The Hunger Games Free Essays

The Hunger Games takes place in a nation known as Panem, established in North America after the destruction of the continent’s civilization by an unknown apocalyptic event. The nation consists of the wealthy Capitol and twelve surrounding, poorer districts united under the Capitol’s control. District 12, where the book begins, is located in the coal-rich region that was formerly known as Appalachia. We will write a custom essay sample on The Hunger Games or any similar topic only for you Order Now 4] As punishment for a past rebellion against the Capitol, in which a 13th district was destroyed, one boy and one girl between the ages of 12 and 18 from each district are selected by an annual lottery to participate in the Hunger Games, an event in which the participants (or â€Å"tributes†) must fight to the death in an outdoor arena controlled by the Capitol, until only one individual remains. The story is narrated by 16-year-old Katniss Everdeen, a girl from District 12 who volunteers for the 74th annual Hunger Games in place of her younger sister, Primrose. The male tribute chosen from District 12 is Peeta Mellark, a former schoolmate of Katniss who once gave her bread from his family’s bakery when her family was starving. Katniss and Peeta are taken to the Capitol, where their drunken mentor, Haymitch Abernathy, victor of the 50th Hunger Games, instructs them to watch and determine the strengths and weaknesses of the other tributes. Stylists† are employed to make each tribute look his or her best; Katniss’s stylist, Cinna, is the only person at the Capitol with whom she feels a degree of understanding. The tributes are publicly displayed to the Capitol audience in an interview with television host Caesar Flickerman, and have to attempt to appeal to the television audience in order to obtain â€Å"sponsors†. During this time, Peeta reveals on-a ir his longtime unrequited love for Katniss. Katniss believes this to be a ploy to gain sponsors, who can be critical to survival because of their ability to send gifts such as food, medicine, and tools to favored tributes during the Games. While nearly half the tributes are killed in the first day of the Games, Katniss relies on her well-practiced hunting and survival skills to remain unharmed and concealed from the other tributes. A few days into the games, Katniss develops an alliance with Rue, a 12-year-old girl from the agricultural District 11 who reminds Katniss of her own sister. In the meantime, Peeta appears to have joined forces with the tributes from the richer districts. However, when he has the opportunity to kill Katniss, he instead saves her from the others. Katniss’s alliance with Rue is brought to an abrupt end when Rue is killed by another tribute, whom Katniss then kills with an arrow. Katniss sings to Rue until she dies, and spreads flowers over her body as a sign of respect for Rue and disgust towards the Capitol. Apparently because of Katniss and Peeta’s image in the minds of the audience as â€Å"star-crossed lovers†, a rule change is announced midway through the Games, allowing two tributes from the same district to win the Hunger Games as a couple. Upon hearing this, Katniss begins searching for Peeta. She eventually finds him, wounded and in hiding. As she nurses him back to health, she acts the part of a young girl falling in love to gain more favor with the audience and, consequently, gifts from her sponsors. When the couple remain as the last two surviving tributes, the Gamemakers reverse the rule change in an attempt to force them into a dramatic finale, where one must kill the other to win. Katniss, knowing that the Gamemakers would rather have two victors than none, retrieves highly poisonous berries known as â€Å"nightlock† from her pouch and offers some to Peeta. Realizing that Katniss and Peeta intend to commit suicide, the Gamemakers announce that both will be the victors of the 74th Hunger Games. Although she survives the ordeal in the arena and is treated to a hero’s welcome in the Capitol, Katniss is warned by Haymitch that she has now become a political target after defying her society’s authoritarian leaders so publicly. Afterwards, Peeta is heartbroken when he learns that Katniss’s actions in the arena were part of a calculated ploy to earn sympathy from the audience. However, Katniss is unsure of her own feelings and realizes that she is dreading the moment when she and Peeta will go their separate ways. @wikepedia How to cite The Hunger Games, Essay examples The Hunger Games Free Essays For the month of October I read The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. In this book, the main character is a 16 year old girl named Katniss Everdeen. She is a tough hunter and provides food for her family due to her father’s death and her mother’s illness. We will write a custom essay sample on The Hunger Games or any similar topic only for you Order Now She also has a younger sister, Primrose. Every year there is a Hunger Games reaping. The reaping of the Hunger Games is when one boy and one girl from each district are forced to participate in The Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV. Primrose gets picked for this event and Katniss volunteers to take her place. Throughout this novel, Katniss faces many hardships on her journey to win the Hunger Games. The theme/lesson learned from this book is to never give up even if you are in the hardest situation. A passage from the book that describes Katniss and her hardships is: â€Å"I better get out of here, I think. They’ll be making a beeline for this place. But once I’m on my feet, I realize escape may not be so simple. I’m dizzy. Not the slightly wobbly kind, but the kind that sends the trees swooping around you and causes the earth to move in waves under your feet. I take a few steps and somehow wind up on my hands and knees. I wait a few minutes to let it pass, but it doesn’t. Panic begins to set in. I can’t stay here. † (P. 222-223) I would rate this book five stars because it is remarkable, full of action and suspense, and makes you never want to stop reading. I would recommend this book to action and suspense lovers. I would not recommend this book to people that do not like violence or blood because there is a lot of violence in this novel. How to cite The Hunger Games, Papers