Hunger Games Research Paper

The Hunger Games The Hunger Games trilogy, by Suzanne Collins, takes place In a post-apocalyptic America with 12 (originally 13) Districts and an over controlling government who lives in the city known as The Capitol. As punishment for an uprising against the government almost 75 years before, each district must volunteer one male and one female between the ages of 12 and 18 every year.
The well written and well known trilogy appeared on the American Library Association’s (ALAS) list of most frequently banned and challenged books for the second year in a row in 2011 ranking third in cost frequently challenged books. The ALA defines a challenge as “a formal, written complaint filed with a library or school requesting that a book or other material be restricted or removed because of its content or appropriateness” (ALA). The protagonist in The Hunger Games trilogy, Catkins Overseen, must survive The Hunger Games while facing many challenges.
The Hunger Games trilogy is on the LA’S list of Banned and Challenged books because of violence, being unsuited to age group, and being anta-Ethel, despite Its many contributing factors which make It a favorable trilogy, including many historical attributes. Violence is never a good thing, especially when it comes to killing. The Hunger Games trilogy Is a war trilogy with a lot of violence. Collins does a very good Job at putting In an appropriate amount of violence In each book to give It Just the right effect of gruesomeness (Bobbin).

The violence in the trilogy occurs very often, mainly while the tributes are in the arena. As the tributes rise up on metal platforms, a giant metallic Cornucopia filled with helpful supplies sits in the center. Just seconds Into the games. Tributes are being slaughtered and picked off by other tributes. A boy. I think from District 9, reaches the pack at the same time I do and for a brief time we grapple for it and then he coughs, spattering my face with blood. I stagger back, repulsed by the warm sticky spray. Then the boy slips to the ground. That’s when I see the knife In his back. Collins 158) Within the first couple of minutes of the games, when everyone charges in to gather supplies from the Cornucopia, fighting starts right away and many tributes are already killed Immediately. When Cat, the male tribute from District 1, sees that the supplies that him, and the members of his alliance, had organized Into a pyramid has been blown up he goes Into a rage and walks over to the boy from District 3, who planted the mines after Cat told him to, and snapped his neck (Collins 224). The violence in this trilogy is ongoing and a natural part of a dyspepsia society.
Violence is also one of the main reasons why it has been challenged for being unsuited to the age group targeted. Throughout The Hunger Games, suspense builds and the violence becomes more frequent which is one of the reasons that many parents, including a mother from Softwood, New Hampshire, have challenged it. In 2010, the mother of a seventh- grade student claimed “her daughter was having nightmares and that the children In the book were being exploited for their having to fight each other for entertainment” (CTD. In Floorboards).
The mother’s challenge was unsuccessful and her daughter was taken out of class while the rest of the student read. Society would. A few of these ethical dilemmas include lying and slaughterhouse the trilogy, she is forced to face many choices that go against her morals in order to save someone (including herself) pay the ultimate price of their lives (Bobbin). Not many people would be willing to kill someone for any reason even if it is to save someone else’s life which are dilemmas Catkins faces on a day to day basis, both inside the arena and out.
A decision that Catkins faces is to either kill her friend and fellow tribute from District 12 and win, or kill herself and let PETA win. Both Catkins and PETA choose that they would rather kill themselves than kill one another and let the Capitol have no single victor (Bobbin). There are many other decisions that Catkins and her friends must make throughout the trilogy. Although the Hunger Games has been challenged by many people to be taken off shelves, very few have been successful because it has many contributing factors that make the trilogy marvelous.
Many history teachers like to teach this book due to the many historical attributes throughout the book. Many history teachers say that Collins based Catkins off of the hero in the myth of Theses and the Minotaur (or the Labyrinth myth). According to the author of the Percy Jackson series, Rick Ordain, “Collins has transformed the ancient Labyrinth myth into a terrifyingly believable tale of future America” (Ordain). In a high school in Texas, English teacher Rebecca Tortes stated that “History teachers also enjoyed the references to classic history and gladiator theme” (CTD. N Smith). Many history teachers say this because fighting for the entertainment of the government is what gladiators and these tributes did. All in all, The Hunger Games is a thrilling trilogy in which many fight for the government’s entertainment. Many challenges saying that The Hunger Games are violent, unsuited to the age group, and anti-ethic have been made but few have been successful because of the many historical references made throughout the trilogy.