Editor-in-Chief
Imagine that you have been chosen from your hometown with someone else around your age to fight to the death against 22 other kids – on a live event broadcast to the entire country. Only one of you can come out alive to win.
This fantasy world becomes a reality in Suzanne Collins’ novel, “The Hunger Games.”
She creates a new world named Panem out of the ruins of North America, where the governmental Capitol controls 13 districts. District 13 rebelled against the government years ago and the Capitol resorted to nuclear weapons to demolish it.
As punishment for the remaining 12 districts, the Capitol draws names of a boy and girl tribute, each between 12 and 18 years old. These tributes must battle for their survival in an annual live TV event – the Hunger Games.
One can view this story as an idea for a horribly gruesome reality show, but it is much more than that. It is a tale of survival using friendship, wits and hope. The main character, 16-year-old Katniss Everdeen, volunteers to fight in the Games in place of her 12-year-old sister, Primrose. Her fellow District 12 tribute is the son of a baker, Peeta Mellark.
Everdeen and Mellark are not friends when the Games commence, but things change once they begin training. She knows that she must kill him eventually – if someone else does not first – to return home and be crowned victor, but she is in debt to Mellark. The only time they previously encountered each other was when he gave her a loaf of slightly charred bread after the baker’s wife found Everdeen rummaging through the bakery trash bin when she was 11 years old. Everdeen never thanked Mellark directly for his kindness, and now she is worried because she will probably have to kill him in the arena.
Enter into the dilemma Everdeen’s best friend, 18-year-old Gale Hawthorne. Together, the two broke the law every day to hunt game and gather food beyond the fence of District 12 to help their starving families. Although Everdeen admits she never had romantic feelings toward the handsome Hawthorne, her heart tears in half when she begins her quest for survival in the Hunger Games’ arena.
Without giving too much away, “The Hunger Games” will surprise readers in many ways. The relationship between the citizens and the Capitol is only part of the problem and is explored further in the other two books in the trilogy, “Catching Fire” and “Mockingjay.” Everdeen’s evolving relationship with Mellark is, in her mind, only part of the on-screen show for the Capitol audience. She is also thoroughly confused by the feelings she has for her long-time hunting partner, Hawthorne.
Naturally, devoted fans thought “The Hunger Games” was destined for a movie slot from the start, and that dream will become a reality on March 23. Jennifer Lawrence has the lead, with Liam Hemsworth as Hawthorne and Josh Hutcherson as Mellark.
Exactly one month before the film’s release, Fandango.com announced that “The Hunger Games” had already sold so many advance tickets that it broke the record set by the Twilight saga’s “Eclipse” in 2010.
Comparisons have already been drawn between the Twilight and Hunger Games series. There will most likely be T-shirt slogans like “Team Peeta” and “Team Gale,” taken from Twilight’s “Team Edward” and “Team Jacob” slogans, all determining which boy the lead character should choose.
But “The Hunger Games” is a far better series than “Twilight” ever was or ever will be. For one, vampires and werewolves are not real, no matter how many times one re-reads the books or re-watches the movies. Although “The Hunger Games” is set in a futuristic, upside-down world, it is still far more believable than a world with sparkling, un-dead, perfect people.
“Twilight” features a love triangle and its resulting conflicts, and so does “The Hunger Games,” but Collins included much more in her story than author Stephanie Meyer provided in “Twilight.” Collins told a story of working hard to beat the odds and trying to find oneself; ultimately, its deeper message will reach more people than an unrealistic vampire fantasy.
Because the movie comes out March 23, time remains to become addicted to “The Hunger Games” novel before seeing the film. Who knows? Readers might even have enough time to get through the rest of the trilogy, but if there isn’t time, don’t worry: The first book is the best anyway.