The Hunger Games

Normally, if anything is popular, I tend to ignore it. If anything has a large following, has a lot of hype, and everyone and their mom is going crazy about it, I secretly loathe whatever it is. I just hate bandwagons. I hate being a sheep. I hate following the crowd. But when The Hunger Games blew up and I slowly began finding out what it was all about, I couldn't help but wonder what the big deal was. Why in the world would everyone love something that is about young people fighting each other to the death for the sake of entertainment? I couldn't let this one go so I decided to pick up book one of The Hunger Games and read it for myself.

I was already under the impression that I wouldn't be a fan but I wanted to give it a fair chance. As I read it though, I really struggled with the content. I struggled with how to feel about it and how to view it from a biblical worldview.

Let me stop there for a moment. Why should I even care about the biblical world view? Why can't I just take the book at face value and enjoy the story? Firstly, I must view everything from a biblical world view.  I can't call myself a follower of Christ and then pick and choose when I view things through His lenses. Everything I do, touch, read, and interact with has to be influenced and filtered through the Truth of God's Word. Secondly, this is a book that is about children killing each other. How could I not call that into question and deal with, not just the morality of it, but the theology behind it? How can I ignore it and not put any thought into it beyond, "Oh, that was a good story." I just can't, I have to deal with it.

The first thing I noticed about the book is that it is written in present tense. Most books are written in past tense so automatically, even with the first sentence, this book stands out. I also noticed that the book, contrary to popular belief, is not that well written. I kept in mind that the book was written for kids and thus it's at a lower reading level than I would normally read. It's easy to ignore the poor writing though, even almost forgivable, because the story itself is so intriguing.

Those are just a few minor aspects of the book that I quickly picked up on. The real issue I had with the book is the disturbing topic. Panem is a post-apocalyptic world in which the Capitol (the government) is a very brutal, communistic power over the twelve districts that make up Panem. The Capitol has full control over the districts and they don't allow anyone to forget it. That's the whole point of The Hunger Games; to remind the districts of the power the Capitol has to destroy them.

"Taking the kids from our districts, forcing them to kill one another while we watch - this is the Capitol's way of reminding us how totally we are at their mercy. How little chance we would stand of surviving another rebellion. Whatever words they use, the real message is clear. 'Look how we take your children and sacrifice them and there's nothing you can do. If you lift a finger, we will destroy every last one of you. Just as we did in District Thirteen.'"

The disturbing content doesn't end there. The Hunger Games is put on as a show, a festival, a time of celebration. Everyone outwardly ignores the fact that these children are being forced to fight to the death and that it is being publicly televised for everyone's entertainment. It's all a huge show in order to appease the Capitol and survive. It's all a show at the expense of twenty-three young lives. It is played off as an honor to be chosen but everyone knows that only one can survive and the likely hood of it being a kid from one of the poorer districts is very slim. The kids from the richer districts are well fed, well cared for, and are trained to fight in the Games, while the kids from the poorer districts work for their daily survival. Many of them go without enough food and thus enter the games already very weak and ill prepared. It's tragic if you give yourself enough time to think about it. Also, people make bets on who will be the victor. The whole attitude and approach to these Games is disturbing and anyone who might feel that this is wrong is powerless to speak about it, let alone do anything to stop it.

When the Games begin, the killing begins immediately as everyone fights for supplies, food, and water. As days go on and if there haven't been any killings and if things are getting "boring," the Gamemakers will do something that will drive the tributes out into the open and force them together. These kids are treated as puppets, as pawns in a game, and are at the will of the Gamemakers, the Capital, to make the Games as entertaining as possible. In the Hunger Games, entertainment equals killings and, in this particular game, a partially fabricated love story. Morals don't exist and, if they do, they go flying out the window as the only focus becomes survival at any cost.

However, there are two characters named Katniss and Peeta who are determined to defy the system. They choose to do good. They do kill some of the tributes but they help others, look out for each other, and subtly show their defiance for what they are being forced to do. They are not blood thirsty killers and the readers are made to feel angry and sorry for them. Even at the end when it was just Katniss, Peeta, and Cato left, I found myself rooting for Katniss and Peeta, anxiously waiting for Cato to be killed. I caught myself and was slightly horrified at the thought. Sure, Cato was painted in a negative light as he was one of the strongest of the tributes who had been trained for the Games. And who doesn't love to see the underdogs win? But Cato was just like Katniss and Peeta in the sense that he was unjustly thrown into these Games too and was just as much at the mercy of the Capitol. They were all simply fighting to survive. I brought myself back to neutral ground and finished the book with mixed feelings. What makes Katniss and Peeta better than the other twenty-two tributes? They chose good over evil. They chose love. That is a popular message, one we have heard over and over and over.

Here's my problem with this though and here is the climax of disturbance for me: in this world of The Hunger Games there is no God. With no God, there is no basis for good and there is no eternal hope. In the world of The Hunger Games goodness and hope are found within people and that can only go so far. Ultimately, there is no Good (with a capital "G") and there is definitely no lasting hope. That is the height of disturbance. Why? Because the "good" choices these kids made don't matter. Salvation can't be found in doing good. There is no point in doing good if there is no perfect God to determine what is good and to hold people accountable for their actions. This renders the good Katniss and Peeta chose to do as absolutely pointless and without basis. There is no eternal significance, no holy standard. It is simply human goodness tainted by sin. There is no hope in that. This is the climax of disturbance in The Hunger Games.

I am not saying that reading the book or watching the movie and enjoying it is wrong or sinful. If you liked The Hunger Games and you're a fan please don't read this as condemnation. It is an intriguing story and one that many people would be attracted to. It's human nature to be drawn to violent things and to want the "good" guys to win. In that aspect, The Hunger Games is a typical "good vs. evil" story and the response it has received is a very typical response. I'm not your typical person, however, and I had to take it a bit further than most people would.

My conclusion is this: I'm not jumping on this bandwagon. I most likely won't finish the series and I have no plans to see the movie. I simply don't care enough. It is definitely an interesting story, I won't deny that, but I don't see the point. The fact that it's all depending on human goodness without the sovereignty of a perfect, one true God is quite pointless and has no benefit so I see no need to continue reading. This is a personal choice and, ironically, there is no right or wrong answer. If you enjoy it, then by all means, enjoy! It's just not for me.


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By the way, if you want to read incredible writing with genius storytelling of intense action, violence, good vs evil, and eternal hope, pick up a Ted Dekker book! I promise you that it will be far better than The Hunger Games.