Notes

One of the most prevalent themes in The Hunger Games is survival, and keeping your humanity and dignity as you try to survive. Katniss and Peeta must survive the games of course, but they also must survive their daily lives in the district. The capitol has made life incredibly difficult for those living in the districts, and to survive the lack of food and adequate necessities requires great strength of spirit. Some people in the districts give up, and others manage to survive but become heartless or mentally unstable. Katniss is a true survivor, she pulls her family through the tough time after her father's death, when otherwise they would not have survived. Katniss' mother is one of the ones who gives up, and becomes mentally unstable when her husband dies. Katniss realizes that she must stay strong and in control in order to keep her family alive. She continues this practice during the Hunger Games. During Katniss and Peeta's training, Peeta tells Katniss that if he dies in the arena, he wants to do it with his dignity intact. Peeta knows that chances of survival are slim, but if he can die as himself, with his humanity and dignity in place, he can face death. In other years of the games, people had gone insane or become incredibly violent and homicidal, eating competitor's hearts and doing unspeakable things in order to survive. Peeta is not willing to compromise his humanity, and would rather die with dignity.