzanne Collins
“Happy Hunger Games! And may the odds be ever in your favor.”
Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games
*This post contains spoilers for The Hunger Games and The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.
For my discussion and overview of the prequel The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, click the link below:
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
Okay, do you want to hear something that really ages me? This was the first book that I bought on my Barnes and Nobel Nook. I thought it was so cool that I could just pick a book and it would appear in front of me. Mind you, it probably took minutes for it to download. Seems so archaic now when I probably have hundreds of eBooks available on my phone.
Overview:
Set in the not so distant future, Katniss Everdeen is a sixteen year old girl living in Panem. Once North America, Panem is now divided into 12 districts and the Capital that they serve.
Once a year, the Capital forces each district to send a boy and girl tribute to fight in the Hunger Games. The Games are a cruel way for the Capital to keep the districts in line by televising the tributes fight to the death.
Katniss has managed to make it through four selection ceremonies known as the reaping. This year the decision is made for her when her younger sister is chosen and she volunteers in her place.
No one expects anyone from district twelve to do well in the games but Katniss quickly becomes a favorite. But in order to win, she must decide how far she is willing to go with the added pressure of the entire nation watching her.
My thoughts:
Re-reading this after reading The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, I like that small things tie the two stories together. During the reaping Katniss mentions that they have only ever had two victors from the hunger games and Hamich is the only one still alive. Is this because Lucy Grey was never seen again after she ran into the woods. Or did president Snow send someone to make sure that she didn’t come back?
After the first 100 pages
I wish this was my first read because knowing what happens really takes away from the flow of the story. After re-reading, still don’t like Peeta. I think Katniss having to kill him, a weak boy who’s biggest mistake was having a crush on her, would have made much more sense for Katniss’ character development. Having to sacrifice him to make sure that she gets back to her family and face Peeta’s father who promised to keep her sister safe, much better resolution.
Also, it would have been a better lead in to the second book. Having to go back into the arena after sacrificing him would prove to her that the Capital needed to be stop. Having to come to terms that what she did was for nothing makes her both the hero and the villain of the story. Would have been a better juxtaposition between her and Snow.
Instead they use Rue’s death as the actual catalyst. Rue being so small and reminding Katniss of Prim really takes her out of the game and she finally sees the bigger picture.
What would I do in the arena?
I would just be an absolute mess. I would probably be crying every night and wondering if I could somehow escape. I would not be sitting there trying to come up with a strategy I would just be freaking out and hoping I could hide forever.
I could never see the point in anyone forming groups in the arena. Why would you want to work with the strongest people to get rid of all the “weaker” people first? If the District 3 boy was smart, he would have rigged some traps for the careers instead of just helping them to hide their supply. Once it is down to just a few people, what do they need the traps and you for? Absolutely nothing because you have no more use to them.
The rule change in the arena being fake should have been expected
Why does Katniss trust the announcement that two people can win if they are from the same district? Of course, its some kind of trick. Does she really think it was made for District 2, the only other District that could possibly benefit from it? Obviously it’s not. She should have been immediately suspicious as to why they would offer this “reward” up. The whole point of the Hunger Games is to show the Districts that they have no power and that the Capital controls whether they live or die at all times. What’s more of a power move than making two people that supposedly love each other try to murder one another?
“Under the new rule, both tributes from the same district will be declared winners if they are the last two alive. Claudius pauses, as if he knows we’re note getting it, and repeats the change again”
Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games
Her and Peeta haven’t been together the entire game. Of course the Gamemakers want them to have a reason to find each other. This whole backstory was created and the audience wants to see it pay out. It can’t unless they can somehow get the two of them together.
“Yes, they have to have a victor. Without a victor, the whole thing would blow up in the Gamemakers’ faces. They’d have failed the Capitol. Might possibly even be executed, slowly and painfully while the cameras broadcast it to every screen in the country.”
Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games
Might be an unpopular opinion but… I lobby for the death of Peeta
More than halfway through the book and I still can’t justify why Katniss wants to save Peeta so badly. Yes, he told her to run and the past history with him giving her bread, I get it. But refusing to kill him and just hoping that he won’t kill you when it gets down to just the two of you? He has already proved that he’s good at playing the game and telling people what they want to here. He was even fine omitting his plans to Katniss during their interview. Why trust him so complicity to a point where you are willing to bet that he won’t let you die to save himself?
People are probably saying, “but he didn’t let her die. He went along with the plan to pretend to eat the berries”. What if that didn’t work? Would he really let her kill him or would he save himself and turn on her? We will never know but I think it’s safe to say that people are capable of more than we can ever imagine when faced with their own demise.
I think it would have been so much more interesting to have had her kill Peeta once they found out there could only be one winner.
Peeta being so surprised at the end that she was playing it up for the cameras just shows how helpless he really is. Yes, he was able to help her in the arena, but the Careers only allowed him to live to get to her. Once they find each other, he is useless. Making a ton of noise and almost eating a bunch of poisonous berries as soon as he is left alone. Heck, when the mutts were chasing him, Katniss almost died because she had to go back to help him. Cato was easily able to used him as leverage to not get shot with an arrow.
With all the work she put in to keeping him alive, he’s really upset that she might not be super into him as much as he is into her? Give the girl some room. She had to brutally kill people while you were dying by a riverbed or held up in a cave while she went to go get medicine for you. Which, let’s not forget, every other tribute got something that they desperately needed. What else could she have gotten if Peeta didn’t need to be saved that could have made the rest of her time in the arena that much easier?
Overall,
I do enjoy the story even after reading it a few times and seeing the movie. It is still captivating and engaging.
I wish that I could have done this discussion with fresh eyes. Knowing everything that happens in the series does really take you out of the story.
My dislike for Peeta clearly shines through in my review but I do appreciate that it creates a passionate discussion. He’s written as a real person who is not going to resonate with everyone.
Rating: 4/5 stars
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5 thoughts on “The Hunger Games”