Survival In The Hunger Games

The hunger games is a science-fiction novel written by Suzanna Collins. It is written in first person perspective of a 16 year old girl called Katniss Everdeen. She lives in the dystopian, post-apocalyptic nation of Panem. Panem has a capitol which is the official government which exercises complete economic and political dominance over Panem. The key ideas within this story is the lack of social mobility (inequality between rich and poor), survival under pressure and love/loyalty.

The idea of a lack in social mobility with the inequality between rich and poor restricting success in society is brought to the reader's attention by the division of Panem. People in Panem are divided into 12 districts based on their welfare. Because of these 'laws'
Katniss engages in the illegal activity of hunting beyond district boundaries to provide food for her family. Survival is a big concept in the book that is mostly conveyed through the actual Hunger Games event where one boy and one girl from each of the twelve districts is forced to compete, under the laws from the Capitol, to the death. Here the idea of hunting takes on a different meaning as instead of Katniss hunting food for her family, she is hunting people for the safety of herself. This made me think of that although the act of killing others is immoral it needed to happen. I couldn’t judge the events without firstly properly understanding the circumstances they were under and the lack of option they had. This exploited the purpose of the Hunger Games. A main purpose of this was to show the ultimate, overruling power the capitol has. People in the capitol enjoyed watching the suffering of other people which sparked anger in me as I questioned their morals. If we think of the world being placed in the hunger games and think of America being Panem and each state being a different district with the presidential units being the capitol. When I look at it like this it makes me see the similarities. The states are forced to live under rules the government makes just like the districts are made to live under the rules of the Capitol. It is important to me and I can connect with
Love and loyalty is spread throughout the book in different ways but you first see it between Katniss and her younger sister Prim. Prim is selected as a contestant to take part in the annual Hunger Games as a representative for district 12. Katniss voices "I volunteer, I volunteer as tribute" revealing the reader the element of human sacrifice within the book. This connected to me on a personal level as I could picture myself in a similar situation. If my sibling was in danger, even though he is older, I would do anything I could in my power to protect him and ensure he was safe even if it meant risking my life. It also highlighted the fact that the richer people disregarded the feelings and emotions of the poorer people based only on their status in society. The Capitol presents themselves as the so called 'superiors' of Panem and are characterised as the better people as they are wealthy and have a higher social position. Whilst the Capitol basks in fame and fortune, the poorer districts are portrayed as less and poor. When it comes to the Hunger Games though, specific people of the Capitol are assigned a district which they are to look after the contestants from. During this time the people show overwhelming love and loyalty by giving little amounts of money to help the tributes, providing morality and humanity. So having reflected on my place in society, I would now hope that as a