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The Hunger Games trilogy

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The Hunger Games
File:HGTrilogy.JPG
Boxed set
The Hunger Games
Catching Fire
Mockingjay
AuthorSuzanne Collins
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
GenreAdventure
Science fiction
Young adult
PublisherScholastic
Published2008–2010
Media typePrint (hardcover)

The Hunger Games trilogy is a young-adult adventure science fiction series written by Suzanne Collins. The trilogy consists of The Hunger Games, Mockingjay, and Catching Fire.[1][2][3] The first two books were each The New York Times best sellers, and the third book, Mockingjay, topped all US bestseller lists upon its release.[4][5] By the time the movie The Hunger Games was released the publisher reported 26 million Hunger Games trilogy books in print, including movie tie-in books.[6]

Background

The Hunger Games trilogy takes place in an unidentified future time period after the destruction of the current nations of North America, in a totalitarian nation known as "Panem". Panem consists of a hugely rich Capitol, located in what used to be the Rocky Mountains, and twelve (formerly thirteen) surrounding, poorer districts which are under the hegemony of the Capitol. The Capitol is lavishly rich and technologically futuristic, but the twelve Districts are in varying states of poverty - the trilogy's protagonist, Katniss Everdeen, lives in the poorest District 12, formerly Appalachia, where people regularly die of starvation. As punishment for a rebellion generations previous against the Capitol wherein twelve of the districts were defeated and the thirteenth destroyed, every year one boy and one girl from each of the remaining twelve districts, between the ages of twelve and eighteen, are selected by lottery and forced to participate in the "Hunger Games". The Games are a televised event where the participants, called "tributes", must fight to the death in a dangerous outdoor arena until only one remains. The winning tribute and his/her corresponding district is then rewarded handsomely with food and plenty. The purpose of the Hunger Games is to provide entertainment for the Capitol and to serve as a warning to the Districts to remind them of the Capitol's power and lack of remorse.

Structure

Each book in The Hunger Games trilogy has 3 sections of 9 chapters each. Collins says that this format comes from her playwriting background, which taught her to write in three acts. Her previous series, The Underland Chronicles, was written in the same way, as Collins is "very comfortable" with this structure. She sees each group of nine chapters as a separate part of the story, and comments that she still calls those divisions "act breaks".[7]

Plot overview

The Hunger Games

Main article: The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games follows 16-year-old Katniss Everdeen, a girl from District 12 who volunteers for the 74th Hunger Games in place of her younger sister Prim. Also participating from District 12 is Peeta Mellark, a boy who loved Katniss the moment he laid eyes on her. Katniss and Peeta win the games and return home victorious. They start an act that makes the Capitol think they are in love with each other.

Catching Fire

Main article: Catching Fire (2009 novel)

In Catching Fire, Katniss learns that the Capitol is angry at her for her defiance in the previous novel, which started a chain reaction that inspired rebellion in the districts. For a special 75th edition of the Hunger Games known as the Quarter Quell, she and Peeta are forced into competing a second time with other past victors. They team up with a few other tributes and manage to destroy the arena and escape the Games. Katniss is transported to District 13, a place that is widely thought to no longer exist, but Peeta is captured by the Capitol, and District 12 is destroyed.

Mockingjay

Main article: Mockingjay

Mockingjay, the third and final book, centers around Katniss and the districts' rebellion against the Capitol. Katniss, now a refugee in District 13 and quite damaged from her experiences, is used by the rebels as a propaganda tool to unite the districts in the uprising against the Capitol and President Snow. Peeta and the others who were captured by the Capitol at the end of Catching Fire are eventually rescued as the book goes on, however, to everyone's distress, Peeta's been brainwashed into despising Katniss using the Captol's supply trackerjacker venom. We find Peeta to be a completely different person now, edging on being completely insane. When he first meets Katniss again after he's been rescued he actually attempts to strangle her to death, but luckily, after much therapy his condition ceases to worsen. With Peeta still confused, still shocked, and still not himself, his relationship with Katniss is at a standstill. It's almost as if we've lost the real Peeta. Finally, a group including Katniss, Gale, and a still somewhat unstable Peeta go renegade in the Capitol on a mission to assassinate President Snow. Before Katniss can complete her objective, Prim is killed in a bombing. Later, a captive Snow tells Katniss that Coin, the president of District 13, was behind the bombing. Katniss, Peeta, and Haymitch eventually return to a ruined District 12. Katniss slowly begins to recover from her many mental scars. Katniss' mother and Gale both take jobs in different districts. Katniss eventually comes to genuinely love Peeta, and he begins to love her again, and she later marries him, and after many years of misgivings they have children.

Origins and publishing history

Collins says that she drew inspiration for the series from both classical and contemporary sources. The main classical source of inspiration came from the Greek myth of Theseus and the Minotaur. As a punishment for past crimes, Minos forces Athens to sacrifice seven youths and seven maidens to the Minotaur, by whom they are killed in a vast labyrinth. Collins says that even as a child the idea stunned her since "it was just so cruel", as Athens was forced to sacrifice their own children.

Collins also cites the Roman gladiator games. She feels that there are three key elements to create a good game; an all powerful and ruthless government, people forced to fight to the death, and it being a source of popular entertainment.[8]

A contemporary source of inspiration was Collins's recent fascination with reality television programmes. She relates this to the Hunger Games in how they are not just entertainment, but also a reminder to the districts of their rebellion. On a tired night, Collins says that while she was channel-surfing the television where she saw people competing for some prize, and then saw footage of the Iraq war. She described how the two combined in an "unsettling way" to create the first ideas for the series.[9]

The first novel in the trilogy was first published in September 2008. On March 17, 2009, Lionsgate announced that it had acquired worldwide distribution rights of the film version of Hunger Games from the film company Color Force. Soon after the acquisition, Collins began to adapt the screenplay and the two companies later went on to co-produce the film.[10]

Catching Fire was published by Scholastic on September 1, 2009. The film version of the story — also co-produced by Color Force and Lionsgate — is scheduled for release in November 2013.[11]

Main characters

Main article: List of characters in the Hunger Games trilogy
  • Katniss Everdeen: The protagonist of the series, Katniss competes in the Hunger Games in each of the first two novels and constantly battles between her feelings for both Peeta and Gale. She becomes the face of the districts' rebellion after she unknowingly defies the Capitol in The Hunger Games.
  • Peeta Mellark: The male tribute from District 12, who has secretly been in love with Katniss since they were children. His love for her is evident throughout the series. In Mockingjay, he is "hijacked", causing him to hate Katniss, but he recovers.
  • Haymitch Abernathy: Katniss and Peeta's drunken friend and mentor for the Games. He won the 50th Hunger Games and was the only living victor from District 12 before Katniss and Peeta won the 74th Hunger Games.
  • Gale Hawthorne: Katniss' best friend and fellow hunter. Gale is fiercely devoted to Katniss, and their relationship borders on romantic throughout the series. He is two years older than she, and lost his father in the same mine explosion that killed Katniss' father
  • President Snow: The main antagonist of the series, President Snow is the head of the Capitol and all of Panem. Provoked by the survival of two tributes in a single Hunger Games, Snow demands of Peeta and Katniss to prove the reason behind it all was just they were madly in love.
  • Primrose Everdeen: Primrose Everdeen, often called just "Prim," is Katniss's 12 year old sister (in Mockingjay, she is 13) who was chosen by lottery to be in the Hunger Games. Katniss volunteers to take her place. Prim is a sweet little child whom everyone loves, and she regularly helps their mother heal the sick.
  • Cinna: Katniss' stylist in both of her Hunger Games, who urges her on to become the symbol of the rebellion and designs her dresses that she wears before entering the games (and also an armor she will wear in the war) that urged the citizens of Panem to join the rebellion from the way the dresses persuaded them to think about how wrong the Games were, and also that they could overthrow the Capitol.

Critical reception

All three books have received positive reception. Praise has focused on the addictive quality of especially the first book,[12] and the action.[13] John Green of The New York Times compared The Hunger Games with Scott Westerfeld's Uglies series.[14] Catching Fire was praised for improving upon the first book.[15] Mockingjay was praised for its portrayal of violence,[16] world building, and romantic intrigue.[17]

Criticism has come from the reality TV "death game" theme, which is also present in Battle Royale, The Running Man, and The Long Walk.[12] Also, the "romantic dithering"[18] and poor love triangle of the second installment was under criticism.[19] The last book, Mockingjay, was criticized by fans of the book and critics for not tying up loose ends.[20]

Film adaptations

Main article: The Hunger Games (film)

Lionsgate Entertainment acquired worldwide distribution rights to a film adaptation of The Hunger Games, which is produced by Nina Jacobson's Color Force production company.[21] Collins adapted the novel for film herself,[21] along with Gary Ross.[22] The film began production in spring 2011 and ended summer 2011.[23] It was released March 23, 2012, with a PG-13 rating.[24][25] Gary Ross directed; the cast includes Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss, Josh Hutcherson as Peeta and Liam Hemsworth as Gale.[26][27][28] Catching Fire will be released on November 22, 2013, with the main cast signed on to return but director Gary Ross may or may not return.[citation needed]

References

  1. ^ Keith Staskiewicz (11 February 2010). "Final 'Hunger Games' novel has been given a title and a cover". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 11 February 2010.
  2. ^ "Suzanne Collins's Third Book in the Hunger Games Trilogy to Be Published by Scholastic on August 24, 2010" (Press release). Scholastic. 3 December 2009. Retrieved 3 December 2009.
  3. ^ "Suzanne Collins's Third Book in The Hunger Games Trilogy to be Published on August 24, 2010" (Press release). Scholastic. 3 December 2009. Retrieved 1 January 2010.
  4. ^ "Children's Books". The New York Times. 27 December 2009. Retrieved 31 December 2009.
  5. ^ "Mockingjay Tops All National Bestseller Lists with Sales of More Than 450,000 Copies in its First Week of Publication" (Press release). Scholastic. 2 September 2010. Retrieved 7 May 2011.
  6. ^ Springen, Karen (March 22, 2012). "The Hunger Games Franchise: The Odds Seem Ever in Its Favor". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved April 11, 2012.
  7. ^ Collins, Suzanne. "Similarities To Underland" (Video) (Interview). Retrieved 15 June 2010. {{cite interview}}: Unknown parameter |program= ignored (help)
  8. ^ "Video: Classical Inspiration". Scholastic. Retrieved 4 September 2010. {{cite web}}: Text "Scholastic.com (video)" ignored (help); Text "The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins" ignored (help)
  9. ^ "Video: Contemporary Inspiration". Scholastic. Retrieved 4 September 2010. {{cite web}}: Text "Scholastic.com(video)" ignored (help); Text "The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins" ignored (help)
  10. ^ bones/opk/lionsgate hungergames.pdf Press Release: LIONSGATE FEASTS ON THE HUNGER GAMES
  11. ^ Terri Schwartz (November 17, 2011). ""The Hunger Games" sequel eyes a new screenwriter, director Gary Ross will return". IFC News. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
  12. ^ a b King, Stephen (8 September 2008). "The Hunger Games review". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 26 November 2010.
  13. ^ Goldsmith, Francisca. "The Hunger Games". Booklist. Retrieved 26 November 2010.
  14. ^ John Green (7 November 2008). "Scary New World". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 January 2011.
  15. ^ Zevin, Gabrielle (9 October 2009). "Constant Craving". The New York Times. Retrieved 26 November 2010.
  16. ^ "'Mockingjay' review: Spoiler alert!". Entertainment Weekly. August 24, 2010. Retrieved 26 November 2010. {{cite web}}: Text "EW.com" ignored (help)
  17. ^ "Mockingjay". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 26 November 2010.
  18. ^ Welch, Rollie (6 September 2009). "'Catching Fire' brings back Suzanne Collins's kindhearted killer". The Plain Dealer. Retrieved 26 November 2010.
  19. ^ Reese, Jennifer (28 August 2009). "Catching Fire review". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 26 November 2010.
  20. ^ Morrison, Kathy (30 August 2010). "Book Review: 'Mockingjay' completes 'Hunger Games' trilogy". The Sacramento Bee. Retrieved 26 November 2010.[dead link]
  21. ^ a b "Lionsgate picks up 'Hunger Games'". The Hollywood Reporter. 17 March 2009. Retrieved 4 January 2011. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |authors= ignored (help)
  22. ^ Karen Springen (5 August 2010). "Marketing 'Mockingjay'". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 4 September 2010.
  23. ^ Valby, Karen (January 6, 2011). "'Hunger Games' exclusive: Why Gary Ross got the coveted job, and who suggested Megan Fox for the lead role". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved January 26, 2011.
  24. ^ Valby, Karen (January 25, 2011). "'The Hunger Games' gets release date". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved January 26, 2011.
  25. ^ Hopkinson, Deborah. "Suzanne Collins Interview-Catching Fire". BookPage. Retrieved 30 June 2010.
  26. ^ "The Changing Objective of the American Film Market". Baseline Intel. 18 November 2010. Retrieved 2 January 2011.
  27. ^ Joshua L. Weinstein (2011-03-16). "Exclusive: Jennifer Lawrence Gets Lead Role in 'The Hunger Games'". TheWrap.com. Retrieved 2011-03-17.
  28. ^ Jeff Labrecque (2011-04-04). "'Hunger Games' casts Peeta and Gale: Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth nab the roles". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2011-04-04. Lionsgate announced that the trilogy will be made into 4 movies.
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