In this week’s post, I will be
discussing the differences between the two novels The Hunger Games and Catching
Fire. Both of the novels are split into two distinct sections: outside of the
games and inside of the games.

 Both of the books start out in District
Twelve. Here, Collins shows just what state the Districts are in with regards
to the Capitol’s oppression. In the second novel, Catching Fire, Katniss and
Peeta actually leave District Twelve to go on the victory tour. In the first
novel, they never got to see the other districts except in passing on their way
to the Capitol. They get to see each of the different districts and see the
full extent of the Capitol’s harsh treatments. The second novel spends much
more time in the districts outside of the games than the first book did. I
think this is because Collins is trying to set up and foreshadow the coming
rebellion. The story becomes much more complex in the second novel as well. In
the first, it was all about Katniss and Peeta just trying to survive in the
arena, however in the second, they are shown just how far the Capitol goes to
control the districts and close the country is to its tipping point.

The first novel puts Katniss and
Peeta into the arena very early into the story because it is the focus of the
narrative. I think Collins did this to show the readers what Katniss’s and
Peeta’s personalities are and how they will interact with each other and other
people. The second novel does not put as much emphasis on the games themselves
but rather on the situation outside of the games in the capitol and the
districts.

Here is a video interview I found
on YouTube of a few of the cast members talking about how the second movie has
evolved from the first and differences between the two.