I’m one of the biggest Hunger Games fans I know, but when I heard there was going to be a book about Haymitch’s games, I was disappointed. We know his story. We literally saw his games. What more could there be? Is this another cash grab to profit off The Hunger Games series? But once I opened the first page, I realized it wasn’t. Suzanne Collins wanted to show the evolution of propaganda and its role in keeping a society complacent.
In the second Hunger Games book, Catching Fire, the readers were told about Haymitch’s games. Peeta and Katniss, our two main characters from the original trilogy who are competing in The Hunger Games and are being mentored by Haymitch, watch an old tape from his games. It shows him as a rebellious, smug teenager. We see him outlive and outsmart all 47 other tributes in the arena and come out the victor of the 50th Hunger Games. Before Sunrise on the Reaping, we only see Haymitch as a down-and-out mentor for our District 12 tributes. He self-medicates through alcohol and the trauma he’s endured is evident in the way he acts. He’s standoffish and reluctant to help the District 12 tributes because he doesn’t think they’ll make it out alive. Haymitch is fed up with the system; he doesn’t have any hope. But how did he get here?
When I found out that Haymitch was getting his own book, I was confused. We know his story. But Collins reminds us, it’s not always as it seems. She played with our perspective and asked us to check our assumptions. What we thought happened in Haymitch’s games isn’t what actually happened. The reader was played.
As far as Haymitch knows, he’s the only victor from District 12. However, if you’ve read or watched The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes you know that District 12 had a winner in the 10th Hunger Games, Lucy Gray Baird, but President Snow erased her from the minds of the citizens of Panem, the dystopian country where The Hunger Games takes place. Panem is made up of the Capitol and the Districts. Essentially, the people who live in the Capitol are the rich elites while the Districts are the working class. The haves and the have nots. Snow also altered Haymitch’s games to change the public’s perception of him.
What Katniss and Peeta saw was an edited version of events. President Snow didn’t want the true Games to be shown. Much like he did with Lucy Gray, Snow shows that he has complete control over his subjects. President Snow is the epitome of a dictatorial leader. He has total control over his people’s lives. His goal is making sure he has absolute power. Anything that challenges his or the Capitol’s power is stomped out immediately.
The real Haymitch, who won the 50th Games, wasn’t smug and arrogant; he was empathetic and hopeful. Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins is a master class in propaganda. Katniss and Peeta thought Haymitch won by playing their game, they didn’t realize he tried to break it.
We gain a lot of context with this book. We find out that Plutarch Heavensbee, who was a key player in the eventual revolution of Panem, had the same goal 25 years prior. Katniss wasn’t the first Mockingjay, the symbol of the revolution. Haymitch was one of the candidates. With help from Heavensbee and others, he tried to physically break the arena. Collins is telling the reader that revolutions don’t just happen. A system does not change overnight. You must fight for what you believe in and keep trying until it becomes a reality.
But Snow, of course, edited this out of the final games that were aired; he couldn’t have his citizens believe that his system could be broken. He couldn’t let them have hope. He wanted them to stay afraid of the Games. As Snow said himself in The Hunger Games movie, the only thing more powerful than fear is hope.
Collins encourages the reader to look beyond the story they were given and challenge their own perspective. In an interview with Scholastic, she said she was inspired by implicit submission and the use of propaganda and the power of those who control the narrative. Collins didn’t just write this book to add onto the success of The Hunger Games. She’s warning us. She’s telling us to look around and challenge what we see. Collins is telling us to look at who holds the power and what narrative they are supporting.
This idea will be even more prevalent when the movie comes out later this month on Nov. 20. Collins is trying to reach as many people as she can. She is showing how an oppressive government can control the opinion of the many. This book and movie are very timely. I only hope Lionsgate shares this theme well and reiterates the idea. Their previous Hunger Games adaptation, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, was met with mixed reviews, most about the inaccuracies with the book. Lionsgate, may the odds be ever in your favour.