How Did Suzanne Collins Influence Her Book

Abstract

This paper explores some of the creative decisions Suzanne Collins, author of Year of the Jungle, The Hunger Games trilogy, and The Underland Chronicles, has made in her career as a writer. It discusses many of her inspirations and influences that aided her in the creation of her books, as well as the common themes she writes about. Additionally, it considers some of Collins’ character choices and views on writing which led to the popularity of her books.

Suzanne Collins: Influences, Inspirations, and Themes in Her Works

Introduction

Suzanne Collins, best known for her Hunger Games trilogy, began her professional writing career in 1991, as a screenwriter for children’s television. She started off working on several

She chose this genre because she wanted to add allegorical elements to her writing. She chose the Hunger Games arena as the symbol that her readers would witness transform throughout her books. She needed to be able to create it and manipulate it how she wanted it to work out, and although she did incorporate some historical elements into her trilogy, she did not want to write to write a book too strongly reliant on historical occurrences.(3) She also attributes her choice to write science fiction because she feels that telling a story in a futuristic world gave her the freedom to explore things that bother her in contemporary times.(9) Collins acknowledges that her writing is motivated by political and utopian desires. She hopes that discussion of the wars in her Underland Chronicles and Hunger Games trilogy can help eliminate war. Obviously war will not be eradicated any time soon, but Collins strongly feels that we can change as a people, even if it is a very long and drawn-out process. Considering that real world events influenced her stories, Collins feels it is crucial that young readers think about the future of