Essay --

Schroeder 1 Hunter Schroeder Ms. Caturano Honors English 9 January 2013 Independent Reading: Connections Connection: Going to Extremes For Love The Hunger Games is set in world called Panem that was once America, before the Capitol was overcome in some unexplained, apocalyptic war. As punishment for that aggression, the remains were divided into 12 districts. Every year each district has to send one boy and one girl between 12 and 18 years old, chosen by lottery, to compete in a nationally televised event called â€Å"the Hunger Games.† The purpose of this is to create a mass killing spree with only one survivor. What really twists this storyline is when two tributes from the same district fall in love and fight to protect each other until they are the last ones left in the games. The two go to extreme measures to keep one another out of danger. â€Å"You're still trying to protect me. Real or not real," he whispers. "Real," I answer. "Because that's what you and I do, protect each other† (Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games). Because the hunger games is such a gruesome event, the things Katniss and Peeta did for each other aren't typical things couples would give up for eachother. These two would share supplies and weapons along with going as far as killing off an attacking enemy. Seeing how far Katniss and Peeta were willing to go to be with each other gave me a better understanding of why Romeo and Juliet fought to never let anything get in between them. Even though Romeo is a Montague and Juliet is a Capulet and the two families have an ancient rivalry they did not let that stand in the way of being with each other. â€Å"O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo? Deny thy father and refuse thy name! Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, ... ...ena. â€Å"You love me. Real or not real?" I tell him, "Real.† (Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games). Even though Katniss and Peeta are so young, they truly believe that they are in love. This changes my opinion of Romeo and Juliet and leads me to believe that they really could have been in love so young. Romeo and Juliet were a mere 13 and 14 when they claimed to fall madly in love and get married, but this was around the normal marrying age for that time period. â€Å"But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun† (Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet). In this time period, young people were very romantically mature and knew about love and did not just marry anyone because there was no such thing as divorce. This makes me think that Romeo and Juliet may have been in love and people were just very critical because the were of rival families.