Reflections On The Hunger Games

In the arena, there was no way to escape. This cutthroat game was a gamble of life and death. You, your behavior, your talks, and in fact, the whole arena, was under sophisticated control and surveillance by the Capitol—this was the Hunger Games—a chance to make you wealthy, but, more often than not, could lead to your death. I couldn’t help but gasp—what if this happened in reality? What if, one day, our everyday lives were invaded by these insect-like detecting phones and chips, controlling and supervising our private talks and freedom? Facial and fingerprint recognition both are already used by governments in some countries to monitor their people and what could be next? If our personal freedom is no longer controlled by us, then what is the difference between us and the fictional country, Panem?

Katniss, who illegally hunted in the woods to feed her mother and her sister, Prim, ran up the stage desperate to volunteer for Prim. It showed her strength to protect and to sacrifice herself for her family. She even fought against her conscience and killed her enemies, just to be reunited with her family. I was deeply touched by such profound love because living an abundant life, I don’t often think about the needs of my family members.

One of my favorite parts of the book is when Katniss and Rue became good friends and formed an alliance. Katniss even decorated Rue’s body with flowers when she was killed, slamming the Capitol and the game maker in the face. They should have been enemies; they should have murdered and killed each other, but they didn’t. Rather, they helped each other in dilemmas. This was a true friendship, deep and gripping. Thinking of this, the faces of my friends spring to my mind. Katniss and Rue had only known each other for such a short time, but they built such a strong and faithful friendship. How about me? Have I ever built similar relationships with my friends? Would I die to protect them? Would any of them do the same for me?

Another gripping love was the cruel romance between Katniss and Peeta. One rainy cold night, Peeta gave Katniss a loaf of hot bread, out of sympathy, not asking for anything in return. Katniss accepted his kindness, but ended up in the arena with Peeta and acting up a romance for survival. Though the love they presented for the audience was pretentious at first, after some time, it became somewhat convincing. In the end, it turned out that Peeta had been in love with Katniss the whole time. Meanwhile, as the story unfolded itself, I was led to the depth of Katniss’s heart, which was struggling between her conflicting emotions of friendship and love. After Peeta’s confessions for Katniss and their survival from the killings, I came to believe they made a lovely match. The reality, however, didn’t allow them to be together. Instead, one of them had to be a murderer slaying the other.

The dystopia depicted in the Hunger Games isn’t purely fictional. In fact, this dog-eat-dog plot is frequently performed in many places, such as at school, where students fight each other for being the best, whether it is for scores or friends. They sometimes fight, ruthlessly setting up traps and squashing each other. When seeing the weak, some will reach out a helping hand, while others ignore the victims or even give them a stab in the back.

I was truly fascinated by the author’s talented writing skills. Between the author’s magical lines, I could see Katniss, the girl on fire, standing, running, and shooting arrows at me. Even though I knew it was only a fiction, Katniss seemed to come alive through the vivid words, intriguing me and guiding me to the last page. Though this sort of plot doesn’t entirely exist in reality, through the dramatic storyline it still gives me a feeling that I am standing right in the arena with all of the twenty-four tributes. Fleeing, jumping and hiding, I am the twenty-fifth offering to the Capitol. Bravo! I must say to the author, what a wonderful masterpiece this is.