The Hunger Games: First 50 Page Summary

Waking up from bed, we are introduced to our protagonist, sixteen year old Katniss Everdeen. She is a very caring, loving and sweet girl with a tough side to her. You can decipher this by the way she cares for her family and how she loves them deeply. She is confident and brave but can stubborn and sometimes cruel. This can be seen in the way she kills animals without a flinch and when she constantly breaks rules and questions authority. She holds skills in hunting and surviving and isn’t afraid to get a little dirt on her. Although she is only a teenager, she is a tough hunter who puts food on her family's table. Her father is dead and she lives with her mother and sister Prim in District 12, in the country of Panem, formally North America. Collins depicts the setting as a very depressing, poor and plain place to live in. This setting contributes to the overall atmosphere of the book which is really desperate and bleak, and it makes you feel more for the characters knowing they are placed in a setting so horrible that they starve and have to hunt for food. Katniss hunts with her friend named Gale who is very kind hearted and a good looking boy who has similar characteristics as her, and it is hinted that he might have an interest in her romantically. Katniss however is not into romance and love all that much, so she does not show feelings towards him.
The Capitol of Panem hosts an event called the Hunger Games every year where two tributes – a girl and a boy – are chosen by random from each of the twelve districts to be brought into an arena and fight to the death, with only one winner standing. These Games take place as a reminder from the Capitol to the districts to never rebel against them, as well as entertainment purposes for the citizens of Panem, as the Games are broadcast live on television. Collins lets the reader infer that the antagonist of the The Hunger Games is the Capitol. They are the ones who set up the cruel games, who leave other districts poor