There's been a whole lot of hype going on about The Hunger Games for a while now, and a few weeks ago I finally gave in and started reading them. It took me forever to get through the beginning of the second book, so I only just finished them the day before yesterday. Ever since then, I've been trying to figure out exactly what I think of them. They were certainly gripping and entertaining, in a grim sort of way, and I would like to see the movie. However, I can't get rid of this nagging feeling that I shouldn't just go all-out and gush about how wonderful they are. I think it's probably that they aren't wonderful. They're horrific. The pain and sadness and inhumanity encompassed in the story are gut-wrenching in the extreme. Normally, I would dismiss this type of book as somewhat entertaining but too pessimistic to be valuable, but I'm going to try to delve a little deeper.
***Warning: there are almost certainly going to be spoilers ahead. Stop reading now if you don't want to know anything about how the story ends!***
In thinking about the books, my biggest question was "what was the point?" There doesn't really seem to be much of a moral to the story, and there wasn't a huge amount of character development either. I mean, the characters do change and develop, but they don't grow from their experience, they're just hurt and kind of muddle along afterwards, if they even live. Eventually, though, I arrived at the conclusion that the point of The Hunger Games must be as a warning. A warning not to harden our hearts, a warning not to engage in nuclear warfare, and most of all as a warning not to get caught up in entertainment at the expense of our humanity. I think it's ironic that the series is taken as simple entertainment by the majority of people. Not many people these days think or care about the point, purpose, or value of anything that amuses them.
If taken as a cautionary tale, I can see the value of these books. If not, however, I would have a harder time justifying my enjoyment of them. I have to admit that I do prefer stories that have happy endings, or at least those in which some sort of redeeming value or revelation is reached to make a less-happy ending worthwhile. This book lacks either, and that's the main reason I have some reservations. From the beginning the reader knows that Katniss is going to have to choose between Gale and Peeta, or that she'll continue to be conflicted until one dies and the choice is taken away. In one sense the ending was good, because she retained the ability to choose and was not a puppet of the Capitol or the new republic in that way. But in another sense it was dissatisfying because her rejection of the inhumanity of the Capitol is incomplete, in that despite her words to Peeta, her decision appears to be based purely on logic rather than love, that her only motivation is that Peeta's compassion and steadiness (assuming he recovered pretty fully after he was "hijacked") is better for her than Gale's fire. Maybe that's all she's capable of after experiencing so much horror, or maybe she truly grows to love him beyond the scope of the books, but the ending just felt messy, incomplete, and strangely devoid of emotion. In short, it left me hungry for something more satisfying.
It also bothers me that people keep saying "May the odds be ever in your favor". Life may have been ruled by chance (not really) in the books, but ours are certainly not. Why in the world is anyone emulating a custom of a cruel and decadent society?
I think a point the book is trying to make is how violence has become a form of entertainment and how ridiculous that is! The book points out how violence and killing have become a game, like monopoly, etc. If truly read, it should disturb the reader and allow the reader to think about how our current culture and world has parallels.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I think it's important to take note of the stark difference between the capitol and the districts, especially the outlying, poorer ones. Again, it should disturb the reader that the capitol people care all about the latest fashion, food, and entertainment while people living in the districts, who provide for the capitol way of life, are barely scraping by for food.
If you ask me, this is a commentary on our current culture. As "entertaining" as the books can be, there are serious points and implications that need to be taken into consideration.
Exactly! I totally agree with you. That's what I was trying to get at, but I don't know how well I articulated it. I definitely think the book (I guess it's really all three books, but the story is so contiguous that it feels like just one book)is making the point that violence, cruelty, and superficial excesses are detrimental to society and to individuals. We can see this in the terrible state of affairs throughout Panem and the stark juxtaposition of lifestyles among inhabitants of the Capitol and those of the districts, and also in the toll the entire experience takes on Katniss, Peeta, and Gale along with the other more minor characters. I wonder, though, how many people who read these books actually take the time to look past the entertainment they provide to examine them for parallels in our own world and society.
DeleteI guess I should say that I am not so much critical of the books themselves, but of the people who survey them with teeny-bopper fangirl type enthusiasm rather than as the thoughtful provocation to societal change that they should be. The Hunger Games are not meant to be something to squeal over, like Twilight or Justin Bieber. They are much more than that.
Yvonne, I think the books show what truly happens in war, not only the hurting maiming, killing, winning and losing but the psychological cost to the many, be they winners or losers. When my daughter told me her 6th grade class was reading this, I was shocked. That is why I read it at the same time and then read the rest of the books before either of my kids finished them. We had a lot of discussions about what happened to Peeta, Katniss and Gale at the end of the book and tried to relate it to what was happening in Iraq, Afganistan,Darfur and currently in other parts of the world. It made them stop and realize how lucky we are that war has not set foot on this continent in their lifetime or mine. It also gave them appreciation of the Vietnam Vets they see standing on street corners and for the poor soldier who recently took the life of his mother before taking his and his little sisters.
ReplyDeleteThat is a really good point. I think we can definitely gain an appreciation for all the privileges we enjoy in this country and in these times, and take responsibility for ensuring their continuation. We should never take the relative peace, prosperity, and freedom of this country for granted!
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