The Hunger Games

Exposition:  The main character is sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen from District 12, the nation Panem, in North America.  She is the main provider for her mother and little twelve-year-old sister, Prim.  Katniss is a hunter and gather, her mother and sister are healers.  The secondary character is Peeta Mellark, the son of District 12’s baker. 

Conflict:  Katniss and Peeta have been selected to compete at the Capitol in the annual Hunger Games which is a battle to the death broadcast on live TV.  Of twenty-four contestants, only one contestant will survive. 

Rising Action:  The nation of Panem which is found in the remains of North American requires that all boys and girls between the ages of twelve and eighteen participate in the day of reaping.  Katniss’s sister Prim has turned twelve this year and Katniss loves her very much.  Prim’s name is drawn on the day of reaping, Katniss volunteers to take her sister’s place.  Peeta Mellark’s name is drawn for the boy.  He has saved Katniss’s life once before when she was starving and without hope.  They are sent to the Capitol for the competition.  There they are well feed and given some training to survive.  They are helped by their mentor and costume designers.  They compete in the Hunger Game.  Peeta is severely injured saving Katniss’s life.  The rules change and the survivors are told that two people can survive if they are from the same District.  Katriss goes to find Peeta and when she does, she saves his life.

Climax:  All the contenders are dead except Katriss and Peeta.  They are told the rules have changed and only one may survive.  Katriss has poison berries.  She takes Peeta’s hand and they walk to the lake.  She offers Peeta the poison berries, they start to take the berries when the announcer states that they both can live.

Falling Action:  Peeta is in love with Katniss.  She has fallen in love with him but doesn’t realize it yet.  They are taken to the capital to be healed and cleaned up.  Katniss is told by their mentor to act like she loves Peeta, this she does during the award ceremony and final interview.  They finally are able to go home.

Resolution:  There really isn’t a resolution, Katniss is just beginning to realize that she loves Peeta, but she tells him that it has all been a game to save their lives.  He turns from her and book one ends.

There are many literary qualities in this book.  Character development is very well done.  Katniss is young, idealistic, empathetic, caring and has walled herself off emotionally, but the reader feels her pain.  Peeta is very believable and it is very easy to care deeply about him.   The tone and the mood of the story is one of disbelief of man’s inhumanity against man and also of hope.

Collins, S. (2008). The Hunger Games. New York: Scholastic.