Hunger Games: The Impact of Coming of Age Novels on Society

The Hunger Games is a coming out of age novel about teenagers living in a complex society. The teenagers have to participate in dangerous games to please the public. They have to make life or death decisions and can see someone dying each minute. They will have to figure out a way of staying safe and beating the society by using the love of the public. The Hunger Games is a great coming of age novel and it has impacted society by showing how the teenagers live a difficult life, by gaining maturity and discovering themselves, making life or death decisions and building a new person.

Coming of age is the time when “someone matures emotionally, or in some other way.”, states the Cambridge dictionary. It is an important step in life with many difficulties. Coming out of age is usually around adolescence, where the person will start to gain maturity and observe the world involving him/her. Coming of age is important because it’s a moment where teenagers will usually discover themselves and see changes involving them but also people and the world around them.

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Coming of age is referred to as the step on to “adulthood”, saying goodbye to “childhood”. It can vary and be very different depending on the cultures and/or religions.

Most religions or cultures have a coming-of-age event, usually when the child is no longer considered a child when he or she hits puberty or isn’t considered a minor anymore. Coming of age ceremonies are different everywhere.

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Depending on your religion, age or culture, where you live in the world, coming out of age can be celebrated differently. Coming out of age ceremonies are the “confirmation”, for example, where “catholic teens are confirmed in their faith as one of the three most important sacraments”. La “Quinceanera” or “Sweet 16” also mark coming of age, through ceremonies with family and friends. It is very present around us and has been represented more than we know since a long time in movies, books or novels, just like The Hunger Games.

The Hunger Games is an interesting novel talking about teens living in a difficult society in the future. The main character, Katniss, is a young girl who already sacrifices herself at the beginning of the novel, where she chooses to replace her sister so she doesn’t have to go to what we call “The Hunger Games”. Katniss is lost, alone, and controlled by politicians and the public watching every movement she makes. This is an example of coming of age because it shows how teenagers must feel when they “grow up”, feeling judged for everything, sometimes scared of being themselves for some reasons, feeling controlled and observed by everyone.

The Hunger Games is a dystopian novel and teenagers can somehow relate to it. It represents a society where there is a lot of suffering and injustice, where most of the time, it is controlled by people from the upper class, where the society is “wrong” and most of the time, teenagers suffer the most. Suzanne Collins uses quotes as “Here's some advice. Stay alive.”; “For there to be betrayal, there would have to have been trust first.” or “So I learned to hold my tongue and to turn my features into an indifferent mask so that no one could ever read my thoughts.” which show how the teenagers live and what they go through. This novel was a huge success and was later adapted into movies.

The Hunger Games impacted society in many ways. It showed the point of view of a teenager living in a difficult society, where they are controlled by the people from the upper class, the politicians but also the public, behind their screen. The story of them trying to trick the game and the society, impacted a lot our world but also inspired a lot of new authors. Today, The Hunger Games has been adapted into movies and is a huge success. A lot of persons, like teenagers, could somehow relate to this moment of their life and learn more about coming of age, maybe helping them going through the process of adulthood.

Coming out of age is present everywhere in life, through ceremonies and traditions. It has also been represented through movies, books, novels, etc. The Hunger Games is a good example of coming of age because it shows the difficulties the teenagers have to get through, somehow relatable in real life. The adolescence is an important step in life where the teenagers usually discover themselves, become someone new, say goodbye to childhood and become, as time goes by, what we call an adult. These adolescents experience a lot of changes involving them and the world around them.

The Hunger Games represented coming of age with Katniss, the main character, struggling to survive, being judged and observed by politicians, media, people all over the world, seeing every step, movement or error she makes. She is trapped in a game, in this arena, with many other teenagers, and they are all together, trying to do their best to stay alive, to pretend to be happy so they can survive, trying to trick the game, the society.

The Hunger Games impacted society by showing the difficulties of life, of the process of coming-of-age, the transition from childhood to adulthood, which is very difficult because sometimes teenagers just want to stay young forever, but life shows difficulties and coming of age is an important step to be prepared for what will happen. In the Hunger Games, just like in real life, the teenagers are “trapped” in this lonely place, struggling to stay focused, happy, to “survive” the pain they go through, the changes, etc. They have to figure out a way of getting out and at the end of the process, this once young teenager will become an adult. The Hunger Games is a good example of coming of age novel because impacted society by showing how and what the teenagers go through, by gaining maturity and discovering themselves, making life or death decisions and building a new person.

Updated: Feb 02, 2024
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Hunger Games: The Impact of Coming of Age Novels on Society. (2024, Feb 10). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/hunger-games-the-impact-of-coming-of-age-novels-on-society-essay

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