Skip to main content

Is there a time limit on the Hunger Games?


If a Hunger Games went on for too long - what would happen?


I was looking through the book for an answer and come across this quote:



In two weeks, 23 of you will be dead. One of you will be alive.




But, did Atala just say this as just a figure of speech, or was she was actually implying a time limit?


And it can't go on for ages or it would clash with the timing of the Victory Tour (this is taken place 6 months after each Hunger Games) and could possibly clash with the next Hunger Games too.


The gamemakers could kill off the victors and drive them together, but what would happen if this failed to work and they still didn't kill or attack each other.



Answer



No, there is no actual time limit. Further, the scene you reference from the movie does not happen in the book. From the first book's description of the Games (via Katniss, emphasis mine):



The twenty-four tributes will be imprisoned in a vast outdoor arena that could hold anything from a burning desert to a frozen wasteland. Over a period of several weeks, the competitors must fight to the death.



Later, as Katniss is thinking about the kind of environment she will find herself in:




Often there are trees because barren landscapes are dull and the Games resolve too quickly without them.



And, as Katniss and Peeta are holed up, she tries to figure out how long she has been away from home:



How long have I been gone? I'm guessing it's been about two weeks in the arena, and there was that week of preparation in the Capitol.



Lastly, as they are doing the "review show" at the end, it seems this particular games lasted "several weeks":



Condensing several weeks into three hours is quite a feat [...]




So, while I am unsure just how long the 74th Games lasted, there certainly was no two week time frame. We see several times that the Gamemakers will interfere to keep things interesting, so there is no reason to believe that they cannot essentially end it whenever they please.


Plus, they have been known to outright kill tributes in the past:



There was some speculation that the avalanche that finally took Titus out was specifically engineered to ensure the victor was not a lunatic.



Basically, they have (almost) complete control over the entire thing, including the duration.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

futurama - How much time is lost in 'Time Keeps on Slippin''

In time Keeps on Slippin' , Farnsworth creates a basketball team which he matures by abusing Chronitons. This leads to time skipping forward by random, but ever increasing amounts. How much time was skipped in this way? Answer Unfortunately, I don't think a good estimate can be made for this, for two reasons: Many of the time skips move forward by an indeterminate amount of time. At one point, the Professor mentions localized regions of space skipping forward much more than others. We then see two young boys on the street below complaining about having to pay social security, only to suddenly become senior citizens and start complaining about wanting their money. Thus, each individual could have experienced a different amount of time skippage.
Post a Comment
Read more

harry potter - Did Dolores Umbridge Have Any Association with Voldemort (or Death Eaters) before His Return?

I noticed that Dolores Umbridge was born during the first Wizarding War, so it's very likely she wasn't a Death Eater then (but she is pretty evil -- who knows?). After that Voldemort was not around in a way that could affect many people, and most wouldn't know he was planning to rise again. During that time, and up through Voldemort's return (in Goblet of Fire ), did Umbridge have any connection with the Death Eaters or with Voldemort? Was she doing what she did on her own, or was it because of an association with Voldemort or his allies? Answer Dolores Umbridge was definitely not a good person. However, as Sirius points out, "the world isn't split into good people and Death Eaters". Remember that he also says that he doesn't believe Umbridge to be a Death Eater, but that she's evil enough (or something like that). I think there are two strong reasons to believe that: Umbridge was proud to do everything according to the law, except when she trie...
Post a Comment
Read more

aliens - Interstellar Zoo story

I vaguely remember this story from my childhood: it was about an interstellar zoo that came to Earth with lots of bizarre and unusual species, and humans would file through and gape at all the crazy looking creatures from other planets. The twist came at the end when the perspective shifted to the other side of the bars and we discovered that the "creatures" were traveling through space on a kind of safari. They thought they were the visitors and we were the animals. Neither side knew that the other side thought they were the zoo creatures. Answer Got it. Zoo, by Edward D. Hoch. Published in 1958. Link to Publication History Link to PDF
Post a Comment
Read more

Could one of Voldemort's Death Eaters have killed or harmed Harry at Privet Drive?

In Order of the Phoenix , Dumbledore explains to Harry the protection that the Dursleys' home provides: While you can still call home the place where your mother's blood dwells, there you cannot be touched or harmed by Voldemort. He shed her blood, but it lives on in you and her sister. Her blood became your refuge. You need return there only once a year, but as long as you can still call it home, there he cannot hurt you. Your aunt knows this. I explained what I had done in the letter I left, with you, on her doorstep. She knows that allowing you houseroom may well have kept you alive for the past fifteen years. Dumbledore says that he cannot be "touched or harmed by Voldemort". Does this mean that he could have sent a Death Eater to just bust down the door and kill Harry, assuming that Voldemort would allow them to? And even if he didn't want them to kill him, could they have harmed him in some other way (e.g. the Cruciatus Curse)? Answer No. Harry was protect...
Post a Comment
Read more