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  • Essay / Book Review: The Hunger Games

    The title of this book is The Hunger Games and was made by Suzanne Collins in 2008. This book is set in a fictional version of America. In the nation of Panem, the date of which is not specified. With very interesting characters throughout the story whose main ones care about others and are not selfish. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay A 16-year-old girl from District 12, named Katniss Everdeen, lives in the mining district. It's the 74th edition of the Hunger Games and during the Harvest, Katniss's younger sister, Primrose, is chosen as a tribute. Katniss did not agree with this and decided to volunteer as a tribute, becoming the female tribute of District 12 and saving her sister from the games. The chosen male tribute is the son of a baker named Peeta Mellark who gave bread to Katniss to save her and her family from starvation. Before she leaves, Katniss comforts her mother and tells her to stay strong for Primrose. Katniss and Peeta are taken from their neighborhood by Effie. Trinket and trip to the Capitol. Katniss and Peeta later reunite with Haymitch in another carriage of the train and he tries to give them advice like if they want to survive with better chances, they need to make the public like them. Peeta waves to the crowd while Katniss does not. Katniss meets her stylist, Cinna, who tells her that they must make sure that the inhabitants of the capital remember them, especially through sponsors. Cinna says that someone as brave as Katniss should have a great costume for the parade where each pair of tributes wears an outfit reflecting the main feature of their neighborhood. Katniss and Peeta wear black costumes with real fire bursting out of them to symbolize the mining district. Peeta takes Katniss's hand and raises it in the air during the parade for added effect. A tribute named Cato is brash and imposing, proving to be a potentially serious threat. Later, during a meal, Haymitch talks to Peeta and Katniss about the Quarry district where Cato is from. All possible tributes train until the age of 18 before openly volunteering to participate in the Hunger Games. Katniss refocuses on Peeta, describing her impressive strength, but he brushes off her compliments and confesses that his own mother thought Katniss was the superior tribute. When Peeta is intimidated by the other tributes during training, Katniss suggests he show his strength by throwing a large weight across the room. Peeta manages to successfully perform the feat and gains some respect from the tributes. Later, in succession, each tribute is responsible for being presented to the game's creators and sponsors, including Seneca Crane. Angered by the sponsors' attitude towards her, Katniss shoots an arrow straight through an apple into the mouth of a roast pig, right in front of the stunned sponsors. Katniss sarcastically thanks them for their consideration and leaves. Many tributes get high marks of 9-10, including the careers of Cato and his partner Clove. Peeta gets an 8 while Katniss gets an 11, the highest of all the tributes. Capitol President Snow speaks to Seneca and tells him that the Hunger Games are meant to give the districts hope but that too much hope can actually be dangerous. During another meal, Haymitch tells Katniss about Peeta's decision to do without her help because there can only be one winner. In the extravagant Hunger Games television chat show, each tribute is individually introduced and interviewed by the flamboyant host, Caesar Flickerman. .Katniss draws laughter from the audience during the interview and impresses them by showing off her dress which displays real fire as she twirls. During his interview, Peeta devours the audience, eliciting a few laughs himself. It is then that he announces his crush on Katniss, which makes her intensely angry. Backstage, Katniss pins Peeta to the wall, demanding answers for his behavior. Just before the games, Haymitch warns Katniss to avoid the early bloodshed by heading to higher ground in search of water although she must leave her bow and arrows behind. The tributes all receive a tracking device in their arms as they travel by helicopter to the outdoor arena. The tributes are then transported underground where they present themselves at certain checkpoints before being loaded onto platforms which deliver them to the main floor of the arena. Before being hoisted up, Katniss says goodbye to Cinna who accompanied her. Afterwards, she and the other tributes are brought up into the arena and a countdown to the Hunger Games begins. As the horn sounds, the tributes rush toward the central cornucopia full of weapons and backpacks, brutally attacking and killing each other in the process. Katniss manages to grab a bag and narrowly escapes Clove, who sticks a knife in her backpack. Once at a safe distance, Katniss finds a rope, an empty canteen, and a coat in the backpack. She takes Haymitch's advice and locates water in a nearby stream before tying herself up high in a tree for the night and trying to sleep. Loud cannon reports indicate the death of the tributes and we learn that thirteen were killed in the first 8 hours. Katniss witnesses from her perch that Peeta has joined a group of Careers during the night with the intention of leading them to her. While exploring the next day, Katniss gets too close to the outer regions of the arena. She is then spotted by Cato and 4 other tributes, including Clove and Glimmer who have grouped together. We learn that, apparently, the Careers come, collectively, from Districts 1, 2 and 4 who are trained illegally before volunteering to fight; this group of 4 people from two neighborhoods chases Katniss who ends up escaping by climbing a tree. Peeta suggests that the group wait until Katniss comes down to get food and water. The group settles down for the night under the tree and Katniss ties herself to the tree to sleep. Her attention is then drawn to a 12-year-old girl in an adjacent tree named Rue in District 11. Rue, however, is friendly to Katniss and shows her a large nest of trackers right above Katniss and hanging above the Career group below. Katniss manages to climb down from the tree and manages to grab a bow and arrows. As she begins to hallucinate, she sees Peeta approaching her and apparently yelling at her to run away. Regaining some sanity, Katniss escapes but ends up collapsing. After a night of hallucinations and nightmares, some involving her father, Katniss wakes up under a tree trunk with leaf bandages covering her bites. Not knowing exactly who helped her, Katniss stumbles, thinking it must have been Peeta. Rue must start small fires to distract the remaining quarries while Katniss detonates the booby-trapped mines surrounding the mound. The Careers are distracted by smoke from the fires while a tribute, a boy from District 3, remains at the cornucopia, standing guard. Katniss then notices a female tribute invisible to the others. Foxface from District 5 sprints towards the pyramid of food and supplies, unnoticed by the guard. Katniss then shoots a bag of apples at the top of the pile, causing them to fall intowaterfall and explode the mines. Katniss watches, triumphantly, as the Carrière group rushes towards the clearing. The tribute from the District 3 guards is equally confused but Cato's anger turns him murderous and he snaps the boy's neck. Katniss leaves, disturbed by the ease with which Cato kills. Katniss finds Rue trapped under a net and frees her just before they are attacked by Marvel, a tribute from District 1. Marvel throws a spear but Katniss dodges the attack and fires an arrow into his chest, killing him. Distraught, Katniss tries to calm Rue and sings to her peacefully as Rue dies. Katniss then picks flowers from the forest and sprinkles them on Rue before her body is taken back to her neighborhood via hovercraft. His district follows his rebellious example and destroys the gaming scene. As Katniss makes a peace gesture on camera, District 11's "peacekeepers" arrive and shoot Rue's father dead. President Snow is furious about the rebellion in District 11 and wants to change the rules and circumstances of the game to ensure Katniss is killed. Haymitch begs Seneca to keep Katniss alive, citing a teenage romance plotline as the main reason. Two winners instead of one will be awarded as long as they belong to the same district. Armed with this knowledge, and having just heard the other quarries mention that he had left Peeta for dead by the river, Katniss sets out to look for him. She finds a trail of blood near the river and follows it to where Peeta has camouflaged himself in the rocks. Katniss helps him move him to a nearby cave where they are well hidden. Katniss attempts to heal Peeta's sword wound but realizes that he is suffering from blood poisoning, something that can only be cured with a special medicine. Katniss is desperate because there's no way Haymitch could send one because it would be too expensive at this point. However, as if by magic, an announcement sounds that there will be a cornucopia feast for all the tributes but instead of food, there will be something that each tribute desperately needs. Peeta begs Katniss not to leave him and risk her life to save him. He asks her to stay and Katniss reluctantly agrees, even though she knows there could very well be medicine in the Cornucopia that could save her life. However, it strikes a chord with Gale watching at home and clearly smitten with Katniss. Katniss waits for Peeta to fall asleep before leaving for the cornucopia. When she arrives, she sees Foxface sprinting towards the supplies, surprising the other tributes with his speed and fleeing without much incident. Katniss decides to imitate Foxface's moves and runs to grab the medicine, but is caught off guard when she is struck by a knife thrown by Clove. She teases her with bloodlust and mocks her for teaming up with the "little monster from District 11"; Before Clove can slit Katniss's throat, she is picked up by Thresh, the male tribute from District 11, and thrown against the Cornucopia Wall. Thresh tells Katniss that she has this one chance since she helped Rue but, after that, anything goes. Katniss escapes. She returns to the cave with the medicine and administers it to Peeta and herself, healing their wounds. During her hunt, Katniss hears a cannon signaling another deadly tribute. Panicked, she returns to where she last saw Peeta. In a mixture of anger and relief, Katniss slaps Peeta, telling him that the berries are Nightlock and extremely poisonous. Katniss and Peeta sprint through the forest as two other dogs start chasing them. They are chased to the cornucopia where Peeta.