Hope in the Hunger Games Trilogy

     I am currently reading Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins, the third book in the Hunger Games series. Throughout the series, hope is a reoccurring theme. Hope is what drives the characters in the book to keep going. Without hope, the characters would have given up on accomplishing their goals. The source of hope is different in each book of the series.  

     In The Hunger Games, Prim is the source of hope. Katniss was driven to hunt and feed her family by Prim. When Prim’s name was called during the Reaping, Katniss lost hope in herself. A Reaping is a ceremony when two kids, a boy and a girl, from ages 12 to 18, are chosen to participate in the Hunger Games. The Hunger Games is an annual event in which the selected tributes fight to the death, with the last person standing as the winner. Prim was important to Katniss, as shown by this quote from Katniss: “ I protect Prim in every way I can, but I’m powerless against the reaping”.  Katniss volunteers to participate in the Games. She did this to make sure that she still had a source of hope. Before the Games started, Prim said “I don’t care if we’re rich. I just want you to come home. You’ll try, won’t you? Really, really try?” During the Games, Katniss keep telling herself to fight for Prim. Prim is a source of hope for Katniss.

     In Catching Fire, the source of hope was the rebellion. The rebellion was a source of hope for everybody living in the districts, not just Katniss. The rebellion is against the oppressive government. Ever since Katniss and her partner, Peeta, tried to commit suicide during the games, a rebellion has sparked. The government was threatening to kill Katniss and her loved ones, and they were making the citizens in the district suffer from harsh rules and starvation. Citizens saw the rebellion as a chance to overthrow the government. When Katniss fought in her Second Hunger Games, she fought to save Peeta. She wanted Peeta because she knew that he would help the rebellion. Many of Katniss’s actions were to help the rebellion, like making a mock hanging of a famous woman that was killed because of her decision not to kill Katniss. The rebellion was a source of hope for the people of the districts.

     In Mockingjay, District 13 is a source of hope. After District 12 was destroyed, some citizens of District 12 ran away to District 13. District 13 is the base for the rebellion. The rebellion is a source of hope for everyone in the districts, and District 13 is important to the people that survived the bombing of District 12. If it weren’t for District 13, the people of District 12 would be suffering in the forest. District 13 is a source of hope for the people of District 12.

     In the three books, hope is available from different sources. This hope helps the people of the districts get through the problems they are facing. Through all the problems people face, there is always a source of hope.