Review: 4 stars
Reading ‘The Hunger Games’ made me realize that there are actually two kinds of heroes in any story: Rebels and Survivors. Often, rebels are perceived to be better because they refuse to accept the status quo, have a greater sense of what’s right and wrong, and they just cannot stand the oppressive reality of their world – this makes them look more heroic. Whether it be John Galt, Jack Sparrow or Tris Prior – we get a kick when these characters reject the conventional reality and stand up for what they believe to be right. And given the fact that all teens rebel – against their parents, society, school, as they try to frame their own version of reality and set of beliefs, most YAs have protagonists who possess a rebellious spirit.
But rebels cause chaos. They cause a deep distortion in space-time. And normal, oppressed people who care for the wild, rebellious child of nature who is the protagonist of the story, tend to get hurt and sometimes end up dead. Rebels are irresponsible and to a certain extent, selfish. And I won’t say being selfish is wrong (after all, I was born and brought up in a mixed economy, and was tempered in a hot frothy broth of Ayn Rand’s capitalism), but the kind that gets other people in harm’s way, kind of selfish – is wrong. After such minor characters like your parents or your brother or your mentor end up dead because of your rebellious spirit, there is always this smart-ass who consoles you, “This isn’t your fault. They made their own decisions. Don’t beat yourself up for their deaths, etc. etc. etc.” You get the drill. And such a self-absorbed rebel ends up getting more people killed in the name of the greater cause. The protagonist stakes everyone’s life in an all-or-nothing kind of gambit. For some it is awe-inspiring, for me – extremely foolish!
And that is exactly the reason why I love Katniss Everdeen. She isn’t a rebel, she is a survivor. The kind of hero who realizes that there are consequences for any action, the kind of hero who is extremely protective about her family, the kind of hero who believes it is better to suck it up even when she doesn’t like it because somebody is counting on her to put dinner on the table that night. She isn’t a romantic, she is extremely practical. She takes total responsibility for the choices she makes. She doesn’t whine, she doesn’t complain, she attempts to make the best out of any situation. She keeps her eyes open and head down. And hunts when the opportunity presents itself! If you push a survivor to rebel, she is going to end up a much better and a responsible hero than an eternal-rebel.
A survivor doesn’t trust kindness. And when they encounter truly kind acts, it befuddles them – they don’t like being in debt of anyone, even if the debt consists of a single loaf of bread. They are the ultimate free-spirits who believe that they are more than capable of eking out an existence in any miserable circumstances that life throws at them. For them, rebellion spells danger. They would take calculated risks, but they would do nothing that would put their loved ones’ lives in danger – not for themselves, not for any elusive moral ideal. It seems more real.
I love ‘The Hunger Games’ solely because I love Katniss Everdeen. Not for the plot, not for the world-building, not for any other character and certainly not for the kind of romantic love the book tries to dish up between the two central characters (it is childish).
Do not judge this book by the movie that was made. It is much better. Though I am not quite sure whether I would like to read the sequels!
Alienman 