District 12 In The Hunger Games By Suzanne Collins

Small, decrepit houses, dirt streets, hungry people, District 12 certainly isn’t a very glamorous district. But, first let me give some exposition about what District 12 is and other things that are important. District 12 is one of 13 districts in Panem, the fictional dystopian country in Suzanne Collins best-selling novel, The Hunger Games. However, it's important to note that District 13 was bombed by the Capitol during the first rebellion, and has no people living there. The book follows Katniss Everdeen, a 16 year old girl living in the aforementioned District 12 who takes her sister's place in the Hunger Games. The Hunger Games are held every year as punishment to the districts for rebelling. Which forces all of the 12 districts to reap

The tributes are not only very different physically, but also their fates are very different as well. One of the main differences is between their weapons and skills they use in the arena. Katniss is very skilled with a bow, and according to Katniss, District 1’s female tribute, Glimmer is “incompetent with a bow.” (Collins 182). This means that Glimmer has a very different skill set than Katniss and is better with other weapons. She apparently was much more skilled with a knife or sword, both of which Glimmer used and killed a tribute with. However, a similarity the tributes share is that they were both forced into fighting in the Hunger Games, whether they wanted to or not. Weapons and skill sets aren’t the only differences, According to Katniss, Glimmer has “Flowing blonde hair, emerald eyes” (Collins 125). This is important because Katniss physically is very different from Glimmer, she has dark hair and olive skin. Katniss was also shorter and slimmer than Glimmer, which could be in part to malnourishment due to District 12’s poverty. Another difference between the tributes is that both tributes from District 1 in the 74th Hunger Games are both killed, while both tributes from District 12

According to Katniss: “In seventy-four years, we have had exactly two [victors]. Only one is still alive.” (Collins 19). This means that District 12 has had very little success in the Hunger Games since they were created. It also means that the first time they won must have been a long time ago if only one of the two is still alive. One reason for this could be because of how little food is available in District 12. And because they are malnourished and smaller, they can’t match the strength of the career tributes. What exactly are the career tributes you might be asking? Well, Katniss states that Career tributes are: “the kids from the wealthier districts, the volunteers, the ones who have been fed and trained throughout their lives for this moment.” (Collins 94). So the careers are from richer districts, including District 1, which means nicer meals and equipment for training. As a result the career’s are at an advantage when it comes to size and strength compared to the smaller and poorer districts like District 12 or 11. However, this isn’t to say that there isn’t one major similarity between the two