Essay

Prompt:

1982. In great literature, no scene of violence exists for its own sake. Choose a work of literary merit that confronts the reader or audience with a scene or scenes of violence. In a well-organized essay, explain how the scene or scenes contribute to the meaning of the complete work. Avoid plot summary.

 

A Fight to Survive

 

      In The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, the storyline is mainly based around a world of violence. The reader is exposed to a savage and brutal adventure that twenty-four kids are forced to endure. Amongst the tad bits of love, romance and suspense, the novel is filled with action-packed and violent scenes that contribute to the meaning of the complete work.

      In the square of District Twelve, the mayor gives a speech that provides the history of the Hunger Games. Struck by droughts, storms, rising seas, and other natural problems, North America essentially dissolved, and the country of Panem rose up in its place. Panem was formed of a Capitol and thirteen districts, but the districts eventually rebelled. The Capitol defeated the districts, with the thirteenth being so badly destroyed that it ceased to exist. To punish the districts and remind them of their powerlessness, the Capitol holds the Hunger Games, in which a male and female “tribute” between twelve and eighteen from each district must fight to the death in a large outdoor arena. The tribute that survives wins, and that tribute’s district receives extra food.

       Violent? Definitely. Naturally, all of the tributes are going to do their absolute best to be the victor for their district, but the task is not an easy one. There’s lots of blood, and children are killed, but the violence is never gratuitous.  The Games take place in a futuristic society and culture that was founded upon violence. The story depicts a select society of opulence with a gluttonous appetite for physical and sensual pleasures and all at the expense of others. It depicts a society so calloused and indifferent to violence and human suffering that death is a Game eagerly anticipated and celebrated. Human life has little to no value. Even the tributes are curiously resigned to their fate and somewhat indifferent to the deaths of those who have died before.

        The concept of children locked in a violent melee is unpleasant in that it is unfortunate as they battle and kill one another. Many people can recall reading a book in school entitled Lord of the Flies, which can be compared to the concept of The Hunger Games. In it young boys find themselves in a very adult situation where the necessity of leadership, survival and conflict resolution are suddenly thrust upon them. They fight to survive, they even fight each other and some die. It is strange to me to think of teens killing one another, but then again, they are forced into this situation to fight and try to survive the Game.

       The Hunger Games is based around this violent combat which includes deaths, blood, weapons, swarming killer bees, vicious dogs, poisonous berries that all contribute to the violent concept that is exposed to the readers and audience. Whether it's being attacked by poisonous, swarming bees, being killed by another tribute, or even being chased by vicious dogs, it is easy to see the violence as a significant aspect throughout the Games. The whole point of The Hunger Games is for these young adults to battle to the death to end up with a victor, and without the violence and killing, the adventure wouldn't be progressive or as effective.