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Books like this make me wish I had established some type of rubric for assigning a quantitative representation of my feelings about a book. But alas, I have no such rubric, at least not yet anyway.
But when I say, ‘books like this,’ what I mean is well-written, engaging, emotion charged, socially conscious novels that keep me reading and make me think at the same time. If the next two books in the trilogy are anywhere near as good as this one, this series will be up there with the Harry Potter books, C. S. Lewis’ Space Trilogy and (so far) Andrew Peterson’s Wingfeather Saga. All of these series are, it seems, are written for children. But, in spite of my not being totally what they intended demographically, I am really excited about this novel and the series it begins.
Hunger Games is told from the perspective a sixteen year-old girl who lives in what used to be North America, but is now known as Panema. The country of Pnema consists of twelve districts encircling the capital city, aptly called the Capitol. All of these districts exist in subservience to the Capitol. The children of Panema, we’re told, are taught that at one point Panema was the Capitol and thirteen districts that lived in supposed harmony, until the districts rebelled. As a consequence district thirteen was destroyed and a new set of policies were put in place to ensure that the remaining twelve never attempted something like that again. First of all, there is no travel permitted between the districts. Second, each district exists to supply the rest of Panema (read, the Capitol) with a specific resource or a specific type of resource. Third, food and other resources are made very scarce outside of the Capitol. And fourth, every year a lottery is held in which every child over the age of twelve must be entered at least once for every year of eligibility. Any entry made over the required number results in additional food for the child entering. The result of the lottery is participation in the Hunger Games, a modern version of the gladiatorial games of ancient Rome.
So, two children from each district (known as tributes) enter the arena where they must fight to the death until one of them is victorious over the other twenty-three. The point of these games seems twofold: first, it appears that the Capitol wants to foment enmity between the districts and second to atone for the sins of their forebears who attempted to overthrow the Capitol, hence the title tribute.
The references to ancient Rome are pretty obvious. In addition to the imitation of the gladiatorial games of ancient Rome is the constant use of Roman names for characters in the Capitol, but the most intriguing thing that Suzanne Collins has included in her novel that mirrors ancient Rome is the imperialistic use of resources as a tool of power. The Romans, much like the leaders in the Capitol in Panema, utilized resources taken from subject peoples to fuel an economic system that furthers the subjugation of those people. But why would Collins reference the negative side of Roman imperialism in a novel for children? Could there be some contemporary entity, or entities that deserves the negative characterization that Collins paints here? It appears that the intent of this novel is to expose children to specifics of the conditions of poverty. Broadly speaking, this novels paints the picture of mismanaged resources that pass by the people who are responsible for anyone’s access to those resources. It personalized poverty and yet exposes the system that has caused it, and endears to the readers someone who is being established as a rebel to this system.
At any rate, the district focused on in this novel is district twelve. The young girl narrating the story is Katniss Everdeen. She volunteers to take her twelve-year-old sister Prim, who was chosen in the lottery. In spite of Katniss’ being the provider for her family, she must go to the Capitol in her sister’s place because the risk of Prim’s dying there is far greater and far worse than not knowing what will happen if Prim has to live without Katniss providing. So Katniss goes to the Capitol to face tributes that, for the most part, come from districts where the tributes are better fed and formally trained to fight in the Hunger Games. There is an unbelievable amount of action in this novel, but it has the feel of just being a precursor to the bigger things to come in future novels.
I’m not sure if the author’s intention was to write three novels that follow this story arc, or if the publisher encouraged Collins to split up a larger story. Either way, if the first novel is any indication of the caliber of the two to follow, this series will be an exciting foray into subverting power.
Grace and Peace,
Jared
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