The Hunger Games and me

I always seem to be one step behind the rest of the world in reading whatever is popular. I attribute this problem to several factors. 

1)What I think qualifies as a good book and what the rest of the world thinks qualifies as a good book differs, sometimes vastly.  Reading the Twilight saga only confirmed this theory.

2)My reading list is already quite long. I am perfectly comfortable reading something that was written over 1000 years ago and understanding that it is extremely relevant to my life today (and I am not referring to the Bible in this particular case) Human nature hasn’t really changed a whole lot and I doubt that it ever will.

3)I don’t really get a whole lot of time to sit down and read. It is unhealthy both for me and my family if I am reading a book that is so good that I just can’t put it down, because I won’t.

These are just three reasons that I have put off reading the Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins. However, since I picked up a bit of a cold at our lock in last weekend and needed a sick day to recover I decided to give it a go. I don’t really know what to say other than it was one of the most disturbing things I have ever read.  To be honest I never really liked the main character, which may influence why I doubt I will ever reread the series. Most of all I found the whole concept of the society where the book takes place to be horrible, gruesome, and far too close to our own.  The basic premise of the story line is that you have the Capitol and 13 outlying districts. The 13 districts provide everything for the Capitol and in return are kept in conditions little better than slaves. This led to a revolution roughly 75 years before the first book. The revolution was put down, one district (13) was bombed off the face of the earth, and the Hunger Games were instituted. The Hunger Games are basically a giant gladiator match in huge arena that are televised throughout the whole country. Winning the Games makes you wealthy and famous and is about the only way to escape poverty. The contestants, however, are all children between the ages of 12 and 18 and there are 2 from each district, a boy and a girl. They are most commonly chosen, though you can volunteer. They are taken by the government to go and kill each other for the amusement of those in the Capitol, though everyone is required to watch. The message to the districts is clear, we can even take your children and there is nothing you can do to stop us. We will make you watch as your children kill each other, and we will make it a national holiday.   

It is disgusting beyond belief and as I read the books I could only wonder where it all began. At what point did people give up their freedoms so completely that the culture was able to be reduced to this level?  Was it when the government started telling them that they had no right to a conscience? When the government became the soul arbiter or right and wrong, good and evil. Or maybe it was the point where human life had so little value that was ok to murder children while others made huge profits off of their deaths? Maybe it was the point where keeping people in bondage little better than slavery was ok; as long as they produced cheap goods and the wealthy didn't have to see them starve? The books never say, but it is an interesting thought to ponder.