A Look at The Theme of Trust as Depicted in "The Hunger Games"

Sadly, in today’s world, we do not trust many people but ourselves; with the influences of social media and celebrity culture, we think that we are worth more than others. In The Hunger Games, however, without trusting others you won’t survive. The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins, is about a 16-year-old girl that volunteers as tribute. She has watched previous Games of other contestants but is inexperienced. At first, she has trouble making allies, but once the Games progresses she finds allies to help her. Suzanne Collins teaches us that trusting others it is extremely crucial and you wouldn’t survive without it. Even though it might be tough to trust others, Katniss (the main character) would not have won without it. The Hunger Games uses repetition, suspense, and symbolism to show that you have to trust your allies if you want to win.

To start with, The Hunger Games creates suspense to show that trust is the key to success. An example of this is when Thresh first encounters Katniss and Katniss is on the verge of dying. Thresh spares Katniss after learning about her alliance with Rue. He says they are “even” and no more is owed. An example to support this is, “You better run now, Fire Girl” (288). This gives me the idea that Thresh trusts Katniss and thanks her for saving Rue’s life. By not killing Katniss means that Thresh does not see Katniss as an enemy, therefore he sees her as an ally. Another example of suspense is when Peeta, Katniss, and Cato were alive and Cato had Peeta in a headlock about to kill him but Katniss saves him. It was a matter of life and death to Peeta and he could have died. Therefore, when Cato had Peeta in a headlock Katniss had to trust Peeta to do his best to help her and escape.

Secondly, symbolism also relates to trust. When Katniss encounters the Cracker Jackers, Rue helps her kill her enemies. “Rue has decided to trust me wholeheartedly” (206), this tells me that Katniss and Rue now trust each other, which will lead to success. Now that Katniss and Rue allies they accomplish many beneficial achievements, just like blowing up and enemy base. Therefore, the Cracker Jackers relate to trust. Another example of this is when Katniss was with her Peeta. Peeta was about to eat a deadly berry luckily Katniss saves him. “Even the plant instructor in the Training Center made a point of telling us to avoid berries unless you were 100 percent sure they weren’t toxic” (165). This tells me that both the Cracker Jackers and the Wild Berries relate to strong, trusting allies. Peeta and Rue helped Katniss win, and Peeta won with Peeta. Without the trust that Katniss had with her allies she would have been dead a long time ago.

Lastly, there are significant instances of repetition in The Hunger Games; there are many characters that come and go. I believe that there is a repetition of positive and negative events like how Katniss succeeds and fails. In negative an event, like how District 12 is in terrible condition, correlates with when Katniss and Peeta got drafted. At the start, they were not determined to succeed but then it turned into a trusting relationship that wants to win the games. “Oh, no, I think. Not him” (26). It is evident from this portion of the text, at first, that Katniss does not want Peeta to be the second tribute. Later on, Katniss and Peeta connect and have a trusting relationship. Some people suggest that Katniss wanted Peeta as he partner, but Katniss actually said that she does not want to be with Peeta because she recognized him and thought it would be awkward. An example of a positive event is Katniss meeting new people, just like when she met Rue, Cato, and Peeta she decided to kill Cato and be allies with Peeta and Rue, without Rue and Peeta Katniss would have died.

Suzanne Collins uses symbolism, repetition, and suspense to show that trust is extremely important during the Games. Without Katniss trusting others she would have never won the Hunger Games. Like when Thresh first encounters Katniss and Katniss is on the verge of dying. Thresh spares Katniss after learning about her alliance with Rue, or when Katniss and Rue become allies and have a strategic advantage. The suspense, repetition, and symbolism represents how Katniss progresses through the Games and succeeded. Even though it might be hard to trust others Katniss has to. Even though Katniss won we are still left wondering if trust is really worth it to see all of those people die.