Chakmakchyan 1

Anush Chakmakchyan
Professor Lawson
English 113B
20 April 2015
Word Count: 1627
Forced Rebellion: The Hunger Games Trilogy vs. The Real World
Is it forced rebellion if primarily one makes the choice to such action? Rebellion can be
caused by various reasons, whether it is by choice or it is by force. In The Hunger Games trilogy,
the main character Katniss shows various forms of rebellion against the Capitol but is forced into
those actions because of her circumstances. This issue illustrated in all three books of The
Hunger Games is a dirty mirror reflection of rebellion against the government in the real world.
Katniss is forced into rebellion against the Capitol throughout the trilogy, similarly, teenagers in
our own world are often forced into rebellion by social circumstances.
In The Hunger Games, Katniss shows rebellion against the Capitol by hunting in the
woods and by imposing for there to be two winners in the games which she is forced to do.
Katniss mentions, The last thing I needed was another mouth to feed (Collins, The Hunger
Games 3), reassuring that they live in poor conditions with barely enough to survive for
themselves. She then says, There are several other weak spots in the fence, but this one is so
close to home I almost always enter the woods here, (Collins, The Hunger Games 5). This
shows that Katniss very often goes to the woods to hunt to provide meals for herself and her
family and it is clear that they depend on the woods for most of their survival. Katniss also

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mentions that ...trespassing in the woods is illegal and poaching carries the severest of
penalties (Collins, The Hunger Games 5). Given that her level of poverty is ridiculously low,
Katniss and her family highly depend on the woods to make a living, therefore she is forced to
make that rebellious act against the Capitol. At the end of the book when the game makers
change the rule back to only one winner, Katniss makes a very rebellious move that that saves
hers and Peetas lives but gets her hated by the authorities in the Capitol and into serious trouble.
Katniss reacts, I loosen the top of the pouch and pour a few spoonfuls of berries into his palm.
Then I fill my own. On the count of three (Collins, The Hunger Games 344).
As Katniss is chosen to become a tribute for the second time in Catching Fire, for the
seventy-fifth hunger games, as a result of the Quarter Quell, she again shows forced rebellion
when show bows up the arena with a shot of an arrow. She says, My bow tilts up at the
wavering square, the flaw, the what did he call it that day? The chink in the armor. I let the
arrow fly, see it hit its mark and vanish, pulling the thread of gold behind it (Collins, Catching
Fire 378). Her bow that she shot blew up the entire arena, and was intended to kill all of the
remaining tributes including herself and to fail the Capitol leaving them with no winners. As she
is laying there knowing she is dying and going over the chances Peeta has to stay alive, she
remembers that the real enemy is the Capitol who is the reason they have starved, been tortured
and sent to die in the arena and therefore wants to take her last opportunity to fail them, and
make them look weak.
Katniss makes the biggest rebellious move against the Capitol in Mockingjay, when she
agrees to be the Mockingjay, which she is again forced into because of her circumstances. One
night when Katniss has a talk with Prim, she tells her, Tomorrow morning, Im going to agree to
be the Mockingjay (Collins, Mockingjay 33). Then Prim asks, Because you want to or because

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you feel forced into it? (Collins, Mockingjay 33). Katniss replies with, Both, I guess. No, I
want to. I have to, if it will help the rebels defeat Snow (Collins, Mockingjay 34). When Katniss
agrees to take the title of the Mockingjay, she takes the role of the one who is going to make
the war to take down the Capitol happen, which is the major rebellious move she makes
throughout the trilogy. Even though she tells Prim that she wants to take this title, she is taking it
because she doesnt want them to end up where they were or even in worst conditions when there
is a chance that they can take over and she wants revenge from the Capitol, therefore making it a
forced decision that she made. Yes, she is the one who makes the choice, but ultimately, that
choice is constrained by her circumstances.
Rebellion against the government well exists in the real world but many are situations
where one is forced into such action such as many cases of high school drop outs. According to
the article Low-income students six times more likely to drop out of high school, Every year,
1.3 million students drop out of high school in the United States. More than half are students of
color, and most are low-income (Sikhan). This clearly shows that family incomes are a factor in
how well students do in school and whether or not they make it through high school. Those from
low-income families dont have the resources in order to be successful in school, which leads to
bad grades that discourage students leading them to dropping out. When parents arent making
enough money, their children are often forced to work which means school is longer a priority
for them which results in dropping out. This is clearly rebellion that teens are forced into because
of their tough circumstances just like Katniss was forced to break the law to hunt in the woods to
feed herself and her family.

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Annotated Bibliography
Bloom, Peter. "Why the Message of The Hunger Games Films Is Dangerous."
Chicagotribune.com. N.p., n.d. Web.
This article is about how the ideas and themes in The Hunger Games trilogy are dangerous and
may give people potential of mass revolution. I found this article by searching opinions about
rebellion in the hunger games on the Google search engine. I determined it was an appropriate
source because it is an article from a newspaper website so I knew it would be educational and
trustworthy. This article will be useful to my essay because it is an opinion of what the author
thinks about the issue in the book when connecting it to the real-world. I will then discuss
whether I agree or disagree with what he is claim.
Collins, Suzanne. The Hunger Games. New York: Scholastic, 2008. Print.
Collins, Suzanne, and Elizabeth B. Parisi. Catching Fire. New York: Scholastic, 2009. Print.
Collins, Suzanne. Mockingjay. New York: Scholastic, 2010. Print.
Sikhan, Khara. "Low-income Students Six times More Likely to Drop out of High School -."
World Socialist Web Site. N.p., n.d. Web.
This article discusses how poverty is a main factor in high school drop outs and how financial
issues in families forces kids to drop out of high school. I found this argument by searching
high school drop outs and poverty on the Google search engine. I determined it was an
appropriate source because it is a .org website. This article will be useful to my essay because
it provides information on high school drop outs and how poverty is a factor which I will cite as

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evidence when I argue that teens are forced into rebellion against government. I will then
connect this to the forced rebellion that Katniss shows in the Hunger Games trilogy.
Ward, Maurice. "Poverty and Crime." National Dialogue Network. N.p., n.d. Web.