Dear Suzanne Collins,
Normally when I watch a movie, I always think the movie is better than the book. But I had a different feeling this time around. I saw The Hunger Games movie first and I thought it was good. But when I read the book, it gave me a whole new perspective on my life and on how I viewed our society and the people around me.
Your book showed me a new way to look at the world around me. Your book is our society, but it’s a hidden message that you have to see. District 12 is actually the poor society of our world we live in. While District 1 is the rich of our country and the capitol is the rich and famous of ours. We never think about people around ourselves, we always just think about how things will affect us. Not how they will affect the people around us. While the poor people are suffering around us, the rich society just wants more. That’s exactly what your book explains about the differences in the Districts and the capitol.
This book showed me that, I need to think about the rest of the world. That I am doing fine, but maybe the person sitting next to me in class isn’t. That people make fun of them because of how they dress. But in reality that is all their family can afford. I need to stick up for them. Show them that people can be different. But we can’t make fun of them for that. We should come together as one, instead of separating ourselves.
Your work has influenced me, since now I look at the things I have and appreciate them more. I don’t just look to the next thing to get. I’m lucky I have the things I have in my life. And this book showed me that in a different way. It wasn’t said straight out to me, the meaning behind the book. You have to read between the lines and actually picture the hidden details. This book shows you things in your life that you don’t think twice about. But after reading it, you will be showed the depth and the meaning behind the things you never thought about twice.
That maybe living in somebody else’s life for a while you’ll see how they live. Katniss got a glimpse of that in The Hunger Games. She saw how District 1 was not as weak since they got the food they needed each day. Also how the capitol had designer clothes on and ate like kings and queens. They had the extra money to spend on things they could go without. While Katniss and her District sometimes went to bed hungry. She had to work hard each day to make sure her sister and mom was fed. While the capitol ate until they couldn’t eat anymore. Two societies that are so close but completely different at the same time. The capitol doesn’t work for their money; they just expect to have it. While Katniss worked hard and didn’t expect to get much in return.
I feel that you probably didn’t expect people to get the message I got from this book. But that message stood out clearly to me. You show that even if you work hard, your earnings still don’t always go towards you and your family. That is exactly what is happening in our country now. The other message is that people in both worlds decide to not look at the problem that is going on. They are blind to the people that are struggling each day to get by. They just want more for themselves and how they will be affected. Maybe if more people started to think about more than just themselves, we wouldn’t have such a problem we are facing now. This book was more than just a good book to cuddle up to; it was a message for the future and our society now.
Much Appreciated,
Haley A