Representation of Coming of Age in "Hunger Games" and Its Impact on Teenagers

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 must be prepared for the worse. 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 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. 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. Depending on your religion, age or culture, where you live in the world, coming out of age can be celebrated differently. A coming-of-age ceremony is “the confirmation”, for example, where “catholic teens are confirmed in their faith as one of the three most important sacraments”, as says O'Donnell, Jennifer from “How Different Cultures Recognize a Child's Coming of Age.”. 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 for 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”.As “The Hunger Games (Hunger Games Series #1): Paperback.” Barnes & Noble says, “The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games”. Katniss is lost, alone, and controlled by politicians and the public watching every movement she makes. “Katniss will have to use all her brains, wits, and instincts to determine who to trust and how to outwit the game’s creators.”, as “Review of the Day: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.” says. This is an example of coming of age because it shows how teenagers have to be more intelligent than the society so they can survive during this difficult period of their life.

The Hunger Games is a dystopian novel and teenagers can somehow relate to it or it can help them get through the whole process of adolescence. 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 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. As the “Review of the Day: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.” says, “It ascends to the highest forms of the science fiction genre and will create all new fans for the writer.” It shows 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 the transition from childhood to adulthood.

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: “But Katniss has been close to dead before-and survival, for her, is second nature.”, says “The Hunger Games (Hunger Games Series #1): Paperback.” Barnes & Noble. 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 it 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.