Hunger Games Movie V.S. Book

Watching The Hunger Games and reading the book is like hearing two sides of the same story, both very similar but at the same time different. Moviegoers seem to be very pleased with the movie; meanwhile readers are still talking about parts of the book that were left out. The significance of the movie and book appears to remain the same, a young girl volunteers as tribute to the Hunger Games and ends up defying the Capitol, firing up the beginning of a rebellion. Some very noticeable changes with the movie and the book were the use of the Mockingjay, the description of the violence, and extra scenes the movie added to guide the moviegoers. Even though the movies stays faithful to the book, the book goes more in depth to help you understand the meaning of the story.

The Mockingjay becomes a very significant symbol that will start the rebellion. In the book, Katniss's friend Madge visits her in her last minutes in district 12 and gives her the Mockingjay pin. During the rebellion, the Capitol bred a series of genetically altered animals as weapons called Jabberjays; they would help spy on the rebels and record what they heard. But when Mockingjays mated with Jabberjays they lost the ability to enunciate words, thus making them useless to the Capitol. Katniss's father was also fond of Mockingjays, which made her feel like she had a piece of her father with her, protecting her. In the book there was meaning towards the little pin and it was clear that it was no ordinary bird that was liked by the Capitol. Although, the meaning of the Mockingjay is translated differently in the movie. The movie still keeps the pin meaningful but it becomes a token from her little sister, Prim. Throughout the movie it is hard to tell what it means other than a pin from her sister. There is no scene that tells how symbolic the Mockingjay becomes in the story. The only scene that hints at the importance of the Mockingjay would be as Katniss is getting crowned as a victor and President Snow asks who gave her the pin. Those who have not read the book would not understand that the pin means rebellion. They would not see that there is a stronger connection between Katniss and the pin.

The violence and torture in the games are very detailed in the book. Towards the end of the book the three remaining tributes are chased by mutations of dogs. These dogs resemble each of the past tributes that are now dead. The book explains how these mutts have been programmed to have the faces of the fallen tributes. This chapter shows how the Capitol has no limits, they enjoy the games with more violence. It also shows the torture towards the remaining tributes, leaving them to wonder had become of the tributes bodies. In the movie the dogs appear in a touch of a button. The game makers just point their pens in the arena and the dogs magically appear. The dogs do not resemble any of the tributes, but they do everything else described in the