The Hunger Games

“I am not pretty. I am not beautiful. I am as radiant as the sun.” 

I can be a very stubborn woman. This delightful trait was handed down to me from many generations of stubborn Polish ancestors. It can be a blight on my personality, but there might be a good reason for it.

I was extremely stubborn about this book. Despite the well-meaning and gentle (some not so gentle) suggestions of family and friends, I absolutely refused to read it. I don't like to do what everyone else is doing. Neither will I often read what everyone else is reading. I want to make up my own mind about reading a book. If it's popular, and everyone else is reading it, I walk swiftly away from it. I'll read it eventually, maybe, but always on my own terms.

Finally, I picked it up on a Friday night. I didn't go to sleep until I'd turned the last page. No, that's a lie. I intentionally left myself two pages for that Saturday morning, because I didn't want to admit that it had such a strong hold on me. I wanted to keep in control of myself.

The story is that of Katniss Everdeen, a young woman, sixteen years old.

She lives in Panem, a country created sometime after what we assume is the demise of earth as we know it. Inside the boarders of Panem, lie the Capitol and twelve districts in various states of poverty.

Katniss is the responsible one; she takes care of her mother and her younger sister Prim. Her father died in a mine explosion, leaving her mother nearly comatose with grief. Her mother stays home all day, barely lucid. Katniss supplements their meager rations by illegally hunting small game (and if she's lucky, a deer or two) on government property. She is proficient in bow hunting, and can also find edible berries and plants in the woods.

Many years before Katniss was born into District 12, an uprising took place in the 13^th, the most outermost District. The rebellion was swiftly overthrown by the existing government.

As a cruel reminder to the populace, the president of Panem, his fellow politicians and advisors, hold an event: The Hunger Games. Annually, two young “tributes” (a male and female) between the ages of 12 and 18 are selected from each district. The tributes are then tossed (after some physical preparation and training) ceremoniously into an arena; they must fight to the death until only one remains, all while being recorded and watched, and their odds being bet on my people who don’t care if they live or die.

The names of potential tributes are added throughout the year, as they become eligible, into a giant lottery. Some, those who have poor families, have their names in the bowl many times. For a small loan, the families can add the name of their child again.

Katniss has her name added countless times; her family had to eat, so she added her name, and they ate. The odds, for her, are high. Prim, who has only just turned twelve; her name is listed only once.

At the annual selection ceremony, which everyone is required to attend, a silence creeps among the villagers. It is a horrible “game.”

A tipsy woman in spidery stilettos, with bright pink hair and a glimmery purple face slowly draws the first name.

Her voice echoes loudly across the still clearing, “Primrose Everdeen!”

I have a lot of admiration for this story. I love the strong, resilient female hero that Katniss portrays. I admire her courage. She faces fear and does not run away. She doesn’t depend on outside resources for help, or rely on someone else to save her; she saves herself.

It’s story well worth reading.

The Hunger Games, 2010, Suzanne Collins

This post is part of the 31 Days of Bibliophilia series.