Elements of Fiction: The Hunger Games

Elements of Fiction: Hunger Games

Expectations:

When I look at the title of The Hunger Games, I expect a book involving some form of a game. When I first heard of the hunger games, I thought of it as a play on life's purpose, as possibly just a game surrounding our survival. From the first paragraph, the story seems dark, the setting seems unpleasant and it seems as if something big will be coming soon. After the first interactions I see that the protagonist seems to have a pretty pessimistic view on life and her surroundings. She seems hardened by the life she has lived. After the reaping, we see a new side of Katniss. A side that isn't necessarily optimistic, but one that wants to fight for her life and is going into the hunger games head strong.

What happens in the story:

The characters do change from beginning to end. Katniss seems softened by the end of the book. She seems to see the beauty in life more clearly than before and seems to sympathize with Peeta more freely. She grows some attachment to him. Peeta also changes by the end. He becomes stronger and more resilient than he seemed to think he was in the beginning of the story. The plot is quite hard to summarize briefly but I will try. The Hunger Games is about a society overtaken by a Capitol that rules 12 districts across what is known as America. The Hunger Games is a form of entertainment to the people of the capitol. 24 young people, one girl and one boy from each district fight to the death while the whole nation watches. The story follows 16 year old Katniss as she learns about love, power, and life as she tries to save her own. This book could be called many genres but I would classify it under dystopian fiction/speculative fiction.

How is the story narrated:

The narrator is identified as Katniss Everdeen. The story is narrated in present tense and in first person. We don't know what other characters are thinking. We would only know this through the interpretation of Katniss or her conversation with another character.

Who are the characters:

The protagonist is Katniss Everdeen. There are several antagonists in this story. One being the Capitol for putting on the slaughter show of the hunger games. Another antagonist is the hunger games itself because it proves as a huge obstacle for all of the tributes. The last antagonists I can think of are those who try to kill Katniss or get in her way of survival, but this is only because it is from the point of view of Katniss. If another character were the narrator, we could very well see Katniss as an antagonist. There are plenty of other characters. The three main groups of characters I can think of are Katniss' family and the people