Every year, there is a reaping which requires a boy and a girl from each of the twelve districts to fight to the death until there is one winner. Prim and Peeta were chosen from district twelve but Katniss could never let harm come to Prim’s way so she volunteered to take her place. She had skills in hunting which helped her survive throughout the book and helped her win in the long run with Peeta which has never happened in history since there is always one winner.
One of the themes in this book is love and loyalty. The Hunger Games transform tributes into ruthless competitors who only care about killing or being killed, but Katniss built relationships rather than alliances. Katniss volunteered for the Games in place of her younger sister, Prim, and because District 12 has a history of losing the Games, she is practically volunteering for death, showing that she is more concerned about her younger sister’s life than her own. I can relate to this because I’d do any for my family especially my cousins who I am really close to. We have a great bond which no one can break and it shows our strength. Katniss had also pretended a relationship with Peeta so that it could lead to her victory and getting back home her sister, Prim. We obviously don’t have civil wars in our country so I can’t relate to doing unimaginable things for them but I do what I can just so that no harm comes to them and so that they are happy. Loyalty is hard to find in this generation since everyone is trying so hard to be the best that they’d do anything to get there even if it meant betraying their own. Nowadays, people are looking for new ways to deceive and deceit their close families and friends just to show their power.
“Leave? How could I leave Prim, who is the only person in the world I’m certain I love? And Gale is devoted to his family. We can’t leave, so why bother talking about it?”
Another theme in the book is hypocrisy. The Hunger Games encourage some hypocrisy among tributes. Many tributes make alliances with one another in order to increase their chances of survival, despite the fact that they know they will have to kill their allies at some point in order to win the Games. It is also encouraged that the tributes put up a performance. In Katniss’ case, she acts as if she’s in love with Peeta, when their situation in a competitive arena hardly encourages romance. Nonetheless, the tributes must adopt a certain level of hypocrisy in order to survive. I can relate to this to a certain extent because hypocrisy is not permissible in Islam. Although it is not permissible, hypocrisy is well and alive in our religion since we cannot help it. Hypocrisy is also alive in many other contexts such as when people give advice but don’t take it themselves which then leads them to their downfall.
“…but I’ve done my best with what I had to work with. How Katniss sacrificed herself for her sister. How you’ve both successfully struggled to overcome the barbarism of your district.”
Barbarism? That’s ironic coming from a woman helping to prepare us for slaughter.
This theme also relates to the social economy of this generation since The Capitol always thought they were above all the districts when in reality, they were just as human as everyone else. The same goes for races who think they are above every other race when the only thing that is stopping all races from uniting is the racism that is well and alive. The Black Lives Matter protests showed how all the races had united to show their solidarity against oppression and racism.
Another theme is family and friendship throughout the whole book. Katniss’ motive for participating in the Hunger Games is her family, and it is also what keeps her going despite the dangers of the arena and her fights with other tributes. She understands that if she dies, her family may suffer. Friendship is shown to be a significant part in Katniss’ triumph against extremely cruel and trying circumstances across all of these relationships. I personally would do anything for my friends especially the ones who have been there for me from the start like how Gale had been. Seeing as Katniss had to raise Prim from a young age since her dad died and her mum had gone into depression, it reminds me of my sister and I looking after my brother because my parents are always at work. Having to take care of a younger sibling is hard especially if they don’t tend to listen to you but that wasn’t the case with Katniss because Prim adored her.
“Take care of them, Gale. Whatever you do, don’t let them starve!”