August 29th Hunger Games

Centered in a world directed by tirany and savagery "The Hunger Games" written by Suzanne Collins is a story that has captivated viewers attention from all around the world.

The book introduces us into a world of cruelty, misery and hunger, but that at the same time parallel to this world, we find another extreme the world of Capitol, filled with vanity, luxuries and corruption.
In the first book of the trilogy, we are introduced to the protagonist Katniss, a young teenage girl, hard worker for her family.

Year by year the Capitol hosts and event called the hunger games, where two teenagers, boy and a girl are selected to be brought to an arena to fight for their lives, one must always die in order for the game to end. This is in a way to remind the country of what the government is capable of, and to ensure they wouldn't rebel.

The story is filled with metaphors and symbolism reflecting the world we live in.
Parallels to real life:
The story brings to mind the current situation lived in China, and the big contrast between
poverty vs the capitalistic regime. But mainly the inability to make your own personal choices.

Or the notion of having to give up your child when they are chosen to be in the hunger games,  a parallel to this would be the current problem in china and how each family is unable to choose how many children they have, and must pay a fine if they go over the "allowed" limit.


Which of the two sides is privileged  in the story?

There's no recognition whatsoever of individuals as such rather, the characters are seen as letters and numbers rather than people. With this loss of humanity comes the loss of everything else that comes with it, values, morality etc.

The author doesn't necessarily give us her opinion, but rather attempts to take us into this world and view things as they did .



Contradictions found in the story:
To begin with, the old style weapons vs high tech elements brought up later in the story,
The meaning of values, feeling and love: the characters aren't meant to have emotions, or the ability to judge, and yet the main character represents all of these together.

Some stories/movies that came to mind when reading this story were:
Inglorious Bastards
Fight Club
1984
Gladiator
300
Zena Warrior princess
Lord of the flies
Holes
Big brother
Rome

Expectations of the reader, and how the author plays with this:

The reader would normally expect the character to fulfill their original goal, rather she is defeated at the end. Although she survives she's unable to get herself out of the situation.

Another expectation could be a revolt from the children's side against the leaders.

An important movie to be paired with this book: 1984 or Holes