With more than 100 million books sold, "The Hunger Games" has profoundly and swiftly impacted a modern audience and has great potential to maintain its success in the future.
The dystopian novel by Suzanne Collins follows a young girl named Katniss Everdeen who is brought up in a country split into 12 districts, of which a girl and boy are forced to compete in a televised death game annually by the wealthy Capitol.
The novel effectively explores ever-prevailing issues such as oppression and inequality, as the Capitol uses their superiority to their advantage whilst the districts suffer in poverty and have little choice but to remain obedient.
However, there is a more dominant focus on using technology to maintain control and instil fear- for instance, the horrifying games are live-streamed on television for everyone to watch. This reflects how Collins wishes to critique the authoritarian use of technology in modern-day society, but as technology has an increasingly powerful impact on every individual's life and the boundaries between censorship and freedom are blurred, the warning of the misuse of technology can be relevant to future generations.
Furthermore, "The Hunger Games" emphasises the importance of appearances and how this can defy one's self-identity. Members of the games are expected to dress well to please their audience and gain sponsors rather than reflect their own identity, therefore they are each provided with stylists.
This strongly links to modern-day celebrity culture, in which many are expected to dress fashionably and uphold a certain image just to please fans and those they work for. Growing use of social media may worsen expectations of celebrities and lead them to focus more on their fans than themselves, therefore Collin's emphasis on this issue is still relevant to a future audience.
Key traits of many classic books include having memorable characters, suspenseful plot and timeless themes. The simplistic language in "The Hunger Games" ensures it spreads to a wide readership and allows the key messages to be clear and concise rather than needing analysis to be understood. The protagonist, Katniss Everdeen, is an independent, outspoken individual who inspires readers to voice their opinions despite challenges they may experience, which is important for current and future generations for society to continually improve.
The fast- paced, captivating plot of "The Hunger Games" has the potential to not only remain a current successful novel, but a future classic novel too.
