Double the deaths, double the fun, double the propaganda.
This is the premise of “Sunrise on the Reaping,” by Suzanne Collins, a prequel to “The Hunger Games” book series. Published just a month ago, in a time where America gets closer to dystopia every day, “Sunrise on the Reaping” sold a record 1.5 million copies in its first week.
To further testify to its popularity, I know five other people who’ve read this new release, which is five more than the other books I’ve written a column on.
The novel follows Haymitch Abernathy, who readers have previously known as Katniss Everdeen’s mentor, and his tragic backstory as a competitor in the Hunger Games. In the 50th Hunger Games, which he competes in, twice as many teenage tributes are sent from each province of the dystopian, pseudo-American Republic of Panem. In this state-sponsored battle royale, only one of the 48 can win — everyone else must die.
In a situation where no one is doing great, the poorly trained tributes of District 12, the impoverished coal-mining, moonshine-making province where Haymitch is from, have it the worst.
“Don’t let them paint their posters with your blood” is the advice that Haymitch’s father gives a District 12 tribute. This advice — don’t let your oppressors turn your suffering into spectacle — stays with Haymitch throughout the story.
He and his fellow District 12 tributes — notably Maysilee Donner, who is excellently snarky and stylish and my personal favorite character — have to constantly consider how to portray themselves to the media. Whatever they say or do can easily be omitted or twisted. The atmosphere of surveillance, which turns every act into a performance, is particularly well written.
“Published just a month ago, in a time where America gets closer to dystopia every day, “Sunrise on the Reaping” sold a record 1.5 million copies in its first week.“
Additionally, the exploration of propaganda in “Sunrise on the Reaping” is increasingly relevant. In today’s America (thanks, President Trump!), we’re no stranger to misinformation by politicians and media personalities alike, perhaps most concerningly about violence. Lies popularized by conservatives both sensationalize and distort violence, from the claim that Black Lives Matter is a hate group to the claim that January 6 rioters were righteous.
The popularization of misinformation is likely related to how blurry the line between politician and media personality is getting. The characters of “Sunrise on the Reaping” encapsulate this blurriness well. We get to see how powerful propagandistic narratives are created by charismatic politicians like President Snow and ridiculous television personalities like Drusilla Sickle.
I wish “Sunrise on the Reaping” focused more on how ordinary people buy into and spread propaganda. The power of propaganda is that it’s propagated; spread not just top-down, but also horizontally among the very people who are the intended victims of misinformation.
The people of District 12 still bet on the Hunger Games, viewing teenagers fighting to the death as another form of entertainment. Though from Haymitch’s perspective, no one native to District 12 is sympathetic to the Capitol. I wanted more insight into this dynamic; it would’ve been interesting to have the perspective of a District 12 character who was completely brainwashed by Capitol propaganda. The cognitive dissonance of ordinary people under an authoritarian regime, simultaneously abiding by and despising the government, could’ve been more fleshed out.
I did see this to an extent in how Haymitch buys into some Capitol propaganda. He views the Careers, trained tributes who have a higher chance at survival, as animalistic and inhuman, even though he and the Careers are victims of the same system. Yet his projection of the Capitol’s narrative onto the Careers is largely unexamined. And from a reader standpoint, Haymitch’s dehumanization of the Careers makes their eventual deaths, though sufficiently bloody, insufficiently emotional.
Even the deaths of the lovable characters could do with more nuance. In the psychologically torturous world of the Hunger Games, I expected the government-orchestrated deaths to better address each character’s fears. Good characters don’t deserve disappointing deaths — I won’t spoil it, but one particular character’s method of death, instead of feeling cruel, felt borderline comical, affecting my immersion in the story.
Still, “Sunrise on the Reaping” does what it’s meant to do — it’s an entertaining prequel which explores the nature of propaganda with engaging characters and a page-turner plot. I’m glad I read it, despite a couple of lackluster deaths, and I’d say you should too — don’t you also want to spectate a teenager battle royale?
Vivian Fan PO ’28 is accepting book requests: https://bit.ly/tslbookrec
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