Pages

Thursday, February 23, 2012

The Horror of The Hunger Games

I must confess, I did read The Hunger Games.  Not because I wanted to mind you, but because my 16 year old son is enthralled with it, as well as a teen cousin of his.  Or maybe entranced.  And that concerned me, especially since my son is not a big reader.

So, I sat down one night and read the whole book.  And I was shocked at what was in The Hunger Games.  I had thought it would be part fantasy, part science fiction, but I was wrong.  It is pure horror written for kids.  Stephen King for the young, if you must.  

The violence was shocking and horrible.  And so unfeeling.  That stunned me.  And where were the "good guys" ?  I couldn't find them.  The whole tone of the book was hopeless, disturbing and thought-provoking in a bad way.  And, in a way, almost hypnotic.  As my 19 year old daughter said, she hated the book, yet wanted to keep reading, and that fact bothered her as well as me.

The book is about the future where the government, in retaliation for an uprising, selects children from 12 and up through a lottery.  These chosen children are then placed together in a designated area where they are to eliminate all the other children in any way necessary.  The last child alive is the winner and their family is compensated with food and supplies.  And, by the way, this whole scenario is watched live by the nation on a reality TV show.

Why are we allowing our children to read The Hunger Games especially as Christian homeschooling parents?  There is no redemption, no love, no faith in these books at all.  They are the opposite of what we are trying to instill in our children.  

Isn't anyone else concerned about the way The Hunger Games has become an obsession with children and teens?  I beg you to read one of them so you at least know what your children are being exposed to.  It will be an eye-opening experience for you. 

Please let me know how you feel about this issue and leave a comment as I feel very alone in my thoughts on The Hunger Games.

2 comments:

  1. I'm with you 100%. I didn't even bother to finish the book, I just skimmed to the end. A disturbing piece of writing. And yet, it is being pushed onto the world, and now is a film. This makes me think "Twilight" and "Harry Potter" are great. There is a good guy and a bad guy in these, a very obvious good guy in HP and not so obvious in T. But there, nonetheless.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I have not read the book but it sounds disturbing.

    Hi! Stopping by from MBC. Great blog!
    Have a nice day!

    ReplyDelete

Please feel free to comment on my blog. I love to have input into how my readers feel about my thoughts and perhaps topics they might like me to explore.