Surviving In The Hunger Games By Suzanne Collins

“The Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins is about Katniss Everdeen, a 16 year-old girl who volunteers to take part in the Hunger Games, on behalf of her little sister. The Hunger Games is an annual competition where twenty-four teenagers from all across the fictional country of Panem must fight to the death. The theme portrayed in “The Hunger Games” is survival. In the Hunger Games, the goal is to survive and be the last man standing. Every year, the contestants “are thrown into an arena to fight to the death” (Collins 32). Some years, “they are tossed into a landscape of nothing but boulders, sand and scruffy bushes” (Collins 39). This is where the ability to survive is important. If these contestants are unprepared, they are at risk of losing their lives. In the story, Katniss goes into the Hunger Games unprepared. She is forced to face kids from wealthier districts, who are either three times her size or “know twenty different ways to kill you with a knife” (Collins 36). Katniss quickly learns

Her family lives in poverty and is at great risk of starving to death. This is a result of not having enough money to buy food. Ever since the death of her father, Katniss has had to provide for her family. In order to survive, she must hunt for food illegally. Katniss doesn’t enjoy this task, but she really doesn’t have a choice, since her family relies on her. When Katniss leaves for the Hunger Games, she tells her friend to “not let them starve” (Collins 40). She knows that her family will not be able to survive without her. Unfortunately, her sister, Prim, dies in another book later on in the series. This is an example of one the repercussions of not learning how to survive on your own. Unlike Katniss, Prim never got the opportunity to fend for herself, since she was always protected by her sister. So when Katniss left for the Hunger Games, Prim wasn’t able to