THE HUNGER GAMES AND COMMUNICATION

The Hunger Games and Communication

The Hunger Games and Communication

Introduction

Catching Fire is a drop down in quality from The Hunger Games, but still an enjoyable and entertaining novel. The sequel to the intellectual Hunger Games once more begins in district 12, a town torn apart by poverty, forever in fear of its rulers, The Capitol. After surviving The Hunger games, Katniss and Peeta live a life of luxury and wealth in magnificent mansions, no longer afraid of starvation. However, do not be lulled into the lie that this is a happy ending, no, Katniss must live a life of deception, convincing The Capitol that she is madly in love with Peeta when she, in fact, has feelings for her life-long friend Gale or shall face the consequences which are frighteningly clear. In the first novel, you are reassured that none of her family will come to any harm and that the only ones in any significant danger are Katniss and Peeta.

There are no such reassurances in this novel, so in one respect, this is a scarier novel than The Hunger Games. In terms of structure, this is quite a different beast to The Hunger Games, for instance while, in the first novel, most time is spent on Katniss preparing for the games and the actual event, and focusing on the tributes tactics including her own and events within the games. Catching Fire focuses on the events outside the arena and the possibilities of revolution. The actual games are a little rushed.

There is far less bloodletting in Catching Fire but do not be tempted into the notion that because there is less violence the book is in any way lighter than The Hunger Games, as with most trilogies, the books only get darker, and this is a very unpredictable and unsettling read. There are truck loads of suspense, and you cannot stop asking yourself centillions of questions surrounding President Snow and his ruthless, uncaring government. I prefer The Hunger Games only by half an inch because it is a little more satisfying and reveals this cruelly imaginative world for the very first time.

Description and Analysis

Plot/Story is interesting/believable and impactful. In book two of Collins's Hunger Games trilogy, Katniss, Peeta, Haymitch, Gale, and the gang are back - and better than ever. In Catching Fire, Collins exposes her readers to the deeper horrors and animosities of the Capitol and of President Snow. Just when Katniss and Peeta begin to feel safe, President Snow, ever vindictive, turns up in District 12 to remind them that they have defied him, and the Capitol, and vengeance would be served.

Soon, the Hunger Games are brought to the districts and as uprisings begin to occur, Katniss and Peeta are dragged back to the games - their punishment for defying President Snow. What this sequel has that the first book lacked is a deeper and more realistic connection between this fantasy story and the world around ...