The Hunger Games Movie And Book Comparison Essay

Being able to survive on your own is something you learn as you grow into an adult. For those living in Panem, specifically Katniss Everdeen, it’s mandatory. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins is a story where the main character, Katniss, navigates her way through a deadly tournament in which there is no escape. The book beautifully displays several themes of loss and conflict that almost anyone can relate too. The book was later made into a movie, which provided an elegant illustration of our favorite characters in person. The Hunger Games book is clearly more powerful than the movie because it gives a first person account of different conflicts that we aren’t able to experience in the movie and the characters are better developed in the

book.

Since the book involves a first person narrator, and the movie is in third person, we are able to understand more about how life is in Panem through the book, and have access to vital background information that we lose in the movie..

Katniss was 16 years old when she volunteered herself as tribute in the games. She had lived her entire life in poverty. Born and raised in District 12, she became the head of her family after her father died and her mother went into a crippled emotional state. Her younger sister, Primrose, meant everything to her. The Capitol, the main domain for the government, lead 12 districts through dictatorship. They forced each district to supply two children, male and female, to compete in a deadly tournament in which there was no escape. They do this because they are afraid of another revolution, like the last one that had almost wrecked the entirety of Panem. Your district was something you were born into, and couldn’t change. Much like ancient social structures, depending on what district you belonged to, you were given a certain status to the rest of Panem. The residents of Panem have to attend the “reaping”, a ceremony where the two tributes for the Hunger Games are chosen. During the reaping, Katniss gave her opinion on the trailer that they are

shown:

It’s the same story every year...the country that rose up out of the ashes of … North America. He lists the disasters, the droughts, the storms, the fires, the encroaching seas… the brutal war for what little sustenance remained. The result was Panem, a shining Capitol ringed by thirteen districts, which brought peace and prosperity to its citizens. Then came the Dark Days, the uprising of the districts against the Capitol. Twelve were defeated, the thirteenth obliterated. The Treaty of Treason gave us the new laws to guarantee peace and, as our yearly reminder that the Dark Days must never be repeated, it gave us the Hunger Games (pg 18).

Katniss, like many others, didn’t agree with the government of Panem. However, the slightest implication of a revolution or a disagreement with the government could lead to your inevitable doom. Katniss at one point stated, “‘District 12. Where you can starve to death in safety,’ I mutter. Then I glance quickly over my shoulder. Even here, even in the middle of nowhere, you worry someone might overhear you”(pg 6). This quote provides insight about how citizens of Panem constantly live in fear and unfair conditions. The movie vaguely covered these topics. Since the movie views the entire experience through third person, we are only able to imagine how someone would feel about the situation, much unlike the book. Through the book, we are able to see a certain perspective that helps us comprehend the unfairness and brutal actions of the Capitol through first hand experience. The movie doesn’t give us those special moments that only someone who has been there could describe. The movie also skates over important background information that Katniss describes through flashbacks. In short, the book truly captures the reader’s sympathy, while the movie does so lightly.

The book characters ended up being more significant to the storyline than the characters in the movie. One set of characters that have bigger meaning are Katniss’ prep team. They all lived luxurious lives in the Capitol, and pitied Katniss’ simplicity; “I force my lips up into a smile to show how grateful I am. ‘Thank you,’ I say sweetly. ‘We don’t have much cause to look nice in District Twelve.’ This wins them over completely. ‘Of course, you don’t, you poor darling!’ says Octavia clasping her hands together in distress for me”(pg 62). This quote provides evidence that the prep team was blinded by their own superiority to understand the hardships that Katniss must go through back home. They were ignorant, merely judging her by her District and how run down she looked. This provides insight that the residents of the Capitol knew only luxury and riches, not hunger and cold. Katniss stated,

What must it be like, I wonder, to live in a world where food appears at the press of a button? How would I spend the hours I now commit to combing the woods for sustenance if it were so easy to come by? What do they do all day, these people in the Capitol, besides decorating their bodies and waiting around for a new shipment of tributes to roll in and die for their entertainment? I look up and find Cinna’s eyes trained on mine. “How despicable we must seem to you,” he says (pg 65).

Cinna feels remorse for Katniss because she was forced to participate in the games. To the rest of the Capitol, including the prep team, it was an honor. Cinna seemed to be able to sympathize with Katniss so strongly, that Katniss began to trust him, which was strange for Katniss’ independent character. In the movie, the prep team did not exist. Without these ecstatic characters, us viewers were left only to infer things about the Capitol, and not truly experience things through Katniss’ point of view. In the movie, Cinna wasn’t as strong of a character, leaving us without that quickly formed friendship. Another character that the movie failed to bring in was Madge. In the book, Madge was the closest person Katniss had as a friend. She was also the daughter of District 12’s mayor. When Katniss is in the Justice Building after the reaping, Madge pays her a visit.

My next guest is also unexpected. Madge walks straight to me. She is not weepy or evasive, instead there’s an urgency about her tone that surprises me. “They let you wear one thing from your district in the arena. One thing to remind you of home. Will you wear this?” She holds out the circular gold pin that was on her dress earlier. I hadn’t paid much attention to it before, but now I see it’s a small bird in flight(pg 39).

This snippet of evidence provides the reader with several different pieces of information. The pin becomes something close to Katniss, as it’s on the cover of the book and the movie. It gave her a sense of home during the games, and reminded her of her past. Another piece of information you could draw from this quote is the fact that not all of the government members are evil. Katniss grew up under the Capitol’s tyranny, but also under the mayor’s rule. The mayor of District 12 was far from evil, and even helped Katniss survive by buying her (illegal) products. The movie, however, neglects to bring these characters into the plot. Instead, Katniss gets the pin for free at the market, gives it to Prim for good luck, and gets it back from her at the Justice Building. Although this gives off a sentimental feeling, the entire government part was left out, and the viewer is forced to believe that all of the government is ruthless. Ultimately, the movie left out important characters that gave the story more meaning.

To summarize, The Hunger Games novel is an extremely powerful story with many alternate meanings and an amazing plot. The book gives you several examples of what life is like in Panem, and how the residents are constantly living in fear. Katniss’ first hand experience of all this poverty, cruelty, and fear allows the reader to easily imagine and sympathize with her and all those who live in Panem. The characters gave insight about how the rest of Panem worked. Although the movie was very excellent, it left out important parts that really helped give the story a better meaning. The Hunger Games is really an excellent representation of the saying, “the book was better than the movie”.