Mr. Marcus English 8 NoahKanwal 9/27/10

This summer, I read Catching Fire (the sequel to The Hunger Games)by Suzanne Collins. In this wonderful fantasy, North America is divided into twelve districts, known as Panem. In the first book, Katniss, the main character, takes her sister’s place in the Hunger Games. These games are a cruel set of challenges where one boy and one girl from each of the twelve districts fight to the death in an arena. Katniss and her co competitor, Peta, make it out of the Hunger Games as the only two victors. In the beginning of Catching Fire, things are going OK until the capital makes an unorthodox decision to have every victor from every district compete to the death in an arena. This cruel decision sends everything spiraling out of control and leaves Katniss with the decision to abandon everything she knows – her family, her sister and her best friend, Gale – or stay and fight for her life.

Conflict, whether it be internal or external, is a major element in this book. One external conflict is that the capital is torturing all the living victors of the Hunger Games by making them compete again against each other. Also, all of the districts are beginning to get fed up and uprise against the capital. In the arena, the way Katniss defies the capital affects every district. The internal conflict going on inside Katniss is that she knows Peta is in love with her, but she is not in love with him. She does not know who to love, between Peta and her best friend, Gale, who loves her also. Also, Katniss does not know whether or not she can pull through and survive the Hunger Games a second time. She knows that all of her competitors are worthy and they have proven it by winning.

Some of the most brilliant highlights from this story are in the games themselves. Katniss forms an alliance with some trustworthy victors and they watch each others’ backs which is very inspiring to me. Even when others around them were fighting and dying, characters in this story form friendships, have hope and do what they need to do in order to survive. Although many of the victors are old, they have huge reps, and egos that are impossible to imagine. One victor that Katniss takes a liking to is named Finnik. He is very charming and cries all of the time. But, his ego is huge. One of most significant parts of this story is how he treated Katniss like an adult in the arena. Another standout scene in this book is when Gale is being whipped. Later, Katniss never gives up on comforting him until he is strong. Gale is willing to give up his whole world for Katniss, and a couple of weeks of her time to heal him, almost makes him feel guilty.

The thing that is very unique about this writer’s style is that she can take a child, put her into a game to the death, and then still give her the same thoughts that a normal 16 year old girl would have. How she can make a trained killer, be also kind, sweet and beautiful, is amazing. The most common literary devices Collins uses are similes and metaphors. Many of the things that go on are so new to Katniss that all she can do is compare them to things she has seen before. Thus enters the similes. Imagery is a huge part of this book, because without it, I would feel no emotion reading it whatsoever. The way the author describes a child in pain or a cruel president out for blood almost makes me sick because I can picture it so clearly.

Although the ending of this book leaves you on a complete cliffhanger, and makes you wait on the edge of your seat until you read the next one, I would definitely recommend it. It includes many important lessons, such as not to take life for granted and home is where you hang your hat. I think I got a lot out of reading this book, and when I was finished, I was just a little bit smarter about the world and the way I should treat people. I will probably read this book again and again, and get different lessons out of it each time. Although it was just made up of paper and ink, what this book contained was very special to me.