LENS4

David Toczek YA Lit. Michael Sherry March 15, 2010 LENS 4- Intertextual Suzanne Collins’ novel, //The Hunger Games,// is certainly a story about society and a reconsideration of what is considered normal and proper in society. During the suspenseful and emotional journey through the games, Collins seems to question average citizens accepting social norms, constructs, and traditions upheld by those in power. This novel reminds me a lot of the Shirley Jackson short story, “The Lottery.” In the story, the families of a small village gather in the town square to choose numbers to see who will win the highly anticipated lottery drawing. The so-called “prize” for winning the lottery is getting stoned to death by the rest of the townspeople including the rest of their own family. Jackson wisely and skillfully does not reveal what the “prize” for winning the lottery actually is until the very end of the story, building tension and anticipation. This violence is embraced by those who take part and the tradition goes off without any hesitation or question. Much like the townspeople in “The Lottery,” the citizens of the various districts in //The Hunger Games// accept the sacrifices wrought by the tournament. The townspeople in “The Lottery” even seem to look forward to seeing who will be chosen. The citizens in //The Hunger Games// tune into watch the games and even take part in a sense, in that their demand for a hopeful outcome drives the forces which control the game itself. Both of these stories reveal a deep-seeded question about society and the particular ways in which different cultures operate. The much embellished circumstances which take place in both of these stories can make citizens of overpowering governments become more aware of the forces which guide their daily lives. By presenting a personal struggle as powerful and life-changing as Katniss, Collins dramatizes the life of an everyday girl who has gone about her life working hard and doing what she can to get by. She is a victim of the system which controls her. She must take part in the games as part of her citizenship even though she believes it to not be fair. Like the “winner” of Jackson’s lottery, Mrs. Hutchinson, is as excited as everyone else to see who will win the drawing and even gossips about who it will be with the other women. The lottery is only unfair to her when it is herself whose name is drawn. Citizens are only powerful in number and are afraid to voice their true feelings. This seems to explore the idea of how things can change only if the majority of a population becomes aware of the dehumanizing effects of such a society. I think “The Lottery” is a much simpler story that helps to better reveal the same conceptual idea Collins is exploring in //The Hunger Games// but on a much larger scale.