Trust Portrayed in "The Hunger Games" - Alina Bijoy

 

“Stupid people are dangerous.”

This is a line from a book that probably everyone has heard of; Suzanne Collins “The Hunger Games”. The story has a good reason for being so popular. The novel is the perspective of a young 16 year old named Katniss Everdeen. She lives with her mother and sister, Prim, and her father had died in a mine explosion. Since she is the eldest, she helps her family survive, going hunting in the forest with her friend, Gale, for food, selling items for money, etc. The day this novel starts is the day of the reaping ceremony, where one girl and one boy from each of the Districts get selected randomly to enter a battle.  The randomly chosen people are called “tributes”, and the whole country watches the games on television. 

The competition is a survival game called the Hunger Games. Players are put in a public arena that can depict a different territory every year, like forests, deserts, etc. Players have to fight for survival using resources in this arena and also by killing other players. One one person will survive, and that person’s district will receive plenty of food and money from the government. 

The reaping ceremony comes along, and Katniss and her family attend it. To her horror, the chosen girl to enter the competition was her sister Prim. Katniss quickly volunteers to replace Prim, since Prim is young and didn’t have a high chance of surviving. The boy tribute happens to be a boy named Peeta, who was a guy Katniss had met in the past. He had given her food when her family had nothing. They eventually take a train to the Capitol, where the competition will be held. 

During the opening ceremony that takes place before the games start to introduce the different players, Peeta reveals that he had a crush on Katniss for many years. Eventually, the games finally begin, and the anticipation settles in. Before the games began, her instructor, named Haymitch, had told her to run away instead of fight. She survives for a while using this tactic, and she even makes a friend from a different district, named Rue. *SPOILER ALERT* Unfortunately, Rue dies, and in revenge, Katniss kills the tribute that killed Rue. 

Shortly after, a new rule is in place. Now, two people from the same district can win the Hunger Games. Upon hearing this rule, Katniss sets out to find Peeta, who she hasn’t seen for a while. Peeta is extremely weak, and the two stay in a cave. Katniss tries to heal Peeta, and Haymitch, their instructor, sends them items that their sponsors provided them to help. Katniss eventually gets a medicine that could heal Peeta, and she injects it into him. 

Eventually, there are only three tributes left; Peeta, Katniss, and another vicious tribute named Cato. All three get attacked by a pack of vicious animals. In an intense scene, Katniss managed to shoot Cato down to the vicious animals. Katniss and Peeta have won. 

But it’s not time for celebration yet. There is a change of rules; only one tribute can win the games. The panic settles back in once again. Katniss tells Peeta that both of them should eat poison berries. They are both in love, and they can’t bear to see the other gone. As they are about to eat, the announcer quickly changes the rule, saying that both of them can win. Katniss and Peeta go back home to celebrate their victory. 

One might think that this is a happily ever after moment, but no. Haymitch, Katniss and Peeta’s mentor, explains that the government saw their poison berry act as an act of defiance, and tells them that they are in danger. However, despite this intense outcome, Katniss and Peeta hold hands for the cameras once more. 

“The Hunger Games” is definitely a book that I would recommend. This book is like no other, with unexpected twists and turns and provides you with multiple panic attacks. You can never predict what the outcome will be, and you don’t feel like putting down the book until you finish. 

The one like I loved the most about this book was the moral of not knowing who to trust. In the book, the sentence “Kind people have a way of working their way inside me and rooting there” seems insignificant, but it actually plays a major role in telling the theme of the Hunger Games. “For there to be betrayal, there would have to have been trust first.” and the sentence “You don’t forget the face of the person who was your last hope.” all radiate this topic of not knowing who to trust and to not trust anyone too much. 

There were also many fascinating characters, but the character that I personally found the most striking was the girl from District 11 named Rue. Even though she was only in the book for a short time, she was a character that the reader cannot forget. When Katniss asked Rue what she loves the most, Rue responds by saying music, which surprises Katniss. “Rue, who when you ask her what she loves most in the world, replies, of all things, “Music.” She then continues to explain that she likes to sing. This sentence made her a striking character since music is not something that you would think someone would answer when asked this question. 

Rue is a striking character because of her unpredictable personality. From the outside, Rue doesn’t look like she could survive in the Hunger Games, due to her stick-like frame, but she says “I'm hard to catch. If they can't catch me they cant kill me. So don't count me out.” This shows the reader that Rue is not someone who gives up easily, and even though she may not have strength, she still feels like she has a chance to win the games. This made me love her as a character due to her confidence and the motivation she has to help the people of her district. 

Overall, “The Hunger Games” is one of the best novels I have read, and I would definitely recommend it to people who are looking for a book to read.