An Analysis of Food Symbolism and its Significance in The Hunger Games

This essay provides a critical analysis of food symbolism in Suzanne Collins' novel, The Hunger Games. The essay explores how food, including bread, goat, blackberries, and basil leaves, serves as a powerful symbol representing survival, sacrifice, cultural background, and the characters' attitudes towards society. The author uses examples from the novel to demonstrate how food reflects the cultural and societal settings of the characters, particularly in the poorest districts. The essay highlights the significance of food as a means of physical survival and a reflection of the characters' experiences within the dystopian world, concluding that the consistent employment of food as a symbol is a driving force in the novel to reflect the toil and hardship faced by human beings in order to access food.

Running head: THE HUNGER GAMES
The hunger games
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author note:
The Hunger Games is one of the most popular novels by Suzanne Collins’, which
revolves round the life story of Katniss Everdeen, a 16 sixteen year girl from a district, who
has played the role of a volunteer of 74th hunger game in the place of her little sister. Suzanne
Collins has named her novel from the Latin phrase panem et circenses, which means bread
and games. Food is one of the major symbols of the novel (Byrne). The main subject matter
of the novel is the mishandling of the children by the adults. This paper will put forth critical
discussion of the novel. The report focuses on food as an imperative factor of daily life.
Hunger Games utilises food as one of the major symbols, through which important
message has been communicated with the readers. Through the symbol of food, the author
has conveyed necessary information to the readers regarding the life setting and culture of the
human being. This is a versatile symbol, through which the author has actually tried to depict
the fictional climate of the novel. Goat has been used as a great symbol of the novel
(Hansson). Katniss served the breakfast meal to Katrina and Gale on the repetitive day. This
shows that, Katrina, being a tribute has acquired complimentary breakfast comprises of
bakery bread, goat cheese blackberry and basil leaf. Goat, here symbolises the sacrifice of
Katniss in order to save her sister. This is evident in the lone “Our part of District 12,
nicknamed the Seam, is usually crawling with coal miners heading out to the morning
shift at this hour”. In addition, goat has also been used as a significant symbol of hatred,
which both Katniss and Gale exhibit for Capitol, the hunger game show. Serving of goat
cheese and meal has also acted as a great symbol, which too depict the sacrifice of Katinss
towards her sister.

2THE HUNGER GAMES
Blackberry has been used as the symbol of bad luck of Katinss in participating in the
hunger game. It is worth to mention in this context that fish has been symbolised as good luck
in the novel (Montgomery). Fish has depicted the womanly power of Katniss. The female
power among Katinss is evident at the time, when she overshadowed other competitors in the
hunger game. Katinss’s participation in the hunger game has played a pivotal role for her
mother and sister to lead a better life. Food has been used as a mean of physical survival in
the novel. It has been observed that, in the smallest of districts, people are starving and they
can do anything for food. Food is the main theme of this novel. Evidences show that intense
issue of the entire world. In the case of Captol too, food is a major concern. Scarcity of food
is one of the major issues, being faced by all the people in the district. However, a dominating
attitude can be found among those people, who can access food easily.
Hunger is considered as the shaper of world history. This is the reason, for which Suzanne
Collins has used food as a major symbol in order to represent the fundamental subject matter
of the novel. Pig has also been used as a great symbol in the novel. The black berries has
represented the turning of event, when Ktinss’s love for prim has forced to participate in the
hunger game. At the same time fish here has represented good luck of both the mother and
the sister of Katinss. At the same time, the female dominance of Katinss has also been
represented through fish. This positive symbol is evident in the line “Gale and I divide our
spoils, leaving two fish, a couple of loaves of good bread, greens, a quart of
strawberries, salt, paraffin, and a bit of money for each”.
Bread is another major factor, used symbolically in The Hunger Games. Bread here,
symbolised the story of human survival and transformation (Manter). It has symbolised the
victory of Katinss. The way, through which Katinss has taken all the responsibility of her
family after her father’s death has also been depicted through bread. The way, through which
Katinss has transformed herself, grown up with her new identity have been showed through

3THE HUNGER GAMES
the symbol of bread. Food is one of the major powers of daily life. This is the key factor,
without which, human survival is a subject of risk.
From the ancient time, pig is being considered as the very symbol of abundance and
fertility. In addition, pig is also being considered as a great mother (Seppänen). In the novel,
Hunger Games pig too has been used as the symbol of womanly power of Katinss. During the
hunger game, Katinss has born with her new identity. This story of Katinss has been depicted
through the symbol of pig. The symbol of nightlock has been used as love. At the end of the
game, both Peeta and Katinss have served the nightlock to each other, with the intension of
being killed together. Through this symbol, the author actually tried to present the story of
people, who suffer from starvation and choose to participate in the death game. This is
evident in the line “Anyway, Gale and I agree that if we have to choose between
dying of hunger and a bullet in the head, the bul-let would be much quicker”.
Food is not a mere object, rather it is the main cause of survival. The type of food,
process of preparation and the manner of eating them reflect the cultural background of a
people. Basil leaves are also key symbol of the novel (Linderoth). Basil has represented the
warm regards, which Katinss’s family has showed to her, when she went to participate in the
hunger game. At the same time, Basil has also represented Katinss’s hatred for Capitol. In the
novel, food basically has symbolised the power of life. Through the story of Katinss, the
readers can understand the scarcity of food in the poorest districts of different counties. In
these countries, intense starvation is one of the major issue, which require immense concern.
Katniss's total existence in the novel has represented the need of food in daily life. Food is
one of the major factors of daily life. It reflects the cultural and societal background of
people. Absence and abundance of food is the main subject matter of the novel (Byrne).
Suzanne Collins’s consistent employment with food acted as a driving force behind him to
write a novel on this subject matter. The food vocabulary has been metaphorically used in the

4THE HUNGER GAMES
novel in terms of reflecting the political, cultural and personal attitude of the characters
towards the society.
Based on the discussion, it can be concluded by saying that, in the novel, food
imagery has been used as a very powerful mean in order to show the toil and hardship, faced
by human being in order to access food. Multiple food metaphors have been used
symbolically throughout the novel.

5THE HUNGER GAMES
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