Plot Structure & The Hunger Games

Plot Structure & The Hunger Games 

This review will break down the first The Hunger Games (2012) film by Gary Ross in the three act structure, as well as looking at the five-point story structure. Key source will be L.M. Lilly`s article Plot Structure And The Hunger Games - Writing As A Second Career (2019) and Emma Johnson`s article How To Plan Your Novel Using The Three-Act Structure (2016). 

“In what was once North America, the Capitol of Panem maintains its hold on its 12 districts by forcing them each to select a boy and a girl, called Tributes, to compete in a nationally televised event called the Hunger Games. Every citizen must watch as the youths fight to the death until only one remains. District 12 Tribute Katniss Everdeen has little to rely on, other than her hunting skills and sharp instincts, in an arena where she must weigh survival against love.“ (wikipedia) 

Act one - Set up

In the Beginning the story is set up and we get introduced to the characters. It shows our hero character, in this case Katniss Everdeen, in their ordinary world. In The Hunger Games we see Katniss living a normal life with her mother and sister, as well as pursuing her favorite activity - hunting. (Fig. 1)

Fig. 1 - Katniss hunting in the woods

It isn`t until a change, that usually comes from the outside, sets the entire story in motion. That is know as the Story Spark or the Inciting Incident. In The Hunger Games the change is the reaping day. It is an annual part of the characters life and during the ceremony the name of one girl and one boy from their district is chosen to fight in an arena to the death. At the ceremony Katniss` little sister, Prim, is chosen and Katniss immediately volunteers herself for the Hunger Games to save her sister. (Fig. 2) That action can be seen as the Inciting Incident, because without this action the rest of the story would not have happened. 

Fig. 2 - Katniss and Peeta get selected at the reaping

Followed by the Second Thoughts, which is the hero reaction to the inciting incident. After Katniss’ volunteered she has to say goodbye to her family and friends before she leaves immediately for the games. Katniss reflects on the impact her death would have on her community, especially her mother and sister. 

Act two - confrontation

The second act starts with the Climax of Act, which is the where hero character has to face different obstacles. Katniss meets the selected boy Peeta from her district for the Hunger Games. The audience learns about their background story and even though they have to fight agains each other in the arena, they stick close together and present themselves as a team. Katniss meets the other tributes and begins training to beat not only them but Peeta. She can no longer afford to think of him as an ally, though they still present a united front to try to get sponsors. However more conflict occurs between her and Peeta and she mistrusts him which can be seen as the One-Quarter Twist. (Fig. 3)

Fig. 3 - Katniss and Peeta training for the game

The Mid-point of the story is when the characters are finally entering the Hunger Games arena and are introduced to a new world. At the midpoint the hero character makes a commitment to the cause, which is causing a new development to the story. The character also may suffer a major reversal of fortune. For Katniss this suffering is represented in the fact that she is badly injured, hungry, in pain, exhausted, and sees no way out. This action results in her first kill in the games and serves as her Mid-Point action to commit and go all in. However the hero character has to overcome more obstacle, disaster and crisis. Since Peeta is part of a different group that is trying to kill Katniss, she makes an alliance with the girl Rue. They set up a plan to destroy the other tributes. However in doing so, Rue is killed, which can be seen as the Climax of Act two.

Fig. 4 - Katniss griefs over Rue`s death

Act Three (Resolution)

Followed by the Three-Quarter Turn, which once again sends the story in a new direction. This time, though, rather than being an outside force the turn grows directly from the protagonist’s action based on the Mid-Point. In The Hunger Games the gamemakers announce that two tributes can win this year’s game so long as they are from the same district. Since Peeta and Katniss are the only survivors from the same district, Katniss immediately sets out to find him. 

At first this twist seems to come from outside because it is the gamemakers who make the decision. Katniss, however, prompted that decision after the Capital changes the rules again so that only one can win. This is the Final Climax of the film - The decisions the hero makes here will impact the rest of their life; it is the point of no return. In The Hunger Games, Katniss and Peeta pretend to eat poisonous berries, which leads the Capital to stop them by declaring them both winners. (Fig. 5) But the true payoff is less about a physical fight and more about winning the battle against the Capitol.

Fig. 5 - Katniss and Peeta are about to eat the poisonous berries

In conclusion it can be said that The Hunger Games (2012) can be divided in the three Act structure, as well as the five-point story structure (Story Spark, One-Quarter Twist, Mid-Point, Three-Quarter Turn and Climax). The separation is a good guidance for the character and story development by creating set-ups, conflicts and resolutions. It gives a detailed outline for the action compared to the story of a film, as we can see in the science fiction-adventure film The Hunger Games (2012).

Bibliography

Johnson, E. (2016). How To Plan Your Novel Using The Three-Act Structure • Writer's Edit. [online] Writer's Edit. Available at: https://writersedit.com/fiction-writing/literary-devices/plan-novel-using-three-act-structure/ [Accessed 25 Oct. 2019].

Lilly, L. (2019). Plot Structure And The Hunger Games (Part 1) - Writing As A Second Career. [online] Writing As A Second Career. Available at: https://www.writingasasecondcareer.com/hunger-games/ [Accessed 25 Oct. 2019].

En.wikipedia.org. (2019). The Hunger Games (film). [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hunger_Games_(film) [Accessed 25 Oct. 2019].

Illustration List

Fig. 1 - Katniss hunting in the woods (image) - https://www.thecut.com/2012/03/scoring-katnisss-outfits-in-the-hunger-games.html

Fig. 2 - Katniss and Peeta get selected at the reaping (image) - http://gracehatem.blogspot.com/2016/06/

Fig. 3 - Katniss and Peeta training for the game (image) - https://writersedit.com/fiction-writing/literary-devices/plan-novel-using-three-act-structure/

Fig. 4 - Katniss griefs over Rue`s death (image) - https://ca.movies.yahoo.com/19-most-significant-deaths-hunger-173859813.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAEHiIpokCTPvsgALpAotiPScasH6JAP4VMDHmrh9fEOWu1PbBn1EEni-4v7zZ9YzC--iAUhkE0tE_RJisJ9Bc7YTYSFFnC7pKIPscdi_GXhJkJ1dCrEsqA6yVgnNvRjwjuZtbEtp_pwQDCiRsCRaVPFV6Jvks2Ru5jcUrO4ib0Tj

Fig. 5 - Katniss and Peeta are about to eat the poisonous berries (image) - https://silverducks.tumblr.com/post/37558357671/the-nightlock-berry-scene-in-the-hunger-games