As the people of Panem starve to death and watch their
children forced to kill each other, we meet Katniss, the main character. She
has sworn to herself from an early age that she will never have children, so
that they will not be forced to participate in these lethal games. This comes
up again and again throughout the book, illustrating how tragic a world these
characters inhabit. A world where people fear to have children must be a gravely
wrong world. In our country today, how many people also go to such lengths not
to have children, though most of our lives are substantially better than those
of the people in the book? What are we afraid of? Loss of personal “liberty” to
do what we want? Responsibility? Lower living standards in the future? I am not
saying that everybody must have ten kids. But a thought came to me while
reading these books, probably one of those old thoughts that everyone hears a
million times but must ultimately figure out for themselves. Children are hope.
A world full of children is a world full of hope. To love a child is to trust that the world will go on and that the future
will hold good things for that child. In many circumstances on this planet, the
only reason for anyone to have such hope and trust is God. Take him out of the
picture and the future seems a lot more depressing.
Another theme in this book is that of love and solidarity as
resistance to evil. When Katniss finds herself in the arena with a slain
twelve-year old girl, she stays by her side, singing and surrounding her with flowers.
This gesture of love shows that the two have not succumbed completely to the evil
dog-eat-dog “game”. The people of the young girl’s home district send Katniss a
gift of bread in thanks for this act; it is the first time a district has given
a gift to a tribute from another district. Normally the districts are not even
allowed to communicate with each other—the growing solidarity is frowned upon
by the controlling government. Divide the people, turn them each against the
other, is part of the evil strategy. As the districts begin to interact more, a
rebellion slowly begins to rise against the tyrannical system. Even though this
was never Katniss’s intention. But love cannot help making evil its enemy, or else
it is not love. In the end, though the revolution ends up bringing about a time
of peace, the book makes painfully clear what the war has cost, as well as the
danger of living on anger, no matter how justified it may be/seem. This is
shown heartbreakingly (for me) in the character of Gale, Katniss’s best friend
for most of the books, who helps win the war by thinking like the enemy, but
goes too far, inventing a cruel weapon that is ultimately used against those he
loves. Opinions may vary, but I find him quite tragic in the end.
I won’t spoil the story by saying more, but, as much as love
can be seen as a “liability” in these books, it is the only real weapon against evil, and the only thing that makes
life truly livable in the end.