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What literary devices are present in Chapters 1-5 of The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins?

The first example of figurative language is a simile. Defines a simile as “a figure of speech in which two things, essentially different but thought to be alike in one or more respects, are compared using “like,” “as,” “as if,” or “such” for the purpose of explanation, allusion, or ornament.” A simile occurs when Katniss goes up to the fence that is supposed to be electrified to go hunting. She is not supposed to go outside the fence, but this is a law she often breaks. The fence is quiet.


But since we’re lucky to get two or three hours of electricity in the evenings, it’s usually safe to touch. Even so, I always take a moment to listen carefully for the hum that means the fence is live. Right now, it’s silent as a stone (Chapter 1).



This simile compares the electric fence to a stone. Stones do not make any noise. Since there is no electricity to the fence, the fence makes no noise. It is safe for Katniss to cross.


The second example is a metaphor. Defines a metaphor as “a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to a person, idea, or object to which it is not literally applicable.” A metaphor is used when Katniss hears Prim’s name called during the Reaping for the Hunger Games. She is in shock.



That’s how I feel now, trying to remember how to breathe, unable to speak, totally stunned as the name bounces around the inside of my skull (Chapter 2).



Prim's name does not literally bounce around her skull. It is metaphorical because Katniss is very surprised to hear her Prim’s name. She is upset, and it takes time for the truth to sink in fully.


Katniss uses another metaphor when she is leaving for the Capital. She tells her mother and sister everything they need to remember to do, since she will not be there to do it for them. She is particularly worried about her mother, who is psychologically unstable.



Well, you have to help it this time. You can’t clock out and leave Prim on her own. There’s no me now to keep you both alive. It doesn’t matter what happens. Whatever you see on the screen. You have to promise me you’ll fight through it (Chapter 3)!



When a person leaves work at the end of the day, he or she often punches a timecard. This is known as “clocking out.” Katniss uses it metaphorically here to say her mother needs to stay on the job of taking care of Prim and herself.


In the simile below, Katniss compares kind people to plants.



A kind Peeta Mellark is far more dangerous to me than an unkind one. Kind people have a way of working their way inside me and rooting there (Chapter 4).



When Katniss says kind people take root inside of her, she means that she grows attached to them. She worries about Peeta because she doesn’t want to like or trust him. He may be the other Tribute from her district, but he is also technically her competition.


Katniss seems to like similes. When she is being prepared for styling in the Capital, she compares herself to a plucked bird when they are removing all of the hair from her body that they do not think should be there.



My legs, arms, torso, underarms, and parts of my eyebrows have been stripped of the stuff, leaving me like a plucked bird, ready for roasting (Chapter 5).



Katniss uses this phrase because the treatment seems to have removed skin in addition to hair, leaving her feeling uncomfortable. She does not like having hair removed from her body, even part of her eyebrows; beauty has never been important to Katniss. She was more focused on survival.

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