May The Odds Be Ever In Your Favor

Every year, the world of Panem comes together to watch The Hunger Games – a live-action, real time, real people event that brings 24 tributes between the ages of 12 and 17 into an arena to fight to the death.  The last one standing wins eternal glory, food and shelter beyond their wildest dreams.  This is the future of North America in The Hunger Games.  North America, after years of war and unrest has divided up into 12 Districts – all obeying the Capitol who rules them. Originally there were 13 districts but the 13^th district rebelled and wiped out because of it. So that the other districts don’t forget what they did, the Capitol created the Hunger Games – to remind all of Panem of just how much power the Capitol has over them.  Katniss Everdeen is a 16-year old girl who takes her 12-year old sister’s place in the games when her name is called. She has no idea what her being in the games will do to her, her family, her district and all of Panem.

Kids killing kids. That is the basic tagline of the book; not a very uplifting tagline but a tagline nonetheless.  If you can get past the kids killing kids and understand the true meaning behind this 74^th Hunger Games, you will see that this isn’t your normal games.  It takes on a much different purpose because of the tributes inside the arena.  These tributes aren’t afraid to defy their expectations to kill – some ally together to survive, others let prey go because of something honorable they did to help out a friend.  Everything is different about these specific games and the reader doesn’t know that until the end.  By only being in Katniss’ head, the reader doesn’t get a chance to see what anyone else is thinking – they are Katniss in a sense so everything that she is feeling and thinking is mirrored on paper. Because Katniss can’t see everyone, we can’t see everyone. That is a little aggravating because as the reader, you want to know more, you want to know what everyone else is doing. But if Collins wrote that way, the story wouldn’t have as much suspense. And that is the key to this book.  The Hunger Games has a lot of description and monologues with Katniss.  These monologues and long winded descriptions were enthralling and captivating. With every one that came, the reader digs deeper and deeper into Katniss’ mind at the same time she is – she is coming into her own and understanding her own feelings at the same time the reader is understanding them and learning them.  This was exciting and terrifying at the same time because not even Katniss knew what was going to happen until it did and that is what the monologues were about.

Katniss becoming the submissive, shy, little girl in the games and after was atrocious. That is not her. She is a strong, independent woman who doesn’t need anyone tell her what to do nor a man to make her complete – nor does she want one. But in order to survive, she needs to make herself out to be that way and go against who she is.  That does not sit well with me.  Every so often, her true self comes out but she immediately will back away and ask “what am I doing? Is this going to get me or the people I love in trouble?” She will go right back to being the submissive, girly-girl she needs to be in order to survive. Somehow, this can’t work forever and I can’t wait to see what happens when she finally realizes that.

This will always be one of my favorite books.  It is a young adult book (I am not really sure how with some of the graphic scenes) but it has such a deeper meaning to it that it resonates with adults of all ages.  That is what was appealing to me.  The main character is a strong, liberal, independent woman who isn’t afraid to risk everything in order to make a point to herself, her friends, to Panem and the Capitol.  The only thing she is afraid of is being alone, yet she is alone out of her own free will.  However, I can also argue that she is a 16-year old girl who had to grow up very quickly at age 10 when her father died and then had to grow up even more when her sister’s name was picked as a tribute for the games.  She had to grow up so rapidly that she didn’t have time to fight through her feelings or her emotions – she was thrust right into them without warning.  And now back at home, she doesn’t know what to think of herself, Peeta, Gale, the Capitol – she doesn’t know what is real and what is fake. 

This books gets another high rating of 5 out of 5 because it captivated my attention, intrigued my imagination, and helped me remember how much I love reading about girls who stand up for what they believe in and who won’t back down without a fight.