circumstances. Throughout the book, Katniss utilizes innovation in numerous ways, such as hunting in the restricted area and having herself and Peeta eat the poisonous berries to end the games. Without this innovation, she would not have the creativity or ability to survive.

Although Katniss also utilizes other factors (such as the help of others) to overcome her struggles, she utilizes determination and innovation frequently throughout the book. By demonstrating these two characteristics, Katniss overcomes all of her struggles and even helps others along the way.

When Katniss Everdeen's young sister, Prim, is randomly chosen to compete in the Hunger Games, Katniss does what almost no one ever has—she chooses to volunteer to take her place. Katniss becomes engaged in the central conflict of the novel at this point because only one teenager from all twelve districts combined is able to survive and be declared the victor of those Games. All of the other contestants will die as the teenagers kill each other off, one by one.

Because of her courage, Katniss finds that she has some support in the Capitol, such has in Cinna's incredible craftmanship. Together with Haymitch's advice, Katniss begins to believe that maybe it is possible for an impoverished girl from District 12 to beat the Careers in the Hunger Games so that she can return home to her mother and her beloved Prim.

To do so, Katniss has to survive many attempts to take her life, both from inside the arena and from the outside; the Games are carefully controlled by the Gamemakers. By facing one challenge at a time, Katniss continues to persevere, reading into Haymitch's hints through the gifts he is occasionally able to send in order to craft her decisions inside the Arena.

Eventually, she is able to resolve the conflict by staying alive until the very end and then by beating the Gamemakers at their own work, designing a plot to ensure that she does not have to kill her fellow District 12 teammate and the boy who has helped her stay alive, Peeta. She is able to emerge as the co-victor, but it soon becomes apparent that undermining President Snow will come with a heavy price, thus setting up the conflict for the next book in the trilogy.

The answer to this question depends on what a reader defines as the novel's "central" conflict. Generally speaking, when I ask students this question, their response is something along the lines of "Katniss doesn't die." I can't find fault with that answer. A central conflict is the fact that Katniss has been thrown into a battle arena where the winner is the lone survivor. This conflict is a standard man vs. man (teen vs. teens) conflict. Her survival skills are put to the test as well as her ability to manipulate the viewing audience into sponsoring her with items to help her survive. At the novel's conclusion, Katniss emerges from the competition as a survivor. It is an added bonus that Peeta was able to survive as well.

More savvy or mature readers might see the central conflict as a man vs. society conflict. The Hunger Games is a symptom of a larger disease. The Capitol rules over the other districts with an iron fist. The Hunger Games is a way that the Capitol demonstrates its power year after year. By the end of the Hunger Games, Katniss has chipped away a little bit of the Capitol's power. She manipulated the game and Gamemakers to allow herself and Peeta to survive. This is a small victory for Katniss. The conflict of allowing two winners to exist is resolved because two winners from the same district is allowed; however, this victory further deepens and enhances the existing conflict between Katniss and the Capitol, which is what the next two books explore.

This is an interesting question to consider. If we look at the text carefully, we can see that the first time Katniss mentions the prospect of winning comes after Rue is dying from the spear wound in Chapter 18. Katniss has of course by this stage blown up the food at the starting point, which is a major accomplishment. In response to Rue's command that she "has to win" the Hunger Games, note how Katniss responds:

I'm going to. Going to win for both of us now," I promise.

This is perhaps the first recognition that Katniss shows of the possibility of her victory, and also this comment shows great determination. At this point, of course, the contenders have been thinned down significantly, so Katniss does have a real chance. After this stage in the book, as others die and Katniss remains, obviously her chances of winning become greater and greater.

In Suzanne Collins' novel, The Hunger Games, the central conflict revolves around the theme of "man vs. society." 

While the story's protagonist, Katniss Everdeen, must fight to survive the Hunger Games, the bigger issue lies within the way society operates.

President Snow, the leader of Panem, is both politically corrupt and morally bankrupt. He joyously enforces the tradition of the Hunger Games and mandates that all citizens of Panem, regardless of their district, watch the gruesome events unfold on live TV.

In addition to enforcing the Hunger Games each year, President Snow also uses his political power in order to spread propaganda to the masses which results in long-lasting rivalries between various districts. By creating rifts between the people of each district, President Snow is able to effectively keep them from banding together to combat the real problem - him. 

This societal conflict is resolved (in this book, anyway) shortly after Katniss and Peeta realize they are the only tributes left in the Games. There can only be one victor, though, so one of the two has to die. Unwilling to hurt one another, Katniss and Peeta reach stalemate.

Katniss and Peeta have poisonous berries on hand. They agree to commit suicide together. As they lift the berries to their lips, the announcer frantically commands them to stop. He then declares the two of them victors, ultimately saving both of their lives.

Although this sets off a grisly chain of events that lead to Katniss and Peeta fearing for their lives, their act of unintentional rebellion proves to all of Panem that the Capitol will never actually "own" them.

The conflict continues on in Suzanne Collins' sequel, Catching Fire.