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Similarities And Differences Between The Hunger Games And A Long Way Gone

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“All violence consists in some people forcing others, under threat of suffering or death, to do what they do not want to do” (Leo Tolstoy). In The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins and in A Long Way Gone, by Ishmael Beah, the protagonists Katniss Everdeen and Ishmael Beah are forced to endure violence for extended periods of time under the menace of death. However, during their traumatic experiences, both protagonists developed a strong sense of character identity. Despite being set in two completely different environments, loss of innocence, survival, and nature are important themes that can be found within the pages of both works that play important roles in the story and in character identity. In both The Hunger Games and in A Long Way …show more content…

Ever since Katniss became District Twelve’s female tribute for the 74th Hunger Games, survival was her main priority. Right after the Reaping, she assures her younger sister Prim that she will survive and come back home safely. When Katniss is confined in the Justice Building and is speaking with her younger sister about winning and coming home she says that she will “‘really, really try. I swear it’”(Collins, 36). She also learns several essential skills in the Tribute Training Center in the Capitol the days prior to the Games. Katniss also follows her mentor’s (Haymitch) advice to “put as much distance as you can between yourselves and the others, and find a source of water” (Collins, 139). Katniss had to kill in life threatening situations, proving that her main motive was to stay alive and come back home to safety. This can be seen when she annihilated Marvel, Rue’s killer, since she was his next target. Survival drove Katniss throughout the course of the Hunger Games, leading her to perform extreme actions, such as killing. Additionally, in A Long Way Gone, Ishmael used the technique Haymitch provided Katniss in order to survive. He constantly avoided villages since they were generally unsafe. Beah was always on the move too, so that he was not captured by either the Sierra Leonean government or RUF guerrillas and be forced to …show more content…

Katniss matured hunting in the wilderness found outside District Twelve’s useless electric fence. She relied on nature to make a living, since her game fed her family and with it she was able to trade other objects. This all changed once she was in the arena. Nature was less of a friend, and more of an enemy. Several plants and animals were genetically manipulated so that they could harm tributes and possibly lead to their death. Now Katniss had to find ways on how to adapt to the new environment and use it to her advantage. Tracker jackers, are an example of this, since Katniss used them to take the lives of two tributes in the Games. The violent and extreme conditions she was exposed to were important to The Hunger Games because they show Katniss’s determination. In A Long Way Gone, Beah is a lover of nature. He constantly admired its beauty and had a connection with nature, but it was slowly lost in the war. Before the war, Beah was innocent and viewed nature as a helper and entertainer. On the other hand, once the war began, the jungle’s thick foliage and animals more of a threat to him that endangered his survival. He wanted to survive, and the wilderness could kill him in the blink of an eye. Nevertheless, at times, he found time to enjoy the beauty of

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