Hunger Games or Hunger Wars?

            For my Book Quest I chose to read the entire series of the Hunger Games.  This trilogy has been talked about and advertised across the country for the past several months, with phenomenal reviews.  When the Book Quest was assigned, I felt a sigh of relief because now I had no excuse not to read the books, and I would be able to see what the rave was all about.  Shortly after beginning the first book of the trilogy, I found it extremely difficult to put down.  The story is engaging and made me feel as though I was a character in the book.  It also was interesting to read because I now have a whole new perspective of what constitutes a game.  The structure and plot of the story enabled me to look at games in a new and different way.  The Hunger Games is a story about a televised community competition, called “The Hunger Games” that takes place each year, in which only one competitor can survive.  This book directly correlates to the themes discussed throughout the 22 Ways of Thinking class.  I found that this book most closely related to the theme of Psychology, as discussed by both Stephen Garcia from the Organizational Studies department, and Susan Gelman from the Psychology department.

            Susan Gelman discussed the value and structure of games during childhood.  We discussed that play is a fundamental human activity in which children are able to express their creativity while conforming to particular rules, all to facilitate their learning. In the Hunger Games, the tributes are children between the ages of twelve and eighteen, somewhere between childhood and adulthood.  Although Susan spoke mostly about children in their young childhood, her theories and facts relate directly to the children participating in the Hunger Games, and the concept of games in general.  Susan discussed games as the way most people today think of them: fun, play, enjoyable, entertaining, and educational.  However, this is NOT the kind of game that takes place in the Hunger Games.  Instead, the Hunger Games is a competition in which the “Magic Circle” is an arena in which twelve districts have two competitors each to fight for their lives.  This differs from the traditional games discussed by Susan Gelman, because although there are set rules as most childhood games have, these games are not for fun and are most definitely not enjoyable for the participants.  In today’s society, most people would refrain from using the word “game” to refer to a life or death situation.  However, the people living in the time of the Hunger Games did.  In addition to games being fun and academic, Susan also mentions that play is a way in which individuals can express their creativity and conformity.  Within the Hunger Games, Katniss, Peeta and the other tributes are confined by many rules that govern the life competition.  In order to stay alive, the tributes had to use creativity to come up with innovative plans for hiding and killing others.  Because of the rules put in place, they were forced to accommodate the environmental conditions and the rules into their own skills and practices, something Susan proved as being part of traditional games with children as well.

            Stephen Garcia’s approach to discussing games also correlated directly to the implications within the Hunger Games.  He discussed the various aspects of competition and the motivations for people to perform at higher levels during competition.  He showed experiments that prove that people engaging in forms of competition have different motivations that therefore affect their performance.  For example, when Katniss is put under pressure in practice with few spectators, her usually perfect aim with the bow and arrow was completely thrown off.  However, during the actual gaming events, with thousands of spectators watching from home, her skills were near perfect.  This relates to the social facilitation theory which states that motivation and skill increase with the number of spectators watching. 

            Despite the Hunger Games mainly being about the actual fighting for survival, it also contained more abstract “games” that we discussed briefly in class.  Other than being an action novel, it was also a love story.  Through the different competition strategies endured, such as pretending to be in love, Katniss and Peeta eventually fall in love with each other, and they help each other through the gruesome competition.  As mentioned several times throughout the course, love can be considered a game because of the structured “rules” and variability involved.  Their love is portrayed throughout all three books, with the final book of the trilogy ending with the beginning of their life and family together. 

            I highly recommend this trilogy to anyone! After partaking in this class, I was able to look at the story from many perspectives and analyze it in a way I would have never thought before.  Because of the game-like nature of the book, I think it related perfectly to the course material.