The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins is a book that many believe

The following sample essay on “The Hunger Games”: discussion on The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and representing of American Dream.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins is a book that many believe is well before it’s time. In a way is a story of enlightenment and where the world we live now is going. The reader sees many characters who understand the meaning of life, the meaning of family, and even a fight for justice. The world the characters of this book and now movie live in is called Panem.

This setting is one that shows North America as a place well in the past. It shows a world ruled by a single grouping of people with complete control over the majority. This group of people known as the capitol, rely on those of the poor majority while using fear as a tactic to keep the other districts passive and submissive.

The story takes a dark turn, which many believe the reader shouldn’t think of lightly, two individuals from each of these districts are thrown into a lottery to fight to the death.

This is where many believe this story could be foreshadowing a world that is to come. The secondary sources that are available to the public now are trying to decipher how much of this fiction story is based off of the current state of the world and specific region of the world you live in. With that being said there are many of the elements of this story that have been creeping in the time the reader is living in.

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Situations like racism; struggles with equality between the impoverished, the working class, and the wealthy; even a hazy view on who deserves a chance for life.

The first secondary source you will read about is speaks of the preparation in the first many chapters leading up to the games. This is to show how the districts must bow down to those higher in class to them. “The first half of Collins’ book is dedicated to the selection, training, and marketing of tributes for the playing of the annual Games, a social ritual calculated to signify the submission of the once rebellious Districts in the dystopian society of Panem” (Simmons). The participants are called into this fight to the death with the only hope of being the only one left alive. If they were to win they would come back to their district as a celebrity, with fame, fortune, and a life based upon reward from the killing of many souls. Everything from this novel is backwards and sinister but it should hit close to home.

The participants are asked to put up a false persona to make success easier to grasp, that sounds a lot like the present day American Dream everyone tries to obtain but will never truly reach. “As much care is taken to fashion the player’s appearance as to develop his/her survival and combat skills. The tributes are provided a prep team composed of mentors and stylists to help them navigate the experience and to increase their prospects of success.” (Simmons). All in all, this article truly shows the representation of how life in Panem could very easily be America in the not so far of modern day United States. If people continue down this road of seeking success out of money and putting others below themselves, there may come a time this is present day reality.

Katniss Everdeen the man character in the novel series is the ultimate protagonist. She gave up all she had for her family and also won the games after bending rules that put the whole country in a tailspin. “She is oxymoronic with her uncertain impulsivity and her role as a leader and a pawn. She is strong and brave, features I observe daily in my students, but fragile to the point of breaking.” (Keller) The novel also speaks of more social issues that are evident in this article. Speaking of Peta, Katniss’ other member of her district but also lover by the end of the first novel, Peta gave Katniss food early in their lives before they knew who each other were. Katniss’ father being killed in a work-related accident left her family alone and starving in poverty with little hope. This problem is almost all cities even in the most developed societies. “For example, the hunger and starvation experienced by the districts can relate to issues of hunger in the United States by comparing the Capitol’s wastefulness to that of the United States’ population” (Keller).

These problems the characters’ faced in The Hunger Games were that of a fantasy dystopian, but they are not much different than the issues faced in modern day United States and even in the world today. These secondary sources that have been searched through bring enormous light to the issues that take place in this novel. They also begin pointing to the problems that each person in today’s society look over and try to pretend do not exist but impact people’s future forever. This book should be more of a call to action rather than an interesting read about a world the reader will never have to exist in. This story is an extreme situation of what happens when a group of people begin to use others to boost their lifestyle.