The Hunger Games Wikipedia pages part 2

Peeta Mellark
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Peeta Mellark
The Hunger Games character
Peeta Mellark-The Hunger Games.png
Peeta Mellark, as portrayed by Josh Hutcherson in the 2012 film, The Hunger Games.

First appearance
The Hunger Games
Last appearance
Mockingjay
Created by
Suzanne Collins
Portrayed by
Josh Hutcherson
Information

Nickname(s)
The Boy with the Bread
(by Katniss)
 Lover Boy (by the Career Pack)
Gender
Male
Occupation
Artist
Baker
Title
Victor of the 74th Hunger Games
(with Katniss Everdeen)
 Tribute from District 12
(with Katniss Everdeen)
Family
Mrs. Mellark
(mother, deceased)
 Mr. Mellark
(father, deceased)
 Two unnamed brothers (both deceased)
Spouse(s)
Katniss Everdeen
Children
Unnamed daughter, unnamed son
Relatives
Mr. Everdeen
(father-in-law, deceased)
 Mrs. Everdeen
(mother-in-law)
Primrose Everdeen
(sister-in-law, deceased)
Peeta Mellark is a fictional character from The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins.[1] He is portrayed by actor Josh Hutcherson in The Hunger Games film series.
Peeta is the male tribute representing District 12 in the 74th annual Hunger Games, alongside female tribute Katniss Everdeen (portrayed by Jennifer Lawrence). Together, they defy the rule that the Games may only have one victor, unintentionally inciting a rebellion against the authoritarian government of Panem.



Contents  [hide]
1 Appearances 1.1 The Hunger Games
1.2 Catching Fire
1.3 Mockingjay
2 Characterization
3 Critical reception
4 Film
5 References
6 External links

Appearances[edit]
The Hunger Games[edit]
Main article: The Hunger Games (novel)
Peeta is first introduced at the reaping for the 74th Hunger Games, when he is selected as the male tribute representing District 12 alongside female tribute Katniss Everdeen. Prior to the reaping, Katniss and Peeta had only interacted once: at age eleven, when Peeta deliberately burned two loaves of bread and took a beating to feed a starving Katniss. Katniss had always felt indebted to him for this kindness, but never worked up the courage to thank him.
During an interview preceding the Games, Peeta admits on national television to having a long-standing crush on Katniss. She assumes this is merely part of his strategy to win favor from wealthy Capitol sponsors.
Once inside the arena, Peeta allies himself with the "Career" tributes and tricks them into believing he will lead them to Katniss. However, after Katniss knocks down a hive of Tracker Jackers on her pursuers, she herself is stung with the insects' venom, rendering her disoriented and vulnerable. Peeta urges Katniss to run and stays to fight fellow tribute Cato while she escapes. He survives the encounter with Cato, but suffers a stab wound in his leg. He camouflages himself into the rocks and flora alongside a riverbank, slowly dying of blood poisoning until Katniss finds him days later.
Following an announcement proclaiming that there can now be two winners, if both originate from the same district, Katniss and Peeta make allies of each other. Katniss realizes that if they play up the love story they may garner viewers' affections. Later a "feast" is announced, in which items that each tribute needs will be placed on a table for them to take, organized by district. Peeta strongly suggests that Katniss does not go, knowing that she will be in danger. She agrees to stay with him but, having received a bottle of sleep syrup from her mentor, she puts him into a drug-induced sleep and seizes the opportunity to slip away to the feast. The medicine gifted to them by the Capitol is strong enough to heal both of their wounds by morning.
After killing the final tribute - a "career" from District 2 named Cato - Katniss and Peeta are the only remaining survivors. However an announcement shortly afterwards revokes the previous revision, allowing for only one victor. Peeta suggests that Katniss should kill him, enabling her to return home. Katniss instead suggests they commit suicide by consuming poisonous berries known as "nightlock". Before the two are able to get the berries into their mouths, a final announcement is made pleading for the two to stop: both they and the viewers are informed that Katniss and Peeta are declared joint official winners of the 74th Hunger Games. Later, the two learn that President Snow considered their actions to be an act of rebellion against the Capitol.
After their last interview, in which the two continue to affect their romantic feelings for one another, Peeta comes to the realization that Katniss has staged her love for him all along.
Catching Fire[edit]
Main article: Catching Fire
Peeta and Katniss embark on the Victory Tour, an event strategically timed in-between each Hunger Games, where the victors visit the other 11 districts as a reminder about the Games and for the Capitol to reinforce its power over the Districts. Peeta and Katniss have barely interacted since the Games; Peeta is disappointed with Katniss for faking affection for him and Katniss is confused about her feelings and is uncomfortable to be with him because of her close friendship with Gale Hawthorne, who also has strong feelings for her. During the victory tour Peeta apologizes for his behavior and jokes that both would be willing to die for each other, but don't know each other's favorite color. Before the Victory Tour, President Snow visits Katniss and tells her he is aware that she was faking the affection towards Peeta, and that her actions in the arena have sparked a rebellion - one that can only be averted if she presents her and Peeta’s attempt at joined suicide in the arena as an act of love-crazed teenagers rather than as defiance.
Katniss and Peeta think they are going to become mentors for the Quarter Quell, a special Hunger Games that occurs every 25 years and comes with a change in rules, usually to make them more gruesome than the normal Games. The new twist for the 75th Games is that the tributes will be chosen from living victors. District 12 has only 3 living victors: Katniss, Peeta, and Haymitch Abernathy. Haymitch is their constantly drunken mentor who won the 50th Hunger Games (the second Quarter Quell). It's clear Katniss will be the girl tribute, as she is the only living female District 12 victor. Peeta makes Haymitch promise to work to save Katniss, not him. He also vows that if Haymitch is chosen, he will volunteer in his place. Katniss makes Haymitch promise that if Peeta is the male tribute, she and Haymitch will work together to keep Peeta alive, even at the expense of Katniss's life. It is a torn alliance for Haymitch. When Haymitch is drawn as the male tribute, Peeta automatically volunteers to take his place. Many of the other returning tributes are friends with each other, but Katniss and Peeta have a disadvantage. They have met none of them, as they are the newest victors. Peeta hopes to play on their sympathies to gain protection from others in the arena, and support from sponsors for Katniss. To this end he lies to everybody on national television, saying Katniss and he had secretly got married before the Quell was announced, and that Katniss is pregnant. This shocks both Katniss and the whole of Panem.
During the Quell, Peeta comes in contact with a force field and his heart stops. Katniss and Peeta’s efficient ally, Finnick Odair, succeeds in reviving him with CPR. Finnick Odair is the District 4 male victor tribute and a stunningly good-looking young man. The three soon band together with a few other tributes: Mags from District 4, Beetee and Wiress from District 3, and Johanna Mason from District 7. Eventually, they find out that the arena is shaped like a clock, with 12 sections, and each section is triggered at the same times each day. Different hours indicated different tortures such as blood rain, acid fog, killer monkeys, and so on. As they formulate a plan to kill the remaining tributes, Wiress is killed and Katniss is attacked by Johanna. However, Katniss is completely unaware that Johanna is just following through with a rebellious plan. Once Katniss regains consciousness she realizes that Beetee had designed a way to destroy the force field surrounding the arena. She triggers it and destroys the field, setting off a chain of events. A rebel-controlled hovercraft arrives and rescues Katniss, Finnick, and Beetee. However, Peeta, Johanna and Enobaria have been captured by the Capitol. Finnick, Beetee, Haymitch, Johanna and a few other tributes were part of a plan to safely retrieve Katniss and Peeta from the arena with hopes that they would take on roles to start a revolution against the Capitol.
Mockingjay[edit]
Main article: Mockingjay
Peeta is captured by the Capitol and is tortured physically, emotionally, and mentally. His feelings and memories are distorted with hallucinogenic tracker jacker venom, a mind-control technique. The Capitol uses this method to turn Peeta against Katniss, making him believe that she is not only responsible for the death of his family, friends and the destruction of District 12, but also that she tried to kill him numerous times and that she is not even human, but rather an evil "mutt". This leads him to try and strangle Katniss when he is reunited with her in District 13. The doctors of District 13 try to undo his hijacking, but the process is slow and turns his terror into confusion, where he is unable to differentiate what is real and what is not, especially when it came to his relationship with Katniss.
When the rest of the victors journey to the Capitol to fight, Peeta is initially kept behind because he is considered too unstable to be sent into combat. However, President Coin changes her mind and sends him not only into combat, but assigns him to Katniss's squadron. Katniss theorizes that Coin has sent Peeta to remove her as an obstacle to Coin's future as President. Despite the fact that the members of the squadron do not trust him, they help with his recovery by creating a game called "Real or Not Real" in which Peeta will ask them a question about something he believes may be true and the members will confirm whether they are real or a hijacked memory. The squadron eventually comes to the conclusion that President Coin had deliberately sent Peeta to Katniss' squad in hopes that he will go mad and kill her because Coin sees Katniss as a political rival. Unfortunately, during a surprise attack of "pods" (deadly surprises such as flesh-melting light and mines triggered by people passing by), Peeta actually does lose his sanity temporarily in the midst of the chaos and tries to kill Katniss once again, but she rolls out of the way of his gun in an attempt to crush her skull. He becomes responsible at least in part for the death of one of their team members, who he accidentally throws into a barbed-wire net pod during the attack. The squadron repeatedly debate whether or not they should kill Peeta, and even Peeta himself asks to be killed to stop endangering them, but Katniss refuses to when realizing she cannot bring herself to let him die. She even kisses him for a period of time, which actually makes him stable.
Realizing he cannot convince anyone to kill him or leave him to die, Peeta insists on remaining cuffed instead since the pain in his wrists helps him stay focused in reality instead of succumbing to madness. Further on in the Capitol, the nightmares in Peeta's mind become so intense that he is on the brink of losing his sanity, but Katniss manages to reach him. After the rebels win the war, Katniss is driven to depression and mental instability due to the death of her sister, Prim. Peeta's hijacking is soon mostly recovered by several doctors and he is considered mentally stable and finally back to his former self. Upon returning home, he plants primroses, the flower which Prim was named after, in memory of her.
In the epilogue, Katniss and Peeta have two children together. It is implied by Katniss that Peeta wanted to have children first and took around 10–15 years to persuade Katniss to start a family. He still has moments where his hijacking will try to take over again, causing Peeta to clench onto something until the attempt passes.
Characterization[edit]
Peeta is sixteen years old in The Hunger Games and seventeen in Catching Fire and Mockingjay. Medium height and stocky, he possesses the same blue eyes and blond hair typical of District 12's merchant class.[2] Part of Peeta's left leg was amputated following the 74th Hunger Games (a storyline omitted from the films). He walks with the aid of a prosthetic leg for the rest of his life.[3]
Peeta's name, like the more common given name "Peter", is derived from the Greek word πέτρος (petros) meaning "stone" or "rock". His name is also a homophone of pita bread, which is derived from the Greek πηκτός (pektos), meaning "solid". Author Suzanne Collins may have selected this name for Peeta because Katniss associates him with both steadiness and the life-sustaining bread he makes for a living:
"His hands are as solid and warm as those loaves of bread. Peeta looks at me right in the eye and gives my hand what I think is meant to be a reassuring squeeze."[4]
"I’m glad now I have Peeta to clutch for balance, he is so steady, solid as a rock."[5]
"I wrap my arms around his neck, feel his arms hesitate before they embrace me. Not as steady as they once were, but still warm and strong."[6]
Many of the talents Peeta exhibits in the arena are a byproduct of his work in the family bakery and time spent on the school wrestling team. An accomplished baker and painter, he is also particularly skilled at hand-to-hand combat, camouflage, wielding knives, and starting fires. Peeta also has a remarkable talent for speaking to crowds. Not only is he initially responsible for making the Capitol crowds fall in love with Katniss, Katniss herself mentions that Peeta would be invaluable to the revolution because of his ability "to turn his pain into words that will transform people."
Quotes describing Peeta
"What about you? I’ve seen you in the market. You can lift hundred pound bags of flour," I snap at him. "Tell him that. That’s not nothing." - Katniss Everdeen, The Hunger Games[7]
"I may have been a catalyst for rebellion, but a leader should be someone with conviction, and I'm barely a convert myself. Someone with unflinching courage, and I'm still working hard at even finding mine. Someone with clear and persuasive words, and I'm so easily tongue-tied. Words. I think of words and I think of Peeta. How people embrace everything he says. He could move a crowd to action, I bet, if he chose to. Would find the things to say. But I'm sure the idea has never crossed his mind." - Katniss Everdeen, Catching Fire[8]
"Peeta would be more valuable alive, and tragic, because he will be able to turn his pain into words that will transform people." - Katniss Everdeen, Catching Fire[9]
"Peeta’s a whiz with fires, coaxing a blaze out of damp wood." - Katniss Everdeen, The Hunger Games[7]
Critical reception[edit]
Entertainment Weekly said that Peeta, as well as Gale Hawthorne, were "thinly imagined".[10] MTV listed five reasons why Peeta is "badass", and that "Peeta gives [Katniss] a run for her money in the coolness category".[11]
Film[edit]
On March 23, 2011, Lionsgate began casting the role of Peeta for the film of The Hunger Games.[12] According to The Hollywood Reporter, contenders for the role included Josh Hutcherson, Alexander Ludwig (later cast as Cato), Hunter Parrish, Lucas Till, and Evan Peters.[13] On April 4, 2011, Lionsgate announced that Hutcherson would play the role.[14]
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Collins, Suzanne. The Hunger Games. London: Scholastic, 2009. Print.
2.Jump up ^ Collins, Suzanne (2008). The Hunger Games. U.S.A: Scholastic Inc. p. 25.
3.Jump up ^ Collins, Suzanne (2008). The Hunger Games. The Hunger Games trilogy. Scholastic. ISBN 0-439-02348-3.
4.Jump up ^ Collins, Suzanne (2008). The Hunger Games. U.S.A.: Scholastic Inc. p. 33.
5.Jump up ^ Collins, Suzanne (2008). The Hunger Games. U.S.A.: Scholastic Inc. p. 70.
6.Jump up ^ Collins, Suzanne (2010). Mockingjay. U.S.A.: Scholastic Inc.
7.^ Jump up to: a b Collins, Suzanne (2008). Catching Fire. U.S.A: Scholastic Inc.
8.Jump up ^ Collins, Suzanne (2008). "9". Catching Fire. U.S.A: Scholastic Inc.
9.Jump up ^ Collins, Suzanne (2008). "17". Catching Fire. U.S.A: Scholastic Inc.
10.Jump up ^ Reese, Jennifer (28 August 2009). "Catching Fire". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 28 August 2010.
11.Jump up ^ Schwartz, Terri. "'Hunger Games': Why Peeta Mellark Is A Badass". MTV. Retrieved May 2012.
12.Jump up ^ Ayres, Tom (26 March 2011). "Liam Hemsworth 'audtions for Hunger Games'". Digital Spy. Retrieved 26 March 2011.
13.Jump up ^ Kit, Borys (25 March 2011). "Lionsgate Testing Actors to Star in 'Hunger Games' Opposite Jennifer Lawrence (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 26 March 2011.
14.Jump up ^ Sperling, Nicole (April 4, 2011). "'The Hunger Games': Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth complete the love triangle". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 4, 2011.
External links[edit]
Peeta Mellark at the Internet Movie Database



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 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peeta_Mellark














Peeta Mellark
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search





[hide]This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page.





This article needs additional citations for verification.  (August 2010)



Question book-new.svg

This article relies on references to primary sources.  (August 2010)





This article may be written from a fan's point of view, rather than a neutral point of view.  (August 2010)



Peeta Mellark
The Hunger Games character
Peeta Mellark-The Hunger Games.png
Peeta Mellark, as portrayed by Josh Hutcherson in the 2012 film, The Hunger Games.

First appearance
The Hunger Games
Last appearance
Mockingjay
Created by
Suzanne Collins
Portrayed by
Josh Hutcherson
Information

Nickname(s)
The Boy with the Bread
(by Katniss)
 Lover Boy (by the Career Pack)
Gender
Male
Occupation
Artist
Baker
Title
Victor of the 74th Hunger Games
(with Katniss Everdeen)
 Tribute from District 12
(with Katniss Everdeen)
Family
Mrs. Mellark
(mother, deceased)
 Mr. Mellark
(father, deceased)
 Two unnamed brothers (both deceased)
Spouse(s)
Katniss Everdeen
Children
Unnamed daughter, unnamed son
Relatives
Mr. Everdeen
(father-in-law, deceased)
 Mrs. Everdeen
(mother-in-law)
Primrose Everdeen
(sister-in-law, deceased)
Peeta Mellark is a fictional character from The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins.[1] He is portrayed by actor Josh Hutcherson in The Hunger Games film series.
Peeta is the male tribute representing District 12 in the 74th annual Hunger Games, alongside female tribute Katniss Everdeen (portrayed by Jennifer Lawrence). Together, they defy the rule that the Games may only have one victor, unintentionally inciting a rebellion against the authoritarian government of Panem.



Contents  [hide]
1 Appearances 1.1 The Hunger Games
1.2 Catching Fire
1.3 Mockingjay
2 Characterization
3 Critical reception
4 Film
5 References
6 External links

Appearances[edit]
The Hunger Games[edit]
Main article: The Hunger Games (novel)
Peeta is first introduced at the reaping for the 74th Hunger Games, when he is selected as the male tribute representing District 12 alongside female tribute Katniss Everdeen. Prior to the reaping, Katniss and Peeta had only interacted once: at age eleven, when Peeta deliberately burned two loaves of bread and took a beating to feed a starving Katniss. Katniss had always felt indebted to him for this kindness, but never worked up the courage to thank him.
During an interview preceding the Games, Peeta admits on national television to having a long-standing crush on Katniss. She assumes this is merely part of his strategy to win favor from wealthy Capitol sponsors.
Once inside the arena, Peeta allies himself with the "Career" tributes and tricks them into believing he will lead them to Katniss. However, after Katniss knocks down a hive of Tracker Jackers on her pursuers, she herself is stung with the insects' venom, rendering her disoriented and vulnerable. Peeta urges Katniss to run and stays to fight fellow tribute Cato while she escapes. He survives the encounter with Cato, but suffers a stab wound in his leg. He camouflages himself into the rocks and flora alongside a riverbank, slowly dying of blood poisoning until Katniss finds him days later.
Following an announcement proclaiming that there can now be two winners, if both originate from the same district, Katniss and Peeta make allies of each other. Katniss realizes that if they play up the love story they may garner viewers' affections. Later a "feast" is announced, in which items that each tribute needs will be placed on a table for them to take, organized by district. Peeta strongly suggests that Katniss does not go, knowing that she will be in danger. She agrees to stay with him but, having received a bottle of sleep syrup from her mentor, she puts him into a drug-induced sleep and seizes the opportunity to slip away to the feast. The medicine gifted to them by the Capitol is strong enough to heal both of their wounds by morning.
After killing the final tribute - a "career" from District 2 named Cato - Katniss and Peeta are the only remaining survivors. However an announcement shortly afterwards revokes the previous revision, allowing for only one victor. Peeta suggests that Katniss should kill him, enabling her to return home. Katniss instead suggests they commit suicide by consuming poisonous berries known as "nightlock". Before the two are able to get the berries into their mouths, a final announcement is made pleading for the two to stop: both they and the viewers are informed that Katniss and Peeta are declared joint official winners of the 74th Hunger Games. Later, the two learn that President Snow considered their actions to be an act of rebellion against the Capitol.
After their last interview, in which the two continue to affect their romantic feelings for one another, Peeta comes to the realization that Katniss has staged her love for him all along.
Catching Fire[edit]
Main article: Catching Fire
Peeta and Katniss embark on the Victory Tour, an event strategically timed in-between each Hunger Games, where the victors visit the other 11 districts as a reminder about the Games and for the Capitol to reinforce its power over the Districts. Peeta and Katniss have barely interacted since the Games; Peeta is disappointed with Katniss for faking affection for him and Katniss is confused about her feelings and is uncomfortable to be with him because of her close friendship with Gale Hawthorne, who also has strong feelings for her. During the victory tour Peeta apologizes for his behavior and jokes that both would be willing to die for each other, but don't know each other's favorite color. Before the Victory Tour, President Snow visits Katniss and tells her he is aware that she was faking the affection towards Peeta, and that her actions in the arena have sparked a rebellion - one that can only be averted if she presents her and Peeta’s attempt at joined suicide in the arena as an act of love-crazed teenagers rather than as defiance.
Katniss and Peeta think they are going to become mentors for the Quarter Quell, a special Hunger Games that occurs every 25 years and comes with a change in rules, usually to make them more gruesome than the normal Games. The new twist for the 75th Games is that the tributes will be chosen from living victors. District 12 has only 3 living victors: Katniss, Peeta, and Haymitch Abernathy. Haymitch is their constantly drunken mentor who won the 50th Hunger Games (the second Quarter Quell). It's clear Katniss will be the girl tribute, as she is the only living female District 12 victor. Peeta makes Haymitch promise to work to save Katniss, not him. He also vows that if Haymitch is chosen, he will volunteer in his place. Katniss makes Haymitch promise that if Peeta is the male tribute, she and Haymitch will work together to keep Peeta alive, even at the expense of Katniss's life. It is a torn alliance for Haymitch. When Haymitch is drawn as the male tribute, Peeta automatically volunteers to take his place. Many of the other returning tributes are friends with each other, but Katniss and Peeta have a disadvantage. They have met none of them, as they are the newest victors. Peeta hopes to play on their sympathies to gain protection from others in the arena, and support from sponsors for Katniss. To this end he lies to everybody on national television, saying Katniss and he had secretly got married before the Quell was announced, and that Katniss is pregnant. This shocks both Katniss and the whole of Panem.
During the Quell, Peeta comes in contact with a force field and his heart stops. Katniss and Peeta’s efficient ally, Finnick Odair, succeeds in reviving him with CPR. Finnick Odair is the District 4 male victor tribute and a stunningly good-looking young man. The three soon band together with a few other tributes: Mags from District 4, Beetee and Wiress from District 3, and Johanna Mason from District 7. Eventually, they find out that the arena is shaped like a clock, with 12 sections, and each section is triggered at the same times each day. Different hours indicated different tortures such as blood rain, acid fog, killer monkeys, and so on. As they formulate a plan to kill the remaining tributes, Wiress is killed and Katniss is attacked by Johanna. However, Katniss is completely unaware that Johanna is just following through with a rebellious plan. Once Katniss regains consciousness she realizes that Beetee had designed a way to destroy the force field surrounding the arena. She triggers it and destroys the field, setting off a chain of events. A rebel-controlled hovercraft arrives and rescues Katniss, Finnick, and Beetee. However, Peeta, Johanna and Enobaria have been captured by the Capitol. Finnick, Beetee, Haymitch, Johanna and a few other tributes were part of a plan to safely retrieve Katniss and Peeta from the arena with hopes that they would take on roles to start a revolution against the Capitol.
Mockingjay[edit]
Main article: Mockingjay
Peeta is captured by the Capitol and is tortured physically, emotionally, and mentally. His feelings and memories are distorted with hallucinogenic tracker jacker venom, a mind-control technique. The Capitol uses this method to turn Peeta against Katniss, making him believe that she is not only responsible for the death of his family, friends and the destruction of District 12, but also that she tried to kill him numerous times and that she is not even human, but rather an evil "mutt". This leads him to try and strangle Katniss when he is reunited with her in District 13. The doctors of District 13 try to undo his hijacking, but the process is slow and turns his terror into confusion, where he is unable to differentiate what is real and what is not, especially when it came to his relationship with Katniss.
When the rest of the victors journey to the Capitol to fight, Peeta is initially kept behind because he is considered too unstable to be sent into combat. However, President Coin changes her mind and sends him not only into combat, but assigns him to Katniss's squadron. Katniss theorizes that Coin has sent Peeta to remove her as an obstacle to Coin's future as President. Despite the fact that the members of the squadron do not trust him, they help with his recovery by creating a game called "Real or Not Real" in which Peeta will ask them a question about something he believes may be true and the members will confirm whether they are real or a hijacked memory. The squadron eventually comes to the conclusion that President Coin had deliberately sent Peeta to Katniss' squad in hopes that he will go mad and kill her because Coin sees Katniss as a political rival. Unfortunately, during a surprise attack of "pods" (deadly surprises such as flesh-melting light and mines triggered by people passing by), Peeta actually does lose his sanity temporarily in the midst of the chaos and tries to kill Katniss once again, but she rolls out of the way of his gun in an attempt to crush her skull. He becomes responsible at least in part for the death of one of their team members, who he accidentally throws into a barbed-wire net pod during the attack. The squadron repeatedly debate whether or not they should kill Peeta, and even Peeta himself asks to be killed to stop endangering them, but Katniss refuses to when realizing she cannot bring herself to let him die. She even kisses him for a period of time, which actually makes him stable.
Realizing he cannot convince anyone to kill him or leave him to die, Peeta insists on remaining cuffed instead since the pain in his wrists helps him stay focused in reality instead of succumbing to madness. Further on in the Capitol, the nightmares in Peeta's mind become so intense that he is on the brink of losing his sanity, but Katniss manages to reach him. After the rebels win the war, Katniss is driven to depression and mental instability due to the death of her sister, Prim. Peeta's hijacking is soon mostly recovered by several doctors and he is considered mentally stable and finally back to his former self. Upon returning home, he plants primroses, the flower which Prim was named after, in memory of her.
In the epilogue, Katniss and Peeta have two children together. It is implied by Katniss that Peeta wanted to have children first and took around 10–15 years to persuade Katniss to start a family. He still has moments where his hijacking will try to take over again, causing Peeta to clench onto something until the attempt passes.
Characterization[edit]
Peeta is sixteen years old in The Hunger Games and seventeen in Catching Fire and Mockingjay. Medium height and stocky, he possesses the same blue eyes and blond hair typical of District 12's merchant class.[2] Part of Peeta's left leg was amputated following the 74th Hunger Games (a storyline omitted from the films). He walks with the aid of a prosthetic leg for the rest of his life.[3]
Peeta's name, like the more common given name "Peter", is derived from the Greek word πέτρος (petros) meaning "stone" or "rock". His name is also a homophone of pita bread, which is derived from the Greek πηκτός (pektos), meaning "solid". Author Suzanne Collins may have selected this name for Peeta because Katniss associates him with both steadiness and the life-sustaining bread he makes for a living:
"His hands are as solid and warm as those loaves of bread. Peeta looks at me right in the eye and gives my hand what I think is meant to be a reassuring squeeze."[4]
"I’m glad now I have Peeta to clutch for balance, he is so steady, solid as a rock."[5]
"I wrap my arms around his neck, feel his arms hesitate before they embrace me. Not as steady as they once were, but still warm and strong."[6]
Many of the talents Peeta exhibits in the arena are a byproduct of his work in the family bakery and time spent on the school wrestling team. An accomplished baker and painter, he is also particularly skilled at hand-to-hand combat, camouflage, wielding knives, and starting fires. Peeta also has a remarkable talent for speaking to crowds. Not only is he initially responsible for making the Capitol crowds fall in love with Katniss, Katniss herself mentions that Peeta would be invaluable to the revolution because of his ability "to turn his pain into words that will transform people."
Quotes describing Peeta
"What about you? I’ve seen you in the market. You can lift hundred pound bags of flour," I snap at him. "Tell him that. That’s not nothing." - Katniss Everdeen, The Hunger Games[7]
"I may have been a catalyst for rebellion, but a leader should be someone with conviction, and I'm barely a convert myself. Someone with unflinching courage, and I'm still working hard at even finding mine. Someone with clear and persuasive words, and I'm so easily tongue-tied. Words. I think of words and I think of Peeta. How people embrace everything he says. He could move a crowd to action, I bet, if he chose to. Would find the things to say. But I'm sure the idea has never crossed his mind." - Katniss Everdeen, Catching Fire[8]
"Peeta would be more valuable alive, and tragic, because he will be able to turn his pain into words that will transform people." - Katniss Everdeen, Catching Fire[9]
"Peeta’s a whiz with fires, coaxing a blaze out of damp wood." - Katniss Everdeen, The Hunger Games[7]
Critical reception[edit]
Entertainment Weekly said that Peeta, as well as Gale Hawthorne, were "thinly imagined".[10] MTV listed five reasons why Peeta is "badass", and that "Peeta gives [Katniss] a run for her money in the coolness category".[11]
Film[edit]
On March 23, 2011, Lionsgate began casting the role of Peeta for the film of The Hunger Games.[12] According to The Hollywood Reporter, contenders for the role included Josh Hutcherson, Alexander Ludwig (later cast as Cato), Hunter Parrish, Lucas Till, and Evan Peters.[13] On April 4, 2011, Lionsgate announced that Hutcherson would play the role.[14]
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Collins, Suzanne. The Hunger Games. London: Scholastic, 2009. Print.
2.Jump up ^ Collins, Suzanne (2008). The Hunger Games. U.S.A: Scholastic Inc. p. 25.
3.Jump up ^ Collins, Suzanne (2008). The Hunger Games. The Hunger Games trilogy. Scholastic. ISBN 0-439-02348-3.
4.Jump up ^ Collins, Suzanne (2008). The Hunger Games. U.S.A.: Scholastic Inc. p. 33.
5.Jump up ^ Collins, Suzanne (2008). The Hunger Games. U.S.A.: Scholastic Inc. p. 70.
6.Jump up ^ Collins, Suzanne (2010). Mockingjay. U.S.A.: Scholastic Inc.
7.^ Jump up to: a b Collins, Suzanne (2008). Catching Fire. U.S.A: Scholastic Inc.
8.Jump up ^ Collins, Suzanne (2008). "9". Catching Fire. U.S.A: Scholastic Inc.
9.Jump up ^ Collins, Suzanne (2008). "17". Catching Fire. U.S.A: Scholastic Inc.
10.Jump up ^ Reese, Jennifer (28 August 2009). "Catching Fire". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 28 August 2010.
11.Jump up ^ Schwartz, Terri. "'Hunger Games': Why Peeta Mellark Is A Badass". MTV. Retrieved May 2012.
12.Jump up ^ Ayres, Tom (26 March 2011). "Liam Hemsworth 'audtions for Hunger Games'". Digital Spy. Retrieved 26 March 2011.
13.Jump up ^ Kit, Borys (25 March 2011). "Lionsgate Testing Actors to Star in 'Hunger Games' Opposite Jennifer Lawrence (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 26 March 2011.
14.Jump up ^ Sperling, Nicole (April 4, 2011). "'The Hunger Games': Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth complete the love triangle". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 4, 2011.
External links[edit]
Peeta Mellark at the Internet Movie Database



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Katniss Everdeen
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Katniss Everdeen
The Hunger Games character
Katniss Everdeen.jpg
Katniss Everdeen, as portrayed by Jennifer Lawrence in the film The Hunger Games

First appearance
The Hunger Games
Last appearance
Mockingjay
Created by
Suzanne Collins
Portrayed by
Jennifer Lawrence
Information

Nickname(s)
Catnip (by Gale)
 Sweetheart (by Haymitch and Peeta)
 Girl on Fire (by Cinna)
Aliases
The Girl on Fire
 The Mockingjay
Gender
Female
Title
Victor of the 74th Hunger Games
(with Peeta Mellark)
 Tribute from District 12
(with Peeta Mellark)
Family
Mr. Everdeen
(father, deceased)
Mrs. Everdeen
(mother)
Primrose Everdeen
(sister, deceased)
Spouse(s)
Peeta Mellark
Children
Two unnamed children
Relatives
Mr. Mellark
(father-in-law, deceased)
Mrs. Mellark
(mother-in-law, deceased)
Katniss Everdeen is a fictional character and the protagonist of The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins.[1] Her name comes from an edible plant called katniss.[2] Academy Award-winning actress Jennifer Lawrence portrayed Katniss in the films The Hunger Games, and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. She will reprise her role in the sequels The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1, and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2.
Katniss and her family come from District 12, a coal-mining district that is the poorest and least populated district in the dystopian fictional autocratic nation of Panem. In the course of the first book, The Hunger Games, Katniss volunteers to replace her sister, Primrose "Prim" Everdeen, after she is chosen to compete in the Hunger Games, a televised fight to the death. Katniss, after an alliance with Rue from District 11 (who reminded Katniss of her own sister), a 12-year-old who had a very touching death, she joins up with fellow District 12 tribute Peeta Mellark, and the pair compete in the Games together. She uses her knowledge of hunting and archery to survive, and the two become the victors after defying the Capitol's attempt to force one to kill the other. Throughout the next two novels, Catching Fire and Mockingjay, Katniss becomes the symbol of a rebellion for the twelve districts against the Capitol's oppression.



Contents  [hide]
1 Origins 1.1 Name
2 In the books 2.1 The Hunger Games
2.2 Catching Fire
2.3 Mockingjay 2.3.1 Epilogue

3 Characterization 3.1 Background
3.2 Personality
3.3 Skills
3.4 Physical appearance
4 Critical reception
5 Film adaptation
6 References

Origins[edit]
The idea for the trilogy was based in part on the myth of Theseus and the Minotaur, in which seven boys and seven girls from Athens every year are sent against their will to be devoured by the Minotaur, a cycle that doesn't stop until Theseus kills the Minotaur. Collins, who heard the story when she was eight years old, was unsettled by its ruthlessness and cruelty. Collins said, "In her own way, Katniss is a futuristic Theseus."[3] Collins also characterized the novels with the fearful sensations she experienced when her father was fighting in the Vietnam War.[3]
In the novels, Katniss is extensively knowledgeable in foraging, wildlife, hunting, and survival techniques. Collins knew some of this background from her father, who grew up in the Great Depression and was forced to hunt to augment an extremely low food supply, although Collins saw her father bring home food from the wild during her own childhood as well. In addition, Collins researched the subject using a large stack of wilderness survival guidebooks.[4]
Katniss and the other tributes are, in their time before participating in their Hunger Games, compelled to compete for the hearts of sponsors who donate money that can be used to buy vital supplies for them when they are in the arena. The concept of how the audiences carry nearly as much force as actual characters is based on how, in reality television and in the Roman games, the audience can both "respond with great enthusiasm or play a role in your elimination," as Collins said.[4]
Name[edit]
Katniss's first name comes from a plant called sagittaria or arrowhead, which is a tuber plant usually found in water.[5] The root of this plant can be eaten, as Katniss does in the book. Her father once said: "As long as you can find yourself, you'll never starve." The plant also shares its name with a constellation in the Zodiac called Sagittarius, or "The Archer", which may also reference Katniss's skills in archery.
Her last name comes from Bathsheba Everdene, the central character in Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy. According to Collins, "The two are very different, but both struggle with knowing their hearts".[6]
In the books[edit]
The Hunger Games[edit]
Main article: The Hunger Games (novel)
The Hunger Games takes place in the ruins of North America: a country called Panem, containing 12 known districts. When her sister, Prim, is selected (in her first year of eligibility) as District 12's female tribute, Katniss volunteers to take her place on the stage. As Effie asks for a round of applause for Katniss, everyone is silent. After a few minutes, most of the crowd presses their three fingers against their mouths and holds it out to her. Katniss describes this as an ancient sign for saying "admiration," "goodbye to someone you love," and "respect."
After Katniss is selected, Effie chooses the male tribute for the Games. Peeta Mellark is picked, and Katniss remembers something he did to help her when they were just eleven. During the time after Katniss' father died, Katniss's family was slowly starving to death. One day, Katniss took some of Prim's baby clothes on the streets to sell to any willing people. No one bought them. Katniss was sad and very weak, since she was unable to take any food home for her family. On the way home, she passed the bakery, where Peeta and his family work. Katniss felt dizzy when she inhaled the smell of baking bread. Then, she had the idea of looking for something, anything, in the trashcans of the wealthier people in District Twelve. As she was checking Peeta's bakery's trash bins, Peeta's mother caught her and yelled at her. Peeta saw this, and purposely burned some bread in the bakery. This got his mother's attention, and she started screaming at him. She hit him on the cheek, bruising him. She told him to throw the burned bread to their pig outside, but when he went outside, he discreetly threw the bread to Katniss. Katniss returned home with the bread, and somehow the day after that, had the courage to venture out into the woods, where she met Gale, and continued to hunt for food for her family with him by her side.
After Katniss and Peeta have been selected and said goodbyes to their families, they are whisked away by Haymitch Abernathy (a previous District Twelve Victor, extreme drunkard, and their mentor) and Effie Trinket to the high-speed train that awaits them. Riding the train, they are stunned by how fast it moves.
When they arrive in the Capitol, Katniss and Peeta can't help but gawk at all the amazing sights District Twelve wasn't able to show. Katniss is then met by her prep team, Flavius, Octavia, and Venia, and her stylist, Cinna, who prepare Katniss for the Opening Ceremonies. All the tributes wear something that represents their district's industry. Coming from District Twelve, Katniss and Peeta expect to be dressed in mining costumes. Cinna, however, decides to dress them in a plain black unitard and shiny laced up boots that burns with fake flames when lit. Katniss and Peeta are initially apprehensive at this arrangement, but their worries bring them closer together. Just before the parade, Cinna lights their headdresses and to Katniss and Peeta's surprise and relief, it doesn't burn. In addition, Cinna also suggests that they hold hands to present them as "together and a team." This distinguishes Katniss and Peeta from the rest of the tributes not only because they have better costumes, but also that they are warm and relatively friendly to each other in comparison to the other tributes, who have remained cold and stiff with each other. With this new development, both gain the attention (and attraction) of sponsors in the Capitol, and both are unforgettable. From that moment on, Katniss is known as "The Girl On Fire".
During the Games Katniss forms an alliance with Rue, the female tribute from District 11, until Rue is killed by the male tribute from District 1, Marvel. Later, the rules are changed so that if the remaining two tributes come from the same district, they will both win. Katniss hurries to find Peeta and they resume their "star-crossed lovers" reputation, gaining sympathy from sponsors. They outlast the other tributes and the rule change is revoked, meaning there can only be one victor of the Hunger Games. Assuming the Gamemakers would rather have two victors than none, she suggests that they both commit suicide by eating poisonous nightlock berries. The ploy works and Katniss and Peeta are both declared victors of the 74th Hunger Games.
Catching Fire[edit]
Main article: Catching Fire
Katniss and Peeta go on the Victory Tour, which is a visit to each district by the winners, strategically placed between each Hunger Games. Katniss becomes aware that uprisings are erupting. In addition, the nation's leader, President Snow, is making Katniss convince the nation that she is really in love with Peeta and that her suicide pact was an act of love rather than defiance, in order to quell dissent. Gale has been presented to the nation as her cousin, but President Snow implies his knowledge that Katniss has feelings for him and threatens to have him killed to gain leverage.
In order to save her family and friends, Katniss agrees to follow the Capitol's agenda. Peeta does the same when he realizes what is at stake. Peeta even proposes marriage to her, and she accepts, but even at that point President Snow conveys to her that her actions are insufficient. Katniss comes to realize that the rebellion in the districts is not within her power to suppress, making it impossible for her to satisfy President Snow's demands. Katniss is also confused as to the nature of her feelings for both Gale and Peeta, both of which are complicated by her fears for the future and her unwillingness to have children who themselves could be subjected to the Hunger Games. When the Quarter Quell—a special Hunger Games that takes place every 25 years and has a special set of rules—is announced, it is proclaimed that all of the current year's tributes will be selected from the pool of previous Hunger Games victors. District 12 has only three living victors: Katniss, Peeta, and Haymitch Abernathy, who won the 50th Games and successfully mentored Katniss the year before. As Katniss is the only living female victor in District 12, she is the only possible female tribute, and Peeta volunteers to take Haymitch's place when Haymitch is selected. Katniss and Peeta return to the arena, working closely to survive and forming alliances and close friendships in the process.
Katniss is taken from the arena and discovers that the tributes of many districts had coordinated an escape plan and used a stolen hovercraft to fly to District 13, which was not destroyed as the Capitol had claimed. However, during the escape, Peeta is captured by the Capitol and afterwards, Gale informs Katniss that District 12 was bombed and destroyed but that her family is safe.
Mockingjay[edit]
Main article: Mockingjay
In Mockingjay, Katniss visits the subterranean civilization of District 13 and meets with the people and their leader, President Alma Coin, after being taken to see the remains of District 12. A love triangle between Katniss, Peeta, and Gale slowly unfolds, forcing Katniss to decide whom she really wants to be with—a situation complicated by the fact that Peeta is currently being tortured in the Capitol while Gale is at Katniss's side.
Katniss agrees to be the symbolic leader of their rebellion: "the Mockingjay", the face of the rebels. She discovers that Cinna has been killed by the Capitol, but the rest of her prep team survived in District 13's captivity; they prep Katniss for the cameras when she agrees to start doing propaganda pieces for the rebels. Katniss becomes increasingly emotionally unstable by the horrors she witnesses—mass slaughter, the destruction of the only home she has ever known with 90% of the citizens of District 12 dead, many friends killed due to their association with her, and Peeta being beaten on live television. After a rescue mission in which a team from District 13 brings Peeta back, she finds out his memories have been distorted by tracker jacker venom, a mind-control torturing method referred to as "hijacking". He now hates and wants to kill Katniss, believing she is a muttation created by the Capitol. Katniss becomes even more determined to kill Snow after this.
She, along with a group of sharpshooters that include Gale, Finnick Odair (from the Quarter Quell in the previous book), and later joined by Peeta (much to Katniss's dismay) sneak into the Capitol at the cost of several of their own lives in an attempt to kill Snow. As they get close to the presidential mansion, an array of bombs are dropped from a Hovercraft, with only some exploding, killing the refugee Capitol children on whom they were dropped. Rebel medics, including Prim, rush to help the children, but as they arrive the rest of the bombs explode. Prim is killed in front of Katniss, while Katniss's body is severely burned. Although she makes a remarkable physical recovery, Katniss temporarily loses the ability to speak, traumatized by the death of her sister. It is possible that Gale was involved in the making of the bombs that killed Prim.
Meanwhile, President Snow is arrested, found guilty of his crimes against the people of Panem, and sentenced to death. Per Katniss' request, she is designated as his executioner. Before the execution, Snow tells Katniss that the bombs weren't his but the rebels' way of gaining sympathy in the Capitol for their cause, making it look like the work of Snow. Although she initially refuses to believe Snow, Katniss realizes that the attack method was identical to a trap Gale and fellow Quarter Quell tribute Beetee had designed. Eventually, Katniss realises that someone high up in the ranks of the Rebels would have had to order to have Prim on the front line, despite her age, and comes to suspect that Coin ordered the attack on the children in order to trick the Capitol citizens into thinking that the government had killed their children, therefore winning the loyalty of the Capitol's citizens and that Prim was there solely to subdue and unhinge Katniss.
Furthermore, Coin suggests that there will be one last Hunger Games where the children from the Capitol will be reaped. She seeks the approval of the surviving victors before making these games official, and Katniss votes yes as a means of gaining Coin's trust. During the supposed execution of Snow, she instead shoots Coin, due to her being responsible for Prim's death. She then attempts to kill herself with the suicide pill attached to her uniform, but Peeta stops her. She is then arrested and placed in solitary confinement, where she attempts to commit suicide by starving herself and overdosing. However, she is ultimately released on the grounds that she wasn't mentally well at the time of the assassination and is sent back to District 12. Katniss, accompanied by Haymitch, goes back to her home in Victor's Village and is put under care.
Driven into a deep depression, Katniss refuses to leave her house until Peeta (who by then has largely recovered from his brainwashing) returns to District 12 to plant primroses outside, in memory of her sister. Katniss begins to regain her mental health, and she and Peeta deal with their feelings by creating a book composed of information about deceased tributes, friends, and family (eventually Haymitch joins them in this project). Katniss's mother, who chose not to return to District 12 because of all the painful memories of her deceased husband and daughter, decides to work in District 4 as medical personnel. Gale got a "fancy job" in District 2 and is seen regularly on television. A few hundred District 12 survivors return home and rebuild it, where they no longer mine coal, producing food and manufacturing medicine instead. The novel ends with Katniss admitting that she does indeed love Peeta.
Epilogue[edit]
In the epilogue, Katniss and Peeta are married and have two children. Their first child, a girl, has Katniss' dark hair and Peeta's blue eyes; their second child, a boy, has Katniss' grey eyes and Peeta's blond curls. Katniss still wakes up screaming in the night and is worried about telling her children about the nightmares involving their parents' contribution in the Games and the rebellion. She finds no pleasure in life at times because she knows it could all be taken away at once. To soothe her traumatized psyche, Katniss makes lists in her mind of every act of kindness she has ever seen, an obsession that she realizes is simply a "repetitive game" to keep darker thoughts at bay. In the series' last words, Katniss offers one final observation: "But there are much worse games to play."
Characterization[edit]
Background[edit]
Katniss and her family live in the futuristic nation of Panem, located on the continent once known as North America, which was destroyed in a global catastrophe. Panem is run by an all-powerful city called the Capitol, located in the Rocky Mountains, which is surrounded by 12 districts, each having a specific purpose in supplying something to the Capitol. The story starts in District 12, Katniss's home, the coal-mining district. District 12 is the poorest of the districts, and Katniss lives with her mother and sister in the poorest part of town, known as the Seam.
Katniss's father, a coal miner, was killed in a mine explosion when Katniss was 11. After his death, Katniss's mother went into a deep depression and was unable to take care of her children. On the brink of starvation a few weeks before her twelfth birthday Katniss wandered into the richer part of town, hoping to steal some scraps from the garbage bins of rich merchants. The baker's son, Peeta, whom she did not know, took a beating from his mother for intentionally burning two loaves of bread, knowing that he would be told to throw them out. He was told to give the two loaves of bread to the pig, but instead gave them to Katniss. Katniss took them home to her family, who had not eaten in days. The bread gave them hope and kept them motivated, leaving Katniss feeling resentfully indebted to Peeta.
A few days after the incident with the bread, Katniss decided to go into the woods surrounding her district to hunt illegally and gather plants to eat, which was how her father had gotten most of the family's food before he died. There she met a boy named Gale Hawthorne. Together, they provide for both their families and develop a strong friendship.
Katniss's mother slowly surfaces from her depression and is able to return to her job as an apothecary, and Katniss makes an effort to forgive her. However, despite her mending relationship with her mother, strong friendship with Gale, and the increasingly strong affections she gains for Peeta, Katniss remains adamant that Prim, her younger sister, is "the only person she's certain she loves".
Personality[edit]
Collins has described Katniss as being an independent strong survivalist, lethal, but good at thinking outside the box.[7] Katniss's past hardships (her father's death, mother's depression, and near starvation) have made her a survivor, and she will endure hardship and hard work to preserve her own life and the life of her family. She states herself that nice people are the most dangerous because they get inside of her and that they could hurt her badly when she least expected it. She has shown she will protect those she loves, no matter the cost to herself, as shown when she volunteers for the Games to save her little sister Prim, when she shields Gale to keep him from being whipped, even when it means a lash for herself, and when she stoically decides during her second Games to die to save Peeta. Because the majority of her time before the Games was spent keeping herself and her family alive, she does not understand many social cues and is often ignorant of other people's emotions, such as when she doesn't recognize Gale's hints at his growing affection for her. She has no experience with romance or love other than that of her family, and doesn't believe she wants it. She never actually understands that Peeta was telling the truth when he declared his love for her in the pre-game interview until after the games itself. She also has large trust issues, and does not trust anyone. She plans never to be married nor have children that would grow up subject to the Reaping.
She quickly adapts to the "kill or be killed" philosophy of the games and coldly considers how she will kill her fellow competitors during the first Games, at one point rationalizing that she is already a killer due to her hunting experience, though she is briefly disturbed after her first direct kill, Marvel. By the end of the first Games, she is prepared to shoot Cato, and attempts to do so only to be interrupted by Peeta being attacked by the muttations. Despite her cold-bloodedness, she is nonetheless extremely relieved at not having to kill her allies Rue and Peeta. As the series progresses, however, her cold-bloodedness increases, to the point where she objectively discusses how to kill everyone (but Peeta) involved in her second Hunger Games in Catching Fire (though she ultimately has to kill only one combatant), and by the third novel is depicted killing an unarmed female civilian during a mission, with apparent remorse.
In Catching Fire, Katniss struggles to understand Panem political issues as she has had very little education or experience of politics.[8] She also gradually realizes that there are more important things than survival and decides she is willing to die for Peeta and the rebellion.
Skills[edit]
Katniss is a highly skilled archer, hunter, and trapper, having learned these from her father and Gale, honed to keep her family from starving. She uses her archery and her daring to score an 11 (out of a possible 12) during the pre-games judging. She has been well educated on edible, medicinal, and poisonous plant life of District 12. Additionally, she has a singing voice that is so beautiful birds stay quiet to listen, also from her father, although she has been reluctant to sing since his death (she claims that it's because music is useless for practical survival, but she suspects it's actually because music reminds her too much of him). Katniss is a skilled tree-climber, which has benefited her in hunting and the Games. She is usually very logical except for times when her emotions get in the way. Peeta mentions that she has an effect on people around her, the image she projects, and he admires her for it.
Physical appearance[edit]
Katniss is described as having "straight black hair, olive skin, and grey eyes", which are typical characteristics of the Seam; the poorest area of District 12. Katniss normally wears her hair in a long braid down her back. She is thin and not very tall, but is strong for her size from hunting to feed her family in the woods outside of District 12. Katniss is sixteen years old during the 74th Hunger Games and seventeen during the Quarter Quell. She also wears a pin of a mockingjay during the games.
Critical reception[edit]
Katniss has received mostly positive reviews. In a review for The Hunger Games, Stephen King said she was a "cool kid" with a "lame name," before adding, "once I got over [her] name...I got to like her a lot."[9] Francisca Goldsmith in Booklist said, "Although Katniss may be skilled with a bow and arrow and adept at analyzing her opponents' next moves, she has much to learn about personal sentiments, especially her own."[10] Publishers Weekly says, "It's a credit to Collins's skill at characterization that Katniss, like a new Theseus, is cold, calculating and still likeable."[11] The Cleveland Plain Dealer stated in a review for Catching Fire that "Katniss in a pensive mood seems out of step with the kick-butt assassin," before adding that her loyalty and kindheartedness were enjoyed.[12] John Green, in the New York Times, called Katniss a "memorably complex and fascinating heroine".[13] Also in The New York Times, Katie Roiphe said that Katniss in Mockingjay was "a great character without being exactly likeable. [She] is bossy, moody, bratty, demanding, prickly", and commented that this is what makes many recent literature heroines likeable.[14] Entertainment Weekly compared Katniss to Bella Swan from the Twilight Saga and said that "unlike Twilight's passive, angsty Bella, Katniss is a self-possessed young woman who demonstrates equal parts compassion and fearlessness."[15]
Laura Miller of Salon.com finds Katniss too virtuous and without motivation, negatively contrasting Katniss to Bella of Twilight, saying, "In some ways, Katniss is more passive than Bella, allowed to have all kinds of goodies but only if she demonstrates her virtue by not really wanting them in the first place," and, "For all her irritating flaws, Bella, at least, has the courage of her desire. For what, besides a well-earned vengeance, does Katniss Everdeen truly hunger?" However, Miller did think that she was "in many respects an improvement on...Bella".[16] However, The Daily Telegraph '​s David Gritten labelled her "a great role model for girls" who "has love interests, but doesn’t mope passively over boys".[17]
Film adaptation[edit]



Jennifer Lawrence portrayed Katniss Everdeen in the book's film adaptation.
Actresses Lyndsy Fonseca[18] and Kaya Scodelario[19] expressed interest in the film and received scripts in October 2010,[20] while Oscar-nominated actress Hailee Steinfeld met with director Gary Ross.[21] Chloë Grace Moretz,[22] Malese Jow,[23] and Jodelle Ferland[24] publicly expressed interest in playing Katniss. Lionsgate confirmed in March 2011 that about 30 actresses either met with them or read for the role, including Jennifer Lawrence, Abigail Breslin, Emma Roberts, Saoirse Ronan, Emily Browning, and Shailene Woodley, as well as Steinfeld, Moretz, Fonseca, and Scodelario.[25] On March 16, 2011 it was announced that Jennifer Lawrence of Winter's Bone landed the coveted role of Katniss Everdeen.[26] Lawrence was 20 at the time, a bit older than the character.[27] However, author Suzanne Collins said that the actress who plays Katniss has to have "a certain maturity and power" and said she would rather the actress be older than younger.[28] Collins states that Lawrence was the "only one who truly captured the character I wrote in the book" and that she had "every essential quality necessary to play Katniss."[29]

References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ "Who Will You Support?". Scholastic. Retrieved May 15, 2010.
2.Jump up ^ It is interesting to note that the scientific name of the Katniss genus, Sagittaria, means She that throws arrows in Latin.
3.^ Jump up to: a b Margolis, Rick (November 1, 2008). "A Killer Story: An Interview with Suzanne Collins, Author of "The Hunger Games"". School Library Journal. Retrieved 30 June 2010.
4.^ Jump up to: a b "(The Hunger Games #3) by Suzanne Collins- Author Q & A". Powell's Books. 2010. Retrieved 22 November 2011.
5.Jump up ^ Baird Hardy, Elizabeth (September 17, 2010). "Professor Sprout Goes to District 12 and the Arena: Some 'Hunger Games' Plant and Berry Thought". The Hogwarts Professor. Retrieved December 23, 2010.
6.Jump up ^ Jordan, Tina (August 12, 2010). "Suzanne Collins on the books she loves". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved March 20, 2012.
7.Jump up ^ Marglios, Rick (August 1, 2010). "The Last Battle: WIth 'Mockingjay' on its way, Suzanne Collins weighs down on Katniss and the Capitol". School Library Journal. Retrieved 30 August 2010.
8.Jump up ^ Hopkinson, Deborah. "Suzanne Collins Interview-Catching Fire". BookPage. Retrieved 30 June 2010.
9.Jump up ^ Stephen King (September 8, 2008). "Book Review: The Hunger Games". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved December 29, 2008.
10.Jump up ^ Francisca Goldsmith (September 1, 2008). "The Hunger Games". Booklist. Retrieved December 29, 2008.
11.Jump up ^ Whalen Turner, Megan. "Editorial Reviews". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved July 3, 2010. Unknown parameter |DUPLICATE_work= ignored (help)
12.Jump up ^ Welch, Rollie (September 6, 2009). "'Catching Fire' brings back Suzanne Collins's kindhearted killer". The Cleveland Plain Dealer. Retrieved August 28, 2010.
13.Jump up ^ John Green (7 November 2008). "Scary New World". The New York Times. Retrieved August 31, 2008.
14.Jump up ^ Roiphe, Katie (September 8, 2010). "Survivor". The New York Times. Retrieved September 14, 2010.
15.Jump up ^ Sperling, Nicole (October 15, 2010). "'The Hunger Games': Taking the book world (and Hollywood) by storm". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved October 18, 2010.
16.Jump up ^ Miller, Laura (September 5, 2010). ""The Hunger Games" vs. "Twilight"". Salon. Retrieved February 27, 2012.
17.Jump up ^ Gritten, David (March 26, 2012). "Why has 'The Hunger Games' outdone 'Twilight'?". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved March 30, 2012.
18.Jump up ^ Heldman, Breanne L. (October 11, 2010). "Lyndsy Foneseca Ready to Devour 'Hunger Games'". NextMovie. Retrieved October 13, 2010.
19.Jump up ^ "Kaya Scodelario Has Hunger Games Script and Thanks Fans". Jabberjays.com. October 12, 2010. Retrieved October 13, 2010. |first1= missing |last1= in Authors list (help)
20.Jump up ^ Staskiewicz, Keith (October 12, 2010). "Kaya Scodelario and Lyndsy Fonseca receive 'The Hunger Games' script". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved October 13, 2010.
21.Jump up ^ Rosenfield, Kat (February 28, 2011). "'Oscars 2011 Red Carpet: Hailee Steinfeld Reveals She's Talked With 'Hunger Games' Director Gary Ross". MTV Hollywood Crush. Retrieved March 9, 2011.
22.Jump up ^ "'Hunger Games' News: Chloe Moretz Would 'Absolutely Die' To Play Katniss". MTV.com. October 4, 2010. Retrieved July 14, 2012.
23.Jump up ^ Wilkinson, Amy (October 26, 2010). "Malese Jow Talks Katniss Role In 'Hunger Games': 'I Would Give It 2,000 Percent'". Hollywood Crush. Retrieved November 7, 2010.
24.Jump up ^ Franich, Darren (November 1, 2010). "'The Hunger Games': Jodelle Ferland dresses as Katniss for Halloween". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved November 7, 2010.
25.Jump up ^ Staskiewicz, Keith (3 March 2011). "'Hunger Games': Jennifer Lawrence, Saoirse Ronan, Chloe Moretz, Emma Roberts, and more up for Katniss – EXCLUSIVE". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 12 March 2011.
26.Jump up ^ Joshua L. Weinstein (2011-03-16). "Exclusive: Jennifer Lawrence Gets Lead Role in 'The Hunger Games'". TheWrap.com. Retrieved 2011-03-17.
27.Jump up ^ Staskiewicz, Keith (17 March 2011). "'Hunger Games': Is Jennifer Lawrence the Katniss of your dreams?". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 21 March 2011.
28.Jump up ^ Valby, Karen (17 March 2011). "'Hunger Games' director Gary Ross talks about 'the easiest casting decision of my life' – EXCLUSIVE". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 21 March 2011.
29.Jump up ^ Franich, Darren (21 March 2011). "'Hunger Games': Suzanne Collins talks Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss – EXCLUSIVE". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 21 March 2011.



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Katniss Everdeen
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Katniss Everdeen
The Hunger Games character
Katniss Everdeen.jpg
Katniss Everdeen, as portrayed by Jennifer Lawrence in the film The Hunger Games

First appearance
The Hunger Games
Last appearance
Mockingjay
Created by
Suzanne Collins
Portrayed by
Jennifer Lawrence
Information

Nickname(s)
Catnip (by Gale)
 Sweetheart (by Haymitch and Peeta)
 Girl on Fire (by Cinna)
Aliases
The Girl on Fire
 The Mockingjay
Gender
Female
Title
Victor of the 74th Hunger Games
(with Peeta Mellark)
 Tribute from District 12
(with Peeta Mellark)
Family
Mr. Everdeen
(father, deceased)
Mrs. Everdeen
(mother)
Primrose Everdeen
(sister, deceased)
Spouse(s)
Peeta Mellark
Children
Two unnamed children
Relatives
Mr. Mellark
(father-in-law, deceased)
Mrs. Mellark
(mother-in-law, deceased)
Katniss Everdeen is a fictional character and the protagonist of The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins.[1] Her name comes from an edible plant called katniss.[2] Academy Award-winning actress Jennifer Lawrence portrayed Katniss in the films The Hunger Games, and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. She will reprise her role in the sequels The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1, and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2.
Katniss and her family come from District 12, a coal-mining district that is the poorest and least populated district in the dystopian fictional autocratic nation of Panem. In the course of the first book, The Hunger Games, Katniss volunteers to replace her sister, Primrose "Prim" Everdeen, after she is chosen to compete in the Hunger Games, a televised fight to the death. Katniss, after an alliance with Rue from District 11 (who reminded Katniss of her own sister), a 12-year-old who had a very touching death, she joins up with fellow District 12 tribute Peeta Mellark, and the pair compete in the Games together. She uses her knowledge of hunting and archery to survive, and the two become the victors after defying the Capitol's attempt to force one to kill the other. Throughout the next two novels, Catching Fire and Mockingjay, Katniss becomes the symbol of a rebellion for the twelve districts against the Capitol's oppression.



Contents  [hide]
1 Origins 1.1 Name
2 In the books 2.1 The Hunger Games
2.2 Catching Fire
2.3 Mockingjay 2.3.1 Epilogue

3 Characterization 3.1 Background
3.2 Personality
3.3 Skills
3.4 Physical appearance
4 Critical reception
5 Film adaptation
6 References

Origins[edit]
The idea for the trilogy was based in part on the myth of Theseus and the Minotaur, in which seven boys and seven girls from Athens every year are sent against their will to be devoured by the Minotaur, a cycle that doesn't stop until Theseus kills the Minotaur. Collins, who heard the story when she was eight years old, was unsettled by its ruthlessness and cruelty. Collins said, "In her own way, Katniss is a futuristic Theseus."[3] Collins also characterized the novels with the fearful sensations she experienced when her father was fighting in the Vietnam War.[3]
In the novels, Katniss is extensively knowledgeable in foraging, wildlife, hunting, and survival techniques. Collins knew some of this background from her father, who grew up in the Great Depression and was forced to hunt to augment an extremely low food supply, although Collins saw her father bring home food from the wild during her own childhood as well. In addition, Collins researched the subject using a large stack of wilderness survival guidebooks.[4]
Katniss and the other tributes are, in their time before participating in their Hunger Games, compelled to compete for the hearts of sponsors who donate money that can be used to buy vital supplies for them when they are in the arena. The concept of how the audiences carry nearly as much force as actual characters is based on how, in reality television and in the Roman games, the audience can both "respond with great enthusiasm or play a role in your elimination," as Collins said.[4]
Name[edit]
Katniss's first name comes from a plant called sagittaria or arrowhead, which is a tuber plant usually found in water.[5] The root of this plant can be eaten, as Katniss does in the book. Her father once said: "As long as you can find yourself, you'll never starve." The plant also shares its name with a constellation in the Zodiac called Sagittarius, or "The Archer", which may also reference Katniss's skills in archery.
Her last name comes from Bathsheba Everdene, the central character in Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy. According to Collins, "The two are very different, but both struggle with knowing their hearts".[6]
In the books[edit]
The Hunger Games[edit]
Main article: The Hunger Games (novel)
The Hunger Games takes place in the ruins of North America: a country called Panem, containing 12 known districts. When her sister, Prim, is selected (in her first year of eligibility) as District 12's female tribute, Katniss volunteers to take her place on the stage. As Effie asks for a round of applause for Katniss, everyone is silent. After a few minutes, most of the crowd presses their three fingers against their mouths and holds it out to her. Katniss describes this as an ancient sign for saying "admiration," "goodbye to someone you love," and "respect."
After Katniss is selected, Effie chooses the male tribute for the Games. Peeta Mellark is picked, and Katniss remembers something he did to help her when they were just eleven. During the time after Katniss' father died, Katniss's family was slowly starving to death. One day, Katniss took some of Prim's baby clothes on the streets to sell to any willing people. No one bought them. Katniss was sad and very weak, since she was unable to take any food home for her family. On the way home, she passed the bakery, where Peeta and his family work. Katniss felt dizzy when she inhaled the smell of baking bread. Then, she had the idea of looking for something, anything, in the trashcans of the wealthier people in District Twelve. As she was checking Peeta's bakery's trash bins, Peeta's mother caught her and yelled at her. Peeta saw this, and purposely burned some bread in the bakery. This got his mother's attention, and she started screaming at him. She hit him on the cheek, bruising him. She told him to throw the burned bread to their pig outside, but when he went outside, he discreetly threw the bread to Katniss. Katniss returned home with the bread, and somehow the day after that, had the courage to venture out into the woods, where she met Gale, and continued to hunt for food for her family with him by her side.
After Katniss and Peeta have been selected and said goodbyes to their families, they are whisked away by Haymitch Abernathy (a previous District Twelve Victor, extreme drunkard, and their mentor) and Effie Trinket to the high-speed train that awaits them. Riding the train, they are stunned by how fast it moves.
When they arrive in the Capitol, Katniss and Peeta can't help but gawk at all the amazing sights District Twelve wasn't able to show. Katniss is then met by her prep team, Flavius, Octavia, and Venia, and her stylist, Cinna, who prepare Katniss for the Opening Ceremonies. All the tributes wear something that represents their district's industry. Coming from District Twelve, Katniss and Peeta expect to be dressed in mining costumes. Cinna, however, decides to dress them in a plain black unitard and shiny laced up boots that burns with fake flames when lit. Katniss and Peeta are initially apprehensive at this arrangement, but their worries bring them closer together. Just before the parade, Cinna lights their headdresses and to Katniss and Peeta's surprise and relief, it doesn't burn. In addition, Cinna also suggests that they hold hands to present them as "together and a team." This distinguishes Katniss and Peeta from the rest of the tributes not only because they have better costumes, but also that they are warm and relatively friendly to each other in comparison to the other tributes, who have remained cold and stiff with each other. With this new development, both gain the attention (and attraction) of sponsors in the Capitol, and both are unforgettable. From that moment on, Katniss is known as "The Girl On Fire".
During the Games Katniss forms an alliance with Rue, the female tribute from District 11, until Rue is killed by the male tribute from District 1, Marvel. Later, the rules are changed so that if the remaining two tributes come from the same district, they will both win. Katniss hurries to find Peeta and they resume their "star-crossed lovers" reputation, gaining sympathy from sponsors. They outlast the other tributes and the rule change is revoked, meaning there can only be one victor of the Hunger Games. Assuming the Gamemakers would rather have two victors than none, she suggests that they both commit suicide by eating poisonous nightlock berries. The ploy works and Katniss and Peeta are both declared victors of the 74th Hunger Games.
Catching Fire[edit]
Main article: Catching Fire
Katniss and Peeta go on the Victory Tour, which is a visit to each district by the winners, strategically placed between each Hunger Games. Katniss becomes aware that uprisings are erupting. In addition, the nation's leader, President Snow, is making Katniss convince the nation that she is really in love with Peeta and that her suicide pact was an act of love rather than defiance, in order to quell dissent. Gale has been presented to the nation as her cousin, but President Snow implies his knowledge that Katniss has feelings for him and threatens to have him killed to gain leverage.
In order to save her family and friends, Katniss agrees to follow the Capitol's agenda. Peeta does the same when he realizes what is at stake. Peeta even proposes marriage to her, and she accepts, but even at that point President Snow conveys to her that her actions are insufficient. Katniss comes to realize that the rebellion in the districts is not within her power to suppress, making it impossible for her to satisfy President Snow's demands. Katniss is also confused as to the nature of her feelings for both Gale and Peeta, both of which are complicated by her fears for the future and her unwillingness to have children who themselves could be subjected to the Hunger Games. When the Quarter Quell—a special Hunger Games that takes place every 25 years and has a special set of rules—is announced, it is proclaimed that all of the current year's tributes will be selected from the pool of previous Hunger Games victors. District 12 has only three living victors: Katniss, Peeta, and Haymitch Abernathy, who won the 50th Games and successfully mentored Katniss the year before. As Katniss is the only living female victor in District 12, she is the only possible female tribute, and Peeta volunteers to take Haymitch's place when Haymitch is selected. Katniss and Peeta return to the arena, working closely to survive and forming alliances and close friendships in the process.
Katniss is taken from the arena and discovers that the tributes of many districts had coordinated an escape plan and used a stolen hovercraft to fly to District 13, which was not destroyed as the Capitol had claimed. However, during the escape, Peeta is captured by the Capitol and afterwards, Gale informs Katniss that District 12 was bombed and destroyed but that her family is safe.
Mockingjay[edit]
Main article: Mockingjay
In Mockingjay, Katniss visits the subterranean civilization of District 13 and meets with the people and their leader, President Alma Coin, after being taken to see the remains of District 12. A love triangle between Katniss, Peeta, and Gale slowly unfolds, forcing Katniss to decide whom she really wants to be with—a situation complicated by the fact that Peeta is currently being tortured in the Capitol while Gale is at Katniss's side.
Katniss agrees to be the symbolic leader of their rebellion: "the Mockingjay", the face of the rebels. She discovers that Cinna has been killed by the Capitol, but the rest of her prep team survived in District 13's captivity; they prep Katniss for the cameras when she agrees to start doing propaganda pieces for the rebels. Katniss becomes increasingly emotionally unstable by the horrors she witnesses—mass slaughter, the destruction of the only home she has ever known with 90% of the citizens of District 12 dead, many friends killed due to their association with her, and Peeta being beaten on live television. After a rescue mission in which a team from District 13 brings Peeta back, she finds out his memories have been distorted by tracker jacker venom, a mind-control torturing method referred to as "hijacking". He now hates and wants to kill Katniss, believing she is a muttation created by the Capitol. Katniss becomes even more determined to kill Snow after this.
She, along with a group of sharpshooters that include Gale, Finnick Odair (from the Quarter Quell in the previous book), and later joined by Peeta (much to Katniss's dismay) sneak into the Capitol at the cost of several of their own lives in an attempt to kill Snow. As they get close to the presidential mansion, an array of bombs are dropped from a Hovercraft, with only some exploding, killing the refugee Capitol children on whom they were dropped. Rebel medics, including Prim, rush to help the children, but as they arrive the rest of the bombs explode. Prim is killed in front of Katniss, while Katniss's body is severely burned. Although she makes a remarkable physical recovery, Katniss temporarily loses the ability to speak, traumatized by the death of her sister. It is possible that Gale was involved in the making of the bombs that killed Prim.
Meanwhile, President Snow is arrested, found guilty of his crimes against the people of Panem, and sentenced to death. Per Katniss' request, she is designated as his executioner. Before the execution, Snow tells Katniss that the bombs weren't his but the rebels' way of gaining sympathy in the Capitol for their cause, making it look like the work of Snow. Although she initially refuses to believe Snow, Katniss realizes that the attack method was identical to a trap Gale and fellow Quarter Quell tribute Beetee had designed. Eventually, Katniss realises that someone high up in the ranks of the Rebels would have had to order to have Prim on the front line, despite her age, and comes to suspect that Coin ordered the attack on the children in order to trick the Capitol citizens into thinking that the government had killed their children, therefore winning the loyalty of the Capitol's citizens and that Prim was there solely to subdue and unhinge Katniss.
Furthermore, Coin suggests that there will be one last Hunger Games where the children from the Capitol will be reaped. She seeks the approval of the surviving victors before making these games official, and Katniss votes yes as a means of gaining Coin's trust. During the supposed execution of Snow, she instead shoots Coin, due to her being responsible for Prim's death. She then attempts to kill herself with the suicide pill attached to her uniform, but Peeta stops her. She is then arrested and placed in solitary confinement, where she attempts to commit suicide by starving herself and overdosing. However, she is ultimately released on the grounds that she wasn't mentally well at the time of the assassination and is sent back to District 12. Katniss, accompanied by Haymitch, goes back to her home in Victor's Village and is put under care.
Driven into a deep depression, Katniss refuses to leave her house until Peeta (who by then has largely recovered from his brainwashing) returns to District 12 to plant primroses outside, in memory of her sister. Katniss begins to regain her mental health, and she and Peeta deal with their feelings by creating a book composed of information about deceased tributes, friends, and family (eventually Haymitch joins them in this project). Katniss's mother, who chose not to return to District 12 because of all the painful memories of her deceased husband and daughter, decides to work in District 4 as medical personnel. Gale got a "fancy job" in District 2 and is seen regularly on television. A few hundred District 12 survivors return home and rebuild it, where they no longer mine coal, producing food and manufacturing medicine instead. The novel ends with Katniss admitting that she does indeed love Peeta.
Epilogue[edit]
In the epilogue, Katniss and Peeta are married and have two children. Their first child, a girl, has Katniss' dark hair and Peeta's blue eyes; their second child, a boy, has Katniss' grey eyes and Peeta's blond curls. Katniss still wakes up screaming in the night and is worried about telling her children about the nightmares involving their parents' contribution in the Games and the rebellion. She finds no pleasure in life at times because she knows it could all be taken away at once. To soothe her traumatized psyche, Katniss makes lists in her mind of every act of kindness she has ever seen, an obsession that she realizes is simply a "repetitive game" to keep darker thoughts at bay. In the series' last words, Katniss offers one final observation: "But there are much worse games to play."
Characterization[edit]
Background[edit]
Katniss and her family live in the futuristic nation of Panem, located on the continent once known as North America, which was destroyed in a global catastrophe. Panem is run by an all-powerful city called the Capitol, located in the Rocky Mountains, which is surrounded by 12 districts, each having a specific purpose in supplying something to the Capitol. The story starts in District 12, Katniss's home, the coal-mining district. District 12 is the poorest of the districts, and Katniss lives with her mother and sister in the poorest part of town, known as the Seam.
Katniss's father, a coal miner, was killed in a mine explosion when Katniss was 11. After his death, Katniss's mother went into a deep depression and was unable to take care of her children. On the brink of starvation a few weeks before her twelfth birthday Katniss wandered into the richer part of town, hoping to steal some scraps from the garbage bins of rich merchants. The baker's son, Peeta, whom she did not know, took a beating from his mother for intentionally burning two loaves of bread, knowing that he would be told to throw them out. He was told to give the two loaves of bread to the pig, but instead gave them to Katniss. Katniss took them home to her family, who had not eaten in days. The bread gave them hope and kept them motivated, leaving Katniss feeling resentfully indebted to Peeta.
A few days after the incident with the bread, Katniss decided to go into the woods surrounding her district to hunt illegally and gather plants to eat, which was how her father had gotten most of the family's food before he died. There she met a boy named Gale Hawthorne. Together, they provide for both their families and develop a strong friendship.
Katniss's mother slowly surfaces from her depression and is able to return to her job as an apothecary, and Katniss makes an effort to forgive her. However, despite her mending relationship with her mother, strong friendship with Gale, and the increasingly strong affections she gains for Peeta, Katniss remains adamant that Prim, her younger sister, is "the only person she's certain she loves".
Personality[edit]
Collins has described Katniss as being an independent strong survivalist, lethal, but good at thinking outside the box.[7] Katniss's past hardships (her father's death, mother's depression, and near starvation) have made her a survivor, and she will endure hardship and hard work to preserve her own life and the life of her family. She states herself that nice people are the most dangerous because they get inside of her and that they could hurt her badly when she least expected it. She has shown she will protect those she loves, no matter the cost to herself, as shown when she volunteers for the Games to save her little sister Prim, when she shields Gale to keep him from being whipped, even when it means a lash for herself, and when she stoically decides during her second Games to die to save Peeta. Because the majority of her time before the Games was spent keeping herself and her family alive, she does not understand many social cues and is often ignorant of other people's emotions, such as when she doesn't recognize Gale's hints at his growing affection for her. She has no experience with romance or love other than that of her family, and doesn't believe she wants it. She never actually understands that Peeta was telling the truth when he declared his love for her in the pre-game interview until after the games itself. She also has large trust issues, and does not trust anyone. She plans never to be married nor have children that would grow up subject to the Reaping.
She quickly adapts to the "kill or be killed" philosophy of the games and coldly considers how she will kill her fellow competitors during the first Games, at one point rationalizing that she is already a killer due to her hunting experience, though she is briefly disturbed after her first direct kill, Marvel. By the end of the first Games, she is prepared to shoot Cato, and attempts to do so only to be interrupted by Peeta being attacked by the muttations. Despite her cold-bloodedness, she is nonetheless extremely relieved at not having to kill her allies Rue and Peeta. As the series progresses, however, her cold-bloodedness increases, to the point where she objectively discusses how to kill everyone (but Peeta) involved in her second Hunger Games in Catching Fire (though she ultimately has to kill only one combatant), and by the third novel is depicted killing an unarmed female civilian during a mission, with apparent remorse.
In Catching Fire, Katniss struggles to understand Panem political issues as she has had very little education or experience of politics.[8] She also gradually realizes that there are more important things than survival and decides she is willing to die for Peeta and the rebellion.
Skills[edit]
Katniss is a highly skilled archer, hunter, and trapper, having learned these from her father and Gale, honed to keep her family from starving. She uses her archery and her daring to score an 11 (out of a possible 12) during the pre-games judging. She has been well educated on edible, medicinal, and poisonous plant life of District 12. Additionally, she has a singing voice that is so beautiful birds stay quiet to listen, also from her father, although she has been reluctant to sing since his death (she claims that it's because music is useless for practical survival, but she suspects it's actually because music reminds her too much of him). Katniss is a skilled tree-climber, which has benefited her in hunting and the Games. She is usually very logical except for times when her emotions get in the way. Peeta mentions that she has an effect on people around her, the image she projects, and he admires her for it.
Physical appearance[edit]
Katniss is described as having "straight black hair, olive skin, and grey eyes", which are typical characteristics of the Seam; the poorest area of District 12. Katniss normally wears her hair in a long braid down her back. She is thin and not very tall, but is strong for her size from hunting to feed her family in the woods outside of District 12. Katniss is sixteen years old during the 74th Hunger Games and seventeen during the Quarter Quell. She also wears a pin of a mockingjay during the games.
Critical reception[edit]
Katniss has received mostly positive reviews. In a review for The Hunger Games, Stephen King said she was a "cool kid" with a "lame name," before adding, "once I got over [her] name...I got to like her a lot."[9] Francisca Goldsmith in Booklist said, "Although Katniss may be skilled with a bow and arrow and adept at analyzing her opponents' next moves, she has much to learn about personal sentiments, especially her own."[10] Publishers Weekly says, "It's a credit to Collins's skill at characterization that Katniss, like a new Theseus, is cold, calculating and still likeable."[11] The Cleveland Plain Dealer stated in a review for Catching Fire that "Katniss in a pensive mood seems out of step with the kick-butt assassin," before adding that her loyalty and kindheartedness were enjoyed.[12] John Green, in the New York Times, called Katniss a "memorably complex and fascinating heroine".[13] Also in The New York Times, Katie Roiphe said that Katniss in Mockingjay was "a great character without being exactly likeable. [She] is bossy, moody, bratty, demanding, prickly", and commented that this is what makes many recent literature heroines likeable.[14] Entertainment Weekly compared Katniss to Bella Swan from the Twilight Saga and said that "unlike Twilight's passive, angsty Bella, Katniss is a self-possessed young woman who demonstrates equal parts compassion and fearlessness."[15]
Laura Miller of Salon.com finds Katniss too virtuous and without motivation, negatively contrasting Katniss to Bella of Twilight, saying, "In some ways, Katniss is more passive than Bella, allowed to have all kinds of goodies but only if she demonstrates her virtue by not really wanting them in the first place," and, "For all her irritating flaws, Bella, at least, has the courage of her desire. For what, besides a well-earned vengeance, does Katniss Everdeen truly hunger?" However, Miller did think that she was "in many respects an improvement on...Bella".[16] However, The Daily Telegraph '​s David Gritten labelled her "a great role model for girls" who "has love interests, but doesn’t mope passively over boys".[17]
Film adaptation[edit]



Jennifer Lawrence portrayed Katniss Everdeen in the book's film adaptation.
Actresses Lyndsy Fonseca[18] and Kaya Scodelario[19] expressed interest in the film and received scripts in October 2010,[20] while Oscar-nominated actress Hailee Steinfeld met with director Gary Ross.[21] Chloë Grace Moretz,[22] Malese Jow,[23] and Jodelle Ferland[24] publicly expressed interest in playing Katniss. Lionsgate confirmed in March 2011 that about 30 actresses either met with them or read for the role, including Jennifer Lawrence, Abigail Breslin, Emma Roberts, Saoirse Ronan, Emily Browning, and Shailene Woodley, as well as Steinfeld, Moretz, Fonseca, and Scodelario.[25] On March 16, 2011 it was announced that Jennifer Lawrence of Winter's Bone landed the coveted role of Katniss Everdeen.[26] Lawrence was 20 at the time, a bit older than the character.[27] However, author Suzanne Collins said that the actress who plays Katniss has to have "a certain maturity and power" and said she would rather the actress be older than younger.[28] Collins states that Lawrence was the "only one who truly captured the character I wrote in the book" and that she had "every essential quality necessary to play Katniss."[29]

References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ "Who Will You Support?". Scholastic. Retrieved May 15, 2010.
2.Jump up ^ It is interesting to note that the scientific name of the Katniss genus, Sagittaria, means She that throws arrows in Latin.
3.^ Jump up to: a b Margolis, Rick (November 1, 2008). "A Killer Story: An Interview with Suzanne Collins, Author of "The Hunger Games"". School Library Journal. Retrieved 30 June 2010.
4.^ Jump up to: a b "(The Hunger Games #3) by Suzanne Collins- Author Q & A". Powell's Books. 2010. Retrieved 22 November 2011.
5.Jump up ^ Baird Hardy, Elizabeth (September 17, 2010). "Professor Sprout Goes to District 12 and the Arena: Some 'Hunger Games' Plant and Berry Thought". The Hogwarts Professor. Retrieved December 23, 2010.
6.Jump up ^ Jordan, Tina (August 12, 2010). "Suzanne Collins on the books she loves". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved March 20, 2012.
7.Jump up ^ Marglios, Rick (August 1, 2010). "The Last Battle: WIth 'Mockingjay' on its way, Suzanne Collins weighs down on Katniss and the Capitol". School Library Journal. Retrieved 30 August 2010.
8.Jump up ^ Hopkinson, Deborah. "Suzanne Collins Interview-Catching Fire". BookPage. Retrieved 30 June 2010.
9.Jump up ^ Stephen King (September 8, 2008). "Book Review: The Hunger Games". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved December 29, 2008.
10.Jump up ^ Francisca Goldsmith (September 1, 2008). "The Hunger Games". Booklist. Retrieved December 29, 2008.
11.Jump up ^ Whalen Turner, Megan. "Editorial Reviews". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved July 3, 2010. Unknown parameter |DUPLICATE_work= ignored (help)
12.Jump up ^ Welch, Rollie (September 6, 2009). "'Catching Fire' brings back Suzanne Collins's kindhearted killer". The Cleveland Plain Dealer. Retrieved August 28, 2010.
13.Jump up ^ John Green (7 November 2008). "Scary New World". The New York Times. Retrieved August 31, 2008.
14.Jump up ^ Roiphe, Katie (September 8, 2010). "Survivor". The New York Times. Retrieved September 14, 2010.
15.Jump up ^ Sperling, Nicole (October 15, 2010). "'The Hunger Games': Taking the book world (and Hollywood) by storm". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved October 18, 2010.
16.Jump up ^ Miller, Laura (September 5, 2010). ""The Hunger Games" vs. "Twilight"". Salon. Retrieved February 27, 2012.
17.Jump up ^ Gritten, David (March 26, 2012). "Why has 'The Hunger Games' outdone 'Twilight'?". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved March 30, 2012.
18.Jump up ^ Heldman, Breanne L. (October 11, 2010). "Lyndsy Foneseca Ready to Devour 'Hunger Games'". NextMovie. Retrieved October 13, 2010.
19.Jump up ^ "Kaya Scodelario Has Hunger Games Script and Thanks Fans". Jabberjays.com. October 12, 2010. Retrieved October 13, 2010. |first1= missing |last1= in Authors list (help)
20.Jump up ^ Staskiewicz, Keith (October 12, 2010). "Kaya Scodelario and Lyndsy Fonseca receive 'The Hunger Games' script". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved October 13, 2010.
21.Jump up ^ Rosenfield, Kat (February 28, 2011). "'Oscars 2011 Red Carpet: Hailee Steinfeld Reveals She's Talked With 'Hunger Games' Director Gary Ross". MTV Hollywood Crush. Retrieved March 9, 2011.
22.Jump up ^ "'Hunger Games' News: Chloe Moretz Would 'Absolutely Die' To Play Katniss". MTV.com. October 4, 2010. Retrieved July 14, 2012.
23.Jump up ^ Wilkinson, Amy (October 26, 2010). "Malese Jow Talks Katniss Role In 'Hunger Games': 'I Would Give It 2,000 Percent'". Hollywood Crush. Retrieved November 7, 2010.
24.Jump up ^ Franich, Darren (November 1, 2010). "'The Hunger Games': Jodelle Ferland dresses as Katniss for Halloween". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved November 7, 2010.
25.Jump up ^ Staskiewicz, Keith (3 March 2011). "'Hunger Games': Jennifer Lawrence, Saoirse Ronan, Chloe Moretz, Emma Roberts, and more up for Katniss – EXCLUSIVE". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 12 March 2011.
26.Jump up ^ Joshua L. Weinstein (2011-03-16). "Exclusive: Jennifer Lawrence Gets Lead Role in 'The Hunger Games'". TheWrap.com. Retrieved 2011-03-17.
27.Jump up ^ Staskiewicz, Keith (17 March 2011). "'Hunger Games': Is Jennifer Lawrence the Katniss of your dreams?". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 21 March 2011.
28.Jump up ^ Valby, Karen (17 March 2011). "'Hunger Games' director Gary Ross talks about 'the easiest casting decision of my life' – EXCLUSIVE". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 21 March 2011.
29.Jump up ^ Franich, Darren (21 March 2011). "'Hunger Games': Suzanne Collins talks Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss – EXCLUSIVE". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 21 March 2011.



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The Hunger Games trilogy
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The Hunger Games
HGTrilogy.JPG
Boxed set

The Hunger Games
Catching Fire
Mockingjay

Author
Suzanne Collins
Country
United States
Language
English
Genre
Adventure
Science fiction
Publisher
Scholastic
Published
2008–2010
Media type
Print (hardcover)
The Hunger Games trilogy is a series of young adult science fiction[1] adventure novels by Suzanne Collins. The trilogy consists of The Hunger Games (2008), Catching Fire (2009), and Mockingjay (2010).[2][3][4] The first two books in the series were both New York Times best sellers, and Mockingjay topped all US bestseller lists upon its release.[5][6] By the time the film adaptation of The Hunger Games was released in 2012, the publisher had reported over 26 million Hunger Games trilogy books in print, including movie tie-in books.[7] In August 2012 the series ranked second, bettered only by Harry Potter, in NPR's poll of the top 100 teen novels, which asked voters to choose their favorite young adult books.[8] On August 17, 2012, Amazon announced The Hunger Games trilogy as its top seller, surpassing the record previously held by the Harry Potter series.[9] As of 2014, the trilogy has sold more than 65 million copies in the U.S. alone (more than 28 million copies of The Hunger Games, more than 19 million copies of Catching Fire, and more than 18 million copies of Mockingjay). The Hunger Games trilogy has been sold into 56 territories in 51 languages to date.



Contents  [hide]
1 Background
2 Structure
3 Plot overview 3.1 The Hunger Games
3.2 Catching Fire
3.3 Mockingjay
4 Origins and publishing history
5 Main characters
6 Critical reception
7 Film adaptations
8 Influence in Thailand
9 References
10 External links

Background[edit]
The Hunger Games trilogy takes place in an unspecified future time in a dystopian post-apocalyptic nation of Panem. The country consists of the wealthy Capitol located in the Rocky Mountains and twelve (formerly thirteen) poorer districts ruled by the Capitol. The Capitol is lavishly rich and technologically advanced but the twelve districts are in varying states of poverty – the trilogy's narrator and protagonist, Katniss Everdeen, lives in District 12, the poorest region of Panem, formerly known as Appalachia, where people regularly die of starvation. As punishment for a past rebellion (called "The Dark Days") against the Capitol wherein twelve of the districts were defeated and the thirteenth supposedly destroyed, one boy and one girl from each of the twelve districts, between the ages of twelve and eighteen, are selected by lottery to participate in the "Hunger Games" on an annual basis. The Games are a televised event with the participants, called "tributes", being forced to fight to the death in a dangerous public arena. The winning tribute and his/her home district is then rewarded with food, and supplies and riches. The purpose of the Hunger Games is to provide entertainment for the Capitol and to serve as a reminder to the Districts of the Capitol's power and lack of remorse.
Structure[edit]
Each book in The Hunger Games trilogy has three sections of nine chapters each. Collins says that this format comes from her playwriting background, which taught her to write in a three-act structure. Her previous series, The Underland Chronicles, was written in the same way, as Collins is familiar with this structure. She sees each group of nine chapters as a separate part of the story, and comments that she still calls those divisions "act breaks."[10]
Plot overview[edit]
The Hunger Games[edit]
Main article: The Hunger Games (novel)
The Hunger Games follows 16-year-old Katniss Everdeen, a girl from District 12 who volunteers for the 74th Hunger Games in place of her younger sister Primrose Everdeen. Also participating from District 12 is Peeta Mellark, a boy who has developed a secret crush on Katniss. They are mentored by District 12's only living victor, Haymitch Abernathy, who won the Games 24 years earlier and has since assumed a solitary life of alcoholism. Peeta confesses his love for Katniss in a television interview prior to the Games, leading the Capitol to portray Katniss and Peeta as "star-crossed lovers." This revelation surprises Katniss, who harbors feelings for Gale Hawthorne, her friend and hunting partner. Haymitch advises Katniss to play along and feign feelings for Peeta, in order to gain wealthy sponsors who can gift them supplies during the Games. In the arena, Katniss develops an alliance with Rue, a young tribute from District 11, and is emotionally scarred when she is killed because she reminds her of her sister. Katniss devises a memorial for Rue by placing flowers over her body as an act of defiance toward the Capitol. More than halfway through the Games, the remaining tributes are alerted to a rule change that allows both tributes from the same district to be declared victors if they are the final two standing. After learning of the change, Katniss and Peeta begin to work as a team. When all of the other tributes are dead and they appear to win the Games together, the rule change is revoked. Katniss leads Peeta in a double suicide attempt to eat poisonous berries known as nightlock, hoping that the change will be reinstated and that they will both be victorious. Their ruse is successful, and both tributes return home victorious. During and after the Games, Katniss develops genuine feelings for Peeta and struggles to balance them with the connection she feels with Gale. When it becomes clear that the Capitol is upset with her defiance, Haymitch encourages Katniss to maintain the "star-crossed lovers" act, without telling Peeta.
Catching Fire [edit]
Main article: Catching Fire
In Catching Fire, which begins six months after the conclusion of The Hunger Games, Katniss learns that her defiance in the previous novel has started a chain reaction that has inspired rebellion in the districts. President Snow threatens to harm her family and friends if she does not help to defuse the unrest in the districts and marry Peeta. Meanwhile, Peeta has become aware of Katniss's disingenuous love of him, but has also been informed of Snow's threats, and promises to help keep up the act to spare the citizens of District 12. They tour the districts as victors and plan a public wedding. While they follow Snow's orders and keep up the ruse, Katniss inadvertently fuels the rebellion, and the mockingjay pin she wears becomes its symbol. District by district, the citizens of Panem begin to stage uprisings against the Capitol. Snow announces a special 75th edition of the Hunger Games—known as the Quarter Quell—in which Katniss and Peeta are forced to compete with other past victors, effectively canceling the wedding. At Haymitch's urging, the pair team up with several other tributes, managing to destroy the arena and escape the Games. Katniss is rescued by the rebel forces from District 13, and Gale informs her that the Capitol has destroyed District 12 and captured Peeta and their District 7 ally, Johanna Mason. Katniss ultimately learns—to her surprise—that she had inadvertently been an integral part of the rebellion all along; her rescue had been jointly planned by Haymitch, Plutarch Heavensbee and Finnick Odair, among others.
Mockingjay[edit]
Main article: Mockingjay
Katniss returns home and sees the remains of District 12. Mockingjay centers on the districts' rebellion against the Capitol. It is revealed that District 13 did survive The Dark Days by living underground and is led by President Alma Coin. Katniss, after being brought to 13, agrees to become the 'Mockingjay' to recruit more rebels from the districts. However, she makes conditions that Peeta, Johanna Mason, Annie Cresta, and Enobaria, fellow victors captured by the Capitol, would not be seen as traitors and a condition where Katniss would be able to kill Snow as an act of vengeance if the rebels won. In the novel, it is revealed that Peeta has been 'hijacked' (a form of brainwashing using Tracker Jacker venom) to kill Katniss. He tries to choke her to death upon their reunion. After her healing, Katniss and a team known as the Star Squad, consisting of Gale, Peeta, Finnick, camera crew, and various other soldiers, embark on a mission to go to the Capitol to kill Snow, thus winning the rebellion. Throughout their mission, many members of the Squad die in various ways, including just-married Finnick. Towards the end of the book as Katniss approaches Snow's mansion, she sees a group of Capitol children protecting the entrance to the mansion as a shield and suddenly a Capitol hovercraft drops bombs, killing the children. However, the rebels send in medics, including Prim. An unexploded bomb goes off killing Prim instantly as soon as she notices her sister. Katniss, also injured, wakes up after being in a coma to hear that the Rebels have won and Snow is awaiting execution, which Katniss will be allowed to carry out. On meeting with Snow, he suggests that it was in fact the rebels, led by Coin, who hijacked the Capitol hovercraft and killed Prim in a move to portray Snow as barbaric. The remaining victors are then asked by Coin to vote on a final Hunger Games, using the children of high ranking Capitol officials (including Snow's granddaughter), in order to punish the Capitol for their crimes against the districts. At Snow's execution, Katniss instead kills Coin and Snow dies by choking on his own blood while laughing. This leads to Katniss's prosecution but she is deemed innocent as the jury believed she was not in a fit mental state. In the end, Katniss's mother and Gale both take jobs in different districts. In the epilogue, Katniss and Peeta remain together, Peeta's love having won out against the venom. The pair have two children, a boy and a girl.
Origins and publishing history[edit]
Collins says that she drew inspiration for the series from both classical and contemporary sources. The main classical source of inspiration came from the Greek myth of Theseus and the Minotaur. As a punishment for past crimes, Minos forces Athens to sacrifice seven youths and seven maidens to the Minotaur, by whom they are killed in a vast labyrinth. Collins says that even as a child the idea stunned her since "it was just so cruel", as Athens was forced to sacrifice its own children.
Collins also cites the Roman gladiator games. She feels that there are three key elements to create a good game; an all powerful and ruthless government, people forced to fight to the death, and it being a source of popular entertainment.[11]
A contemporary source of inspiration was Collins's recent fascination with reality television programmes. She relates this to the Hunger Games in how they are not just entertainment, but also a reminder to the districts of their rebellion. On a tired night, Collins says that while she was channel-surfing the television where she saw people competing for some prize, and then saw footage of the Iraq war. She described how the two combined in an "unsettling way" to create the first ideas for the series.[12]
The first novel in the trilogy was first published on September 14, 2008. On March 17, 2009, Lionsgate announced that it had acquired worldwide distribution rights of the film version of The Hunger Games from the film company Color Force. Soon after the acquisition, Collins began to adapt the screenplay and the two companies later went on to co-produce the film.[13]
Catching Fire was published by Scholastic on September 1, 2009. The film version of the story – also co-produced by Color Force and Lionsgate – was released in November 2013.[14]
Mockingjay was first published in hardcover by Scholastic on August 24, 2010. The film version is being split into two movies both co-produced by Color Force and Lionsgate, Mockingjay - Part 1 which will be released on November 21, 2014 and Mockingjay - Part 2 which will be released on November 20, 2015. [15]
As of October 2014, the trilogy has sold over 65 million copies in the United States.[16]
Main characters[edit]
Main article: List of The Hunger Games characters
Katniss Everdeen: The protagonist of the series, Katniss competes in the Hunger Games in each of the first two novels and constantly battles between her feelings for both Peeta and Gale. She becomes the face of the districts' rebellion after she unknowingly defies the Capitol in The Hunger Games.
Peeta Mellark: The male tribute from District 12, who has secretly been in love with Katniss since they were children. His love for her is evident throughout the series. In Mockingjay, he is "hijacked" by the Capitol and turned against Katniss, but he recovers.
Gale Hawthorne: Katniss' best friend and fellow hunter. Gale is fiercely devoted to Katniss, and their relationship borders on romantic throughout the series. He is two years older than she is, and lost his father in the same mine explosion that killed Katniss' father.
Haymitch Abernathy: Katniss and Peeta's drunken friend and mentor for the Games. He won the 50th Hunger Games and was the only living victor from District 12 before Katniss and Peeta won the 74th Hunger Games.
Effie Trinket: Katniss and Peeta's escort for the games. Effie, as a citizen of the capitol, dresses very oddly and speaks in a distinct capitol accent. She is very proper and constantly worries about keeping things on schedule. She helps Haymitch send sponsor gifts to Katniss and Peeta during the games.
President Snow: The main antagonist of the series, President Snow is the head of the Capitol and all of Panem. Provoked by the survival of two tributes in a single Hunger Games, Snow demands of Peeta and Katniss to prove the reason behind it all was just they were madly in love. When the Capitol is defeated by the rebels, (in the last book) President Snow dies.
Primrose Everdeen: Primrose Everdeen, almost always called just "Prim," is Katniss's 12-year-old sister (by Mockingjay, she is 13) who was chosen by lottery to be in the Hunger Games. Katniss volunteers to take her place. Prim is a sweet little child whom everyone loves, and she regularly helps their mother heal the sick.
Cinna: Katniss's stylist in both of her Hunger Games, he urges her on to become the symbol of the rebellion and designs the dresses that she wears before entering the games, as well as armor she wears in the war.
Finnick Odair: Finnick is a former victor from District 4 who is selected to participate in the 75th Hunger Games. He later becomes a member of the rebellion against the Capitol.
Critical reception[edit]
All three books have received positive reception. Praise has focused on the addictive quality of especially the first book,[17] and the action.[18] John Green of The New York Times compared The Hunger Games with Scott Westerfeld's Uglies series.[19] Catching Fire was praised for improving upon the first book.[20] Mockingjay was praised for its portrayal of violence,[21] world building, and romantic intrigue.[22]
Criticism has come regarding the reality TV "death game" theme, which is also present in The 10th Victim, Battle Royale, Das Millionenspiel, The Running Man, The Long Walk,[17] and Series 7: The Contenders.[23] Also, the "romantic dithering"[24] and poor love triangle of the second installment was under criticism.[25] The last book, Mockingjay, was criticized by fans of the book and critics for not tying up loose ends.[26]
Film adaptations[edit]
Main article: The Hunger Games (film series)
Lionsgate Entertainment acquired worldwide distribution rights to a film adaptation of The Hunger Games, which is produced by Nina Jacobson's Color Force production company.[27] Collins adapted the novel for film herself,[27] along with Gary Ross.[28] The film began production in spring 2011 and ended summer 2011.[29] It was released March 23, 2012, with a PG-13 rating.[30][31] Gary Ross directed; the cast includes Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss, Josh Hutcherson as Peeta and Liam Hemsworth as Gale.[32][33][34] Catching Fire was released on November 22, 2013, with the main cast signed on to return but director Gary Ross will not return.[35][36] In April 2012, the director's position was offered to Francis Lawrence.[37] Lawrence will also be directing Mockingjay, which has been split into two parts.[38]
Influence in Thailand[edit]
A gesture (a raised up hand with three middle fingers pressed together) used in The Hunger Games trilogy to express unity with people striving to survive was used in 2014 by anti-government protestors in Thailand, at least seven of whom were arrested for it.[39]
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ "Mockingjay proves the Hunger Games is must-read literature". io9. August 26, 2010. Retrieved February 12, 2013.
2.Jump up ^ Keith Staskiewicz (February 11, 2010). "Final 'Hunger Games' novel has been given a title and a cover". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved February 11, 2010.
3.Jump up ^ "Suzanne Collins's Third Book in the Hunger Games Trilogy to Be Published by Scholastic on August 24, 2010" (Press release). Scholastic. December 3, 2009. Retrieved December 3, 2009.
4.Jump up ^ "Suzanne Collins's Third Book in The Hunger Games Trilogy to be Published on August 24, 2010" (Press release). Scholastic. December 3, 2009. Retrieved January 1, 2010.
5.Jump up ^ Cowles, Gregory (December 27, 2009). "Children's Books". The New York Times. Retrieved December 31, 2009.
6.Jump up ^ "Mockingjay Tops All National Bestseller Lists with Sales of More Than 450,000 Copies in its First Week of Publication" (Press release). Scholastic. September 2, 2010. Retrieved May 7, 2011.
7.Jump up ^ Springen, Karen (March 22, 2012). "The Hunger Games Franchise: The Odds Seem Ever in Its Favor". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved April 11, 2012.
8.Jump up ^ "Your Favorites: 100 Best-Ever Teen Novels" (Press release). NPR. August 7, 2012. Retrieved August 10, 2012.
9.Jump up ^ Bosman, Julie (August 17, 2012). "Amazon Crowns ‘Hunger Games' as Its Top Seller, Surpassing Harry Potter Series". The New York Times.
10.Jump up ^ Collins, Suzanne. Similarities To Underland (Video). (Interview). Scholastic Canada. Retrieved June 15, 2010.
11.Jump up ^ "Video: Classical Inspiration – The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins". Scholastic. Retrieved September 4, 2010.
12.Jump up ^ "Video: Contemporary Inspiration – The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins". Scholastic. Retrieved September 4, 2010.
13.Jump up ^ bones/opk/lionsgate hungergames.pdf Press Release: LIONSGATE FEASTS ON THE HUNGER GAMES
14.Jump up ^ Terri Schwartz (November 17, 2011). ""The Hunger Games" sequel eyes a new screenwriter, director Gary Ross will return". IFC News. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
15.Jump up ^ Andrew Pulver (July 11, 2012). "Hunger Games finale Mockingjay to be released in two parts". theguardian. Retrieved October 24, 2014.
16.Jump up ^ http://www.thewrap.com/hunger-games-mockingjay-part-1-set-for-world-premiere-in-london/
17.^ Jump up to: a b King, Stephen (September 8, 2008). "The Hunger Games review". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved November 26, 2010.
18.Jump up ^ Goldsmith, Francisca. "The Hunger Games". Booklist. Retrieved November 26, 2010.
19.Jump up ^ John Green (November 7, 2008). "Scary New World". The New York Times. Retrieved January 3, 2011.
20.Jump up ^ Zevin, Gabrielle (October 9, 2009). "Constant Craving". The New York Times. Retrieved November 26, 2010.
21.Jump up ^ "'Mockingjay' review: Spoiler alert!". Entertainment Weekly. August 24, 2010. Retrieved November 26, 2010.
22.Jump up ^ "Mockingjay". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved November 26, 2010.
23.Jump up ^ "What came before “The Hunger Games”". Salon Media Group, Inc. Retrieved October 7, 2014.
24.Jump up ^ Welch, Rollie (September 6, 2009). "'Catching Fire' brings back Suzanne Collins's kindhearted killer". The Plain Dealer. Retrieved November 26, 2010.
25.Jump up ^ Reese, Jennifer (August 28, 2009). "Catching Fire review". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved November 26, 2010.
26.Jump up ^ Morrison, Kathy (August 30, 2010). "Book Review: 'Mockingjay' completes 'Hunger Games' trilogy". The Sacramento Bee. Retrieved November 26, 2010.[dead link]
27.^ Jump up to: a b Jay A. Fernandez and Borys Kit (March 17, 2009). "Lionsgate picks up 'Hunger Games'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 4, 2011.
28.Jump up ^ Karen Springen (August 5, 2010). "Marketing 'Mockingjay'". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved September 4, 2010.
29.Jump up ^ Valby, Karen (January 6, 2011). "'Hunger Games' exclusive: Why Gary Ross got the coveted job, and who suggested Megan Fox for the lead role". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved January 26, 2011.
30.Jump up ^ Valby, Karen (January 25, 2011). "'The Hunger Games' gets release date". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved January 26, 2011.
31.Jump up ^ Hopkinson, Deborah. "Suzanne Collins Interview-Catching Fire". BookPage. Retrieved June 30, 2010.
32.Jump up ^ "The Changing Objective of the American Film Market". Baseline Intel. November 18, 2010. Retrieved January 2, 2011.
33.Jump up ^ Joshua L. Weinstein (March 16, 2011). "Exclusive: Jennifer Lawrence Gets Lead Role in 'The Hunger Games'". TheWrap.com. Retrieved March 17, 2011.
34.Jump up ^ Jeff Labrecque (April 4, 2011). "'Hunger Games' casts Peeta and Gale: Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth nab the roles". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved April 4, 2011. Lionsgate announced that the trilogy will be made into 4 movies.
35.Jump up ^ Nikki Finke (April 10, 2012). "Gary Ross Decides NOT to Direct "Hunger Games Two: Catching Fire’: Lionsgate In ‘Shock’'". Deadline. Retrieved April 10, 2012.
36.Jump up ^ "9 Untold Secrets of the High Stakes 'Hunger Games'". The Hollywood Reporter. February 1, 2012. Retrieved February 7, 2012.
37.Jump up ^ "Access Hollywood".
38.Jump up ^ "'Exclusive: Francis Lawrence to Direct Remainder of THE HUNGER GAMES Franchise with Two-Part Adaptation of MOCKINGJAY′". Collider.com. November 1, 2012.
39.Jump up ^ http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2014_06_10/People-arrested-in-Thailand-for-gesture-from-Hunger-Games-film-series-6675/
External links[edit]
 Wikiquote has quotations related to: The Hunger Games trilogy
The U.S. Scholastic Website
The U.K. Scholastic Website
The Hunger Games Wiki



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The Hunger Games trilogy
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search

The Hunger Games
HGTrilogy.JPG
Boxed set

The Hunger Games
Catching Fire
Mockingjay

Author
Suzanne Collins
Country
United States
Language
English
Genre
Adventure
Science fiction
Publisher
Scholastic
Published
2008–2010
Media type
Print (hardcover)
The Hunger Games trilogy is a series of young adult science fiction[1] adventure novels by Suzanne Collins. The trilogy consists of The Hunger Games (2008), Catching Fire (2009), and Mockingjay (2010).[2][3][4] The first two books in the series were both New York Times best sellers, and Mockingjay topped all US bestseller lists upon its release.[5][6] By the time the film adaptation of The Hunger Games was released in 2012, the publisher had reported over 26 million Hunger Games trilogy books in print, including movie tie-in books.[7] In August 2012 the series ranked second, bettered only by Harry Potter, in NPR's poll of the top 100 teen novels, which asked voters to choose their favorite young adult books.[8] On August 17, 2012, Amazon announced The Hunger Games trilogy as its top seller, surpassing the record previously held by the Harry Potter series.[9] As of 2014, the trilogy has sold more than 65 million copies in the U.S. alone (more than 28 million copies of The Hunger Games, more than 19 million copies of Catching Fire, and more than 18 million copies of Mockingjay). The Hunger Games trilogy has been sold into 56 territories in 51 languages to date.



Contents  [hide]
1 Background
2 Structure
3 Plot overview 3.1 The Hunger Games
3.2 Catching Fire
3.3 Mockingjay
4 Origins and publishing history
5 Main characters
6 Critical reception
7 Film adaptations
8 Influence in Thailand
9 References
10 External links

Background[edit]
The Hunger Games trilogy takes place in an unspecified future time in a dystopian post-apocalyptic nation of Panem. The country consists of the wealthy Capitol located in the Rocky Mountains and twelve (formerly thirteen) poorer districts ruled by the Capitol. The Capitol is lavishly rich and technologically advanced but the twelve districts are in varying states of poverty – the trilogy's narrator and protagonist, Katniss Everdeen, lives in District 12, the poorest region of Panem, formerly known as Appalachia, where people regularly die of starvation. As punishment for a past rebellion (called "The Dark Days") against the Capitol wherein twelve of the districts were defeated and the thirteenth supposedly destroyed, one boy and one girl from each of the twelve districts, between the ages of twelve and eighteen, are selected by lottery to participate in the "Hunger Games" on an annual basis. The Games are a televised event with the participants, called "tributes", being forced to fight to the death in a dangerous public arena. The winning tribute and his/her home district is then rewarded with food, and supplies and riches. The purpose of the Hunger Games is to provide entertainment for the Capitol and to serve as a reminder to the Districts of the Capitol's power and lack of remorse.
Structure[edit]
Each book in The Hunger Games trilogy has three sections of nine chapters each. Collins says that this format comes from her playwriting background, which taught her to write in a three-act structure. Her previous series, The Underland Chronicles, was written in the same way, as Collins is familiar with this structure. She sees each group of nine chapters as a separate part of the story, and comments that she still calls those divisions "act breaks."[10]
Plot overview[edit]
The Hunger Games[edit]
Main article: The Hunger Games (novel)
The Hunger Games follows 16-year-old Katniss Everdeen, a girl from District 12 who volunteers for the 74th Hunger Games in place of her younger sister Primrose Everdeen. Also participating from District 12 is Peeta Mellark, a boy who has developed a secret crush on Katniss. They are mentored by District 12's only living victor, Haymitch Abernathy, who won the Games 24 years earlier and has since assumed a solitary life of alcoholism. Peeta confesses his love for Katniss in a television interview prior to the Games, leading the Capitol to portray Katniss and Peeta as "star-crossed lovers." This revelation surprises Katniss, who harbors feelings for Gale Hawthorne, her friend and hunting partner. Haymitch advises Katniss to play along and feign feelings for Peeta, in order to gain wealthy sponsors who can gift them supplies during the Games. In the arena, Katniss develops an alliance with Rue, a young tribute from District 11, and is emotionally scarred when she is killed because she reminds her of her sister. Katniss devises a memorial for Rue by placing flowers over her body as an act of defiance toward the Capitol. More than halfway through the Games, the remaining tributes are alerted to a rule change that allows both tributes from the same district to be declared victors if they are the final two standing. After learning of the change, Katniss and Peeta begin to work as a team. When all of the other tributes are dead and they appear to win the Games together, the rule change is revoked. Katniss leads Peeta in a double suicide attempt to eat poisonous berries known as nightlock, hoping that the change will be reinstated and that they will both be victorious. Their ruse is successful, and both tributes return home victorious. During and after the Games, Katniss develops genuine feelings for Peeta and struggles to balance them with the connection she feels with Gale. When it becomes clear that the Capitol is upset with her defiance, Haymitch encourages Katniss to maintain the "star-crossed lovers" act, without telling Peeta.
Catching Fire [edit]
Main article: Catching Fire
In Catching Fire, which begins six months after the conclusion of The Hunger Games, Katniss learns that her defiance in the previous novel has started a chain reaction that has inspired rebellion in the districts. President Snow threatens to harm her family and friends if she does not help to defuse the unrest in the districts and marry Peeta. Meanwhile, Peeta has become aware of Katniss's disingenuous love of him, but has also been informed of Snow's threats, and promises to help keep up the act to spare the citizens of District 12. They tour the districts as victors and plan a public wedding. While they follow Snow's orders and keep up the ruse, Katniss inadvertently fuels the rebellion, and the mockingjay pin she wears becomes its symbol. District by district, the citizens of Panem begin to stage uprisings against the Capitol. Snow announces a special 75th edition of the Hunger Games—known as the Quarter Quell—in which Katniss and Peeta are forced to compete with other past victors, effectively canceling the wedding. At Haymitch's urging, the pair team up with several other tributes, managing to destroy the arena and escape the Games. Katniss is rescued by the rebel forces from District 13, and Gale informs her that the Capitol has destroyed District 12 and captured Peeta and their District 7 ally, Johanna Mason. Katniss ultimately learns—to her surprise—that she had inadvertently been an integral part of the rebellion all along; her rescue had been jointly planned by Haymitch, Plutarch Heavensbee and Finnick Odair, among others.
Mockingjay[edit]
Main article: Mockingjay
Katniss returns home and sees the remains of District 12. Mockingjay centers on the districts' rebellion against the Capitol. It is revealed that District 13 did survive The Dark Days by living underground and is led by President Alma Coin. Katniss, after being brought to 13, agrees to become the 'Mockingjay' to recruit more rebels from the districts. However, she makes conditions that Peeta, Johanna Mason, Annie Cresta, and Enobaria, fellow victors captured by the Capitol, would not be seen as traitors and a condition where Katniss would be able to kill Snow as an act of vengeance if the rebels won. In the novel, it is revealed that Peeta has been 'hijacked' (a form of brainwashing using Tracker Jacker venom) to kill Katniss. He tries to choke her to death upon their reunion. After her healing, Katniss and a team known as the Star Squad, consisting of Gale, Peeta, Finnick, camera crew, and various other soldiers, embark on a mission to go to the Capitol to kill Snow, thus winning the rebellion. Throughout their mission, many members of the Squad die in various ways, including just-married Finnick. Towards the end of the book as Katniss approaches Snow's mansion, she sees a group of Capitol children protecting the entrance to the mansion as a shield and suddenly a Capitol hovercraft drops bombs, killing the children. However, the rebels send in medics, including Prim. An unexploded bomb goes off killing Prim instantly as soon as she notices her sister. Katniss, also injured, wakes up after being in a coma to hear that the Rebels have won and Snow is awaiting execution, which Katniss will be allowed to carry out. On meeting with Snow, he suggests that it was in fact the rebels, led by Coin, who hijacked the Capitol hovercraft and killed Prim in a move to portray Snow as barbaric. The remaining victors are then asked by Coin to vote on a final Hunger Games, using the children of high ranking Capitol officials (including Snow's granddaughter), in order to punish the Capitol for their crimes against the districts. At Snow's execution, Katniss instead kills Coin and Snow dies by choking on his own blood while laughing. This leads to Katniss's prosecution but she is deemed innocent as the jury believed she was not in a fit mental state. In the end, Katniss's mother and Gale both take jobs in different districts. In the epilogue, Katniss and Peeta remain together, Peeta's love having won out against the venom. The pair have two children, a boy and a girl.
Origins and publishing history[edit]
Collins says that she drew inspiration for the series from both classical and contemporary sources. The main classical source of inspiration came from the Greek myth of Theseus and the Minotaur. As a punishment for past crimes, Minos forces Athens to sacrifice seven youths and seven maidens to the Minotaur, by whom they are killed in a vast labyrinth. Collins says that even as a child the idea stunned her since "it was just so cruel", as Athens was forced to sacrifice its own children.
Collins also cites the Roman gladiator games. She feels that there are three key elements to create a good game; an all powerful and ruthless government, people forced to fight to the death, and it being a source of popular entertainment.[11]
A contemporary source of inspiration was Collins's recent fascination with reality television programmes. She relates this to the Hunger Games in how they are not just entertainment, but also a reminder to the districts of their rebellion. On a tired night, Collins says that while she was channel-surfing the television where she saw people competing for some prize, and then saw footage of the Iraq war. She described how the two combined in an "unsettling way" to create the first ideas for the series.[12]
The first novel in the trilogy was first published on September 14, 2008. On March 17, 2009, Lionsgate announced that it had acquired worldwide distribution rights of the film version of The Hunger Games from the film company Color Force. Soon after the acquisition, Collins began to adapt the screenplay and the two companies later went on to co-produce the film.[13]
Catching Fire was published by Scholastic on September 1, 2009. The film version of the story – also co-produced by Color Force and Lionsgate – was released in November 2013.[14]
Mockingjay was first published in hardcover by Scholastic on August 24, 2010. The film version is being split into two movies both co-produced by Color Force and Lionsgate, Mockingjay - Part 1 which will be released on November 21, 2014 and Mockingjay - Part 2 which will be released on November 20, 2015. [15]
As of October 2014, the trilogy has sold over 65 million copies in the United States.[16]
Main characters[edit]
Main article: List of The Hunger Games characters
Katniss Everdeen: The protagonist of the series, Katniss competes in the Hunger Games in each of the first two novels and constantly battles between her feelings for both Peeta and Gale. She becomes the face of the districts' rebellion after she unknowingly defies the Capitol in The Hunger Games.
Peeta Mellark: The male tribute from District 12, who has secretly been in love with Katniss since they were children. His love for her is evident throughout the series. In Mockingjay, he is "hijacked" by the Capitol and turned against Katniss, but he recovers.
Gale Hawthorne: Katniss' best friend and fellow hunter. Gale is fiercely devoted to Katniss, and their relationship borders on romantic throughout the series. He is two years older than she is, and lost his father in the same mine explosion that killed Katniss' father.
Haymitch Abernathy: Katniss and Peeta's drunken friend and mentor for the Games. He won the 50th Hunger Games and was the only living victor from District 12 before Katniss and Peeta won the 74th Hunger Games.
Effie Trinket: Katniss and Peeta's escort for the games. Effie, as a citizen of the capitol, dresses very oddly and speaks in a distinct capitol accent. She is very proper and constantly worries about keeping things on schedule. She helps Haymitch send sponsor gifts to Katniss and Peeta during the games.
President Snow: The main antagonist of the series, President Snow is the head of the Capitol and all of Panem. Provoked by the survival of two tributes in a single Hunger Games, Snow demands of Peeta and Katniss to prove the reason behind it all was just they were madly in love. When the Capitol is defeated by the rebels, (in the last book) President Snow dies.
Primrose Everdeen: Primrose Everdeen, almost always called just "Prim," is Katniss's 12-year-old sister (by Mockingjay, she is 13) who was chosen by lottery to be in the Hunger Games. Katniss volunteers to take her place. Prim is a sweet little child whom everyone loves, and she regularly helps their mother heal the sick.
Cinna: Katniss's stylist in both of her Hunger Games, he urges her on to become the symbol of the rebellion and designs the dresses that she wears before entering the games, as well as armor she wears in the war.
Finnick Odair: Finnick is a former victor from District 4 who is selected to participate in the 75th Hunger Games. He later becomes a member of the rebellion against the Capitol.
Critical reception[edit]
All three books have received positive reception. Praise has focused on the addictive quality of especially the first book,[17] and the action.[18] John Green of The New York Times compared The Hunger Games with Scott Westerfeld's Uglies series.[19] Catching Fire was praised for improving upon the first book.[20] Mockingjay was praised for its portrayal of violence,[21] world building, and romantic intrigue.[22]
Criticism has come regarding the reality TV "death game" theme, which is also present in The 10th Victim, Battle Royale, Das Millionenspiel, The Running Man, The Long Walk,[17] and Series 7: The Contenders.[23] Also, the "romantic dithering"[24] and poor love triangle of the second installment was under criticism.[25] The last book, Mockingjay, was criticized by fans of the book and critics for not tying up loose ends.[26]
Film adaptations[edit]
Main article: The Hunger Games (film series)
Lionsgate Entertainment acquired worldwide distribution rights to a film adaptation of The Hunger Games, which is produced by Nina Jacobson's Color Force production company.[27] Collins adapted the novel for film herself,[27] along with Gary Ross.[28] The film began production in spring 2011 and ended summer 2011.[29] It was released March 23, 2012, with a PG-13 rating.[30][31] Gary Ross directed; the cast includes Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss, Josh Hutcherson as Peeta and Liam Hemsworth as Gale.[32][33][34] Catching Fire was released on November 22, 2013, with the main cast signed on to return but director Gary Ross will not return.[35][36] In April 2012, the director's position was offered to Francis Lawrence.[37] Lawrence will also be directing Mockingjay, which has been split into two parts.[38]
Influence in Thailand[edit]
A gesture (a raised up hand with three middle fingers pressed together) used in The Hunger Games trilogy to express unity with people striving to survive was used in 2014 by anti-government protestors in Thailand, at least seven of whom were arrested for it.[39]
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ "Mockingjay proves the Hunger Games is must-read literature". io9. August 26, 2010. Retrieved February 12, 2013.
2.Jump up ^ Keith Staskiewicz (February 11, 2010). "Final 'Hunger Games' novel has been given a title and a cover". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved February 11, 2010.
3.Jump up ^ "Suzanne Collins's Third Book in the Hunger Games Trilogy to Be Published by Scholastic on August 24, 2010" (Press release). Scholastic. December 3, 2009. Retrieved December 3, 2009.
4.Jump up ^ "Suzanne Collins's Third Book in The Hunger Games Trilogy to be Published on August 24, 2010" (Press release). Scholastic. December 3, 2009. Retrieved January 1, 2010.
5.Jump up ^ Cowles, Gregory (December 27, 2009). "Children's Books". The New York Times. Retrieved December 31, 2009.
6.Jump up ^ "Mockingjay Tops All National Bestseller Lists with Sales of More Than 450,000 Copies in its First Week of Publication" (Press release). Scholastic. September 2, 2010. Retrieved May 7, 2011.
7.Jump up ^ Springen, Karen (March 22, 2012). "The Hunger Games Franchise: The Odds Seem Ever in Its Favor". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved April 11, 2012.
8.Jump up ^ "Your Favorites: 100 Best-Ever Teen Novels" (Press release). NPR. August 7, 2012. Retrieved August 10, 2012.
9.Jump up ^ Bosman, Julie (August 17, 2012). "Amazon Crowns ‘Hunger Games' as Its Top Seller, Surpassing Harry Potter Series". The New York Times.
10.Jump up ^ Collins, Suzanne. Similarities To Underland (Video). (Interview). Scholastic Canada. Retrieved June 15, 2010.
11.Jump up ^ "Video: Classical Inspiration – The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins". Scholastic. Retrieved September 4, 2010.
12.Jump up ^ "Video: Contemporary Inspiration – The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins". Scholastic. Retrieved September 4, 2010.
13.Jump up ^ bones/opk/lionsgate hungergames.pdf Press Release: LIONSGATE FEASTS ON THE HUNGER GAMES
14.Jump up ^ Terri Schwartz (November 17, 2011). ""The Hunger Games" sequel eyes a new screenwriter, director Gary Ross will return". IFC News. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
15.Jump up ^ Andrew Pulver (July 11, 2012). "Hunger Games finale Mockingjay to be released in two parts". theguardian. Retrieved October 24, 2014.
16.Jump up ^ http://www.thewrap.com/hunger-games-mockingjay-part-1-set-for-world-premiere-in-london/
17.^ Jump up to: a b King, Stephen (September 8, 2008). "The Hunger Games review". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved November 26, 2010.
18.Jump up ^ Goldsmith, Francisca. "The Hunger Games". Booklist. Retrieved November 26, 2010.
19.Jump up ^ John Green (November 7, 2008). "Scary New World". The New York Times. Retrieved January 3, 2011.
20.Jump up ^ Zevin, Gabrielle (October 9, 2009). "Constant Craving". The New York Times. Retrieved November 26, 2010.
21.Jump up ^ "'Mockingjay' review: Spoiler alert!". Entertainment Weekly. August 24, 2010. Retrieved November 26, 2010.
22.Jump up ^ "Mockingjay". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved November 26, 2010.
23.Jump up ^ "What came before “The Hunger Games”". Salon Media Group, Inc. Retrieved October 7, 2014.
24.Jump up ^ Welch, Rollie (September 6, 2009). "'Catching Fire' brings back Suzanne Collins's kindhearted killer". The Plain Dealer. Retrieved November 26, 2010.
25.Jump up ^ Reese, Jennifer (August 28, 2009). "Catching Fire review". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved November 26, 2010.
26.Jump up ^ Morrison, Kathy (August 30, 2010). "Book Review: 'Mockingjay' completes 'Hunger Games' trilogy". The Sacramento Bee. Retrieved November 26, 2010.[dead link]
27.^ Jump up to: a b Jay A. Fernandez and Borys Kit (March 17, 2009). "Lionsgate picks up 'Hunger Games'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 4, 2011.
28.Jump up ^ Karen Springen (August 5, 2010). "Marketing 'Mockingjay'". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved September 4, 2010.
29.Jump up ^ Valby, Karen (January 6, 2011). "'Hunger Games' exclusive: Why Gary Ross got the coveted job, and who suggested Megan Fox for the lead role". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved January 26, 2011.
30.Jump up ^ Valby, Karen (January 25, 2011). "'The Hunger Games' gets release date". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved January 26, 2011.
31.Jump up ^ Hopkinson, Deborah. "Suzanne Collins Interview-Catching Fire". BookPage. Retrieved June 30, 2010.
32.Jump up ^ "The Changing Objective of the American Film Market". Baseline Intel. November 18, 2010. Retrieved January 2, 2011.
33.Jump up ^ Joshua L. Weinstein (March 16, 2011). "Exclusive: Jennifer Lawrence Gets Lead Role in 'The Hunger Games'". TheWrap.com. Retrieved March 17, 2011.
34.Jump up ^ Jeff Labrecque (April 4, 2011). "'Hunger Games' casts Peeta and Gale: Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth nab the roles". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved April 4, 2011. Lionsgate announced that the trilogy will be made into 4 movies.
35.Jump up ^ Nikki Finke (April 10, 2012). "Gary Ross Decides NOT to Direct "Hunger Games Two: Catching Fire’: Lionsgate In ‘Shock’'". Deadline. Retrieved April 10, 2012.
36.Jump up ^ "9 Untold Secrets of the High Stakes 'Hunger Games'". The Hollywood Reporter. February 1, 2012. Retrieved February 7, 2012.
37.Jump up ^ "Access Hollywood".
38.Jump up ^ "'Exclusive: Francis Lawrence to Direct Remainder of THE HUNGER GAMES Franchise with Two-Part Adaptation of MOCKINGJAY′". Collider.com. November 1, 2012.
39.Jump up ^ http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2014_06_10/People-arrested-in-Thailand-for-gesture-from-Hunger-Games-film-series-6675/
External links[edit]
 Wikiquote has quotations related to: The Hunger Games trilogy
The U.S. Scholastic Website
The U.K. Scholastic Website
The Hunger Games Wiki



[hide]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins



The Hunger Games Catching Fire Mockingjay




Film
Soundtrack



Film
Soundtrack



Film 1 · Film 2
Part 1 Soundtrack




Characters
Katniss Everdeen ·
 Peeta Mellark ·
 Gale Hawthorne ·
 Haymitch Abernathy
 

Music
"Safe & Sound" ·
 "Eyes Open" ·
 "Atlas" ·
 "We Remain" ·
 "Elastic Heart" ·
 "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" ·
 "Who We Are" ·
 "Yellow Flicker Beat"
 

Other
Cast ·
 Films ·
 Franchise ·
 Universe
 

 



Categories: The Hunger Games trilogy
Novel series
Literary trilogies
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Dystopian novels
American adventure novels
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The Hunger Games (novel)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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This article is about the 2008 novel. For the novel series, see The Hunger Games trilogy.
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The Hunger Games
Cover of the novel, showing the title in white text on a black and grey background, above a depiction of a gold pin featuring a bird in flight, its wings spread and an arrow clasped in its beak.
North American first edition cover

Author
Suzanne Collins
Cover artist
Tim O'Brien
Country
United States
Language
English
Series
The Hunger Games trilogy
Genre
Adventure
Dystopian
Science fiction[1]

Published
September 14, 2008 (Scholastic Press)
Media type
Print (hardcover, paperback)
Pages
374
ISBN
978-0-439-02352-8
OCLC
181516677
LC Class
PZ7.C6837 Hun 2008
Followed by
Catching Fire
The Hunger Games is a 2008 science fiction novel by the American writer Suzanne Collins. It is written in the voice of 16-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives in the dystopian, post-apocalyptic nation of Panem in North America. The Capitol, a highly advanced metropolis, exercises political control over the rest of the nation. The Hunger Games is an annual event in which one boy and one girl aged 12–18 from each of the twelve districts surrounding the Capitol are selected by lottery to compete in a televised battle to the death.
The book received mostly positive feedback from major reviewers and authors. It was praised for its storyline and character development, though some reviewers have noted similarities between Collins' book and Koushun Takami's Battle Royale (1999). In writing The Hunger Games, Collins drew upon Greek mythology, Roman gladiatorial games, and contemporary reality television for thematic content. The novel won many awards, including the California Young Reader Medal, and was named one of Publishers Weekly's "Best Books of the Year" in 2008.
The Hunger Games was first published in hardcover on September 14, 2008, by Scholastic, featuring a cover designed by Tim O'Brien. It has since been released in paperback and also as an audiobook and ebook. After an initial print of 200,000, the book had sold 800,000 copies by February 2010. Since its release, The Hunger Games has been translated into 26 languages, and publishing rights have been sold in 38 territories. The novel is the first in The Hunger Games trilogy, followed by Catching Fire (2009) and Mockingjay (2010). A film adaptation, directed by Gary Ross and co-written and co-produced by Collins herself, was released in 2012.



Contents  [hide]
1 Background
2 Plot
3 Themes
4 Publication history
5 Critical reception 5.1 Battle Royale controversy
6 Film adaptation
7 See also
8 References
9 External links

Background
Collins has said that the inspiration for The Hunger Games came from channel surfing on television. On one channel she observed people competing on a reality show and on another she saw footage of the invasion of Iraq. The two "began to blur in this very unsettling way" and the idea for the book was formed.[2] The Greek myth of Theseus served as a major basis for the story, with Collins describing Katniss as a futuristic Theseus, and Roman gladiatorial games provided the framework. The sense of loss that Collins developed through her father's service in the Vietnam War was also an influence on the story, with Katniss having lost her father at age 11, five years before the story begins.[3] Collins stated that the deaths of young characters and other "dark passages" were the most difficult parts of the book to write, but that she had accepted that passages such as these were necessary to the story.[4] She considered the moments where Katniss reflects on happier moments in her past to be more enjoyable.[4]
Plot
See also: The Hunger Games universe
The Hunger Games takes place in a nation known as Panem, established in North America after the destruction of the continent's civilization by an unknown apocalyptic event. The nation consists of the wealthy Capitol and twelve surrounding, poorer districts united under the Capitol's control. District 12, where the book begins, is located in the coal-rich region that was formerly known as Appalachia.[5]
As punishment for a past rebellion against the Capitol, in which a 13th district was destroyed, one boy and one girl between the ages of 12 and 18 from each district are selected by an annual lottery to participate in the Hunger Games, an event in which the participants, the "tributes", must fight to the death in an outdoor arena controlled by the Capitol, until only one individual remains. The story is narrated by 16-year-old Katniss Everdeen, a girl from District 12 who volunteers for the 74th annual Hunger Games in place of her younger sister, Primrose. The male tribute chosen from District 12 is Peeta Mellark, a former schoolmate of Katniss who once gave her bread from his family's bakery when her family was starving.
Katniss and Peeta are taken to the Capitol, where their drunken mentor, Haymitch Abernathy, victor of the 50th Hunger Games, instructs them to watch and determine the strengths and weaknesses of the other tributes. "Stylists" are employed to make each tribute look his or her best; Katniss's stylist, Cinna, is the only person at the Capitol with whom she feels a degree of understanding. The tributes are publicly displayed to the Capitol audience in an interview with television host Caesar Flickerman, and have to attempt to appeal to the television audience in order to obtain "sponsors". During this time, Peeta reveals on-air his longtime unrequited love for Katniss. Katniss believes this to be a ploy to gain sponsors, who can be critical to survival because of their ability to send gifts such as food, medicine, and tools to favored tributes during the Games.
While nearly half the tributes are killed in the first day of the Games, Katniss relies on her well-practiced hunting and survival skills to remain unharmed and concealed from the other tributes. A few days into the Games, Katniss develops an alliance with Rue, a 12-year-old girl from the agricultural District 11 who reminds Katniss of her own sister. In the meantime, Peeta appears to have joined forces with the tributes from the richer districts. However, when he has the opportunity to kill Katniss, he instead saves her from the others. Katniss's alliance with Rue is brought to an abrupt end when Rue is killed by another tribute, whom Katniss then kills in self-defence with an arrow. Katniss sings to Rue until she dies, and spreads flowers over her body as a sign of respect for Rue and disgust towards the Capitol.
Apparently because of Katniss and Peeta's image in the minds of the audience as "star-crossed lovers", a rule change is announced midway through the Games, allowing two tributes from the same district to win the Hunger Games as a couple. Upon hearing this, Katniss begins searching for Peeta. She eventually finds him, wounded and in hiding. As she nurses him back to health, she acts the part of a young girl falling in love to gain more favor with the audience and, consequently, gifts from her sponsors. When the couple remains as the last two surviving tributes, the Gamemakers reverse the rule change in an attempt to force them into a dramatic finale, in which one must kill the other to win. Katniss, in an act of defiance against the Capitol, retrieves highly poisonous berries known as "nightlock" from her pouch and offers some to Peeta. Realizing that Katniss and Peeta intend to commit suicide, the Gamemakers announce that both will be the victors of the 74th Hunger Games.
Although she survives the ordeal in the arena and is treated to a hero's welcome in the Capitol, Katniss is warned by Haymitch that she has now become a political target after defying her society's authoritarian leaders so publicly. Afterwards, Peeta is heartbroken when he learns that Katniss's actions in the arena were part of a calculated ploy to earn sympathy from the audience. However, Katniss is unsure of her own feelings and realizes that she is dreading the moment when she and Peeta will go their separate ways.
Themes



The Hunger Games author Suzanne Collins in 2010
In an interview with Collins, it was noted that the novel "tackles issues like severe poverty, starvation, oppression, and the effects of war among others."[6] The novel deals with the struggle for self-preservation that the people of Panem face in their districts and the Hunger Games in which they must participate.[2] The citizens' starvation and their need for resources, both in and outside of the arena, create an atmosphere of helplessness that the main characters try to overcome in their fight for survival. Katniss needs to hunt to provide food for her family, resulting in the development of skills that are useful to her in the Games (such as her proficiency with the bow and arrow), and represents her rejection of the Capitol's rules in the face of life-threatening situations.[7] On the subject of the Games' parallels with popular culture, Darren Franich of Entertainment Weekly writes that the book "is an incisive satire of reality television shows", and that the character of Cinna "almost seems like a contestant on a fascist version of Project Runway, using Katniss' outfits as a vehicle to express potentially dangerous ideas."[8]
The choices the characters make and the strategies they use are often morally complex. The tributes build a personality they want the audience to see throughout the Games.[7] Library journal Voice of Youth Advocates names the major themes of The Hunger Games as "government control, 'big brother', and personal independence."[9] The trilogy's theme of power and downfall, similar to that of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, was pointed out by its publisher Scholastic.[10] Laura Miller of The New Yorker finds the author's stated premise of the Games –an exercise in propaganda and a "humiliating as well as torturous [...] punishment" for a failed uprising against the Capitol many years earlier– to be unconvincing. "You don't demoralize and dehumanize a subject people by turning them into celebrities and coaching them on how to craft an appealing persona for a mass audience." But the story works much better if the theme is vicissitudes of high school and "the adolescent social experience". Miller writes:

"The rules are arbitrary, unfathomable, and subject to sudden change. A brutal social hierarchy prevails, with the rich, the good-looking, and the athletic lording their advantages over everyone else. To survive you have to be totally fake. Adults don't seem to understand how high the stakes are; your whole life could be over, and they act like it's just some "phase"! Everyone's always watching you, scrutinizing your clothes or your friends and obsessing over whether you're having sex or taking drugs or getting good enough grades, but no one cares who you really are or how you really feel about anything."[11]
Donald Brake from The Washington Times and pastor Andy Langford state that the story has Christian themes, such as that of self-sacrifice, which is found in Katniss' substitution for her younger sister, analogous to the sacrifice of Jesus as a substitute for the atonement of sins.[12][13] Brake, as well as another reviewer, Amy Simpson, both find that the story also revolves around the theme of hope, which is exemplified in the "incorruptible goodness of Katniss' sister, Primrose."[14] Simpson also points to events similar to the Passion of Jesus; in the Games, "Christ figure" Peeta Mellark is stabbed after warning Katniss to flee for her life, and is then buried in the ground and placed in a cave for three days before emerging with a new lease on life.[14] Further, she finds that the Christian image of the Bread of Life is used throughout The Hunger Games; in the story, Peeta gives Katniss a loaf of bread, saving the girl and her family from starvation.[14]
Publication history
After writing the novel, Collins signed a six-figure deal for three books with Scholastic in 2006. First published as a hardcover in the United States on September 14, 2008, The Hunger Games had a first printing of 50,000 copies, which was bumped up twice to 200,000 copies.[2] By February 2010, the book had sold 800,000 copies,[15] and rights to the novel had been sold in 38 territories worldwide.[15] A few months later, in July, the book was released in paperback.[16] The Hunger Games entered the New York Times Best Seller list in November 2008,[17] where it would feature for over 100 consecutive weeks.[18] By the time the film adaptation of The Hunger Games was released in March 2012, the book had been on USA Today '​s best-sellers list for 135 consecutive weeks and has sold over 17.5 million copies.[19][20]
The novel is the first in The Hunger Games trilogy; it is followed by sequels Catching Fire (2009) and Mockingjay (2010). In March 2012, during the time of The Hunger Games film's release, Scholastic reported 26 million Hunger Games trilogy books in print, including movie tie-in books.[21] The Hunger Games (and its sequels) have sold exceptionally well in ebook format. Suzanne Collins is the first children's or young adult author to sell over one million Amazon Kindle ebooks, making her the sixth author to join the "Kindle Million Club".[22] In March 2012, Amazon announced that Collins had become the best-selling Kindle ebook author of all time.[23]
An audiobook version of The Hunger Games was released in December 2008. Read by the actress Carolyn McCormick, it has a total running time of eleven hours and fourteen minutes.[24] The magazine AudioFile said: "Carolyn McCormick gives a detailed and attentive narration. However, she may rely too much on the strength of the prose without providing the drama young adult listeners often enjoy."[25] School Library Journal also praised the audiobook, stating that "McCormick ably voices the action-packed sequences and Katniss's every fear and strength shines through, along with her doomed growing attraction to one of her fellow Tributes."[26]
The Tim O'Brien-designed cover features a gold "mockingjay" – a fictional bird in The Hunger Games born by crossbreeding female mockingbirds and genetically engineered male "jabberjays" – with an arrow engraved in a circle. This is a depiction of the pin worn by Katniss into the arena, given to her by the District 12 mayor's daughter, Madge Undersee.[27] The image matches the description of the pin that is given in the novel, except for the arrow: "It's as if someone fashioned a small golden bird and then attached a ring around it. The bird is connected to the ring only by its wing tips."[28]
Critical reception
The Hunger Games has received critical acclaim. In a review for The New York Times, John Green wrote that the novel was "brilliantly plotted and perfectly paced", and that "the considerable strength of the novel comes in Collins's convincingly detailed world-building and her memorably complex and fascinating heroine." However, he also noted that, while allegorically rich, the book sometimes does not realize the allegorical potential that the plot has to offer and that the writing "described the action and little else."[29] Time magazine's review was also positive, stating that it "is a chilling, bloody and thoroughly horrifying book" and praising what it called the "hypnotic" quality of the violence.[30] In Stephen King's review for Entertainment Weekly, he compared it to "shoot-it-if-it-moves videogames in the lobby of the local eightplex; you know it's not real, but you keep plugging in quarters anyway." However, he stated that there were "displays of authorial laziness that kids will accept more readily than adults" and that the love triangle was standard for the genre. He gave the book an overall B grade.[31] Elizabeth Bird of School Library Journal praised the novel, saying it is "exciting, poignant, thoughtful, and breathtaking by turns", and called it one of the best books of 2008.[32] Booklist also gave a positive review, praising the character violence and romance involved in the book.[33] Kirkus Reviews gave a positive review, praising the action and world-building, but pointed out that "poor copyediting in the first printing will distract careful readers–a crying shame".[34] Rick Riordan, author of the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series, claims it is the "closest thing to a perfect adventure novel" he has ever read.[35] Stephenie Meyer (author of the Twilight series) endorsed the book on her website, saying, "I was so obsessed with this book … The Hunger Games is amazing."[36]
The Hunger Games received many awards and honors. It was named one of Publishers Weekly '​s "Best Books of the Year" in 2008[37] and a The New York Times "Notable Children's Book of 2008".[38] It was the 2009 winner of the Golden Duck Award in the Young Adult Fiction Category.[39] The Hunger Games was also a "2008 Cybil Winner" for fantasy and science-fiction books along with The Graveyard Book,[40] one of School Library Journal's "Best Books 2008",[41] and a "Booklist Editors' Choice" in 2008.[42] In 2011, the book won the California Young Reader Medal.[43] In the 2012 edition of Scholastic's Parent and Child magazine, The Hunger Games was listed as the 33rd-best book for children, with the award for "Most Exciting Ending".[44][45] The novel is one of the top 5 best selling Kindle books of all time.[46] However, the novel has also been controversial with parents;[47] it ranked in fifth place on the American Library Association's list of frequently challenged books for 2010, with "unsuited to age group" and "violence" being among the reasons cited.[48]
Battle Royale controversy
The novel has been criticized for its similarities to the 1999 novel Battle Royale, by Koushun Takami. Collins has stated, "I had never heard of that book or that author until my book was turned in. At that point, it was mentioned to me, and I asked my editor if I should read it. He said: 'No, I don't want that world in your head. Just continue with what you're doing'." Susan Dominus of The New York Times reports that "the parallels are striking enough that Collins's work has been savaged on the blogosphere as a baldfaced ripoff," but argued that "there are enough possible sources for the plot line that the two authors might well have hit on the same basic setup independently."[49] King noted that the reality TV "badlands" were similar to Battle Royale, as well as his own The Running Man and The Long Walk.[31] Eric Eisenberg wrote that The Hunger Games was "not a rip off [of Battle Royale], but simply a different usage of a similar idea", pointing out various differences in both story and themes.[50] Robert Nishimura wrote that "The Hunger Games has an entirely different set of cultural baggage ... Collins just happened to tap in to the creative collective consciousness, drawing on ideas that have played out many times before, in addition to her intentional reference to Greek mythology."[51]
Film adaptation
Main article: The Hunger Games (film)
In March 2009, Lions Gate Entertainment entered into a co-production agreement for The Hunger Games with Nina Jacobson's production company Color Force, which had acquired worldwide distribution rights to the novel a few weeks earlier.[52][53] The studio, which had not made a profit for five years, raided the budgets of other productions and sold assets to secure a budget of $88,000,000 – one of its largest ever[54] – for the film.[55][56] Collins' agent Jason Dravis remarked that "they [Lionsgate] had everyone but the valet call us" to help secure the franchise.[56] Intending the film to have a PG-13 rating,[57] Collins adapted the novel for film herself,[52] in collaboration with screenwriter Billy Ray and director Gary Ross.[58][59] The screenplay remains extremely faithful to the original novel,[60] with Ross saying he "felt the only way to make the film really successful was to be totally subjective" in its presentation of events, echoing Collins' use of first person present in the novel.[61]
Twenty-year-old actress Jennifer Lawrence was chosen to play Katniss Everdeen.[62] Though Lawrence was four years older than the character when filming began,[63] Collins felt the role demanded "a certain maturity and power" and said she would rather the actress be older than younger.[64] She added that Lawrence was the "only one who truly captured the character I wrote in the book" and that she had "every essential quality necessary to play Katniss."[65] Lawrence, a fan of the books, took three days to accept the role, initially intimidated by the size of the production.[66][67] Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth were later added to the cast, in the roles of Peeta and Gale, respectively.[68][69] Production began in late spring 2011[70] and the film was released on March 23, 2012.[71] The film's opening weekend brought in a non-sequel record $152.5 million (USD) in North America.[72] The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, based on the second novel in the series, was released the following year on November 22, 2013.[73]
See also

Portal icon Children's literature portal
Portal icon Novels portal
Portal icon 2000s portal
Book icon Book: The Hunger Games

The Condemned
Crypteia
The Most Dangerous Game
Series 7: The Contenders
"The Lottery"

References
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3.Jump up ^ Margolis, Rick (September 1, 2008). "A Killer Story: An Interview with Suzanne Collins, Author of 'The Hunger Games'". School Library Journal. Retrieved October 16, 2010.
4.^ Jump up to: a b "The Most Difficult Part" (Video). Scholastic. Retrieved February 25, 2012.
5.Jump up ^ Collins, Suzanne (2008). The Hunger Games. Scholastic. p. 41. ISBN 0-439-02348-3.
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26.Jump up ^ Osborne, Charli (April 1, 2009). "Multimedia Review". School Library Journal. Archived from the original on July 16, 2011. Retrieved September 1, 2012.
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External links
Suzanne Collins's official website
Scholastic Official Site



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The Hunger Games (novel)
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This article is about the 2008 novel. For the novel series, see The Hunger Games trilogy.
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The Hunger Games
Cover of the novel, showing the title in white text on a black and grey background, above a depiction of a gold pin featuring a bird in flight, its wings spread and an arrow clasped in its beak.
North American first edition cover

Author
Suzanne Collins
Cover artist
Tim O'Brien
Country
United States
Language
English
Series
The Hunger Games trilogy
Genre
Adventure
Dystopian
Science fiction[1]

Published
September 14, 2008 (Scholastic Press)
Media type
Print (hardcover, paperback)
Pages
374
ISBN
978-0-439-02352-8
OCLC
181516677
LC Class
PZ7.C6837 Hun 2008
Followed by
Catching Fire
The Hunger Games is a 2008 science fiction novel by the American writer Suzanne Collins. It is written in the voice of 16-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives in the dystopian, post-apocalyptic nation of Panem in North America. The Capitol, a highly advanced metropolis, exercises political control over the rest of the nation. The Hunger Games is an annual event in which one boy and one girl aged 12–18 from each of the twelve districts surrounding the Capitol are selected by lottery to compete in a televised battle to the death.
The book received mostly positive feedback from major reviewers and authors. It was praised for its storyline and character development, though some reviewers have noted similarities between Collins' book and Koushun Takami's Battle Royale (1999). In writing The Hunger Games, Collins drew upon Greek mythology, Roman gladiatorial games, and contemporary reality television for thematic content. The novel won many awards, including the California Young Reader Medal, and was named one of Publishers Weekly's "Best Books of the Year" in 2008.
The Hunger Games was first published in hardcover on September 14, 2008, by Scholastic, featuring a cover designed by Tim O'Brien. It has since been released in paperback and also as an audiobook and ebook. After an initial print of 200,000, the book had sold 800,000 copies by February 2010. Since its release, The Hunger Games has been translated into 26 languages, and publishing rights have been sold in 38 territories. The novel is the first in The Hunger Games trilogy, followed by Catching Fire (2009) and Mockingjay (2010). A film adaptation, directed by Gary Ross and co-written and co-produced by Collins herself, was released in 2012.



Contents  [hide]
1 Background
2 Plot
3 Themes
4 Publication history
5 Critical reception 5.1 Battle Royale controversy
6 Film adaptation
7 See also
8 References
9 External links

Background
Collins has said that the inspiration for The Hunger Games came from channel surfing on television. On one channel she observed people competing on a reality show and on another she saw footage of the invasion of Iraq. The two "began to blur in this very unsettling way" and the idea for the book was formed.[2] The Greek myth of Theseus served as a major basis for the story, with Collins describing Katniss as a futuristic Theseus, and Roman gladiatorial games provided the framework. The sense of loss that Collins developed through her father's service in the Vietnam War was also an influence on the story, with Katniss having lost her father at age 11, five years before the story begins.[3] Collins stated that the deaths of young characters and other "dark passages" were the most difficult parts of the book to write, but that she had accepted that passages such as these were necessary to the story.[4] She considered the moments where Katniss reflects on happier moments in her past to be more enjoyable.[4]
Plot
See also: The Hunger Games universe
The Hunger Games takes place in a nation known as Panem, established in North America after the destruction of the continent's civilization by an unknown apocalyptic event. The nation consists of the wealthy Capitol and twelve surrounding, poorer districts united under the Capitol's control. District 12, where the book begins, is located in the coal-rich region that was formerly known as Appalachia.[5]
As punishment for a past rebellion against the Capitol, in which a 13th district was destroyed, one boy and one girl between the ages of 12 and 18 from each district are selected by an annual lottery to participate in the Hunger Games, an event in which the participants, the "tributes", must fight to the death in an outdoor arena controlled by the Capitol, until only one individual remains. The story is narrated by 16-year-old Katniss Everdeen, a girl from District 12 who volunteers for the 74th annual Hunger Games in place of her younger sister, Primrose. The male tribute chosen from District 12 is Peeta Mellark, a former schoolmate of Katniss who once gave her bread from his family's bakery when her family was starving.
Katniss and Peeta are taken to the Capitol, where their drunken mentor, Haymitch Abernathy, victor of the 50th Hunger Games, instructs them to watch and determine the strengths and weaknesses of the other tributes. "Stylists" are employed to make each tribute look his or her best; Katniss's stylist, Cinna, is the only person at the Capitol with whom she feels a degree of understanding. The tributes are publicly displayed to the Capitol audience in an interview with television host Caesar Flickerman, and have to attempt to appeal to the television audience in order to obtain "sponsors". During this time, Peeta reveals on-air his longtime unrequited love for Katniss. Katniss believes this to be a ploy to gain sponsors, who can be critical to survival because of their ability to send gifts such as food, medicine, and tools to favored tributes during the Games.
While nearly half the tributes are killed in the first day of the Games, Katniss relies on her well-practiced hunting and survival skills to remain unharmed and concealed from the other tributes. A few days into the Games, Katniss develops an alliance with Rue, a 12-year-old girl from the agricultural District 11 who reminds Katniss of her own sister. In the meantime, Peeta appears to have joined forces with the tributes from the richer districts. However, when he has the opportunity to kill Katniss, he instead saves her from the others. Katniss's alliance with Rue is brought to an abrupt end when Rue is killed by another tribute, whom Katniss then kills in self-defence with an arrow. Katniss sings to Rue until she dies, and spreads flowers over her body as a sign of respect for Rue and disgust towards the Capitol.
Apparently because of Katniss and Peeta's image in the minds of the audience as "star-crossed lovers", a rule change is announced midway through the Games, allowing two tributes from the same district to win the Hunger Games as a couple. Upon hearing this, Katniss begins searching for Peeta. She eventually finds him, wounded and in hiding. As she nurses him back to health, she acts the part of a young girl falling in love to gain more favor with the audience and, consequently, gifts from her sponsors. When the couple remains as the last two surviving tributes, the Gamemakers reverse the rule change in an attempt to force them into a dramatic finale, in which one must kill the other to win. Katniss, in an act of defiance against the Capitol, retrieves highly poisonous berries known as "nightlock" from her pouch and offers some to Peeta. Realizing that Katniss and Peeta intend to commit suicide, the Gamemakers announce that both will be the victors of the 74th Hunger Games.
Although she survives the ordeal in the arena and is treated to a hero's welcome in the Capitol, Katniss is warned by Haymitch that she has now become a political target after defying her society's authoritarian leaders so publicly. Afterwards, Peeta is heartbroken when he learns that Katniss's actions in the arena were part of a calculated ploy to earn sympathy from the audience. However, Katniss is unsure of her own feelings and realizes that she is dreading the moment when she and Peeta will go their separate ways.
Themes



The Hunger Games author Suzanne Collins in 2010
In an interview with Collins, it was noted that the novel "tackles issues like severe poverty, starvation, oppression, and the effects of war among others."[6] The novel deals with the struggle for self-preservation that the people of Panem face in their districts and the Hunger Games in which they must participate.[2] The citizens' starvation and their need for resources, both in and outside of the arena, create an atmosphere of helplessness that the main characters try to overcome in their fight for survival. Katniss needs to hunt to provide food for her family, resulting in the development of skills that are useful to her in the Games (such as her proficiency with the bow and arrow), and represents her rejection of the Capitol's rules in the face of life-threatening situations.[7] On the subject of the Games' parallels with popular culture, Darren Franich of Entertainment Weekly writes that the book "is an incisive satire of reality television shows", and that the character of Cinna "almost seems like a contestant on a fascist version of Project Runway, using Katniss' outfits as a vehicle to express potentially dangerous ideas."[8]
The choices the characters make and the strategies they use are often morally complex. The tributes build a personality they want the audience to see throughout the Games.[7] Library journal Voice of Youth Advocates names the major themes of The Hunger Games as "government control, 'big brother', and personal independence."[9] The trilogy's theme of power and downfall, similar to that of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, was pointed out by its publisher Scholastic.[10] Laura Miller of The New Yorker finds the author's stated premise of the Games –an exercise in propaganda and a "humiliating as well as torturous [...] punishment" for a failed uprising against the Capitol many years earlier– to be unconvincing. "You don't demoralize and dehumanize a subject people by turning them into celebrities and coaching them on how to craft an appealing persona for a mass audience." But the story works much better if the theme is vicissitudes of high school and "the adolescent social experience". Miller writes:

"The rules are arbitrary, unfathomable, and subject to sudden change. A brutal social hierarchy prevails, with the rich, the good-looking, and the athletic lording their advantages over everyone else. To survive you have to be totally fake. Adults don't seem to understand how high the stakes are; your whole life could be over, and they act like it's just some "phase"! Everyone's always watching you, scrutinizing your clothes or your friends and obsessing over whether you're having sex or taking drugs or getting good enough grades, but no one cares who you really are or how you really feel about anything."[11]
Donald Brake from The Washington Times and pastor Andy Langford state that the story has Christian themes, such as that of self-sacrifice, which is found in Katniss' substitution for her younger sister, analogous to the sacrifice of Jesus as a substitute for the atonement of sins.[12][13] Brake, as well as another reviewer, Amy Simpson, both find that the story also revolves around the theme of hope, which is exemplified in the "incorruptible goodness of Katniss' sister, Primrose."[14] Simpson also points to events similar to the Passion of Jesus; in the Games, "Christ figure" Peeta Mellark is stabbed after warning Katniss to flee for her life, and is then buried in the ground and placed in a cave for three days before emerging with a new lease on life.[14] Further, she finds that the Christian image of the Bread of Life is used throughout The Hunger Games; in the story, Peeta gives Katniss a loaf of bread, saving the girl and her family from starvation.[14]
Publication history
After writing the novel, Collins signed a six-figure deal for three books with Scholastic in 2006. First published as a hardcover in the United States on September 14, 2008, The Hunger Games had a first printing of 50,000 copies, which was bumped up twice to 200,000 copies.[2] By February 2010, the book had sold 800,000 copies,[15] and rights to the novel had been sold in 38 territories worldwide.[15] A few months later, in July, the book was released in paperback.[16] The Hunger Games entered the New York Times Best Seller list in November 2008,[17] where it would feature for over 100 consecutive weeks.[18] By the time the film adaptation of The Hunger Games was released in March 2012, the book had been on USA Today '​s best-sellers list for 135 consecutive weeks and has sold over 17.5 million copies.[19][20]
The novel is the first in The Hunger Games trilogy; it is followed by sequels Catching Fire (2009) and Mockingjay (2010). In March 2012, during the time of The Hunger Games film's release, Scholastic reported 26 million Hunger Games trilogy books in print, including movie tie-in books.[21] The Hunger Games (and its sequels) have sold exceptionally well in ebook format. Suzanne Collins is the first children's or young adult author to sell over one million Amazon Kindle ebooks, making her the sixth author to join the "Kindle Million Club".[22] In March 2012, Amazon announced that Collins had become the best-selling Kindle ebook author of all time.[23]
An audiobook version of The Hunger Games was released in December 2008. Read by the actress Carolyn McCormick, it has a total running time of eleven hours and fourteen minutes.[24] The magazine AudioFile said: "Carolyn McCormick gives a detailed and attentive narration. However, she may rely too much on the strength of the prose without providing the drama young adult listeners often enjoy."[25] School Library Journal also praised the audiobook, stating that "McCormick ably voices the action-packed sequences and Katniss's every fear and strength shines through, along with her doomed growing attraction to one of her fellow Tributes."[26]
The Tim O'Brien-designed cover features a gold "mockingjay" – a fictional bird in The Hunger Games born by crossbreeding female mockingbirds and genetically engineered male "jabberjays" – with an arrow engraved in a circle. This is a depiction of the pin worn by Katniss into the arena, given to her by the District 12 mayor's daughter, Madge Undersee.[27] The image matches the description of the pin that is given in the novel, except for the arrow: "It's as if someone fashioned a small golden bird and then attached a ring around it. The bird is connected to the ring only by its wing tips."[28]
Critical reception
The Hunger Games has received critical acclaim. In a review for The New York Times, John Green wrote that the novel was "brilliantly plotted and perfectly paced", and that "the considerable strength of the novel comes in Collins's convincingly detailed world-building and her memorably complex and fascinating heroine." However, he also noted that, while allegorically rich, the book sometimes does not realize the allegorical potential that the plot has to offer and that the writing "described the action and little else."[29] Time magazine's review was also positive, stating that it "is a chilling, bloody and thoroughly horrifying book" and praising what it called the "hypnotic" quality of the violence.[30] In Stephen King's review for Entertainment Weekly, he compared it to "shoot-it-if-it-moves videogames in the lobby of the local eightplex; you know it's not real, but you keep plugging in quarters anyway." However, he stated that there were "displays of authorial laziness that kids will accept more readily than adults" and that the love triangle was standard for the genre. He gave the book an overall B grade.[31] Elizabeth Bird of School Library Journal praised the novel, saying it is "exciting, poignant, thoughtful, and breathtaking by turns", and called it one of the best books of 2008.[32] Booklist also gave a positive review, praising the character violence and romance involved in the book.[33] Kirkus Reviews gave a positive review, praising the action and world-building, but pointed out that "poor copyediting in the first printing will distract careful readers–a crying shame".[34] Rick Riordan, author of the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series, claims it is the "closest thing to a perfect adventure novel" he has ever read.[35] Stephenie Meyer (author of the Twilight series) endorsed the book on her website, saying, "I was so obsessed with this book … The Hunger Games is amazing."[36]
The Hunger Games received many awards and honors. It was named one of Publishers Weekly '​s "Best Books of the Year" in 2008[37] and a The New York Times "Notable Children's Book of 2008".[38] It was the 2009 winner of the Golden Duck Award in the Young Adult Fiction Category.[39] The Hunger Games was also a "2008 Cybil Winner" for fantasy and science-fiction books along with The Graveyard Book,[40] one of School Library Journal's "Best Books 2008",[41] and a "Booklist Editors' Choice" in 2008.[42] In 2011, the book won the California Young Reader Medal.[43] In the 2012 edition of Scholastic's Parent and Child magazine, The Hunger Games was listed as the 33rd-best book for children, with the award for "Most Exciting Ending".[44][45] The novel is one of the top 5 best selling Kindle books of all time.[46] However, the novel has also been controversial with parents;[47] it ranked in fifth place on the American Library Association's list of frequently challenged books for 2010, with "unsuited to age group" and "violence" being among the reasons cited.[48]
Battle Royale controversy
The novel has been criticized for its similarities to the 1999 novel Battle Royale, by Koushun Takami. Collins has stated, "I had never heard of that book or that author until my book was turned in. At that point, it was mentioned to me, and I asked my editor if I should read it. He said: 'No, I don't want that world in your head. Just continue with what you're doing'." Susan Dominus of The New York Times reports that "the parallels are striking enough that Collins's work has been savaged on the blogosphere as a baldfaced ripoff," but argued that "there are enough possible sources for the plot line that the two authors might well have hit on the same basic setup independently."[49] King noted that the reality TV "badlands" were similar to Battle Royale, as well as his own The Running Man and The Long Walk.[31] Eric Eisenberg wrote that The Hunger Games was "not a rip off [of Battle Royale], but simply a different usage of a similar idea", pointing out various differences in both story and themes.[50] Robert Nishimura wrote that "The Hunger Games has an entirely different set of cultural baggage ... Collins just happened to tap in to the creative collective consciousness, drawing on ideas that have played out many times before, in addition to her intentional reference to Greek mythology."[51]
Film adaptation
Main article: The Hunger Games (film)
In March 2009, Lions Gate Entertainment entered into a co-production agreement for The Hunger Games with Nina Jacobson's production company Color Force, which had acquired worldwide distribution rights to the novel a few weeks earlier.[52][53] The studio, which had not made a profit for five years, raided the budgets of other productions and sold assets to secure a budget of $88,000,000 – one of its largest ever[54] – for the film.[55][56] Collins' agent Jason Dravis remarked that "they [Lionsgate] had everyone but the valet call us" to help secure the franchise.[56] Intending the film to have a PG-13 rating,[57] Collins adapted the novel for film herself,[52] in collaboration with screenwriter Billy Ray and director Gary Ross.[58][59] The screenplay remains extremely faithful to the original novel,[60] with Ross saying he "felt the only way to make the film really successful was to be totally subjective" in its presentation of events, echoing Collins' use of first person present in the novel.[61]
Twenty-year-old actress Jennifer Lawrence was chosen to play Katniss Everdeen.[62] Though Lawrence was four years older than the character when filming began,[63] Collins felt the role demanded "a certain maturity and power" and said she would rather the actress be older than younger.[64] She added that Lawrence was the "only one who truly captured the character I wrote in the book" and that she had "every essential quality necessary to play Katniss."[65] Lawrence, a fan of the books, took three days to accept the role, initially intimidated by the size of the production.[66][67] Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth were later added to the cast, in the roles of Peeta and Gale, respectively.[68][69] Production began in late spring 2011[70] and the film was released on March 23, 2012.[71] The film's opening weekend brought in a non-sequel record $152.5 million (USD) in North America.[72] The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, based on the second novel in the series, was released the following year on November 22, 2013.[73]
See also

Portal icon Children's literature portal
Portal icon Novels portal
Portal icon 2000s portal
Book icon Book: The Hunger Games

The Condemned
Crypteia
The Most Dangerous Game
Series 7: The Contenders
"The Lottery"

References
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3.Jump up ^ Margolis, Rick (September 1, 2008). "A Killer Story: An Interview with Suzanne Collins, Author of 'The Hunger Games'". School Library Journal. Retrieved October 16, 2010.
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11.Jump up ^ Miller, Laura (June 14, 2010). "Fresh Hell: What's behind the boom in dystopian fiction for young readers?". The New Yorker. Retrieved September 3, 2012.
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23.Jump up ^ "Hungry for Hunger Games: Amazon.com Reveals the Top Cities in the U.S. Reading The Hunger Games Trilogy". Retrieved March 16, 2012.
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26.Jump up ^ Osborne, Charli (April 1, 2009). "Multimedia Review". School Library Journal. Archived from the original on July 16, 2011. Retrieved September 1, 2012.
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29.Jump up ^ Green, John (November 7, 2008). "Scary New World". The New York Times. Retrieved December 29, 2008.
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66.Jump up ^ "9 Untold Secrets of the High Stakes 'Hunger Games'". The Hollywood Reporter. February 1, 2012. Retrieved February 7, 2012.
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69.Jump up ^ Sperling, Nicole (April 4, 2011). "'The Hunger Games': Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth complete the love triangle". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 25, 2012.
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External links
Suzanne Collins's official website
Scholastic Official Site



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Categories: 2000s science fiction novels
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Catching Fire
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search

"The Hunger Games 2" redirects here. For the film adaptation, see The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. For other uses, see Catching Fire (disambiguation).
Catching Fire
Catching fire.JPG
North American first edition cover

Author
Suzanne Collins
Cover artist
Tim O'Brien
Country
United States
Language
English
Series
The Hunger Games trilogy
Genre
Adventure
Dystopian
Science fiction[1]
Publisher
Scholastic

Publication date
 September 1, 2009
Media type
Print (Hardcover, Paperback)
Pages
391
ISBN
978-0-545-22724-7
OCLC
288932790

Dewey Decimal
 [Fic] 22
LC Class
PZ7.C6837 Cat 2009
Preceded by
The Hunger Games
Followed by
Mockingjay
Catching Fire is a 2009 science fiction young adult novel by American novelist Suzanne Collins, the second book in The Hunger Games trilogy. As the sequel to the 2008 bestseller The Hunger Games, it continues the story of Katniss Everdeen and the post-apocalyptic nation of Panem. Following the events of the previous novel, a rebellion against the oppressive Capitol has begun, and Katniss and fellow tribute Peeta Mellark are forced to return to the arena in a special edition of the Hunger Games.
The book was first published on September 1, 2009, by Scholastic, in hardcover, and was later released in ebook and audiobook format. Catching Fire received mostly positive reviews, with reviewers praising Collins' prose, the book's ending, and the development of Katniss's character. According to critics, major themes of the novel include survival, authoritarianism, rebellion, and interdependence versus independence. The book has sold more than 19 million copies in the U.S. alone.
A film adaptation of the novel was released on November 22, 2013.



Contents  [hide]
1 Plot
2 Themes
3 Publication history
4 Critical reception
5 Film adaptation
6 References
7 External links

Plot[edit]
Further information: The Hunger Games
After winning the 74th Hunger Games in the previous novel, Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark return home to District 12, the poorest sector in the country of Panem. But on the day that Katniss and Peeta are to start a "Victory Tour" of the country, President Snow visits unexpectedly and tells Katniss that he is angry with her for breaking the rules at the end of the last Hunger Games, which permitted both Peeta and Katniss to win. Snow tells Katniss that when she defied the Capitol, she inspired rebellion in the districts.
The first stop on the Victory Tour is District 11, the home of Katniss' deceased friend and ally in the Hunger Games, Rue. During the ceremony, Katniss delivers a speech thanking the people of District 11 for their participants in the Games. When she finishes, an old man whistles the tune that Katniss used in the arena to tell Rue that she was safe. The song acts as a signal and everyone salutes Katniss, using the same gesture that she used to say farewell to Rue. To the horror of Katniss, the old man and two others are killed.
Katniss and Peeta travel to the rest of the twelve districts and the Capitol. Hoping to placate the growing rebellion and settle the dispute between Katniss and President Snow, Peeta proposes to Katniss during an interview. Despite this, Katniss learns that their attempt to avert revolt in the districts has failed.
Shortly after returning to District 12, Katniss discovers on the mayor's television that District 8 has had an uprising, and she fears that what she has done to placate the crowds is not enough as there may be uprisings in other districts as well. She then meets two runaways from District 8, Bonnie and Twill. They explain their theory which contradicts what the other districts have been led to believe: District 13 was not completely wiped out by the Capitol, and that its residents survive in underground shelters.
Later, it is announced that, for the 75th Hunger Games, twenty-four victors from previous years will be forced to compete once again. This is the third occurrence of the "Quarter Quell": an event that occurs every 25th year of the Games and allows the Capitol to introduce a twist. Knowing that she and Peeta will both be competing in the Games a second time, Katniss decides that she will devote herself to ensuring that Peeta becomes the Quarter Quell's victor and convinces her mentor to try and help her. Likewise, Peeta is devoted to protecting her, but both Katniss and her mentor are determined that only Peeta reaches back home safely.
During the Games, set in a jungle with a saltwater lake, Katniss and Peeta join up with two other previous victors: Finnick Odair, a 24-year-old man who survived the Games at the age of 14, and Mags, Finnick's 80-year-old mentor, both from District 4. The party encounters poisonous fog in which Peeta comes into contact with the gas and cannot walk. Mags sacrifices herself in order to save Peeta and dies in the poisonous fog. After Mags's death, Katniss, Peeta and Finnick join forces with Johanna Mason, a sarcastic and often cruel victor from District 7, and Beetee and Wiress, an older couple from District 3 who are said to be "exceptionally smart". Wiress soon proves her genius by revealing to Katniss that the arena is arranged like a clock, with all of the arena's disasters occurring on a timed chart. After Wiress is killed in a battle with the Careers, Katniss learns of Beetee's plan to harness lightning in order to electrocute Brutus and Enobaria, the two remaining Careers Tributes from District 2. In the final chapters, Katniss instead directs the lightning at the force field that contains the arena, thereby destroying the arena and resulting in her temporary paralysis.
When Katniss wakes up, she is being transported to District 13, joined by Finnick, Beetee, and her mentor, Haymitch Abernathy. She learns that Peeta, Enobaria, and Johanna have been captured by the Capitol, and is informed that there had been a plan among half of the contestants to break out of the arena— Beetee had been attempting to destroy the force field in the same way that she did. The book ends when Katniss's best friend, Gale, comes to visit her and informs her that, though he got her family out in time, District 12 has been destroyed.
Themes[edit]
The main themes of Catching Fire include survival,[2] and the conflict between interdependence and independence. As reviewer Margo Dill noted, "In [Catching Fire], Katniss and Peeta are definitely interdependent. They are both helping each other to survive. As a matter of fact, they want the other one to survive more than they do themselves." Dill goes on to explain how this likely increases the chances of each character dying.[3]
Government control is another important theme, both within the book and throughout the entire trilogy. After suppressing the first rebellion, the Capitol establishes rules in order to restrict and control the citizens' lives. Examples noted by Dill include that, "the 75th annual Hunger Games have 'new' rules that cause Katniss and Peeta to be in danger once again. More 'Peacekeepers' are placed in districts to diminish any hope that the citizens started to have after the last Hunger Games."[3] Another major theme throughout the trilogy is the media and the influence or power that popular culture has over the emotions, wishes and views of society. Other themes in the book include morality, obedience, sacrifice, redemption, love, and law.[2]
Publication history[edit]
Catching Fire had a preliminary hardcover release date of September 8, 2009, which was moved up to September 1 in response to requests by retailers to move the release to before Labor Day and the start of school for many readers.[4] It was also published as an audiobook on the same day.[5] Advance reading copies were available at BookExpo America in New York City,[6] and were sent out to some booksellers, and offered as prizes in Scholastic's "How Would You Survive" writing contest in May 2009. An eBook version was also published on June 3, 2010.[5] Catching Fire had an initial print of 350,000 copies,[4] a number which had grown to over 750,000 by February 2010.[7] The release of Mockingjay, the third novel of the series, followed on August 24, 2010.[8][9] As of March 2012, the book has sold over 10 million copies.[10]
Critical reception[edit]
Catching Fire received mainly positive reviews from critics. Publishers Weekly wrote, "If this second installment spends too much time recapping events from book one, it doesn't disappoint when it segues into the pulse-pounding action readers have come to expect."[11] Booklist commented on how the "unadorned prose provides an open window to perfect pacing and electrifying world building".[2] The New York Times also gave a positive review, writing, "Collins has done that rare thing. She has written a sequel that improves upon the first book. As a reader, I felt excited and even hopeful: could it be that this series and its characters were actually going somewhere?" The review also praised Collins' development of the character of Katniss.[12] The Plain Dealer wrote, "The very last sentence of Catching Fire will leave readers gasping. Not to mention primed for part three."[13]
However, not all reviews were positive. The same review from The Plain Dealer expressed displeasure at how, "after 150 pages of romantic dithering, I was tapping my foot to move on."[13] A review from Entertainment Weekly opined that the book was weaker than the first and wrote, "Katniss pretends to be in love with her sweet-natured Games teammate Peeta Mellark, but she secretly pines for brooding Gale, a childhood friend. Except — why? There's little distinction between the two thinly imagined guys, other than the fact that Peeta has a dopier name. Collins conjures none of the erotic energy that makes Twilight, for instance, so creepily alluring."[14]
In addition, Time magazine placed Catching Fire at number four on its list of the top 100 fiction books of 2009,[15] while People magazine rated it the eighth Best Book of 2009.[16] It also won the Publishers Weekly '​s 2009 award for Best Book of the Year.[17]
Film adaptation[edit]
Main article: The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
Lionsgate announced that The Hunger Games: Catching Fire was to be released on November 22, 2013,[18] as a sequel to the film adaptation of The Hunger Games. In April 2012, it was announced that Gary Ross, director of The Hunger Games, would not return due to a "tight" and "fitted" schedule.[19] Francis Lawrence was officially announced as the director for Catching Fire on May 3, 2012.[20] The film's cast includes Jena Malone as Johanna Mason,[21] Philip Seymour Hoffman as Plutarch Heavensbee,[22] Lynn Cohen as Mags,[23] Alan Ritchson as Gloss,[24] Sam Claflin as Finnick,[25] and Jeffrey Wright as Beetee.[26] Production officially began on September 10, 2012 and concluded on December 21, 2012.[27] Shooting first took place in and around metropolitan Atlanta. Several District 11 scenes were also filmed in the rural areas of Macon County, Georgia, and the rest of production took place in Hawaii. Some of the wooded scenes were taken in Oakland, New Jersey.[28] The film was successful, becoming the highest-grossing film at the box office of 2013 and garnering positive reviews from critics.
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ "Mockingjay proves the Hunger Games is must-read literature". io9. 26 August 26. Retrieved 12 February 2013. Check date values in: |date= (help)
2.^ Jump up to: a b c Chipman, Ian. "Booklist Catching Fire Review". Booklist. Retrieved 21 July 2010.
3.^ Jump up to: a b Dill, Margo (July 15, 1234). "Novel Study Guides: Themes in Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins". Retrieved 22 July 2010.
4.^ Jump up to: a b "The On-Sale Calendar: September 2009 Children's Books". Publishers Weekly. 1 July 2009. Retrieved 3 April 2011.
5.^ Jump up to: a b Amazon Catching Fire. Amazon. ISBN 0545586178.
6.Jump up ^ Roback, Diane (2009-01-22). "'Hunger Games 2': A First Look". Publishers Weekly. Archived from the original on January 25, 2009. Retrieved 2009-01-26.
7.Jump up ^ Roback, Diane (February 11, 2010). "'Mockingjay' to Conclude the Hunger Games Trilogy". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 16 July 2010.
8.Jump up ^ Staskiewicz, Keith (2010-02-11). "Final 'Hunger Games' novel has been given a title and a cover". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2010-02-11.
9.Jump up ^ "Suzanne Collins's Third Book in the Hunger Games Trilogy to Be Published by Scholastic on August 24, 2010" (Press release). Scholastic. 2009-12-03. Retrieved 2009-12-03.
10.Jump up ^ http://shelf-life.ew.com/2012/03/28/hunger-games-updated-sales/
11.Jump up ^ "Children's Book Reviews: 6/22/2009". Publishers Weekly. 2009-06-22. Retrieved 2009-06-29.
12.Jump up ^ Zevin, Gabrielle (October 9, 2009). "Constant Craving". The New York Times. Retrieved 21 July 2010.
13.^ Jump up to: a b Welch, Rollie (September 6, 2009). "'Catching Fire' brings back Suzanne Collins' kindhearted killer: Young Readers". The Plain Dealer. Retrieved 21 July 2010.
14.Jump up ^ Reese, Jennifer (August 28, 2009). "Catching Fire (2009)". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 21 July 2010.
15.Jump up ^ "The Top 10 Everything of 2009". Time. 2009-12-08. Retrieved 2010-01-10.
16.Jump up ^ "People Magazine's Top Ten Books of 2009". BookGuide. January 2010. Retrieved November 7, 2010.
17.Jump up ^ Grossman, Lev (8 December 2009), Scholastic Catching Fire page, Scholastic.com
18.Jump up ^ Weinstein, Joshua L (August 8, 2011). "The Hunger Games Sequel Set for 2013 Release". The Wrap. Retrieved August 15, 2011.
19.Jump up ^ Hertzfeld, Laura (April 10, 2012). "Gary Ross will not direct second 'Hunger Games' installment 'Catching Fire'". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved October 18, 2012.
20.Jump up ^ Staskiewicz, Keith (May 3, 2012). "Francis Lawrence confirmed as 'Catching Fire' director". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved May 3, 2012.
21.Jump up ^ Kit, Borys. "Jena Malone Chosen as Tribute for 'Catching Fire' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 10 July 2012.
22.Jump up ^ Cornet, Roth (July 9, 2012). "Philip Seymour Hoffman Cast As Plutarch Heavensbee in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire". AMC Entertainment. Retrieved October 18, 2012.
23.Jump up ^ Games, Hunger. "Lynn Cohen Hunger Games". Facebook. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
24.Jump up ^ Adly MacKenzie, Carina (August 9, 2012). "'Smallville's' Alan Ritchson joins 'The Hunger Games: Catching Fire' as Gloss". Zap2it. Retrieved August 9, 2012.
25.Jump up ^ Wigler, Josh. "'Catching Fire' Casts Sam Claflin As Finnick". Retrieved 27 August 2012.
26.Jump up ^ Sperling, Lindsay (September 7, 2012). "Jeffrey Wright Joins Catching Fire". Complex Media. Retrieved October 18, 2012.
27.Jump up ^ Vary, Adam B. "'The Hunger Games: Catching Fire' begins shooting in Georgia, before moving to Hawaii". Retrieved 10 September 2012.
28.Jump up ^ McAllister, Cameron. "'The Hunger Games: Catching Fire' officially begins production in Georgia". Retrieved 10 September 2012.
External links[edit]
 Wikiquote has quotations related to: Catching Fire
Suzanne Collins' official website
Scholastic Official Site



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Categories: 2009 novels
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 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catching_Fire















Catching Fire
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search

"The Hunger Games 2" redirects here. For the film adaptation, see The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. For other uses, see Catching Fire (disambiguation).
Catching Fire
Catching fire.JPG
North American first edition cover

Author
Suzanne Collins
Cover artist
Tim O'Brien
Country
United States
Language
English
Series
The Hunger Games trilogy
Genre
Adventure
Dystopian
Science fiction[1]
Publisher
Scholastic

Publication date
 September 1, 2009
Media type
Print (Hardcover, Paperback)
Pages
391
ISBN
978-0-545-22724-7
OCLC
288932790

Dewey Decimal
 [Fic] 22
LC Class
PZ7.C6837 Cat 2009
Preceded by
The Hunger Games
Followed by
Mockingjay
Catching Fire is a 2009 science fiction young adult novel by American novelist Suzanne Collins, the second book in The Hunger Games trilogy. As the sequel to the 2008 bestseller The Hunger Games, it continues the story of Katniss Everdeen and the post-apocalyptic nation of Panem. Following the events of the previous novel, a rebellion against the oppressive Capitol has begun, and Katniss and fellow tribute Peeta Mellark are forced to return to the arena in a special edition of the Hunger Games.
The book was first published on September 1, 2009, by Scholastic, in hardcover, and was later released in ebook and audiobook format. Catching Fire received mostly positive reviews, with reviewers praising Collins' prose, the book's ending, and the development of Katniss's character. According to critics, major themes of the novel include survival, authoritarianism, rebellion, and interdependence versus independence. The book has sold more than 19 million copies in the U.S. alone.
A film adaptation of the novel was released on November 22, 2013.



Contents  [hide]
1 Plot
2 Themes
3 Publication history
4 Critical reception
5 Film adaptation
6 References
7 External links

Plot[edit]
Further information: The Hunger Games
After winning the 74th Hunger Games in the previous novel, Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark return home to District 12, the poorest sector in the country of Panem. But on the day that Katniss and Peeta are to start a "Victory Tour" of the country, President Snow visits unexpectedly and tells Katniss that he is angry with her for breaking the rules at the end of the last Hunger Games, which permitted both Peeta and Katniss to win. Snow tells Katniss that when she defied the Capitol, she inspired rebellion in the districts.
The first stop on the Victory Tour is District 11, the home of Katniss' deceased friend and ally in the Hunger Games, Rue. During the ceremony, Katniss delivers a speech thanking the people of District 11 for their participants in the Games. When she finishes, an old man whistles the tune that Katniss used in the arena to tell Rue that she was safe. The song acts as a signal and everyone salutes Katniss, using the same gesture that she used to say farewell to Rue. To the horror of Katniss, the old man and two others are killed.
Katniss and Peeta travel to the rest of the twelve districts and the Capitol. Hoping to placate the growing rebellion and settle the dispute between Katniss and President Snow, Peeta proposes to Katniss during an interview. Despite this, Katniss learns that their attempt to avert revolt in the districts has failed.
Shortly after returning to District 12, Katniss discovers on the mayor's television that District 8 has had an uprising, and she fears that what she has done to placate the crowds is not enough as there may be uprisings in other districts as well. She then meets two runaways from District 8, Bonnie and Twill. They explain their theory which contradicts what the other districts have been led to believe: District 13 was not completely wiped out by the Capitol, and that its residents survive in underground shelters.
Later, it is announced that, for the 75th Hunger Games, twenty-four victors from previous years will be forced to compete once again. This is the third occurrence of the "Quarter Quell": an event that occurs every 25th year of the Games and allows the Capitol to introduce a twist. Knowing that she and Peeta will both be competing in the Games a second time, Katniss decides that she will devote herself to ensuring that Peeta becomes the Quarter Quell's victor and convinces her mentor to try and help her. Likewise, Peeta is devoted to protecting her, but both Katniss and her mentor are determined that only Peeta reaches back home safely.
During the Games, set in a jungle with a saltwater lake, Katniss and Peeta join up with two other previous victors: Finnick Odair, a 24-year-old man who survived the Games at the age of 14, and Mags, Finnick's 80-year-old mentor, both from District 4. The party encounters poisonous fog in which Peeta comes into contact with the gas and cannot walk. Mags sacrifices herself in order to save Peeta and dies in the poisonous fog. After Mags's death, Katniss, Peeta and Finnick join forces with Johanna Mason, a sarcastic and often cruel victor from District 7, and Beetee and Wiress, an older couple from District 3 who are said to be "exceptionally smart". Wiress soon proves her genius by revealing to Katniss that the arena is arranged like a clock, with all of the arena's disasters occurring on a timed chart. After Wiress is killed in a battle with the Careers, Katniss learns of Beetee's plan to harness lightning in order to electrocute Brutus and Enobaria, the two remaining Careers Tributes from District 2. In the final chapters, Katniss instead directs the lightning at the force field that contains the arena, thereby destroying the arena and resulting in her temporary paralysis.
When Katniss wakes up, she is being transported to District 13, joined by Finnick, Beetee, and her mentor, Haymitch Abernathy. She learns that Peeta, Enobaria, and Johanna have been captured by the Capitol, and is informed that there had been a plan among half of the contestants to break out of the arena— Beetee had been attempting to destroy the force field in the same way that she did. The book ends when Katniss's best friend, Gale, comes to visit her and informs her that, though he got her family out in time, District 12 has been destroyed.
Themes[edit]
The main themes of Catching Fire include survival,[2] and the conflict between interdependence and independence. As reviewer Margo Dill noted, "In [Catching Fire], Katniss and Peeta are definitely interdependent. They are both helping each other to survive. As a matter of fact, they want the other one to survive more than they do themselves." Dill goes on to explain how this likely increases the chances of each character dying.[3]
Government control is another important theme, both within the book and throughout the entire trilogy. After suppressing the first rebellion, the Capitol establishes rules in order to restrict and control the citizens' lives. Examples noted by Dill include that, "the 75th annual Hunger Games have 'new' rules that cause Katniss and Peeta to be in danger once again. More 'Peacekeepers' are placed in districts to diminish any hope that the citizens started to have after the last Hunger Games."[3] Another major theme throughout the trilogy is the media and the influence or power that popular culture has over the emotions, wishes and views of society. Other themes in the book include morality, obedience, sacrifice, redemption, love, and law.[2]
Publication history[edit]
Catching Fire had a preliminary hardcover release date of September 8, 2009, which was moved up to September 1 in response to requests by retailers to move the release to before Labor Day and the start of school for many readers.[4] It was also published as an audiobook on the same day.[5] Advance reading copies were available at BookExpo America in New York City,[6] and were sent out to some booksellers, and offered as prizes in Scholastic's "How Would You Survive" writing contest in May 2009. An eBook version was also published on June 3, 2010.[5] Catching Fire had an initial print of 350,000 copies,[4] a number which had grown to over 750,000 by February 2010.[7] The release of Mockingjay, the third novel of the series, followed on August 24, 2010.[8][9] As of March 2012, the book has sold over 10 million copies.[10]
Critical reception[edit]
Catching Fire received mainly positive reviews from critics. Publishers Weekly wrote, "If this second installment spends too much time recapping events from book one, it doesn't disappoint when it segues into the pulse-pounding action readers have come to expect."[11] Booklist commented on how the "unadorned prose provides an open window to perfect pacing and electrifying world building".[2] The New York Times also gave a positive review, writing, "Collins has done that rare thing. She has written a sequel that improves upon the first book. As a reader, I felt excited and even hopeful: could it be that this series and its characters were actually going somewhere?" The review also praised Collins' development of the character of Katniss.[12] The Plain Dealer wrote, "The very last sentence of Catching Fire will leave readers gasping. Not to mention primed for part three."[13]
However, not all reviews were positive. The same review from The Plain Dealer expressed displeasure at how, "after 150 pages of romantic dithering, I was tapping my foot to move on."[13] A review from Entertainment Weekly opined that the book was weaker than the first and wrote, "Katniss pretends to be in love with her sweet-natured Games teammate Peeta Mellark, but she secretly pines for brooding Gale, a childhood friend. Except — why? There's little distinction between the two thinly imagined guys, other than the fact that Peeta has a dopier name. Collins conjures none of the erotic energy that makes Twilight, for instance, so creepily alluring."[14]
In addition, Time magazine placed Catching Fire at number four on its list of the top 100 fiction books of 2009,[15] while People magazine rated it the eighth Best Book of 2009.[16] It also won the Publishers Weekly '​s 2009 award for Best Book of the Year.[17]
Film adaptation[edit]
Main article: The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
Lionsgate announced that The Hunger Games: Catching Fire was to be released on November 22, 2013,[18] as a sequel to the film adaptation of The Hunger Games. In April 2012, it was announced that Gary Ross, director of The Hunger Games, would not return due to a "tight" and "fitted" schedule.[19] Francis Lawrence was officially announced as the director for Catching Fire on May 3, 2012.[20] The film's cast includes Jena Malone as Johanna Mason,[21] Philip Seymour Hoffman as Plutarch Heavensbee,[22] Lynn Cohen as Mags,[23] Alan Ritchson as Gloss,[24] Sam Claflin as Finnick,[25] and Jeffrey Wright as Beetee.[26] Production officially began on September 10, 2012 and concluded on December 21, 2012.[27] Shooting first took place in and around metropolitan Atlanta. Several District 11 scenes were also filmed in the rural areas of Macon County, Georgia, and the rest of production took place in Hawaii. Some of the wooded scenes were taken in Oakland, New Jersey.[28] The film was successful, becoming the highest-grossing film at the box office of 2013 and garnering positive reviews from critics.
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ "Mockingjay proves the Hunger Games is must-read literature". io9. 26 August 26. Retrieved 12 February 2013. Check date values in: |date= (help)
2.^ Jump up to: a b c Chipman, Ian. "Booklist Catching Fire Review". Booklist. Retrieved 21 July 2010.
3.^ Jump up to: a b Dill, Margo (July 15, 1234). "Novel Study Guides: Themes in Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins". Retrieved 22 July 2010.
4.^ Jump up to: a b "The On-Sale Calendar: September 2009 Children's Books". Publishers Weekly. 1 July 2009. Retrieved 3 April 2011.
5.^ Jump up to: a b Amazon Catching Fire. Amazon. ISBN 0545586178.
6.Jump up ^ Roback, Diane (2009-01-22). "'Hunger Games 2': A First Look". Publishers Weekly. Archived from the original on January 25, 2009. Retrieved 2009-01-26.
7.Jump up ^ Roback, Diane (February 11, 2010). "'Mockingjay' to Conclude the Hunger Games Trilogy". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 16 July 2010.
8.Jump up ^ Staskiewicz, Keith (2010-02-11). "Final 'Hunger Games' novel has been given a title and a cover". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2010-02-11.
9.Jump up ^ "Suzanne Collins's Third Book in the Hunger Games Trilogy to Be Published by Scholastic on August 24, 2010" (Press release). Scholastic. 2009-12-03. Retrieved 2009-12-03.
10.Jump up ^ http://shelf-life.ew.com/2012/03/28/hunger-games-updated-sales/
11.Jump up ^ "Children's Book Reviews: 6/22/2009". Publishers Weekly. 2009-06-22. Retrieved 2009-06-29.
12.Jump up ^ Zevin, Gabrielle (October 9, 2009). "Constant Craving". The New York Times. Retrieved 21 July 2010.
13.^ Jump up to: a b Welch, Rollie (September 6, 2009). "'Catching Fire' brings back Suzanne Collins' kindhearted killer: Young Readers". The Plain Dealer. Retrieved 21 July 2010.
14.Jump up ^ Reese, Jennifer (August 28, 2009). "Catching Fire (2009)". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 21 July 2010.
15.Jump up ^ "The Top 10 Everything of 2009". Time. 2009-12-08. Retrieved 2010-01-10.
16.Jump up ^ "People Magazine's Top Ten Books of 2009". BookGuide. January 2010. Retrieved November 7, 2010.
17.Jump up ^ Grossman, Lev (8 December 2009), Scholastic Catching Fire page, Scholastic.com
18.Jump up ^ Weinstein, Joshua L (August 8, 2011). "The Hunger Games Sequel Set for 2013 Release". The Wrap. Retrieved August 15, 2011.
19.Jump up ^ Hertzfeld, Laura (April 10, 2012). "Gary Ross will not direct second 'Hunger Games' installment 'Catching Fire'". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved October 18, 2012.
20.Jump up ^ Staskiewicz, Keith (May 3, 2012). "Francis Lawrence confirmed as 'Catching Fire' director". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved May 3, 2012.
21.Jump up ^ Kit, Borys. "Jena Malone Chosen as Tribute for 'Catching Fire' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 10 July 2012.
22.Jump up ^ Cornet, Roth (July 9, 2012). "Philip Seymour Hoffman Cast As Plutarch Heavensbee in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire". AMC Entertainment. Retrieved October 18, 2012.
23.Jump up ^ Games, Hunger. "Lynn Cohen Hunger Games". Facebook. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
24.Jump up ^ Adly MacKenzie, Carina (August 9, 2012). "'Smallville's' Alan Ritchson joins 'The Hunger Games: Catching Fire' as Gloss". Zap2it. Retrieved August 9, 2012.
25.Jump up ^ Wigler, Josh. "'Catching Fire' Casts Sam Claflin As Finnick". Retrieved 27 August 2012.
26.Jump up ^ Sperling, Lindsay (September 7, 2012). "Jeffrey Wright Joins Catching Fire". Complex Media. Retrieved October 18, 2012.
27.Jump up ^ Vary, Adam B. "'The Hunger Games: Catching Fire' begins shooting in Georgia, before moving to Hawaii". Retrieved 10 September 2012.
28.Jump up ^ McAllister, Cameron. "'The Hunger Games: Catching Fire' officially begins production in Georgia". Retrieved 10 September 2012.
External links[edit]
 Wikiquote has quotations related to: Catching Fire
Suzanne Collins' official website
Scholastic Official Site



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Categories: 2009 novels
21st-century American novels
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