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Suzanne Collins named her fictional dystopia after the Latin phrase, “panem et circenses,” which translates to “bread and games.” The phrase refers to a government’s ability to appease its people with trivial diversions rather than actual good governance, and it applies to the Hunger Games because the Games distract Panem’s residents from the reality of the Capitol’s control. Instead, citizens focus on watching the Games to see who will be killed next and who will become the winner, earning food (bread) and rewards for their district.
Bread is also a catalyst for change in The Hunger Games. First, there’s Katniss’s memory of the time Peeta saved her life by throwing burnt bread loaves her way. His act of kindness gave her hope and made her realize that there was a way she could keep her family alive—by foraging and hunting in the woods. And then, during the Games, Rue’s district sends Katniss a loaf of bread to signal their appreciation for her treatment of Rue. In this unprecedented demonstration of solidarity between districts, there’s a threat to the order of the Capitol, which relies on division of the districts in order to maintain control.
Bread Quotes in The Hunger Games
The The Hunger Games quotes below all refer to the symbol of Bread. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 2
Quotes
Maybe if I had thanked him at some point, I’d be feeling less conflicted now. I thought about it a couple of times, but the opportunity never seemed to present itself. And now it never will. Because we’re going to be thrown into an arena to fight to the death. Exactly how am I supposed to work in a thank-you in there? Somehow it just won’t seem sincere if I’m trying to slit his throat.
Related Characters:
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Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire The Hunger Games LitChart as a printable PDF.
Bread Symbol Timeline in The Hunger Games
The timeline below shows where the symbol Bread appears in The Hunger Games. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1
Gale has brought a loaf of real bakery bread to share on the morning of reaping day, and he and Katniss make a meal...
(full context)
...operates in an abandoned warehouse in the Seam. They trade some of their fish for bread and salt, and then they bring some strawberries to the mayor, who has a special...
(full context)
Chapter 2
...see the boy—Peeta—with a red welt on his cheek and carrying two loaves of burnt bread. His mother yelled at him to feed the bread to the pigs, and he began...
(full context)
Chapter 4
...That night, they had a dinner of dandelion salad and the rest of the bakery bread. Prim and Katniss began poring through a book from their mother’s apothecary shop, looking for...
(full context)
Chapter 11
...for the Cornucopia and instead grabs a nearby sheet of plastic and a loaf of bread. She’s angry about missing the moment and dashes farther in to grab a backpack, but...
(full context)
Chapter 18
...from sponsors right now, but when she checks the parachute, she finds a loaf of bread from District 11, Rue’s district. She can’t imagine how many people would have had to...
(full context)
Chapter 22
...expect Peeta to understand how difficult it is to owe someone something—she brings up the bread that Peeta tossed her years ago as an example. Katniss asks Peeta why he did...
(full context)
