Have you been caught up in the hype about the Hunger games trilogy? You should be. The series is a well written, disturbing saga of the dystopian world of Panem, whose totalitarian Capital controls it’s twelve districts with harsh and cruel practices. The major device is the annual Hunger Games for which each district sends a male and female tribute to fight to the death. In return for participating in the games, food and other supplies are made available to the districts.
The disturbing heart of the saga brings you to face the cost of survival. What are you willing to do to secure survival for yourself, for your family unit, individual family members and other human beings. Suzanne Collins’ characters face this question on every page of the three novels. Her flawed characters don’t always make the decision you want. The pace is so fast for both the characters and you the reader that bad choices are bound to happen.
The trilogy is a painful illustration of Lord Acton’s quote, “Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely.” This concept of absolute corruption drives Collins’ plot, keeping the reader thinking, it can’t get any worse than this, only to find it does. It makes the books hard to put down and opens the door for sleepless nights.
History shows dictators always forget how strong the will to survive is in humans. It can be harnessed for a time, but it will break through eventually. And even in the most tightly controlled regimes there are cracks that can be exploited.
Although the saga comes to a true conclusion, it didn’t bring me peace. The Hunger Games trilogy is a beautiful and ugly depiction of the human spirit. It’s not for the faint at heart.
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