A Parents Guide to the Hunger Games

Mar 25, 2012

Do you want to know what the kids are talking about when they refer to The Hunger Games, but don’t feel the urge to see the movie? Here is a short guide to the Hunger Games, so you know what the heck everyone is talking about.

The Hunger Games is a trilogy of books published by Suzanne Collins, including The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay. The setting is a post-apocalyptic North America, long after a horrible war decimated the planet.

There are 12 Districts (cities basically), and each one serves some purpose to supply the Capitol with all of its needs. The Capitol comes first and the needs of the Districts are secondary. This means there is a very privileged group in the Capitol, while everyone else in the other Districts makes due with what they are allowed to keep.

There were originally 13 Districts, but 75 years ago District 13 rebelled against the Capitol, and was destroyed for it. Each year the Capitol forces the other Districts to participate in the Hunger Games, to remind them of the penalty for rebelling against the Capitol.

Each District specializes in producing a certain resource for the Capitol. In District 12, where our heroine Katniss Everdeen calls home, they produce coal. Life in the mines is hard, and Katniss’ father was killed in a mining accident. She now lives with her mother and her sister, Primrose. Katniss was forced to provide for the family at a young age as her mother descended into deep depression after the mining accident. Katniss has never forgiven her mother for that, but she loves her young sister Prim with all her heart.

Katniss learned how to sneak past the fences surrounding the District, and how to hunt in the wilderness beyond. There she met her best friend Gale. They spend many a day hunting wildlife and helping their families with the meat they bring home or sell in the black market.

The Hunger Games themselves involve each District holding a lottery to select one boy and one girl, aged 12-18, to participate in the games. There are 24 children chosen in all, two from each District, and those chosen are called Tributes. The Tributes are taken to the Capitol, where they are interviewed and trained like professional athletes for a week or so. They are all released into a large area of wilderness, and commanded to fight to the death. There can be only one winner of the Hunger Games.

The Games are watched constantly on television by everyone. Each set of Tributes has a mentor that trains them and tries to provide what help they can during the games. During times of extreme need for the Tributes, viewers can purchase gifts at a very high cost to send to the Tribute they wish. The Mentor controls this and gathers support for their Tributes. The gifts arrive to the Tributes attached to small silver parachutes. To give an idea of the costs of these gifts, it could cost everything that a poor district can spare just to send in a single loaf of bread.

The Gamemakers control the action, and provide deadly obstacles if the games get too dull. They might send in a team of Muts (genetically engineered mutations) to attack a group of Tributes who have decided they have had enough killing.

Children are forced to place their name in the lottery once each year. But if they have a large family who are having trouble supporting themselves, they can trade extra entries in the lottery for additional food shares allotted to them for the year. Most children are forced to add many entries in the lottery, so as they get older the chances that they will be selected grow and grow.

In the first book, it is Prim’s first year to participate in the lottery. She is 12, and Katniss is 16. She has only a single entry in the lottery, but lo and behold she is selected. Katniss volunteers to take her sister’s place.

The male Tribute from District 12 selected turns out to be Peeta, the baker’s son. Katniss has never even spoken to Peeta, but he has been in love with her for a long time. The love triangle between Katniss, Gale, and Peeta are a big part of the story. Don’t expect it to be resolved in the first movie.

So Katniss and Peeta head off to the Capitol. Soon they are launched into the Hunger Games, but there can be only one winner. Who will survive? Will they be forced to kill each other? Read the book or see the movie, my spoilers only go so far.

At least you should now have a basic understanding on what the Hunger Games is all about.