The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins

Collins, Suzanne. The Hunger Games. Scholastic. 2008. 978-0-439-02348-1

Hunger Games is a story about survival. No matter how far Katniss is pushed, she can’t let go of that basic instinct to stay alive. I love watching a character that not only perseveres, but even while she openly struggles emotionally at times when the odds seem impossibly stacked against her, but refuses to give up that last bit of hope. Sometimes she seemed motivated by self-preservation and at other times she was working to protect others, but through it all her actions always seemed to have a purpose when anything important was at stake. She demonstrates almost every normal human weakness throughout the book series, but still manages to come out seeming almost super-human!

I’m not generally a fan of reality television shows, but I think this series feeds off of our national obsession with them while simultaneously ridiculing that same audience for gaining pleasure from watching others struggle against each other. Survivor episodes seem pretty simplistic when you consider how they would be different if there were weapons involved. All of the same deception, betrayal, fleeting loyalties, and interpersonal drama would still be there, but it only seems to be acceptable if you limit the ambushes and competitions to passive-aggressive actions, dirty politics, and indirect demonstrations of power, intelligence, and strength. It’s not hard to see how thin that line is between what we subject people to currently, and the games in the book. I wonder if people wouldn’t willingly volunteer (like the careers in the book) if the game was not required as punishment for an ancient rebellion. The prize would have to be significant, but I wonder how close the format could remain before people would be willing to risk everything for the reward and glory that comes with winning The Hunger Games?

Would the game be the same without the unwilling participants being thrust into the mix? How far could the Gamemakers go with their twists to influence the audience’s interest level and build toward a semblance of plot and storyline? Who would be willing to risk their lives to enter in a savage and dangerous arena to fight to the last true survivor is crowned? Or more likely, how much would it take? And which network would be brazen enough to offer it?