Christian book review the hunger games

This is what teen lit adaptation can look like when the subject is respected, when the audience is not being pandered to, and when the source material is a strong story. But most of all, it's the story of a girl and crushed innocence.

Jennifer Lawrence, who plays the lead role of Katniss Everdeen, described Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games trilogy as holding up "a terrible kind of mirror: This is what our society could be like if we became desensitized to trauma and to each other's pain. We see this society through the eyes of Katniss, a year-old girl in Panem, an iron-fisted society that rose from the ashes of North America's collapse.

Long ago, Panem's districts rebelled against its governing Capitol—and have paid dearly for it ever since. As a painful reminder of who they serve—or as President Snow a reserved Donald Sutherland says, a reminder of The Capitols's generosity and forgiveness—two children, called "tributes," from each district are selected each year to participate in the Hunger Games, a fight to the death.

Most tributes are selected by lottery—and the odds of getting chosen increase each time they must borrow food from the government. Some kids, in districts closer to the Capitol, are born and bred as champions.

Having read the books, I had two central questions for the film. The stories are told in Katniss's first-person voice, so we're always aware of her internal dialogue and inner turmoil. She might act one way for the Capitol's ubiquitous cameras, but she thinks another.

From the books, we learn that Katniss is a strong, bright, complex young woman, driven by sacrificial love and responsibility for her family—but she is forced to mature beyond her years by poverty, loss, oppression, and burden.

She experiences true grief, anger, and disgust over how the Capitol manipulates her. Would the film capture what's going on inside her head? The answer is yes, thanks to excellent acting. Katniss's emotions are naturally and beautifully expressed in a twitch, an expression, a tremble, or a subtle inflection.

Lawrence shows the nuance, depth, and professionalism that earned her an Oscar nomination for 's Winter's Bone. That film's character, Ree, is similar to Katniss; both hail from the impoverished American South.

Both are sullen but loving, wounded but tough. Lawrence seems to excel in these roles. My second question was how the film would handle violence committed to children. It's one thing to read it in a book, but another to watch it. In fact, the books communicate an anti-violence message through violence. Collins' editor said that the author brilliantly crafted "a critique of violence using violence to get that across, and that's a fine line. Again, yes, because director Gary Ross seems sensitive to this concern.

He sets a foreboding tone—fear, devastation, heartbreak, and oppression, with glimpses of humanity. But there are no triumphant, crowd-pleasing kills, and few glamorized, movie-neat deaths save for one notable one. They all had interesting backgrounds, and were the type of characters that you could easily misjudge at first. I really enjoy it when I make an assumption about a character but then find out I was wrong. Despite enjoying the love triangle element of the book, there was part of me that found it a bit uncomfortable.

But it kept the suspense and interest, so I enjoyed it as well. Repeating the Hunger Games also felt a little bit repetitive. I still enjoyed reading this part of the book. It just felt slightly repetitive to go back into the arena so soon after the first book. I feel like there maybe could have been something a bit more different done.

And it ends on an exciting note as well, which sets it up perfectly for the third and final book in the series. Your email address will not be published. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. The first question is whether the violence is appropriate or simply gruesome for effect.

Both Collins the author and those responsible for the movie do a remarkable job of actually restraining the emphasis on the violence. This does not mean that the books and movie are appropriate for all ages—quite to the contrary. But in discussing this concept with your own children you can point out the fact that there are times in human history when people have had to stand up and fight for what they believe in.

Later we will discuss the ideals of the Founding Fathers of our nation and their decision to throw off an oppressive government agreeing to pledge their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor. Unlike previous generations, this generation is not as familiar with the cost of freedom born by those who give their lives in service to our nation. The Hunger Games reminds us that there are some things that are worth fighting for—and even dying for — meaning there will be a certain level of violence along the way.

Freedom is a fragile thing and is never more than one generation away from extinction. It is not ours by inheritance; it must be fought for and defended constantly by each generation, for it comes only once to a people. Those who have known freedom, and then lost it, have never known it again.

Is lying wrong? Is lying always wrong? Would you be willing to lie to protect the life of another person? Would you be willing to lie to save your own life? Obviously Katniss finds herself faced with these fascinating ethical dilemmas and she has choices to make. Whether she is inside the arena fighting for her life or leading a rebellion against President Snow and the oppressive government, Katniss is often faced with the choice of either having to lie or someone including herself having to pay the ultimate price of their lives!

Is killing wrong? Is killing another person always wrong? Would you be able to kill another person to save the life of someone you loved? Would you be able to take the life of another person to save your own life? Again Katniss finds herself faced with these difficult situations. At the end of The Hunger Games , Katniss and Peeta decide that they would rather die than kill one another—and although Katniss hopes that those in control would rather have two victors than none, the reality is that both Katniss and Peeta take the poisonous berries with the intent of killing themselves.

Katniss struggles with this dilemma when she makes an alliance with Rue and when she remembers that Thresh let her live when he could have killed her. Why is it so difficult for Katniss to take the life of another while others in the arena appear to be so cavalier and nonchalant about it?

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There, she finds a young tribute named Rue, who reminds her of her sister. They drop a nest of mutated yellow jackets on their opponents and escape. Their alliance and friendship are short-lived. Another boy kills Rue with a spear a few days later. When only one contestant besides Katniss and Peeta remains, the Gamemakers release a pack of vicious dog-like creatures.

The beasts slowly maul the other boy to death. Only one contestant can win, meaning the District 12 tributes must fight each other to the death. Peeta and Katniss threaten to eat poisonous berries simultaneously. The Gamemakers, knowing a double suicide will be an unsatisfying conclusion for the audience, quickly uphold their earlier ruling.

Though both teens are allowed to return to home, Haymitch tells Katniss that the Capitol is furious with their attempt to throw the Games. So even as she rides the train to District 12, Katniss senses she is anything but safe. She recalls his beautiful singing. Though Mother eventually improves, she is never the same nor does she reclaim the roles of parent or provider. Known throughout the nation for his embarrassing alcohol-induced TV appearances, he sobers up some to help them form a strategy.

He sends them gifts on the battlefield when they follow his orders. The dictatorial leaders of the Capitol, as well as its self-absorbed citizens, dress strangely and eat lavishly. A few times, Katniss mentions having good luck. Rue carries a good luck charm. Katniss says the woods where she hunts have been the savior of her and her family. Before becoming a tribute, Katniss devoted her Sundays to hunting and trading with Gale.

The word h— appears once.