In honor of all the Hunger Game movies being released on Netflix, then taken off, and now a new movie announcement, I thought it would be fitting to go back to the roots: the books- more specifically, the first book. I wanted to see just how different the movie was from the book. And (possibly) determine which one’s better. While I’m sure there are hundreds of differences between the two, I’m going over the ones that surprised me the most.
Madge
Madge was one of those characters that I didn’t know existed; however, I’m now so sad they didn’t include her in the movie. Madge is the daughter of District 12’s Governor. She is also Katniss’s only friend in District 12 besides Gale. Actually, Madge was there before Gale. In Chapter 1, while Katniss and Gale are selling Madge berries, she reminisces about how they got ‘close’: “Since neither of us really has a group of friends, we seem to end up together a lot at school. Eating lunch, sitting next to each other at assemblies, partnering for sports activities.” Not only is it surprising that our favorite loner has a friend, what’s more surprising is that Madge is actually the one who gave Katniss her mockingjay pin. After Katniss volunteered as tribute and was taken away into the justice building for final goodbyes, Madge appears and asks, “‘They let you wear one thing from your district in the arena. One thing to remind you of home. Will you wear this?’ She holds out the circular gold pin that was on her dress earlier.” To me, this was much more sentimental and showed a greater strength between Katniss and the people of 12 compared to her just getting the pin for free from the Hob in the movie.
Katniss Gaslighting herself into believing
Peeta only wants to Kill her
It was relatively clear that Katniss didn’t really trust Peeta in the movie, but it was so much worse in the book. Before Katniss and Peeta get off the train to the Capitol, she thinks to herself: “He hasn’t accepted his death. He is already fighting hard to stay alive. Which also means that the kind Peeta Mellark, the boy who gave me the bread, is fighting hard to kill me.” Now, this scene itself is hilarious to me, but I know Katniss has every right to be suspicious of Peeta. But as a viewer who knows Peeta is madly in love with Katniss, this is rather funny to me because she is basically conjuring assumptions out of thin air.
The Avox
The Avox actually don’t have a big impact in the movie as they do in the book. An Avox is someone who has defied the capitol in the past and was caught, but instead of being executed, their tongues get cut off and they are forced to work as servants in the capitol. The Avox that was assigned to aid Katniss, was actually someone she had seen before. In Chapter 6 Katniss explains to Peeta where she and Gale had encountered this girl: “Suddenly all the birds stopped singing, except for one. As if it were giving a warning call. And then we saw her. I'm sure it was the same girl. A boy was with her. They were running as if their lives depended on it. - A net dropped down on the girl and carried her up, fast. They shot some sort of spear through the boy.” Katniss felt a wave of guilt after she recognized who the girl was. She saw her get chased, crying for help, and Katniss couldn’t do anything about it.
District Eleven’s Parachute
This was one of the most heartwarming scenes in the book and I’m so incredibly upset they took it out. After Rue’s death and Katniss covers her in flowers, a tiny parachute floats down in front of her: “I open the parachute and find a small loaf of bread. It’s not the fine white capitol stuff. It’s made of dark ration grain and shaped in a crescent. Sprinkled with seeds. This bread came from District 11.” This was one of the only times, if not the only time where districts have helped a tribute that wasn’t theirs. It showed the unity that could be formed with a small movement of love and compassion regardless of districts.
Peeta Gets Drugged
After the announcement that two tributes can win if they’re from the same district, Katniss finds Peeta in critical condition who will die if she doesn’t get him medicine. When the feast at the cornucopia was announced Katniss tried to convince Peeta to let her go, but when he refuses, she has to resort to more desperate measures after she receives what she thought was medicine from Haymitch in chapter 20: “It’s such a tiny vial though. It must be very strong to cure someone as ill as Peeta. A ripple of doubt runs through me. I uncork the vial and take a deep sniff. My spirits fall at the sickly sweet scent. There’s no question, it’s sleep syrup.” Now I’m honestly not sure how the movie got away with Peeta not waking up after Katniss went to the cornucopia but drugging Peeta in the book actually made sense. Not saying it was cool, but it was useful.
The mutts
The muttations in the movie were basically shown as bloodthirsty werewolf looking monsters, but the book description was so much worse… The mutts had the traits of all of the fallen tributes from size to eye colors. They looked as if the tributes were remodeled into the capitols creation just to terrorize the remaining tributes. Katniss described these mutts in Chapter Four: “My head snaps from side to side as I examine the pack, taking in the various sizes and colours. The small one with the red coat and amber eyes… Foxface! And there, the ashen hair and hazel eyes of the boy from District 9 who died as we struggled for the backpack! And worst of all, the smallest mutt, with dark glossy fur, huge brown eyes and a collar that reads 11 in woven straw. Teeth bared in hatred. Rue…”
Katniss and Peeta’s Injuries after the games
After Peeta and Katniss won the games, we weren’t given any context about Peeta's condition since we last saw him almost bleeding out due to a cut in his leg. But when we did see him let me just say I was as surprised as Katniss was: “When Caesar asks Peeta how his ‘new leg’ is working out. ‘New leg?’ I say, and I can’t help reaching out and pulling up the bottom of Peeta’s pants. ‘Oh, no,’ I whisper, taking in the metal-and-plastic device that has replaced his flesh.” I was honestly not expecting this one. I think this is one of very few books that actually give the main lead a major injury that isn’t magically healed. On one side it’s cool because it showed that the capitol could only do so much to help Peeta and that they weren’t gods.
Similarly to Peeta, Katniss also had a major injury during the games. In the movie after Katniss blows up the careers food, she just gets blown back and acts like nothing happened, but in the book, Katniss actually goes deaf in her left ear: “Have I gone deaf from the explosion? The idea frightens me. I rely as much on my ears as my eyes as a hunter, maybe more at times.” Lucky for her, the Capitol was able to fix her up and now actually uses her “new” ear as an advantage in the next book (more to come on that later).
Similarly to Peeta, Katniss also had a major injury during the games. In the movie after Katniss blows up the careers food, she just gets blown back and acts like nothing happened, but in the book, Katniss actually goes deaf in her left ear: “Have I gone deaf from the explosion? The idea frightens me. I rely as much on my ears as my eyes as a hunter, maybe more at times.” Lucky for her, the Capitol was able to fix her up and now actually uses her “new” ear as an advantage in the next book (more to come on that later).
Peeta Being the Best Book Boyfriend Ever
Ok, enough about their pain and suffering. Now it’s time for the part that literally had be giggling and kicking my feet. Peeta Mellark is the book boyfriend. Yeah I know, it seems like common knowledge since he is literally the best male love interest/male lead ever. But this boy was off the rails in this book not to mention his amazing sense of humor as well. Let me just share some of my favorite quotes of his:
- “You should wear flames more often. They suit you.”
- “You can never tell what you'll find in the arena. Say it's actually a gigantic cake.”
- “You here to finish me off, sweetheart? Well, don't step on me.”
- “Katniss?' He mouths the words 'How about that kiss?'”
- “You're such a bad liar, Katniss. I don't know how you've survived this long. Never gamble a cards. You'll lose your last coin.”
- “No, I notice just about every girl, but none of them made a lasting impression but you.”
- “And right when your song ended, I knew- just like your mother - I was a goner.”
Final Thoughts
I was pleasantly surprised after I finished this book and rewatched the movie when I realized that it was actually a really good adaptation. It’s not like other movies where they change almost the entire plot *cough Percy Jackson cough*. But for a standalone movie, this would actually be fairly accurate. I honestly have a love for both the book and the movie. The movie would have been better with a few more details here and there. And I was able to enjoy the book more because I had the movie actors in my head as I was reading. Both are an honest 10/10. One final statement:
Peeta is the best book boyfriend ever.
Peeta is the best book boyfriend ever.
Eli torres
