December 30, 2013 · 07:00
Yes, this is a confession. Yesterday I spent the entire day reading The Hunger Games. I recently watched both the first and second movies. I hated the first one. Hated it. The second one…got my attention.
The premise of the books is that war occurred across the US and the result was 13 (well 12 as number 13 is just ruins) districts that work to support the capital. Each district has a specific task. The citizens of the districts live in abject poverty and total fear of the government which rules with an iron fist.
Each year the “Hunger Games” are held. A male and female teenager from each district is taken from home, groomed, and then placed in an arena to fight to the death. The several weeks-log “Hunger Games” are filmed and all of the citizens are forced to watch each horrible moment. The surviving “tribute” becomes a hero.
The government forces the districts to participate in this hellish activity to remind them to never rebel.
The books begin 74 years into this “tradition.”
That fact alone makes me sick.
I know, I know – this is fiction.
But somehow the people in these books have become convinced that sacrificing children to an abusive government is better than dying to stop the horror. Better to keep some form of job. Better to keep some form of food on the table.
Maybe they justify their passivity by telling themselves that it won’t be their child that has to die.
In what world is that justification okay??
In a world where we expect the government to provide our basic needs – like food, housing, and ahem health insurance. In a world where we’ve stopped believing that people have value – simply because they are people. In a world where we are so selfish about what we “need,” that we don’t see the hurts of the people around us.
Maybe the horrible plight of those in The Hunger Games isn’t too far fetched after all….
Source:
http://swalkerparamedicranger.wordpress.com/2013/12/30/i-read-the-hunger-games/