Hunger Games Food Theme

In the book The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, food and hunger are a extremely important theme. There is a huge power difference with food between the districts and Capitol, some starve to death while other have feast at every meal. In district 12 we are shown how some risk there life just to get food for themselves and their families. Some foods have great significance to them that show trust and a united front between Katniss and Peeta.

Bread and Berries have great importance in the book. At the beginning of the book when Peeta gave Katniss the burnt bread intended for the pigs it symbolize love he had for her. That love carried on thought out the novel. Because of that kindness they had a united front with each other that no one could

District 12 where population is starving to death, “District Twelve. Where you can starve to death in safety”(6) and the capital where food is just an object. In the Capitol finding food is not important because they are surrounded with it, “ What must it be like, I wonder, to live in a world where food appears at the press of a button? How could I spend the hours I now commit to combing the woods for sustenance if it were so easy to come by? What do they do all day, these people in the Capitol, besides decorating their bodies waiting around for a new shipment of tributes to roll in and die for their entertainment?”(65). They live opposite lives, the Capitol does not care because they are living fine. Furthermore the Peacekeepers that are sent by the Capitol to make sure everyone is following the rules in the district but they are starving as well. They do not report any crimes like hunting because that is their source of food, “Most of the Peacekeepers turn a blind eye to the few of us who hunt because they’re as hungry for fresh meat as anybody is. In fact, they’re among our best customers.” (5-6). This situation has it’s pros and cons. The pros are that no one get reported for doing crimes but the cons are that the line of communication is tampered with so the Capitol won’t fix the issue. At the same time the Capitol does not care about the districts they only care bout themselves so what

One way they do so is by trespassing to get food; “In the fall, a few brave souls sneak into the woods to harvest apples. But always in the sight of the meadows. always safe naught to run back to the safety of District 12 if trouble arises.” (6). If they get caught their can be serious consequences. Rue from District 11 knows this all too well when she tell Katniss she's never had a leg of meat all to herself, “I’d have thought in District Eleven, you’d have a bit more to eat than us. You know since you grow food, I [Katniss]…oh, no, we’re not allowed to eat the crops [Rue sais], They arrest you or something? I ask. They whip you and make everyone watch says Rue.”(202) These citizens are already starving to death but then get beaten on top of it? Show’s how dystopian the society of Panem is. Furthermore the citizens can put their name in the reaping as much as they want for food; “Say you are poor and starving as we were. You can opt to add your name more times in exchange for tesserae. Each tessera is worth a year’s supply of grain and oil for ones person. You may do this for each of your family members as well…So now, at the age of sixteen, my name will be in the reaping twenty times. Gale who is eighteen…will have his name in forty-two times. (13). There is no limit to the closeness of death the citizens of Panem can