The top 7 Hunger Games plot devices

Matt Anonymous
5 min readMay 15, 2017

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A plot device (or plot mechanism) is any technique in a narrative used to move the plot forward. -Wikipedia

Plot devices move things forward. And Suzanne Collins knows a thing or two about moving things forward from her days in TV.

I’m very conscious of pacing because you get very little downtime in television. You have to be moving the story forward and developing the characters at the same time. Another television thing I use is I tend to end my chapters on some sort of cliffhanger, which can involve physical peril, or the moment a character has a revelation. That seems like the natural place to break because we do that in television so the viewers will come back after the commercials. –Suzanne Collins

So given this, what were some of the plot devices used in the Hunger Games? It was a speed wrap of a novel that kept me engaged from start to finish…err, except maybe when Katniss and Peeta spent too much time in the cave in book #1, and during some of the repetitive war scenes in book #3. But alas — I digress. To the top 7 plot devices!

1: The reaping.

Without the annual Hunger Games reaping, there wouldn’t be a story here at all. So this is it folks, the primary plot device. The first reaping is what kicked off book #1 and the second reaping ultimately dragged Katniss back into her protagonist role in book #2. Word of advice to the next capital empire: don’t have a recurring reality TV show where you kill a bunch of kids. Maybe do it once a decade? Otherwise it’ll be the plot device that leads to your demise.

The 74th annual Hunger Games reaping in District 12.

2: Prim.

Of course, the first reaping wouldn’t have mattered had it not been for Prim, Katniss’ endearing and innocent younger sister. Her desire to protect Prim drove her to volunteer for the games, to pretend to love Peeta, and to kill Coin at the end of the series.

3: The coal mine explosion that killed Katniss’ father.

This happened before the main narrative begins, but it’s what drove Katniss to up her hunting game and be the primary caretaker of her mother and Prim. It also drives nightmares and capital hatred later in the story, which motivates Katniss to make rash, anti-capital decisions (the berries stunt in book #1, the arrow into the forcefield in book #2, being in the propos in book #3).

4: Peeta.

Ah, “lover boy” as Cato calls him. Peeta invented the “star crossed lovers from district 12” narrative during his interview with Caesar Flickerman in book #1. Things happened fast after that: they got sponsor’s and survived, the capital changed the rules of the game to allow two victors, they pulled the berries stunt, and Snow forced them to continue the charade indefinitely. Plus, Peeta just keeps getting into trouble: he’s stabbed in the first games, runs into a force field in the second games, and gets kidnapped and brainwashed by the capital in the third book. Seriously man, stay out of trouble! All of this forces Katniss to act, and in book #3, she even has to defend herself against Peeta.

Peeta always has big news for Caesar Flickerman.

5: Snow’s aggression.

Snow was no ordinary president. He was a calculating and semi-sociopathic dude that was hell bent on keeping power and maintaining the current societal order. Snow didn’t invent the games, so he didn’t drive the action in book #1. But after Katniss defied the capital with her berries stunt, Snow “leaned in”, as they say.

He visited Katniss and told her she had to play up her love affair with Peeta, he threatened her family, he went along with Plutarch’s plan to pull Katniss back into the games, he brainwashed Peeta, and he firebombed district 13. Wow, that’s an impressive list of aggressions! Snow was the primary force driving the action in books #2 and #3.

6: The district uprisings.

You can’t have an epic blockbuster without a war between rebels and an empire apparently. Those angry district people caused Snow to make Katniss play up her love affair after the first games. They also caused district 13 to come out of hiding and rescue Katniss from the second games.

7: Prim’s cat, Buttercup.

Ok, so I’m kidding. Just wanted to see if you were still paying attention.

But just for fun: Katniss rescues the cat from the district 12 wreckage, brings it to Prim, and all is well. Until…the capital bombs district 13 and Prim is nowhere to be found in the bunker. Turns out she’s trying to rescue the cat, so Katniss has to spring into action and rescue both of them. Thanks for giving us that purrfect scene Buttercup :)

Buttercup. The primary plot device used in the Hunger Games.

In reality though, the #7 plot device is Gale. He’s less of an action-driver than Peeta because if you remove him most of the book’s outward struggles would still happen. But you’d lose Katniss’ inner love-triangle struggle and Gale’s own action scenes — getting whipped, rescuing Peeta, and battling alongside district 13. Gale also causes Katniss grief when he goes off to rescue Peeta and when he’s indirectly involved in Prim’s death.

Wrap-up

So you’ve got two innocent characters that need protecting, two boys in love, one angry president, twelve angry districts, one bloody reaping every year, and an ill-tempered cat. That’s a recipe for action if I’ve ever heard one! No wonder Katniss had her hands full. Nice work Suzanne — may the plot devices be ever on your favor.

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