In 2012, fans watched as Katniss admirably volunteered as a tribute in place of her younger sister and then was carted off to the Capitol to represent her district in the fatalHunger Games. Katniss and the other tributes were lavished with food, clothes, and adoring fans, but she saw through the ruse. She knew the 74th Hunger Games were just a spectacle, and all it cost was the lives of 23 kids. While we know Katniss and a team of dedicated rebels were eventually able to put a stop to the corrupt leaders,fans have questionsabout how the Games originally began.
12 years afterThe Hunger Gameswas published, a prequel titledThe Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, came out and answered many questions. From the cruel creation of the Games to their evolution over time, the fourth book (and fifth film) reminds fans that it takes some very hateful, powerful, and patient people to make a horrible idea an even more brutal reality.
Here is a look at how the Hunger Games got their start.
What the Hunger Games Supposedly Stand For
When fans were first introduced to the Games in the first film,citizens of Panemwere gearing up for the annual event. People of all ages already knew what to expect from the start of Reaping Day, and while they were not made aware of the details of the yearly Games, they knew death was surely coming for many children. Katniss quickly learns that she and the rest of the tributes are paraded around in gaudy outfits and forced to go on televised interviews to serve as a distraction. The Capitol leaders want every district rooting for their two tributes rather than focusing on the corrupt lifestyles they live.
Haymitch and Effie go as far as telling Katniss and Peeta that everyone is watching them after they both emerged victorious and supposedly in love. Haymitch emphasizes that they have to play the game for the rest of their lives and make the members of the Capitol happy. The cheerfulness and positivity surrounding the Games is just a facade, but the citizens are not supposed to know that.
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InThe Hunger Games: Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, when Coriolanus Snow is asked about the purpose of the Hunger Games, he says that “they are to punish the districts.” He is referring to the uprising of the 13 districts against the Capitol, and how the latter now has to show them that they are no longer in power. This blatant message is later shifted, as we see in the first twoHunger Gamesfilms.
The First Rebellion Sparked the Hunger Games
While there is little concrete information on what exactly caused the First Rebellion (a civil warthat ended just before the beginning of the first Hunger Games), we know it had something to do with the oppressive state the districts believed themselves to be in while the Capitol reaped the benefits of their hard work. To summarize, the districts (possibly lead by District 13) went to war with the Capitol. After District 13 and the Capitol were able to secretly work out a deal where they both benefited, the former was thought to be annihilated, and the latter decided to put a controlled “mini-war” in place to keep the other districts in line — this became known as the Hunger Games.
In the beginning, the Games were not colorful events filled with positive energy. The tributes were treated like cattle on their way to the slaughterhouse. People jeered at them and allowed them to starve before they were thrown into an arena and forced to fight to the death. Nothing was elaborate, but the event was still cruel as could be. The Games would go on to evolve into more of a competitive spectacle with hundreds of people involved.
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Who Created the Hunger Games?
With such disdain for the brutal Games, citizens naturally want to point a finger at someone for creating them. It would make sense to immediately look towards theleaders of the Capitolas they were made to look foolish and weak during the Rebellion. However, the Games were actually thought up by a student named Casca Highbottom, when given an assignment about how to get back at one’s enemies. In a drunken fit, Highbottom created his elaborate plan with his friend and schoolmate, Crassus Snow. Snow ended up submitting the plans to their professor, much to Highbottom’s dismay. After the Rebellion, Highbottom’s teacher produced the assignment, and it soon became a reality.
Highbottom was thanked for his imaginative creation, but he was more disgusted with the fact that people really thought such a horrendous plan should be put in play to reinstate power. The Games are quickly put into place, and they get tweaked over the years to adjust the narrative and push certain Capitol agendas.
WatchThe Ballad of Songbirds and Snakesin theaters November 17.
