As discussed in the ‘Sunrise on the Reaping: All We Know‘ post, the second Hunger Games prequel is almost unique among Collins’ offerings in that she has spelled out which political message inspired the work and the direction she chose to take the story in light of that point of origin. Per the People magazine article:

Along with unveiling the book’s cover, Collins teased what fans can expect in the new novel which follows her latest prequel, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.

“With Sunrise on the Reaping, I was inspired by David Hume’s idea of implicit submission and, in his words, ‘The easiness with which the many are governed by the few,’ ” she said, per the release. 

“The story also lent itself to a deeper dive into the use of propaganda and the power of those who control the narrative,” she continued. “The question ‘Real or not real?’ seems more pressing to me every day.”

There are three take-aways there:

• Hume’s “idea of implicit submission” was her starting point, what “inspired” Sunrise,
• the story she wrote “lent itself,” which is to say ‘she chose to make it,’ a  “deeper dive into the use of propaganda and the power of those who control the narrative,” and
• she tied it into her original series’ primary theme and with the world today by concluding,  “The question ‘Real or not real?’ seems more pressing to me every day.”

Let’s go through these one at a time, starting with David Hume. [Read more…]