Violence In Harry Potter And The Hunger Games

Two of the most popular children’s series of the 21st century, Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling and The Hunger Games trilogy written by Suzanne Collins, both deal with themes of war and violence, and the final novel in each series culminates in a battle for their respective worlds. Both authors have noted real word mindfulness was a significant element in the creation of their books. It is well known, considering the success of these novels, that they both engage these themes and tell children about the prevalence of war and violence in our society, but the setting and depiction of violence shift from the fantastical to realistic in The Hunger Games. How does this shift in the representation of violence impact young audiences? J.K. Rowling,

Harry’s world is a secondary world and Katniss resides in a post-apocalyptic imaginary, future North America. While we can never enter a world like Harry’s, we could quite possibly enter a world like Katniss’s. Historically, we read about changes in power structures and societal breakdowns that happened rapidly. We are vulnerable to things never imagined, and many times that vulnerability rest in our arrogance. Katniss’s world is a world of oppressing the poor while the Capitol continues to thrive and advance. In that realization, we begin to see cracks in our society. Collins is presenting us with an extreme view, but we can see the similarities if we are approaching her work honestly. It is a dystopian future, but in the back of our minds, we all wonder “Could this be our future?’ As Stewart points out, most epilogues exist to tie up loose ends and leave the audience feeling satisfied, but dystopian fiction for young adults often rejects this convention and "[tends] toward ambiguity…. meaningful and successful novels of dystopia won't let us forget them – they haunt us" (Stewart

Contrastingly, though, the ending of Mockingjay, the final novel in The Hunger Games trilogy, is far more dismal than that of Deathly Hallows. While Katniss carries the scars of war with her forever, Harry tells us that “all is well” (Rowling 607). This different approach to presenting the aftermath of war and the effect it has on their individual heroes imply that Rowling took a more gentle approach to war while Collins makes war the focal point of her story, honoring it as a subject that must be respected and recognized long after the victory in order to function as a teaching tool for future