Book Review ~ The Hunger Games

By now I'm sure most everyone has heard of The Hunger Games, either from the trilogy or the recent movie. If you haven't read the book or seen the movie yet and plan to, beware this post will include spoilers! So if you don't want to know what happens, stop reading! Otherwise, carry on.

I didn't know anything about the books until the previews for the movie started hitting tv. I still didn't know that much about it, I guess it just didn't interest me much. Once I discovered the plot, basically kids killing kids, it was something I knew I'd stay away from and keep my kids away from. What changed my mind? One of the speakers at the recent homeschool convention. We attended Robin Finley's workshop, "A Framework for teaching Literature", where she discussed what she calls The Eternal Argument. This description is from her website:

The Eternal Argument is Robin's term for her framework for studying these treasures. In her opinion, western culture is really one big ongoing argument that debates whether man or God is in charge of our lives. Many great works and classics can be interpreted through this "lens" to allow modern readers a deeper, more thorough understanding of this important literature.

 She took us from 476 A.D. to present through literature showing how the pendulum swings between whether man or God is in charge. And what does this have to do with The Hunger Games you ask? One of the parents brought up the book and how instead of letting our kids read anything or censoring them from everything that isn't sweet and rosy, we - as parents - need to use the opportunities as teaching experiences.

That led me to further thinking. Dangerous, I know. I thought back to my high school days, many years ago, and the books I read - either by choice or by assignment. Metamorphosis, A Farewell to Arms, Of Mice and Men, Slaughterhouse-Five, just to name a few. Those books certainly weren't all sugar and sweetness. But did they have literary value? Was I exposed to different writing styles? Was I forced to look beyond the words on the page and think about what the author was trying to get across? Absolutely. The final stage of the Trivium in Classical Education is Logic. A time for teaching our kids to beyond just knowledge to questioning why things are, why things happen, why people act the way they do. Which led to my question, who are the great authors of our time? Who are the modern day writers on the same level as John Locke, Emerson, T.S. Eliot, Hemingway, Steinbeck? I still don't have my answer.

Now you know what led me to read The Hunger Games. Just this morning I finished the first book. It was a fairly easy read and kept me wanting to keep reading. Yes, I found myself not wanting to put it down. The setting is a future United States where the Capitol is in control over the twelve Districts in a way that reminded me of Orwell's 1984. The people were kept poor, hungry and at the mercy of the far off Capitol. As a way to remind the people that rebellion is futile, the Capitol holds the Hunger Games every year. Each district must send two young people, tributes, for a total of 24 players. The players are put into an arena, not a coliseum, think a Survivor type atmosphere in The Truman Show bubble. The Gamemakers can control everything that happens in the arena, including weather, available supplies, etc. The only object of the Games is to be the last one standing. The winner is awarded with riches, food and praise and their District also benefits. The Games are televised to all the Districts so that everyone can watch as the tributes turn on each other in an attempt to be the only one alive at the end. This reminds me of the things I've heard about The Lord of the Flies, although I've never read it myself. The book follows two tributes, Katniss and Peeta, as they fight to survive the Games. It takes readers through adventures of hunting, fighting, constant fear, death, friendship and romance. While Katniss and Peeta grow closer, you become very aware that the Games only have one winner. One. Katniss or Peeta, but not both. I felt Katniss' anger at the Capitol for putting them in such a position, helpless to do anything to stop it. The two portray such a romantic facade, although the love is real for Peeta, that the Capitol allows them to think they have changed the rules to allow two winners, as long as they're from the same District. This dreamed is shattered by the reality that it was all for show, entertainment for the viewers. When all the other tributes are gone and just the two of them are left, the new rule is recanted and once again they are left with the option of kill or be killed. On a last ditch effort to save themselves together, they work out a plan to fake a double suicide, forcing the Gamemakers to stop them by allowing them both to win. It works, they both are declared winners and thus begins the celebrations. The reader breathes a huge sigh of relief that they've both been spared. The book ends as a cliff hanger, begging you to read more. As they return to their District, they're very aware that the Capitol is not happy with their scheme. Peeta is also met with the fact that although his love is quite real, Katniss was mostly playing the part, knowing the romance would benefit them in the Games. True, she developed some feelings, but she's not quite sure how to sort them out. You're left wondering what will happen next. Will the romance be kept alive? How will the Capitol retaliate? And most importantly to me, will the people ever have the chance to overthrow the horrific reality of the Hunger Games?

As I read, I couldn't help but be drawn to Katniss. Her innocence and beauty. And the harsh reality of the human fight to survive. Given the right circumstances, most humans will do anything to survive. Even if it means taking another life. When you strip a person bare of the necessities of life, a feral person comes out with the sole purpose of surviving. The different stages of this are played out well through the friendship Katniss forms with another tribute, her struggle with killing, her anger and rage at the Capitol and her final alliance with Peeta.

While not something I would let my younger children read, I do see the value in having my high-school aged student reading it to explore human reaction towards survival at all cost. In thinking back to The Eternal Argument, without God, would it really matter?

I'll be continuing my reading with Catching Fire and will follow with another review.