 Collins has said that the inspiration for The Hunger Games came from channel surfing on television . On one channel she observed people competing on a reality show and on another she saw footage of the invasion of Iraq . The two " began to blur in this very unsettling way " and the idea for the book was formed . The Greek myth of Theseus served as a major basis for the story , with Collins describing Katniss as a futuristic Theseus , and Roman gladiatorial games provided the framework . The sense of loss that Collins developed through her father 's service in the Vietnam War was also an influence on the story , with Katniss having lost her father at age 11 , five years before the story begins . Collins stated that the deaths of young characters and other " dark passages " were the most difficult parts of the book to write , but that she had accepted that passages such as these were necessary to the story . She considered the moments where Katniss reflects on happier moments in her past to be more enjoyable . 
