The Hunger games

‘Happy Hunger games, and may the odds be ever

in your favor’

Explain the relevance of the title and think of a meaningful alternative

The title of the book is not really important for this part of the novel. In book three the meaning of Hunger games will be explained. The country Katniss lives in is Panem. An ancient phrase is Panem et Cercenses, what means: Bread and games. This phrase is used to entertain people. In the Hunger Games the Capitol hosts the annual hunger games, so people will always remember the power from the Capitol and that they should not rebel. An meaningful alternative could be Dead or Alive, or Fight for your life, because that is the most important note in the book.

Character description

The most important main character is Katniss Everdeen. Katniss Everdeen is an sixteen-years-old girl who lives in District 12 in Panem. She has a little sister, Primrose Everdeen. Katniss is a strong and intelligent girl, who provides food for her family. Her father died in an mine accident so she is the one to take care of the food. District 12 is a very poor part of Panem. People die there because of hungriness. Her best friend is Gale. They hunt together in the woods around district 12. Gale has a very big family. His father died at the same mine accident as Katniss’ dad. Katniss turns into a tribute in the Hunger Games because at the reaping her little sister Prim is being elected. She volunteers, and becomes the opponent of Peeta Mellark. In the Hunger games she keeps playing smart games en pulling tricks so she survives more and more. She teams up with the little girl from district 11, Rue. Rue looks a lot like Prim, and they become inseparable. When they pull a trick to blow up the food stock of the career tributes (tributes from the more wealthy districts, 1, 2 and 4 who really want to be in the hunger games) Rue dies. What I like about Katniss is how brave she is, how talented and how smart. By using all her survival skills

she completely outsmarts every tribute.

Peeta Mellark is the other tribute from district 12. He has been in love with Katniss ever since he was a little boy.  He is the son of the baker and he is more wealthy than Katniss. When they were younger and she was starving, he threw a bread at her so she didn’t die from malnutrition. He teams up in the hunger games with the career tributes, but it’s all to save Katniss. I like about him that he does everything that is within his possibilities to save Katniss and make sure that she will survive the Hunger games.

Setting of the book and why it is so important

The setting of the book is in District 12 and the arena. It is really important for the book because there is a clear division between the rich districts and the poor ones.

Two important events

The first important event is the reaping. This event entitles the rest of the novel because now it is Katniss who will tribute in the Hunger games instead of her younger sister Primrose. If Primrose was the one who would be a tribute, the book would be completely different. Besides, Peeta is the other chosen one. Because she owes her life to him, there is an immediate conflict because she is too grateful to kill him. The other important event is the victory. During the game the game maker Seneca Crane decides that not only one tribute can win. There can be two winners, if they are from the same district. This was all set up by Haymitch, their mentor. On the moment they have killed Cato, the last survivor, the rules change. Suddenly only one tribute can win. Katniss is so angry she decides to swallow the red poisonous berries to kill themselves, and on that moment Seneca screams: Stop! The winners are Peeta and Katniss. Katniss doesn’t know that with this action, she rebels against the Capitol…

Letter to the main character

Dear Katniss,

First of all I want to tell you that I admire you a lot because of your braveness and your success during the Hunger games. It must have been so hard for you, to volunteer as a tribute for your sister. Especially when there was really no option they would have picked her. You can really say that the odds weren’t really in her favor. There is one thing I don’t agree with. At the end of the Hunger games, you have chosen to commit suicide. You don’t really know how much that effected the Capitol! You have brought yourself into so many troubles. The best thing you could do was to sit down, try to make Peeta’s leg better and wait for other options. Now you have put yourself and Peeta in the worst thinkable position. And think of your family, the Capitol could kill them all without any problems. Next time you should think before your actions. Over all, I can’t really blame you. Who would be able to think in that situation. But what if Seneca didn’t came between? Then you and Peeta would not have only died for nothing, but at least one other tribute as well. I hope you will enjoy your life now, now that you don’t have to participate in the Hunger games again.

Love,

...............

Review of the novel with appreciation score

This book is really worth reading. The book is written so amazingly well, that anyone who will read this book will fall in love with it. The characters are really defined and it’s easy to understand for anyone. Especially for girls around 17 the book is so nice. I would recommend it to anyone (and also part two and three).

Appreciation score: 9 out of 10.

Summary

Part 1: The Tributes

In the first third of the book, we are introduced to our protagonist, Katniss Everdeen. Though she's only a teenager, she's a tough hunter who puts food on her family's table. Her father is dead and she lives with her mother and sister Prim in District 12 in the country of Panem. She hunts with a guy named Gale who is cute and might even have a thing for her, but who knows? Katniss is not very in touch with her mushy side.

Every year the Capitol of Panem hosts an event called the Hunger Games where two "tributes" – a boy and a girl – are drafted from each of the twelve districts to be brought to an arena and fight to the death. (BTW, back in the day the word "tribute" referred to a payment to a ruler.) Only one person can win. This is to remind the country not to rebel – and for entertainment, of course. This year, unfortunately, Katniss's little sister is selected for the Hunger Games, so Katniss volunteers to take her place. Also selected is Peeta Mellark, the baker's son, who maybe has a teensy tiny crush on Katniss. Maybe.

After the reaping (that's the tribute selection process), Katniss and Peeta are whisked away to the Capitol to prepare for the Games (and primped for live TV). We meet their support team, which is primarily comprised of Haymitch (a former Hunger Games winner and also a drunk), Effie (their wrangler), and Cinna and Portia (their stylists).

During the opening ceremonies, Cinna and Portia dress Katniss and Peeta in flames and they draw much attention to themselves. During training, Katniss reveals her archery skills to the Gamemakers and scores an amazing 11 out of 12. Peeta gets a lower score and asks to be coached separately. Peeta also announces in an interview that he has a mega crush on Katniss. Is this all just a strategy to gain audience support and sponsors? Katniss thinks so, but it works well for her too, so she plays along.

Part 2: The Games

At last: Let the Games begin!

All 24 of the tributes are transported to the arena to fight it out. Katniss is on her own at first, but then she discovers that Peeta has teamed up with the Career Tributes – the strong kids from the rich districts in Panem who actually want to go to the Hunger Games. They eventually corner her in a tree, but she drops a tracker jacker nest on them (that's like a genetically mutated killer wasp) and scores a bow and arrow in the process.

After this, Katniss teams up with Rue, a tiny girl from District 11 who reminds her of her sister Prim. The two are able to take out the Career Tributes' food supply, which totally infuriates their leader, Cato. Also, Peeta doesn't appear to be teamed up with them anymore. Where is he? Wounded? Unfortunately, Rue is killed around this time by one of the Career Tributes. Katniss honors her body by covering it in flowers.

After Rue's death, the announcer, wanting to bring back the romance story between Peeta and Katniss, changes the rules of the game: two people from a single district can now win. Before she can stop herself, Katniss calls out Peeta's name.

Part 3: The Victor

Katniss goes hunting for Peeta and eventually finds him. He is wounded and camouflaged in the muddy bank of a stream. She nurses him back to health and realizes that by playing up the romance angle, they can get gifts from sponsors.

Eventually, Katniss and Peeta must face off with Cato, the only other surviving tribute, but before that they are all pursued by wild dogs which are actually genetically mutated killing machines. Finally, Katniss shoots Cato and he falls into the pack. They've won, right? Wrong. An announcer comes back on and says the rules have changed back: only one winner allowed.

Katniss and Peeta can't kill each other, so they make a show of taking poisonous berries in an act of double suicide. Fortunately, the announcer comes back on before they can kill themselves, and says that they win. Woo-hoo! They defeated the Hunger Games! Or wait…did they?

Katniss and Peeta keep up the star-crossed lovers routine for the post-games reunion and interview, knowing that this is the only way to keep from being punished by the Capitol for the rebellious trick with the poisonous berries. Eventually Katniss figures out that Peeta really is in love with her – he wasn't acting at all – and he figures out that she wasn't ever in love with him. Oops. As the train pulls into District 12, they put on a happy face for the camera, take each other's hands and step onto the platform.