The Hunger Games Trilogy

[Angie]

Use this thread to discuss The Hunger Games Trilogy Boxset by Suzanne Collins.

[Melinda]

eek - no spoilers yet. I'm not quite half way through the first book, although would be very interested to know what people think of Katniss. There's a lot to like about her but she can be frustrating/annoying at times

[Angie]

I like that Katniss isn't the perfect heroine. She annoyed me at times too, but it was refreshing to see that she wasn't exempt from making mistakes. Peeta probably annoyed me more. I know all the teenage girls love him, but I prefered Gale. The relationships Katniss has with the two guys is an interesting part of the book. I personally loved the first two books and was a bit disappointed with the third.

[Angie]

Discussion Questions for The Hunger Games (Book 1). Feel free to comment on any of these below.

1. How does Katniss feel about the country of Panem?
Why does she need to make her face “an indifferent
mask” and be careful what she says in public?
2. Describe Katniss’s relationships with Gale, with Prim,
and with her mother. How do those relationships
define her personality? Why does she say about Peeta,
“I feel like I owe him something, and I hate owing
people”? How does her early encounter with Peeta
affect their relationship after they are chosen as
tributes?
3. How does the fact that the tributes are always on
camera affect their behavior from the time they are
chosen? Does it make it easier or harder for them
to accept their fate? How are the “career tributes”
different from the others?
4. Why are the “tributes” given stylists and dressed so
elaborately for the opening ceremony? Does this
ceremony remind you of events in our world, either
past or present? Compare those ceremonies in real
life to the one in the story.
5. When Peeta declares his love for Katniss in the
interview, does he really mean it or did Haymitch
create the “star-crossed lovers” story? What does
Haymitch mean when he says, “It’s all a big show.
It’s all how you’re perceived”? Why do they need
to impress sponsors and what are those sponsors
looking for when they are watching the Games?
6. Before the Games start, Peeta tells Katniss, “. . . I want
to die as myself . . . I don’t want them to change me
in there. Turn me into some kind of monster that I’m
not.” What does this tell you about Peeta? What does
he fear more than death? Is he able to stay true to
himself during the Games?
7. Why does Katniss ignore Haymitch’s advice to
head directly away from the Cornucopia? Did she
do the right thing to fight for equipment? What are
the most important skills she has for staying alive?
Her knowledge of nature? Her skill with a bow and
arrow? Her trapping ability? What qualities of her
personality keep her going? Her capacity for love? Her
intelligence? Her self-control?
8. Why does Peeta join with the Career Tributes in the
beginning of the Games? What does he hope to gain?
Why do they accept him when they start hunting as
a group? Why do groups form in the beginning when
they know only one of them will be able to survive?
9. What makes Katniss and Rue trust each other to
become partners? What does Katniss gain from this
friendship besides companionship? Is Katniss and
Rue’s partnership formed for different reasons than
the other groups’?
10. Discuss the ways in which the Gamemakers control
the environment and “entertainment” value of the
Games. How does it affect the tributes to know
they are being manipulated to make the Games
more exciting for the gamblers and viewers? Does
knowing that she is on live TV make Katniss behave
differently than she would otherwise?
11. When does Katniss first realize that Peeta does care
for her and is trying to keep her alive? When does
she realize her own feelings for him? Did Haymitch
think all along that he could keep them both alive by
stressing the love story? Are they actually in love?
12. What do you think is the cruelest part of the Hunger
Games? What kind of people would devise this
spectacle for the entertainment of their populace?
Can you see parallels between these Games and the
society that condones them, and other related events
and cultures in the history of the world?
13. In 1848, Karl Marx wrote in The Communist
Manifesto, “The history of all hitherto existing
society is the history of class struggles.” Discuss this
statement as it applies to the society and government
of Panem. Do you believe there is any chance to
eradicate class struggles in the future?
14. Reality TV has been a part of the entertainment
world since the early days of television (with shows
such as Candid Camera and the Miss America
Pageant), but in the 21st century there has been
a tremendous growth of competitive shows and
survival shows. Discuss this phenomenon with
respect to The Hunger Games. What other aspects of
our popular culture do you see reflected in this story?

Sourced from: www2.scholastic.com/browse/collateral...
This site is really good. It has descriptions about and questions for all three books as well as an author profile etc.

[Melinda]

Just finished Mockingjay a few days ago and feel like starting at the start again. I felt the third one got a little repetitive and stuck with injuries and recovery etc...The repeating motif of the games themselves (pods in the capitol) was wearing a bit thin for me but I liked the twist with Peeta.

[Callan]

I love this series. This makes Harry potter nothing.

[Melinda]

I love both series - equally flawed yet excellent and compelling. Hunger games is certainly more sophisticated .

[Callan]

Melinda wrote: "I love both series - equally flawed yet excellent and compelling. Hunger games is certainly more sophisticated ."

It's just those two series that makes you want to read more books.

[Melinda]

At the end of the final book it felt like Collins ran out of steam a bit. What happened to Finnick seemed offhand and despite his earlier prominence in the plot, Haymitch seemed forgotten.

[Letizia]

1. How does Katniss feel about the country of Panem?
Why does she need to make her face “an indifferent
mask” and be careful what she says in public?
(hmm..good question)

I have only read the first book and honestly I did like it. If this book were to be used in my future classroom I would put my students to reflect on it and take out the most of it to make a comparison between the story and real life. What I deduced from the city of "Panem" was that it is this stereotype of the citylife. Everything is perfect, glamorous and always trendy. Very materialistc and they hardly know where does their food come from, but according to Katniss it is delicious (when I was reading the book I imagined the plate she is always talking about, and I what I imagined was something very delicious - those that you can be eating all day and not getting tired of its flavor) Panem is the goverment who controls their citizens and it is something that also happens in real-life.
On some countries you are punished if you say something bad about your country. There are some where you have silence even your thinking because who knows if the goverment is listening to you. Now my question is..who is the goverment? well, we make the goverment..there is division within people, there is all these terrible values that outstand the good values..

I would go on and on but overall this book is really interesting and what I have read so far about the author is the fact that she wrote this story to represent real-life and how can we compare it and learn from it.

[Callan]

Melinda wrote: "At the end of the final book it felt like Collins ran out of steam a bit. What happened to Finnick seemed offhand and despite his earlier prominence in the plot, Haymitch seemed forgotten."

Yes it was very emotional to finished the series and you just hope that there is gonna be a fourth book.

[Angie]

I've been told by the children in my class that The Hunger Games movie is out sometime in the next few days. Is anyone going to it? I can't wait to compare what I visualised in my head to how it is portrayed in the movie.

[Letizia]

Angie wrote: "I've been told by the children in my class that The Hunger Games movie is out sometime in the next few days. Is anyone going to it? I can't wait to compare what I visualised in my head to how it is..."

I know!!!I cant wait either!! For what I saw in the previews, they are close to what I imagined.

[Melinda]

Angie wrote: "I've been told by the children in my class that The Hunger Games movie is out sometime in the next few days. Is anyone going to it? I can't wait to compare what I visualised in my head to how it is..."

I have been counting down to this. Seeing the trailer was originally what motivated me to read the books

[Jo]

I just found this article about Gale vs Peeta.

http://bitchmagazine.org/post/the-reb...

Unlike the article writer who always preferred Peeta, I found myself constantly torn between the two male leads - sometimes pulled one way, sometimes the other - Gale won a little more, I think, despite having a girl's name! The article emphasises just how different the male leads are. I think that, given the young female audience the book is aimed at, Katniss chooses correctly in the end and sends out the right message.

The third book was definitely the weakest. It's hard to beat the shock of the first where the whole idea is introduced. How many times does that happen in a trilogy?! Really interested to see the film. It's got 100% on Rotten Tomatoes so far.

[Sharlene]

I'm hoping to go see the film before I start reading the hunger games. I like to visualize the characters + the trailer looks great! 100% Rotton Tomatoes, that sounds unheard of :)

[Jo]

Rotten Tomatoes is my film bible!
www.rottentomatoes.com

[Melinda]

Jo wrote: "Rotten Tomatoes is my film bible!
www.rottentomatoes.com"

me too Jo and that bitchmagazine article was great thanks!

[Catherine]

Just finished reading the first book yesterday. LOVE IT. Not usually one to jump onto the band wagon when it comes to books with huge hype behind them but the movie trailer sucked me in big time. Sitting around my teacher friends last Friday... one is reading the book to her class (year 8) and then making sure they understand what is happening (slash paying attention) by asking follow up questions after each shared book session and they are lapping it up. My other friend intends on sharing it with her class after she has finished. All class sets are booked out. My boyfriend who only likes non-fiction books liked the synopsis I gave him and is joining me to see the film (a mean feat he refused to go twilight :P).

[Sharlene]

Requested The Hunger Games from Auckland Libraries. I'm in the list with over 1000 people! Might have to buy them instead.

[Angie]

I'd lend you mine but they are in hot demand in my classroom. Don't put off reading them. They're great.
The librarian at school went to the movie the other night. She was telling me how great it was and how hot Gale is.

[Jo]

Sharlene, you can borrow mine if you like. Just message me with your address and I'll post them down next week.

Just got back from the film tonight, and about 80% of it was exactly how I pictured it when I was reading the books. Really good. Husband and ten-year old enjoyed it too.

[Melinda]

I would loan you mine but a librarian borrowed them :)

[Jo]

They're like gold dust at the moment!

[Beaulah]

Jo wrote: "I just found this article about Gale vs Peeta.

http://bitchmagazine.org/post/the-reb...

Unlike the article wr..."

Love this article Jo! I remember reading the Hunger Games for the first time and loving when Peeta made his 'shock' announcements e.g. in book one he says he's in love with Katniss and of course in book two, he manages to go one better ;)

All the way through, Peeta was my favourite. I'm pretty sure that's a personal choice thing, but I think he definitely made the best partner for Katniss in the end because she and Gale were too similar. Her and Peeta complimented each other more - were strong where the other had weaknesses.

I'm going to have to read this series again!

[Sharlene]

I managed to start & finish the trilogy in November. I did see the first 15 minutes of the The Hunger Games movie which made me want to read them first. I really like Effie as a character. She knows that she is sending tributes to their death, especially when there is only 1 living winner out of 74 games. I like how the Quarter Quell games are slightly different, just so the Capitol cant keep the Districts under their thumb. Its an interesting story. Well worth the read!