Games vs. Life

Author’s Note: This is a comparative essay. I compared one of my favorite books, The Hunger Games to my social studies book, Sarah Bishop. I explain the similarities and differences they share in the theme of Survival. I support my ideas with quotes from the story and different events.

Imagine you’re hanging one hundred feet above the ground; slowly your fingers are slipping off the edge One by one, each finger is slipping. You try to grab on again,  yelling for help. You’re hanging on for your life, for your survival. In The Hunger Games and Sarah Bishop this is exactly how the main characters feel every second of the day. The Hunger Games and Sarah Bishop are both based on the theme, survival, though they do show this is many different ways.

One similarity between the two books is how Katniss and Sarah, the main characters of the books, are fighting for their lives. “Determined to go on until nightfall, I walk until I’m stumbling over my own feet.” This quote shows how hard it was for Katniss to even keep up with herself in the arena, literally! Every second of the day, they are on edge. Anyone could come out of nowhere and kill them on the spot. With having to kill animals for their only food, and living in hazardous conditions day and night, they only hope they live for the next days

Even though fighting for their lives is a huge similarity between the two books, another similarity is trying to survive without all of your family. Katniss and Sarah both have a broken family. Katniss lost her dad in a mine accident, when he was working one day. Sarah lost her dad and her brother because of the revolutionary war.”By the time dawn came and the sky clouded, he was only breathing in gasps.” “They want us to die Sarah. Chad is dead. He died this morning.” These quotes show when Sarah found out that she lost all of her family. Sarah and Katniss both have to figure out how to survive without all of their family. Katniss had to try to feed her family and take care of them, but when she goes off to the Hunger Games, who will keep them alive? Sarah has to live on her own, all by herself! A fifteen year old basically has to become an adult early, so she can survive throughout her life.

Although similarities are very important for showing that both books have one of the main themes as survival, there are many differences between the two. In The Hunger Games Katniss did not have a chose. When her little sister Prim got chosen for the Hunger Games, Katniss had to volunteer for her. If Prim went, she probably would have died! So she had no chose and went. “Trying to remember how to breathe, unable to speak, totally stunned bounces around the inside of my skull.” This quote shows how Katniss felt when Prim got picked to go to The Hunger Games. Katniss had to fight for her survival throughout the Hunger Games and was very close to dying. What’s different between The Hunger Games and Sarah Bishop? Well, in The Hunger Games when she was fighting for her life, it was all just a game, but she could die at any time. In Sarah Bishop, this was real life. Sarah had to kill dangerous animals for food, and live in a frigid cave on her own!

     Overall, survival is used in many different ways in the books Sarah Bishop and The Hunger Games. Sarah is in the middle of the revolutionary way trying to survive without her dad and brother. On the other hand, Katniss is stuck in the horrible game; the government puts on, where to win the all the players must kill each other to win! They are always on edge waiting for a coal, black bear charging at them or another player throwing a killing spear at them. The two girls went through a lot, but survived till the end. What if you were living in a cave or in a horrible game like The Hunger Games? How would you survive?