For the last few months, we’ve been doing three-act analyses of various books and films. We examined Pride and Prejudice, the movie Die Hard, and Kate Chopin’s fabulous story “The Story of an Hour.” Today I thought I’d do an analysis of one of my favorite books: The Hunger Games.
This book (along with Pride and Prejudice) has been a classic DIY MFA example and one that I use when talking about lots of different aspects of the craft. I like to put The Hunger Games side-by-side with Pride and Prejudice in particular because it shows that these craft elements are not arbitrary and they apply to vastly different types of literature.
I’ve been talking about the three-act structure a lot lately, but if you’re not familiar with the framework (or want a refresher on how it works), check out this article.
Spoiler Alert! Okay, since this book was published in 2008, I think the statute of limitations on spoilers has long since expired. But just in case, let me say this: there will be spoilers. It’s impossible to talk about a book’s story structure without giving away key plot twists or the ending. So if you’ve been waiting to read The Hunger Games and you don’t want spoilers… well, you have been warned.
Alright, let’s dive into our analysis of The Hunger Games.
ACT 1: The Hunger Games has one of the shortest first acts in all of literature. The entirety of Act 1 is compressed into the first chapter. By the time we get to chapter two, we are already at the pivot point and well on our way into Act 2. But just because Act 1 is short doesn’t make it incomplete or ineffective. Act 1 of The Hunger Games fulfills all five promises that the reader expects, and it does so with laser-sharp efficiency.
CHARACTER: Katniss Everdeen is our protagonist. We don’t know much about her in Act 1, but we know she’s good at hunting and she cares deeply about her younger sister Prim. She and her best friend, Gale, talk about running away to someplace where they (and their younger siblings) could be safe.
VOICE: The story is narrated in first person present tense, so we feel like we are right there in the middle of the action. There is an immediacy to the first person present tense that draws readers into the story.
WORLD: We learn a lot about the world of Panem in that first chapter. We learn that there has been a revolution during the “Dark Days” where the districts rose up against the Capitol. Twelve of these districts were defeated and returned to Capitol rule, while the thirteenth district was destroyed and eliminated altogether. Now, as a way to celebrate the peace (and remind the districts of who’s in charge) they have the Hunger Games, a televised fight to the death in an outdoor arena where each district sends one male and one female tribute to participate. The games continue until only one tribute is left standing.
PROBLEM: It’s Reaping day and the odds are definitely not in Katniss’ favor. In order to keep her family fed, she had to put her name in the tribute jar extra times, meaning that it’s quite possible she will be chosen as tribute. The other, bigger problem is that her younger sister, Prim, is eligible for the reaping for the first time. Her name is only in the jar once, but Katniss is still worried.
EVENT: All eligible young people go to the town square for the Reaping ceremony.
PIVOT POINT 1: Primrose (Prim) Everdeen’s name is chosen from the tribute jar. Katniss gets turned into a tailspin. All she has ever wanted to do is protect her sister and now her sister has been chosen for The Hunger Games. In a moment of panic, not knowing what else to do, Katniss volunteers to take her sister’s place.
ACT 2: Katniss is thrust full-speed into the world of the Games. After barely being able to say goodbye to her family, she boards a high-speed train to the Capitol, where she is introduced to her stylists and mentor, as well as the other tributes. After a few chapters in the Capitol, Katniss is sent to the arena, where most of the rest of the story takes place.
SUPPORTING CAST: There are several key characters in The Hunger Games who we meet in Act 2. First we have Peeta Mellark, Katniss’s fellow tribute from District 12. We learn that Peeta has always been secretly in love with Katniss and at one time he saved her (and her family) from starvation.
In addition, we have several mentor-like characters including Effie Trinket (the Capitol liaison with District 12), Haymitch Abernathy (the only living Hunger Games victor from District 12), and Cinna (the head stylist and trusted friend to Katniss). While these mentor characters cannot come with Katniss into the arena, the short span of time she spends with them in the Capitol has a strong influence on her.
Finally, we also have other tributes who play important roles in the story. The career tributes—in particular, Cato—are the primary antagonists when Katniss enters the arena. Plus, Rue (the young tribute from District 11) becomes an important ally for Katniss. Rue reminds Katniss a lot of her sister Prim and serves as a stand-in character who fills the same role, even though Prim is back home in District 12.
RULE OF 3: There’s a Rule of 3 where Katniss faces off against the career tributes (the most vicious tributes, those from districts 1 and 2). The first incident is when she cuts down a branch that has a tracker jacker’s nest on it and it falls right on top of where the career tributes are sleeping. In this case, Katniss is just trying to survive because the careers had her cornered in a tree.
The second time she faces off against the career tributes is when she and Rue plot to destroy their supplies. Here, Katniss doesn’t actually deal with any career tributes directly. She waits for Rue to cause a distraction and when the careers leave their supplies unattended, she destroys them by setting off a landmine.
The third incident where she faces off against the career tributes is at the very end, when she, Peeta, and Cato are at the cornucopia. Katniss and Peeta have formed an alliance, and Cato is the only other tribute remaining. They are on top of the cornucopia, surrounded by muttations (mutant monsters). Katniss and Peeta fight Cato and Katniss finally vanquishes him.
W.O.R.S.T.: Katniss wants more than anything to survive and also to protect her family, especially Prim. The primary obstacle getting in her way is that she’s stuck in the Hunger Games, having to fight with the vicious career tributes who want nothing more than to see her dead. Despite starting out not wanting to harm any other tributes, Katniss is willing to do anything to protect her family—even kill. If she doesn’t survive the Games, she can’t go home to her family and there’s a good chance her mother and sister will starve. Katniss starts out a loner in the games, but eventually starts forging alliances (first with Rue, then with Peeta) and those alliances are what ultimately help her survive.
MIDPOINT: Katniss is injured and trapped up in a tree, with the career tributes down below, waiting to kill her. She sees a tracker jacker nest on one of the branches and cuts it down. In the process of doing so, she gets bitten by the insects and starts to hallucinate. She’s able to knock down the branch and the tracker jackers drive away the career tributes, killing one. In the chaos of the moment, Katniss gets down from the tree, grabs a bow and some arrows from the dead tribute, and runs into the forest. She runs directly into Peeta, who up until that point she thought was in cahoots with the career tributes. Peeta tells her to run, showing that he’s still on her side. Katniss runs until she collapses in a hallucinatory stupor. This is her first real victory against the career tributes and it serves as a Temporary Triumph.
PIVOT POINT 2: After destroying the career tributes’ supplies, Katniss regroups with Rue, when suddenly Rue is shot by a spear from one of the career tributes. Katniss quickly retaliates and kills the career tribute, but Rue is far too wounded to survive. Katniss sings to her as she dies, then does a burial ritual surrounding her with flowers. Finally, Katniss gets up and gives a peace signal to the camera televising the Games.
This is the first time Katniss has stood up to the Capitol in any way. Up until now, she has tried to keep her head down and survive so she can go home to her family. But losing Rue feels almost as if she’s lost her sister. She reaches her lowest point when Rue dies, and once she pulls herself together she takes her first step toward standing up to the Capitol.
Interestingly enough, this Pivot Point 2 for book one of the series also serves as Pivot Point 1 for the entire trilogy. It is the moment when Katniss goes from being “the girl on fire” to becoming “the mockingjay” and symbol of the revolution.
ACT 3: After Rue dies, the Gamemakers change the rules and state that two tributes may emerge as victors, so long as they are from the same district. At this point, Katniss realizes she needs to find Peeta because they can now survive the games together.
Katniss finds Peeta badly injured and she hides with him in a cave. They have a tender moment where they kiss, and Katniss begins to have feelings for him. Peeta is still very sick from his injuries, and the Gamemakers announce that there are “gifts” for each of the remaining tributes at the cornucopia. Certain that this “gift” is medicine for Peeta, Katniss risks her life to get it.
CLIMAX: Once Peeta has recovered, the tension of the story begins to rise. The Gamemakers let loose muttations on the remaining tributes, driving them toward the cornucopia for the “grand finale.” Katniss and Peeta fight Cato (the one remaining tribute) atop the cornucopia and they win. Suddenly the Gamemakers change the rules again and say that only one tribute can be a victor. Katniss refuses to let the Gamemakers have their way. She has poison berries in her pocket and she divides them between herself and Peeta. Just as they are about to eat the poison berries, the Gamemakers announce that they are, in fact, the victors after all.
ENDING TYPE: Despite all the dark, painful moments, this story has a “happy ending.” Katniss wants to survive and that desire carries her through to the end of the story. She gets what she wants (survival) and she still wants it, making this a happy ending.
DENOUEMENT: After the climax, the story concludes rather quickly. There’s a short interview where Katniss and Peeta appear on a talk show with Cesar Flickerman and discuss their experience in the games. Then they head back to their home in District 12.
The important consideration with the denouement is that Katniss has to mask the reason why she pulled the poison berries stunt. We readers know that it was her way of making the Capitol look bad, but both she and Peeta insist publicly that they did it out of pure love for each other. They couldn’t stand the idea of being without the other and would have rather died than lose one another.
While this is a small detail in this book, it becomes increasingly important for book two of the trilogy. In Catching Fire (book 2), Katniss has to work hard to convince the authorities in the Capitol (especially President Snow) that she is not trying to cause trouble. The relationship between Peeta and Katniss continues to develop, becoming more and more important as the trilogy continues. In Mockingjay (book 3) Katniss and Peeta are separated with Katniss in a district and Peeta imprisoned in the Capitol, and the Capitol uses Peeta as a pawn, a way to get revenge on Katniss by harming someone she loves.
CONCLUSION: Many people talk about the three-act structure and how much of the story should occur in each act. The typical framework is 25% of the story in Act 1, 50% in Act 2, and 25% in Act 3. This book is proof that you don’t have to follow the framework to a T for your story to work. In The Hunger Games, Act 1 is only the first chapter, and after that we dive right into Act 2. This goes to show that, as long as you set the scene right and draw in the reader, you don’t have to follow the typical framework to the letter.
Until next time, keep writing and keep being awesome!
P.S. For more info on Gabriela Pereira, the founder and instigator of DIY MFA, check out her profile page.
