Exploring Identity Alteration in Suzanne Collins’ Dystopian Novel: The Hunger Games Trilogy Part One (2008)

Abstract

In recent years, the spread of Young Adult novels gained a massive interest among readers from different ages, featuring themes such as Dystopia and corruption. These novels became a trend in the world of literature nowadays. This dissertation aims to highlight the issue of identity alteration in The Hunger Games(2008) by Suzanne Collins, following a psychoanalytical approach, analyzing the main character in the first novel. The work focuses on the Young Adult genre as a new style of writing and its relevance to dystopia. It also tackles several aspects that exist within this style such as the psychological development of adolescents and their behaviors, compromising concepts such as characters and characterization since the interest is centered on the individuals in the novel alongside the effect of oppressive government and the self-esteem as well. The analytical part of this work is mainly devoted to the protagonist‟s identity formation in the first novel of the trilogy, and it provides several pieces of evidence that prove her change of character during the games and after. Therefore, the novel portrays the major character's personality change as a teenager and the challenges she passed through to become self-reliant and mature.