The Hunger Games Inciting Events

Annsley Lowe

Molly Scott

English 9

27 November 2012

The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games had several moments of impact throughout the story line. The author does an excellent job of drawing the reader in at different points during the book. These scenes sweep you into the story and fill you with the emotions of the characters involved. They describe the setting in a way that lets you almost feel like you are in the story with the characters, right alongside them.

One of these moments of impact occurs in the beginning of the story. During the Reaping when Prim's name is selected from the jar, there is immediate drama that follows. Prim is so young and so scared. She knows there is no chance for her. The second her name is called, both her and Katniss's hearts plummet to the floor. Katniss protectively defends her sister, and screams, "I volunteer as tribute!". This moment would forever alter Katniss Everdeen's life. She would never be a simple girl from District 12. She was a Tribute, and must now prepare to be thrown into an arena to fight to the death. Yet she was willing to sacrifice her life in place of her sister's. that is true dedication and love.

Another impacting moment came when Katniss meets Cinna. She is now in the Capital. Fear, loneliness, anger, confusion, and many other emotions are running through Katniss's mind in this strange place. Even the people were strange. She thought she would never find anyone she could relate to, until she met her stylist, Cinna, and he isn't at all what she expects. Instead of someone who is dyed, stenciled, and surgically altered, he is a young, normal-looking man dressed in simple black clothes. He compliments her braided hair, the only thing that her prep team didn't touch, and she tells him that her mother did it. She finds out that this is Cinna's first Games and that he requested District 12. He calmed her and acted like a father to her. This is something she needed more than anything. They develop an unspoken yet unbreakable bond throughout the book.

While still in the Capital before the Games, Katniss and Peeta share a moment that impacted them greatly. Katniss continues to struggle with how she feels about Peeta. She second-guesses everything that he does, worrying that all of his actions are motivated by his desire to win. At times she's convinced that he's scheming, deceiving her and the others; at other times, she thinks that he might be acting out of kindness, which is more dangerous to her since she knows she won't be able to kill a kind Peeta Mellark. Yet one night, Peeta held Katniss, and made the statement, "I wish I could live in this moment forever." Katniss recalls the day behind the bakery when she was eleven,