Why did Suzanne Collins write this book?

[Nya Tomlinson-Horan-Malik-Payne-Styles]

i think she wrote it for fun

[Robyn]

I read somewhere - maybe the back of the book? - that she wrote it to bring to light the terrible things war does to our children. It is also very much like Battle Royale by Koushun Takami and there is some debate as to whether this is where her ideas came from.

[Kirby]

well, I had thought that she might have had an ulterior motive in killing off beloved characters, sorta like, "see how it feels when it's a fictional character? just imagine if it were your friends and family," but I think someone else shot my theory down so I may be wrong...

[[deleted user]]

Michaela wrote: "Darn. See, I thought maybe she did, but what's fun about kids killing each other? I mean, I was glued to it for days, but I was hoping it would be alright in the end and it wasn't (the whole series..."

its fun for some people,like me

[Nicole]

I was thinking the same as soon as I started the first book...which i just finished. How could someone come up with a story line that begins and ends on a depressing note. I was thoroughly engaged through the book and I did enjoy reading it but was left sort of feeling like I was left with an empty feeling when it was done. I do hope the movie will be true to the book.

Perhaps there was no nice, neat and tidy ending to reflect real life in this world that doesn't seem real in the book. Not everything works out for the better or has a happy ending in 'our' world.

[Lostshadows]

I don't know what sparked her to write this, but many authors have been moved to write dystopian fiction over the years.

I'm surprised you found the ending hopeless. Things seemed to have improved quite a bit after the time skip.

[[deleted user]]

Emma wrote: "I don't know what sparked her to write this, but many authors have been moved to write dystopian fiction over the years.

I'm surprised you found the ending hopeless. Things seemed to have improved..."

what is dystopian fiction?

[Hannah]

Nadiraalisha wrote: "Emma wrote: "I don't know what sparked her to write this, but many authors have been moved to write dystopian fiction over the years.

I'm surprised you found the ending hopeless. Things seemed to ..."

dystopia is the genre of the hunger games it is an un ideal world like in the hunger games a utopian world/book is a ideal world where all things are good and there is no problems a utopian world is a dream world

[Courtney]

I think she wrote this book for entertainment. I realize that the ending isn't happy go lucky but that doesn't mean that it's not still a very well-written and entertaining book. She is a stylistic genius in the way that she writes and I think she did a great job with the books.
I also caught onto the parallels between Panem and modern day society, but I don't think that the books were written as a warning to us.

[[deleted user]]

Courtney wrote: "I think she wrote this book for entertainment. I realize that the ending isn't happy go lucky but that doesn't mean that it's not still a very well-written and entertaining book. She is a stylistic..."

SO TRUE,good opinion!!

[Shélah]

The books are social commentary. They are written in an effort to have its readers reflect on how we contribute to current conditions and future ones.

Sci-fi/fantasy/dystopia has a unique ability to critique current value systems implicitly. Collins is largely addressing the problems that are wrought by excessive capitalism, consumerism, lack of censorship, and mindless viewership. It may be viewed as anti-violence, but I think that is secondary. We live in a media-saturated society (in industrialized countries) where most people (knowingly or not) base a large part of their value system on what they consume (i.e., media).

These books are not about society in the future, they are about the harm we are causing now by failing to reflect on what we are consuming, both as viewers and as citizens - for example, the majority of "stuff" in any given store is not manufactured in the country where it is being produced. Those countries (i.e., China) are the districts, and America (or like-countries) are the Capitol. We consume to the detriment of other people because we are too foolish to know or care that this is a problem.

Is it hopeless? I would imagine that it probably is if people reading these books fail to see the parallels to their own lives.

[Kayley]

She wrote this book series cause she had a story idea. As to why it was made as in the idea itself i read that she was watching tv at night and flipped channels between a game show and a war show and they blended together to form the hunger games

[Christina]

I was reading on something I think a fan site or something that she was watching tv and she was flipping channels between the Iraq soldiers and war and something about like hungry children and an idea went off in her head and the rest is history. Maybe in her biography Fame coming out soon will tell more about it.

[[Coco]]

For fun. Maybe she was thinking about what could happen to the world someday and somehow it came to this?

[Aiyana, A PotterWhoLockian]

I personally think that Suzanne Collins is INSANE. i mean who comes up with this stuff???????? I didn't mind the first one but the second is CREEPY.

[Stephanie]

Aiyana wrote: "I personally think that Suzanne Collins is INSANE. i mean who comes up with this stuff???????? I didn't mind the first one but the second is CREEPY."

Is it so insane? Haven't people in history done worse to other human beings? Concentration camps, human experiments, and more. What do you think happened there? I can assure you it was just as bad or worse. So I don't think she's very insane at all. But hey, that's just me.

[Aiyana, A PotterWhoLockian]

Ok Stephanie, I get your point, yes there have been many bad things but this is worse than slavery. for me, i am really against slavery and this is worse so thats what i meant.

[Edwin]

What inspired her to write The Hunger Games was Theseus and the Minotaur and Panem et Circenses.

[Stephanie]

Aiyana wrote: "Ok Stephanie, I get your point, yes there have been many bad things but this is worse than slavery. for me, i am really against slavery and this is worse so thats what i meant."

Yeah, slavery was bad but I wasn't talking about slavery, I was talking about WWII. How the Jews were persecuted in the genecide and how they were sent to concentration camps to be killed or to work just because Hitler said so. And how inhumane experiments were done on them; or how they were stripped naked before they were killed so that others could have their clothes; or how the soldiers lined them up and shot them at the edge of huge holes so that they didn't have to take the time to dig them individual graves. Yeah, there were a lot worse ways that people have been treated than in the Hunger Games.

[Aiyana, A PotterWhoLockian]

Michaela, your right, and it does make you wonder what part is true.

[Stephanie]

Michaela wrote: "Stephanie wrote: "Aiyana wrote: "I personally think that Suzanne Collins is INSANE. i mean who comes up with this stuff???????? I didn't mind the first one but the second is CREEPY."

Is it so insa..."

Well, why do people watch scary movies? There are so many scary things out there, that there really is no need. Same thing isn't it? And it's fiction, so she didn't need to write about something people can learn from. It's entertainment. She didn't need to write this story but she did. But I think she did it to give perspective. It's suppose to be a dystopian novel about how the world could be in the future; not necessarily how it will be. And you can learn from this book by knowing the people, not by the storyline. Words are only ink on pages unless you really think about them. Don't let her embellishments distract you from what's real even in fiction.

[Gretchen]

You often have to package reality in an entertaining way if you want people to read it and learn from it. Sugar coat the medicine.
As she is a young adult writer I think she wrote the book as an awakening to young people about the world they live in and as a warning to change it. It doesn't really end hopelessly. No things do not end perfect but they end with a fresh start and I think sometimes that is all we can hope for. If they had ended perfectly it would be unrealistic that is not how the real world pans out.
When horrible things happen we pick ourselves up and keep going with the best of what we have. I think that is what she is trying to convey.

[Abby]

I think it's kind of a prediction of the future. Like, if we don't take care of our world and at least TRY to get along, this is what might happen. She's kind of teaching a lesson through her enthralling romance-action-dystopia novel, you know?

[Courtney]

well guys you also have to think about, what she likes to write about and her point of veiw and it is not a awful book i liked it. and she wrote way more books than that. I like her as a as a story writer and a artist and a movie maker because; she did all this without any help and how old she is for doing this it grate but you also got to hear her point of veiw not just your poin of veiw and ypur opine.

[Courtney]

Kat wrote: "I think it's kind of a prediction of the future. Like, if we don't take care of our world and at least TRY to get along, this is what might happen. She's kind of teaching a lesson through her enthr..."

yea

[Nuria]

She could be saying theres no hope at all for human beeings.We are our own destruction. and for sure she wrote it to make money.

[ImScared3222]

Why does anyone write anything? Why do people create art? Everyone has their different reasons, but it's mostly to express themselves. They want to tell you something and they want you to listen. Suzanne Collins wanted to tell the world something and clearly, the whole world has listened.

[Nuria]

Kendyl wrote: "Why does anyone write anything? Why do people create art? Everyone has their different reasons, but it's mostly to express themselves. They want to tell you something and they want you to listen. S..."

we are trying to find out what this "something" is.

[Ms.]

Inspired by Greek Mythology. And also to show us WHAT WE MAY BECOME IF THE GOVERNMENT GOES TOO FAR. This is my theory

[ImScared3222]

Nuria wrote: "Kendyl wrote: "Why does anyone write anything? Why do people create art? Everyone has their different reasons, but it's mostly to express themselves. They want to tell you something and they want y..."

Well, obviously this "something" is what we have become, what we are capable of becoming, and what we could possibly do in the future.

[Jeffery]

There was a reason she wrote the book. She wrote the book because she felt that how on one channel she could watch kids playing on a game show, but on another she saw them dying from a war was outrageous. And so my favorite book trilogy was born :).

[Nae]

Shélah wrote: "The books are social commentary. They are written in an effort to have its readers reflect on how we contribute to current conditions and future ones.

Sci-fi/fantasy/dystopia has a unique abili..."

After reading the posts, I was about to write something similar to this. I guess you beat me to it.

I agree. For me, The Hunger Games is a social commentary. Yes, the trilogy is set in a completely different era, but the parallels between the present and Collins' worlds are unmistakable.

[Sophia]

I think Suzanne Collins wrote the series to entertain. but some say that the books were written to tell us to stick up when something is not right. if our government has too much power and starts taking away our rights we must act quickly. I personally enjoy the books because it sends a good message to always stick up for yourself and to believe in yourself.

[John]

Suzanne is warning us about what is about to come upon the United-States and parts of the world. The government has ALREADY divided the US into 10 districts in case of trouble - civil unrest, economic breakdown, terrorist attack, etc. Usually, the government manufactures these. It's a dire warning to wake up. Those concentration camps already are in place. They are called FEMA camps. Please do the research or live with the consequences.

[John]

Valerie wrote: "It's fascinating and thought provoking. The book gets people asking questions and thinking, it's like posing rhetorical questions to people, why ask?

Because you want them to think.

I don't thin..."

Please read message 43.

[John]

Jeffery wrote: "There was a reason she wrote the book. She wrote the book because she felt that how on one channel she could watch kids playing on a game show, but on another she saw them dying from a war was outr..."
Please read message 43.

[John]

Valerie wrote: "It's fascinating and thought provoking. The book gets people asking questions and thinking, it's like posing rhetorical questions to people, why ask?

Because you want them to think.

I don't thin..."
Please read message 43.

[John]

Stephanie wrote: "Michaela wrote: "Stephanie wrote: "Aiyana wrote: "I personally think that Suzanne Collins is INSANE. i mean who comes up with this stuff???????? I didn't mind the first one but the second is CREEPY..."

Please read message 43.

[John]

Liz wrote: "Unlike a lot of dystopias out there, I don't think Suzanne Collins wrote this as a warning.

There are way better books that represent societies that we might turn into. "Fahrenheit 451" book burn..."

Read message 43.

[Kamas]

John, I think you might be a little paranoid. Most people wouldn't willingly live in a FEMA trailer if they had their own home still available. It's a bit of a stretch to think that the US government has the ability to intentionally manufacture catastrophic weather events just to move people into a FEMA trailer for a short time.

I think Ms. Collins wrote the book because she had an idea(s) she wanted to express and to make a little money doing it.

[John]

They're not trailers, my friend. I can't believe people can watch the movie or read the book and still be so clueless. It's about the plans the government and the elite have for us: restricting travel to sectors, cordoning-off vast areas of the US where you won't be able to go, reducing us to poverty, etc. Find out about Agenda 21 of the United Nations. Already, you can be arrested without due process in the US. Little by little, a dictatorship is establishing itself. By the way, the gladiatorial games was also mentioned in United Nations plans. They've since withdrawn that document. Use the internet to research while it's still available.

[Kamas]

FEMA trailers are like small trailer houses (there are several hundred in my hometown, Minot, after last years flood). I know people that are still living in them.

[Andrew]

I personally think the FEMA camps, hunger games is a stupid and a waste of time.. i'm a Christian and I am strongly against anything that has to do with killing each other, using boys, hurting family all that.. God would never approve, and I hope somehow someday Suzanne Collins will get saved so she can see how what she wrote is poisoning little kids and teens minds and trapping them getting them hooked.. I really wish Suzanne didn't write THG

[Kamas]

Andrew, did you actually read the book? If you did, you may have missed some of the plot.

[Dust]

Suzanne wrote the series to show the effects of desensitization and reality television on our culture. To show how the line between real and false can get so blurry that real suffering isn't taken seriously and is treated as if just another movie. There's a scholastic interview where Suzanne states this as her purpose.

[Dust]

Andrew wrote: "I personally think the FEMA camps, hunger games is a stupid and a waste of time.. i'm a Christian and I am strongly against anything that has to do with killing each other, using boys, hurting fami..."

Andrew, it's not Christian to think as you do. It's shallow and closed minded. Please don't blame your own limited views on religion. Just read the Bible. Its filled to the brim with death, betrayal, prostitution, genocide, promiscuity, using sexuality and deceit to accomplish what needs to be done and such. I, for one, am a strong Christian even if I'm just thirteen who loves and appreciates Suzanne's beautifully written work The Hunger Games. My dad is a pastor who really likes this series and it's message. Just read between the lines. It's a thought provoking series meant to explore desensitization, obsession with power and other abstract and relative ideas. You can close one eye to all that's evil in the world and gladly watch everything good and pure from the other and gaze on in sheltered, false security naysaying anything that attempts to challenge your "safe" views. Or you can open both your eyes wide taking the world for what it is, what it's going to be and what it could be, sparing naïveté and evasion for truth, awareness, knowledge and perspective. It's your choice,

[Susan]

It is comforting to see this dialog regarding this extremely disturbing story. However, my observation in our society is that this discussion is an isolated event. I am the mother of 4 children, ages 18 - 12, who have grown up with this book since it was published. I, as Michaela, asked the question of why would Suzanne Collins write such a barbaric and senseless destruction of humanity through the entirety of the premise being about CHILDREN KILLING CHILDREN???? Of all the horrific events that have happened in human history, nothing could be worse than to make children kill each other. I know this has happened in history (I.e., Cambodia), but it happened under war and not made into a sport and entertainment for mass media viewing. Everyone knows that war is BAD. That is so basic that children even get that. However, what I hear from children about this storyline of the entertainment and sport of children killing other children is acceptance with glee. I overheard in passing the other day a 5 year old announce playfully, "Let the Hunger Games begin! " People are excited about this story of children killing children, whether it is the book or the next movie coming out. They can't wait to get in on the sport and entertainment of indulging in witnessing these children kill each other. It is pure acceptance and celebration in our society of the worst of our world, and as people participate in this, they take no notice of themselves or the world they are in to see what they have heralded as what has evolved to our now pinnacle of entertainment. This is purely evil, plainly stated. And this is the only place I have seen or heard any discussion about the WHY of this disturbing story. That is even more disturbing than the story itself. It makes me question what kind of world my children will have their children in, that this is what is esteemed to our public, with no outcry of shock and self examination. It gives me a sense of dark foreboding for our world and that it is a different place than I thought it was when I gave birth to my 4 precious children. If I was of childbearing age today, I question if I could bring carefree innocent children into a hope depraved world where they would be forced to become desensitized to humanity through media bombardment such as this.

[Tesla]

I personally feel like this chick was hungry. Hungry for peeta bread.
Bitch was hungry, so hungry she resorted to killing people.

[George]

I think she wanted to show how reality TV, like the Ceaser Flickerman show, doesn't always show reality.

[Marie]

https://snl.no/stamcelle Here is a link of an intervjue were she says what the story is based on if that helps