Boys Rule: A Reponse to “Boys vs. Girls” – Arman Badihi

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Back To Books: The Hunger Games – Arman Badihi

As everyone with a social life knows, The Hunger Games was an amazing book that came out several year ago, and is now an AWESOME movie. But I’m not going to write about that. Instead, I’m going to write about the book. So, for those 5 of you haven’t read the book (or simply can’t read), you’ll know why you should read the book. If you can’t read, you’re sunk. Sorry. I suggest picking up this new invention called a book. It really helps. Trust me.

First of all, the book is dystopian, which I just love. For those of you who don’t know what that means, think of it this way: A Utopian society is the PERFECT world in the future. So a Dystopian society is in the future, and is EXTREMELY chaotic. This is perfect description of the setting of The Hunger Games. The country of Panem is lead by the capital, which could only be described as heaven on earth. Everyone is ridiculously rich, and luxury is everywhere. Then there are the 12 Districts, each of which is basically a colony to the capital. Each district provides a specific resource to the Capital, but the living conditions are awful. These people are often very poor, and many have feelings of hate towards the capital.

There use to be 13 Districts, but #13 was blown up after a war against the capital, when the 12 districts rebelled. As punishment for rebelling, each District must send to the capital two tributes, a boy and a girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen. The tributes are chosen at “random” and compete in the Hunger Games, which is basically a fight to the death on live TV. And I thought Jersey Shore was a bad idea. In District 12, Katniss Everdeen is barely living from day to day, and is forced to hunt (which is illegal) in order to feed her family. Her 12 year old sister, Prim, is chosen as tribute, which in District 12 is synonymous with corpse. Katniss volunteers to save her sister and and ends up in the Hunger Games.

Easily one of the best parts of reading the book, for me, is picking up all the references to the modern world. For example, District 12 is located in a place once called “Appalachia.” The book is literally so suspenseful that I had to force myself to go to bed when I was reading. I’m certain that if I didn’t, I would have spent the whole night reading. The world that is created is so fascinating, you just wish you could learn more. That’s what books two and three are for. By the way: If you haven’t read the book and you are reading this sentence, get up, walk to the nearest book store, buy The Hunger Games, and read it. And if you can’t read, may the odds ever be in your favor.