Hungry For More: Part 1

Oh yes, I am another one lured in by the hype of The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. I'm sure most have heard about or, in Mr. Hill's case, have read endless blog posts on this novel. I believe the same book can be read in millions of different ways, not literally forward and backward and on a train, but how the reader interprets it, so spare me your eye rolls, please.

The novel takes place in a region, Panem, that was at one time called North America. It is broken down into twelve districts. Each year an event called the "reaping" takes place choosing a boy tribute and a girl tribute from each district to participate in what is called the Hunger Games. Here, the tributes battle it out in avid fight for life against the other tributes. "Fight for life" can be taken literally as the contestants are plotted against each other to kill. In this cruel dogfight, residents of all districts halt their the normal goings-on to watch. This novel follows the the female tribute from District 12, Katniss, who bravely volunteered herself after her younger sister was chosen.
Instead of continuing to summarize a book you've most likely read, I'll share some of my favorite lines.

“To this day, I can never shake the connection between this boy, Peeta Mellark, and the bread that gave me hope, and the dandelion that reminded me that I was not doomed.” (Collins, 32) Too often, in our lives, we are consumed by thoughts that bring us to a dark places.These thoughts can twist and turn our minds into thinking phantasmagorical thoughts. We then rely on the miniscule things, like a dandelion in the midst of a patch of dead grass, to remind us that there is hope and life does, in fact, go on. Katniss finds herself in this exact case, but perseveres when a boy takes a smack across the face to outwit his parents into giving the bread to her, the bread that potentially saved her life and the lives of her mother and sister.

Each tribute is is provided a couple days of preparation before the Games begin. They are required to showcase their greatest talents to the Gamemakers who, in turn, will score the tribute on a scale of one to twelve. After ambiguous facial expressions and stares of disbelief to Katniss' unexpected behavior, she falls into a pool of anxiety and regret. She begins to question what the future will hold and what miserable penance she will confront. "What will they do to me now? Arrest me? Execute me? Cut my tongue and turn me into an Avox...?" (Collins, 103). The questions never end. The idea of "always expecting the worse" plays a key role in this passage. Her anxiousness and curiosity of the unknown drives her to a point of insanity, thinking, "I just ended my own life."