Food and Drinks in Hunger Games

The tale of The Hunger Games starts off on the day of the reaping in District 12. The book is of fiction in the young adult genre, but the content captures readers of all ages. While reading through the book, one realizes the nerve-racking tension the author utilizes. The book combines a thrilling action and an engaging love story, which thrills readers of all age groups. The setting of the tale is in the future, in which the government overlooks oppression of people. There is some aspect of Greek myth of Theseus and the Minotaur. The plot revolves around the North America, which had been destroyed ending up with 12 districts under the leadership of the oppressive government (Collins 34). The head offices of the oppressive government are at Capitol. The lead character of the novel is Katniss Everdeen, a teenage girl from District 12. Everdeen takes the position of her younger sister, as one of 24 tributes chosen annually to take part in the Hunger games at the Capitol. This study paper seeks to explore the role of food and drinks in the book Hunger Games. The author utilizes food to indicate the manipulation of people in tributes and districts in the ground. The information provided in this paper will provide evidence for the role of food and drinks in districts. More so, the paper will examine the essence of manipulation in relation to values of the Capitol.

The main essence of games pit is to place children from 12 to 18 years against each other in a fight to death in a giant double-crossing ground. All actions of the event are televised and highly publicized throughout the country. Everdeen has the obligation of enduring games, but, on the other note, persevere with a romance between her and another tribute from District 12. In the process, Everdeen constantly struggles with fire, thirst, hunger, injuries, wild animals and other teenagers for survival (Foster 145). In addition, Everdeen makes and losses friends, while at the same time, all characters are extraordinarily strong and show character advancement throughout the book. Food has considerable symbolism in the book, and it is almost evident that it mainly exhibits manipulation of the people. The government of the region was an oppressive one, which meant that they used cruel and manipulative methods to control the people. From this aspect, it is necessary that the administrators come up with ways, which will manipulate the residents to embrace their forms of leadership.

The Hunger Games is a tale concerning the society and class issues which mainly are the haves and the have not. This implies that the society comprises of people who have money and others who do not have wealth. In the book, the people of Capitol are wealthy ones and, hence, claim leadership of the region. Since the rich people have money and resources, they were in a position to control and manipulate the poor people. Participation in the Hunger games is something wealthy ones use to punish the poor, and yet it is almost evident that the poor do not stand a chance of winning games. One of the ways to motivate the poor to take part in the event is the provision of food, which the wealthy are aware that the poor are in dire need. The only way to cover up for their poor leadership skills the wealthy people use is food to manipulate the poor in management. To the poor, food symbolizes life, survival, friendship and love. For instance, the use of bread in the book was an indication of the low class people’s need for the food security. When Everdeen was eleven and starving to death, her friend Peeta prepares burned bread, so that he could save her life. Everdeen receives the bread after the fight, which renews her character as a rebellious girl on fire.

The presence of food equally draws the line between the rich and the poor. The wealthy people have all the money to purchase all the food the poor people cannot afford. During fights at the Hunger games, the motivating aspect would be food. The poor kids admired and concentrated on the presented food more than fights, hence, create high chances of losing fights. In the Capitol, the presence of the food was expected to be everywhere, and poor kids attending the fight looked forward to the moment. Any food one could probably desire was a call away, which was an indication of the Capitol people as consumers. The constant presence of food proved to be confusing and manipulative to poor kids, such as Everdeen. “What must it be like, I wonder, to live in a world where food appears at the press of a button? How would I spend the hours I now commit to combing the woods for sustenance if it were so easy to come by? (Collins 27).

From the above statement from Everdeen, it is evident that people from poor districts suffer in an effort of seeking food. With this knowledge, the rich understand needs of the poor people and use food to cover up for their wrong leadership. Hosting hunger games at the Capitol where the rich could easily display their abundant food was a manipulative move. When poor participants reached the town during the fight, seeing food and having it anytime they wished would change their perception towards the rich being in power. Eventually, food would replace any wrongs and oppressions the rich may have inflicted on them. It is a common knowledge that food is a basic need for every human being, and the fact that one lacks food can lead to people making uninformed judgments concerning outstanding issues. In as much as the poor people were not contented with the leadership of the current government, the provision of food during hunger games overwhelmed their judgment. It is clear that food was a manipulative ideology for the government located at Capitol to hide their oppressive nature of leadership.

This manipulation through the use of food shows a lot concerning values of the Capitol. In any literature work, different elements can be useful in describing the nature of the society and its values. In this case, the use and presence of food in the Capitol educates the reader on several aspects of society’s values. For instance, the lead character describes the town as a place where food is continually present (Foster 78). More so, having a meal only takes a call and nothing more. This means that the people of Capitol do not value food and only misuse the available food. Most of the food goes to waste, because there is much to eat and there are remarkably few people who want to eat food. On the other hand, the wasteful nature of the Capitol residents implies the lack of concern for other people. Out of the 12 districts, only the Capitol has the wealthy people, while the other residents suffer from poverty. The unequal balance in terms of food implies the wealthy people have low values, which do not promote communism.

Exploring the aspect of hunger games, it is evident that the wealthy people are self-centered. Hunger games have been a customary event in the region, and yet no poor people have ever won the contest. During hunger games, rich residents of Capitol provide so much food for poor contestants that it, in turn, confuses the children’s motive in the game (Collins 89). The presence of food diverts the contestants’ attention from the fight to the food, which in their normal life struggle to acquire a decent meal. In most cases, the poor children end up losing the fight, because of choosing to indulge in food eating rather than winning the game. Providing so much food during the fight with full knowledge of the poor children’s need for food is an indication of the manipulative nature of wealthy people who reside at Capitol. Food in the Hunger Games novel is an indication of controlling nature of the wealthy people of Capitol.

Conclusion

Different authors employ diverse elements in the conveying of certain messages to readers. In this case, the book explores the oppressive nature of the present government, and the author uses food to examine the government’s rule. Food is a significant sign of the manipulative nature of the wealthy people in the Capitol who have been in control of the North region. It is evident that the rich people understand needs of the poor, which in this case is food. For this reason, they deprive food, which is a basic need, from the poor people, so that they can always rely on their lead. The lead character predominantly explains this aspect through various escapades that fighters undergo during the contest. Food and hunger are motivating factors in the novel Hunger Games.