Hunger Games and Lord of the Flies Comparison Essay Sample

Although the Hunger Games and the Lord of the Flies share some similarities, overall, Lord of the Flies has a darker message than the Hunger Games, because in the Hunger Games these children are being forced to kill in order for them and their district to live and not be hungry, but the children in the Lord of the Flies kill for greed and lack of humanity, not for basic survival.

These two books have many similarities such as the deaths of the children, the themes that run throughout the book, and the overall message. The deaths in both books show us the sheer brutality that humans (even little kids) have in them. Simon is stabbed to death (by all the boys purposely), Piggy is crushed by a boulder (that Roger pushed at him), and Ralph is ruthlessly hunted (after the boys set the jungle on fire to bring him out). The deaths in the Hunger Games were just as ruthless. Cato was devoured by wolves (when he is shoved into the pack by Peeta after Katniss shot him), Rue gets stabbed with a spear, and Glimmer is stung by venomous wasps (that Katniss drops on her). These are all brutal deaths, and they are no way for a child to die. Some other similarities are that in the books, war and violence is always present in the characters’ lives, and there is a loss of innocence when a character kills someone. For example, near the beginning of Lord of the Flies, Roger refuses to hit one of the kids with a little pebble, but by the end he is perfectly okay with killing someone with a boulder. Overall, both books show us extreme brutality, short-lived alliances, betrayal, bloody deaths, and the cruelty that can become of a person.

Though these books have their similarities, one has a darker message than the other. Lord of the Flies has a darker message than the Hunger Games in that these children have no choice but to kill, but the children in the Lord of the Flies never had to kill each other in order to be the last one standing, to feed their district. The children in Hunger Games have no choice but to kill each other or sacrifice themselves so that there would be one winner and that district would be fed and not left in starvations. The message of the Hunger Games is that sacrifice can show humanity in a time where that is a lack of it. There are many sacrifices in this book, and not just sacrificing a life. At the beginning of the book, Gale tells us that he sacrifices himself by possibly being picked for the games to get more food for his family. Katniss sacrifices herself so that her sister, Primrose, wouldn’t have to play in the games. They are all sacrificing their lives to save another in different ways. Players sacrifice themselves because they know that the odds of them surviving the games are not in their favor, so they sacrifice themselves in order to not face harsh death, and so the odds of someone else living increases. At the end of the book, Peeta and Katniss prepare to sacrifice themselves by eating the berries instead of letting the Capitol win again before the game maker stops them. Lord of the Flies teaches us that humans can be unapologetically violent and that society goes to hell when we don’t have rules. One last example of this is when the boys have killed the momma pig and then continue to re-enact it. If you want to kill the pig for food do it, but the boys torture the poor pig in their attempts to kill it. The beastly manner in which the boys kill the pig shows the evil that is inside all of them, and all of us. The slaughtered pig’s head becomes a symbol that is used throughout the book that represents the pure evil that is in these little kids. No one is forced to kill in order to live, but killings still happen, mirroring the brutality that kids (and adults) have hidden inside of them.