This is a story about Katniss, a teenage girl who recently won the annual Hunger Games competition,
a brutal fight to the death of tributes from each of the districts in the country of Panem.
Because of a rule change, both Katniss and Peeta, a baker’s son who was Katniss’
partner in the Hunger Games, are awarded money and nice homes.
However, life is complicated for Katniss as President Snow, leader of the central government,
suspects that Katniss acted out of rebellion in the arena and is not in love with Peeta
as was displayed during the Games.
Thus, Katniss is torn over her feelings for another guy named Gale, her childhood hunting
friend.
As winners, Katniss and Peeta must travel to each of the districts and meet the people.
Although Katniss and Peeta try not to do anything controversial, a couple of the districts begin
acting up with small signs of disrespect to the Capitol.
News spreads that at least one district is beginning a small rebellion, which prompts
Katniss to stay in District 12, as her plan was to run away and live in the wild.
The Capitol launches their campaign for the upcoming Quarter Quell, a special edition
of the Hunger Games that is held once every 25 years.
However, it is announced that only past victors of the Hunger Games will be selected as tributes,
which means that Katniss will have to return to the arena.
Katniss and Peeta, as the District 12 tributes again, prepare for the Quarter Quell with
Haymitch as their trainer.
During the training, Katniss is determined to keep Peeta alive, even if it means sacrificing
herself.
After Katniss and Peeta are transported to the Capitol, they meet with the other tributes.
There is a diverse mix of people from the pool of past winners, as some are old and
young.
Haymitch proposes creating an alliance with other tributes before the games start, which
prompts Katniss and Peeta to talk to the other tributes.
They find a few allies, but decide not to formally create an alliance.
During their last interview in front of the crowds, Peeta announces that he and Katniss
are married and that they are expecting a child.
The crowd gets worked up and the tributes hold hands as a sign of unity.
The tributes are then transported to the new arena, which is set on an island.
Katniss swims towards the Cornucopia, a centerplace that contains supplies and weapons, and finds
a bow and arrows.
She is confronted by Finnick, a young, handsome guy who knows how to fish and is deadly with
a trident.
She decides to trust him as he swims back to save Peeta, who can’t swim.
Katniss leads the group along with an older woman named Mags and they head towards the
trees.
Along the way, they discover that there is an invisible force field that is keeping them
in.
The group’s main concern, however, if finding water and they discover that water is in the
trees.
By using a spile to get the water out, the group makes camp at the edge of the island.
However, a fog of toxic gas brings them out, killing Mags as they try to escape.
The group is then approached by other tributes, Johanna, Beetee, and Wiress, who seem friendly.
They then form an alliance and figure out that the island is configured like a clock
and that there are traps set off in each of the sections of the island based on the time
of day.
However, Wiress is killed by the Careers, a faction of well-trained tributes, and the
group is forced to move on.
Beetee comes up with a plan to kill the Careers using a wire and the lightning from the island.
As Katniss is setting up the wire, Johanna attacks her.
Katniss thinks she is about to die, but then wakes up in a medical center.
She walks in on Plutarch Heavensbee, the new Head Gamemaker of the Hunger Games, Haymitch,
and Finnick.
She learns that they had been working on a plan to allow them to escape the island.
However, Peeta was left behind.
In the end, the group travels to District 13, an area that was thought to be destroyed,
to join the rebel forces.
There, Katniss learns that District 12, her home, has been destroyed.
As always, a lot can be said about this story, but what draws my interest and attention is
the idea of sacrifice and how sacrifice is represented in the story.
The overall setting of Panem as a country is an ideal background for sacrifice.
Times are tough for all of the people and as demonstrated through Katniss’ family
before her winning the Hunger Games, each member of the family must sacrifice for the
good of the others.
So while the first book in the series focuses heavily on Katniss’ sacrifice for her sister,
Prim, and others during the Hunger Games, this book demonstrates sacrifice beyond Katniss.
That she is the object being sacrificed for.
And for Katniss, sacrifice comes in forms both big and small.
First, the big demonstrations of sacrifice.
Early on, readers know that Katniss’ mission is to keep Peeta alive no matter what.
Before returning to the Hunger Games, she already has her mind set that she will never
be returning.
Either she will die in the arena to help Peeta win or President Snow will arrange for her
death in a more discreet manner.
And as the story continues, Katniss uses sacrifice to drive her to continue in the arena.
We also see big sacrifice through the deaths of characters like Mags and Wiress.
More importantly, it’s the accumulation of the little sacrifices by countless numbers
of people that begin to start adding up for Katniss and the rebellion.
And this is what the central idea behind sacrifice is in this story.
We see acts like Cinna creating an outfit for Katniss that ultimately gets him beaten
that ultimately motivate Katniss to continue on.
Also, because of the discretion of the rebellion, it was the small sacrifices that got things
moving: the sponsor gifts, the alliances, the training, her outfit, etc.
Moving forward, it seems that the other districts in Panem are willing to sacrifice of themselves
to work together to overthrow the Capitol.
For a long time, each district operated independently from the others, working alone.
But in order to defeat the Capitol, the districts must work together and help each other, sacrifice
for each other, just as others are sacrificing for Katniss.
So, let me know what you think about the story in the comments below.
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