The Hunger Games trilogy
The Hunger Games trilogy, authored by Suzanne Collins, is a dystopian series that began with the release of "The Hunger Games" in 2008. It quickly became a bestseller, appealing to a wide audience including middle school and high school students, as well as adults. The story is set in the post-apocalyptic world of Panem, where a brutal annual competition forces children from various districts to fight to the death. The protagonist, Katniss Everdeen, emerges as a symbol of rebellion against the oppressive regime that controls Panem, accompanied by her fellow competitors Peeta Mellark and Gale Hawthorne.
The trilogy continued with "Catching Fire" in 2009 and "Mockingjay" in 2010, receiving critical acclaim and substantial sales, particularly boosted by the successful film adaptations. The first film, released in 2012, topped box office charts and significantly increased interest in the books. While the series has faced criticism for its violent themes, many educators argue it opens up vital discussions on social issues such as inequality and human rights. In 2020, Collins expanded the universe with "The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes," a prequel that explores the origins of the Hunger Games and the character of President Snow. The franchise continues to spark conversations and raise awareness about various social causes, reflecting its cultural impact.
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The Hunger Games trilogy
Suzanne Collins’s dystopian Hunger Games trilogy began with the publication of The Hunger Games in 2008. The novel became an instant hit with its target audience of middle school and high school students, while also appealing to large numbers of adults and younger readers. The Hunger Games rose to the top of numerous bestseller lists, including those of the New York Times, USA Today, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble. The Hunger Games was named a best book of the year by both Publishers Weekly and School Library Journal in 2008 and was named a notable book for children by the American Library Association in 2009. Collins continued the trilogy in 2009 with the publication of Catching Fire and in 2010 with the publication of Mockingjay. When the first Hunger Games film was released in 2012, cowritten and coproduced by Collins, interest in all three books skyrocketed.
Overview
Before writing The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins honed her writing skills by working on such popular Nickelodeon shows as Clarissa Explains It All (1991–92) and The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo (1996–98). Collins was thus able to meld adventure, love, and teenage angst to create protagonist Katniss Everdeen, a sixteen-year-old who becomes a tribute in the seventy-fourth annual Hunger Games in which two contestants from each of twelve districts must fight one another to the death. The competition takes place in the postapocalyptic world of Panem, which emerges after North America has been destroyed for unknown reasons. Because viewing the competition is mandatory for all citizens, the rebellious and deadly accurate archer Katniss, who is strikingly beautiful after a makeover by a team of stylists, becomes the voice of revolutionaries who seek to rise up against the authoritarian forces that rule Panem. Her fellow competitor from their poor mining district, Peeta Mellark, the son of the local baker, serves as one of Katniss’s chief love interests; the other is Gale Hawthorne, a fellow hunter who Katniss has known for years.
In its first year of publication, The Hunger Games sold 903,000 hardcover copies, 6.2 million paperback copies, and 4.6 million digital copies. Critics raved about the trilogy, announcing that it would have lasting appeal and comparing it to other successful survivalist novels such as William Golding’s Lord of the Flies (1954) and Stephen King’s The Stand (1978).
The success of the films, starring Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss, Josh Hutcherson as Peeta, and Liam Hemsworth as Gale, have also helped to ensure the trilogy’s longevity. When The Hunger Games film was released in 2012, it became an instant blockbuster, garnering $155 million in its first weekend. That same year, 277 million copies of the trilogy were sold, an increase of 201 percent over 2011 sales figures. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire film was released in fall of 2013, and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 was released in late 2014, opening at the top of the box office and maintaining that position for consecutive weeks. Lawrence also broke into the world of radio when the song that she sings for the film, "The Hanging Tree," was remixed and played on popular music charts worldwide. The second and final part of the trilogy was released in 2015. While it also debuted at the top of the box office on its opening weekend with impressive ticket sales, critics noted that, likely due to blockbuster saturation, this installment did not perform quite as well as others in the series. Regardless, the success of the books and films roused interest in the sport of archery and encouraged young adults to take it up.
Detractors of the series raise concerns about the books’ violence; Panem’s annual Hunger Games requires children to kill other children in order to survive. According to the American Library Association, the trilogy was the third most banned book in 2011 for being “anti-ethnic; anti-family; insensitivity; offensive language; occult/satanic; violence.” Many educators and parents, however, insist that the trilogy provides an opening for honest discussions in classrooms and families about important social issues such as basic human rights, social inequalities, poverty, and reality as entertainment—all of which are an integral part of the trilogy. Charities such as the United Nations World Food Programme, World Vision, and the Harry Potter Alliance have used the popularity of the Hunger Games to raise awareness of world hunger.
In 2020, Collins published a new installment in the Hunger Games series, titled The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, that aimed to give readers greater insight into the beginnings of the competition as well as the character of Panem's authoritarian ruler, President Snow. Before the novel even came out and claimed the number-one spot on bestseller lists, an announcement came of a deal for the franchise films' director, Francis Lawrence, to take on production of the prequel's film adaptation with a new cast. Upon the film's release in late 2023, it received mixed reviews and, though still profitable over the long term, garnered the lowest sales of the franchise at the box office.
Bibliography
Bartlett, Myke. “Violence and Entertainment in the Hunger Games.” Screen Education 66 (2012): 8–17. Print.
Bennett-Smith, Meredith. “Hunger Games: Anti-Family or Bonding Tool?” Christian Science Monitor 4 September 2012. Print.
Collins, Suzanne. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. Scholastic Press, 2020.
Collins, Suzanne. Catching Fire. New York: Scholastic, 2009. Print.
Collins, Suzanne. The Hunger Games. New York: Scholastic, 2008. Print.
Collins, Suzanne. Mockingjay. New York: Scholastic, 2010. Print.
Dines, Gail, and Jean McMahon Humez, eds. Gender, Race, and Class in Media: A Critical Reader. Thousand Oaks: Sage, 2011. Print.
“Frequently Challenged Books of the 21st Century.” American Library Association. ALA, n.d. Web. 17 July 2013.
Holmes, Anna. "White Until Proven Black: Imagining Race in Hunger Games." New Yorker. Condé Nast, 30 Mar. 2012. Web. 13 Jan. 2015.
Lopez, John. "MockingJay Part 2 Fell Victim to Blockbuster Fatigue, and Anyone Could Be Next." Vanity Fair, 23 Nov. 2015, www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2015/11/hunger-games-mockingjay-box-office. Accessed 1 Apr. 2024.
Roback, Diane. “Hunger Games Still Rules in Children’s.” Publishers Weekly 260.11 (2013): 33–42. Print.
Rubin, Rebecca. "'The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes' Nears $100 Million Globally. Is It Enough to Justify More 'Hunger Games'?" Variety, 19 Nov. 2023, variety.com/2023/film/box-office/hunger-games-prequel-ballad-of-songbirds-and-snakes-nears-100-million-globally-1235801253/. Accessed 1 Apr. 2024.