We are fifth graders from Marquez Charter Elementary in Pacific Palisades, California. We are studying the Revolutionary War in class. During a class discussion, we found some similarities between the Revolutionary War and the Hunger Games.
We thought that the 13 districts could compare to the 13 colonies and the Capitol to England. Districts 8 and 11 reminded us of Massachusetts because that's where the American Revolution began.
Katniss Everdeen was a recognized leader like George Washington. They both were elected to lead a non-professional army. The three firebrands of the American Revolution were Samuel Adams, Thomas Paine and Patrick Henry. These people helped spark the revolution. We thought that Peeta Mellark was like Samuel Adams because both men were smart, articulate and good at organizing people. Gale Hawthorne was a hothead like Patrick Henry. Both men were unafraid to speak out for what they thought was right. Katniss' stylist, Cinna, like Thomas Paine, was born in the mother country but sided with the rebels. Plutarch Heavensbee, the head Gamemaker in Catching Fire, was a spy for the districts. Mrs. Gage, wife to General Gage, was a suspected spy for the colonists.
The antagonists in the book and the war are President Snow and King George III. Both loved power but were not fit to rule. King George III automatically became king even though he probably shouldn't have been. He didn't mean to ruin the colonists, but he didn't know how to control them. President Snow would have been a great ruler, except he did have bad intentions. He knew how to control people. Both the colonists and districts were forced to obey these tyrants.
The Revolutionary War erupted after King George continuously imposed taxes on the colonists after England went broke during the French and Indian War. The districts were angry after 75 years of sending their children to their deaths in the Hunger Games. They finally thought that it was time to stand up for their rights. In 1773, the rebels finally expressed their views on the taxes. Dressed like Indians 150 colonists boarded the British ships in the Boston Harbor and dumped $1,000,000 worth of British tea in the Harbor. The districts were inspired when Katniss held out the nightlock berries to save Peeta and herself, but the districts (and the Capitol) took it as an act of rebellion. These were the ways that the districts and colonists fought back.
Based on all this evidence, we've concluded that Ms. Collins was paying attention during her history class, and when it came to writing the Hunger Games, she used this knowledge to inspire and inform her book.