Every book teaches people many things, whether it is how to raise a child or how to cook. The author includes lessons that can teach people many things like being faithful, trustworthy, and/or brave. The novel, The Hunger Games teaches many important themes that include lessons about power, versions of reality, and oppression/rebellion.
The Hunger Games teaches the lesson that people that have too much power can be very dangerous. Those in power feel that they may say and do whatever they want, just because they can. They manipulate and force people to do and say things that the innocent people disagree with. In the book, all of the districts start an uprising and of course, the Capitol wins. For punishment the Capitol takes one male and one female, (from ages twelve-eighteen) from each district, and puts them in an arena, forced to kill each other just to show them who is boss. When the tributes' names are drawn from the reaping ball, Katniss Everdeen understands that the government takes kids from [their] districts, forcing them to kill one another while [people] watch-this [is] the Capitol's way of reminding [them] how totally [they] are at their mercy[...] Whatever words they use, the real message is clear. "Look how we take your children and sacrifice them and there's nothing you can do. If you lift a finger, we will destroy every last one of you. Just as we did in District 13  (Collins 18)
It is obvious then that the capitol uses its power over the districts by sacrificing their children each year. People with power can make a life miserable, and everyone around that person miserable too. For example, Katniss recognizes the Avox, but does not know where from. She asks Haymitch who she is, and he tells her that she is an Avox and that an Avox is "someone who committed a crime. They cut her tongue out so she can [not] speak. (Collins 77) This shows that the Capitol is making peoples' lives harder by cutting out their tongues....