Once you read The Hunger Games, you have to talk to someone about
it, because the emotions it causes are enormous and you must release them. That
simple human quality, the need to let go of our emotions to someone, hopefully
someone who will encourage and uplift us, is what has made The Hunger Games trilogy
such a popular series among teens and adults. Collins was able to tap into this
human quality and then also write it into the heroine, Katniss Everdeen.
There are a million reviews on this book, so if you are reading
mine, I feel privileged.
Oh and this book discussion (yes discussion, not book review, you
can find millions of reviews on the web) will include spoilers, so if you
haven't read this book (go read it!) and don't want to know what happens (how
could you not already know?) then stop reading.
Alright here goes...
About a quarter of the way through this book I thought Collins has
to be crazy, I mean truly insane, like she might need medical attention. How could
someone create such an extreme sci-fi world that puts innocent children into a
habitat where they have to kill each other kids? And just in case that wasn’t enough,
she created creatures and bio-weapons to help the killings along! Then I
started thinking about Rome and the Colosseum, where they slaughtered children
as entertainment. So at that point I looked online for other reviews and found
an interesting one that discussed Collins' reasons for writing these books (check it out here), where she
mentions watching coverage of the war and flipping back to reality TV.
So I started to see that Collins wrote a series that brought back
important stories in history to make a point to a new generation – genius! That
is why this book (and the other two books in the series) will continue to be
read for years, maybe decades or more to come.
Since we are limited to only Katniss' view (an amazing feat, to
write such a compelling story through a first person narrative) I feel that is
where some of the anger over the books comes. We (fiction readers) are so used
to some kind of third-person view to a story; a way into each character so we
can feel like we are watching it all from a stage. But since Katniss is our
storyteller, we are limited to her knowledge, and as the book goes on we see
just how limited her knowledge is. I wanted to know more, so for this book I
kept reading because I was walking this trial with her.
Some of the most compelling parts of the story came once Katniss
was in the Capitol for training - when she first encountered the other tributes
and watched them prepare for the Games. This is when the reality of the
situation for our heroine really started to tug on my heartstrings. I am
willing to bet these feelings were a direct result of the fact that Katniss
also started to see the magnitude of the life and death situation she was in.
For me, another heart-touching moment was with Rue. Yes, the
murder of Rue was ruthless and heart wrenching, but for me, the scene where
Katniss and Rue are in the trees staying warm through the night hit deep.
Katniss mentions how it reminds her of Prim. It was just a real moment, a human
reaction. Here Katniss is fighting for her life and yet her emotions take her
back home to a place where she is safe.
Another point, one that Collins wanted to make clearly, is the
power of the media in our culture today. Once Katniss and Peeta are preparing
for the Games, it becomes clear that the people of the Capitol see the Games as
pure entertainment because that is how it is packaged for them (remember they
don’t have a tribute fighting for his or her life; they are just watching a
reality TV show). Although Katniss seems to take a while to catch on to the
power of the media, Peeta catches on quickly. Near the end of the book the
readers realize he has a talent of speaking in a way that attracts an audience,
and that fact is not lost on President Snow and Panem’s media.