Reese’s Review of The Hunger Games

Exposition:

Katniss Everdeen lives in the twelfth district of Panem with her sister Prim and her mother. After the death of her father, Katniss has taken on the role of provider for her family and hunts with a friend Gale outside the perimeter of the district even though it is forbidden to do so. It is the time of the Reaping, the selection of one male and one female from each district to compete in the Hunger Games.

Conflict:

Though Katniss has multiple entries into the Reaping drawing, her sister Prim is selected as the representative with her one entry. Katniss, however, volunteers to take her sister's place even though entering the Hunger Games means having to outlive all other players in a fight to the death. She finds herself internally conflicted as she realizes the boy representative from her district, Peeta, is the young man who intentionally burned bread so he could give it to her when her family was starving.

Rising Action:

Peeta and Katniss find themselves presented as partners to the Capital audience. They train together, and Peeta declares his love for her. The audience falls for the "star crossed lovers" and the fact that only one can survive. Katniss is torn between the idea of Peeta being honest and thinking that Peeta is just playing a game. When the games begin, Katniss overhears Peeta joining forces with the Careers, a group that have trained for these games since birth. She mistakenly thinks Peeta has double crossed her.

Climax:

After the death of her ally Rue, Katniss hears an announcement that the rules of the games have changed and that both the male and female from the district can be declared winners together. Realizing that she doesn't have to kill Peeta, she calls out his name and begins her search for him. Katniss finds Peeta who is extremely ill. She nurses him and eventually risks her own life for medicine to save him. After fighting off all other contestants, Peeta and Katniss realize that they are alone, but an announcement is made that the rule change was illegal and only one can win. Katniss and Peeta decide to eat the berries together that they know will result in a double suicide and no winner.

Falling Action:

As they put berries in their mouths, the announcement comes again that they have BOTH won. They spit out the poisonous berries.

Resolution:

Though they appear to all as a couple, Katniss comments about Peeta playing the audience perfectly and the two stop talking. Katniss realizes that she has lost him.

Literary Elements:

Suzanne Collins utilizes rich sensory details such as "The heat of the bread burned into my skin, but I clutched it tighter, clinging to life" (p. 31) . Another literary element that she uses well is the element of understatement which is exemplified by the passage about the differences in the appreciation for the signs of aging in District 12 as opposed to the attitude of those living in the capital (p.125).

Collins , S. (2008). The Hunger Games. New York: Scholastic.