Desire wrongly shaped may result in a person wrongly aimed. A person wrongly aimed may result in a community poorly constructed. A community poorly constructed may result in a culture badly disfigured. A culture badly disfigured may result in a world marred beyond recognition, dripping with the blood of its youngest - sacrificed on the altars of greed and selfishness. All this a consequence of Desire wrongly shaped. This is at the heart of the lesson the Hunger Games Trilogy teaches and the warning it reveals!
You will not find this lesson in the film version of the first installment of this trilogy. Yes, the movie version has been toned down to appeal to a wider audience. As such, it has lost it's ability to reveal and warn. Indeed, the movie falls into the tireless category of the modern day head strong heroine fighting against the odds for the salvation of us all. Therefore, it is important to read this musing as a reflection on the Trilogy itself (which I read and thoroughly enjoyed (despite its gratuitous violence) - primarily due to its cultural commentary).
Allow me a moment to capture my impression of the trilogy to set the stage for my comments. The Trilogy opens with at story of fear based upon the nightmares of a family - the Everdeen's - which turn out to be more real during the waking than the sleeping hours. We find ourselves lodged in a world that has been subdued through centuries of violence and and life demeaning abuse of authority and power. The penultimate example of this is the reaping - the annual 'offering to the capital' that simultaneously reminds the citizen's of their own weakness while providing for the only shred of hope they have - a victor's return with a year of the spoils.
The 'Capital' is the fullest expression of a community with misdirected desires. Over time, the Capital (District 1 in the Trilogy), has become obsessed with self absorption and self preservation. Their insatiable desire toward themselves has lead them to victimize every citizen of the land - most particularly those in District 1 - who, ironically enough, receive the most benefit of the Capital's excess. In fact, inspite of the benefit of both proximity and pedigree, District 1 inhabitants are pictured as nearly human, almost functioning citizen's whose elaborate way of life and eccentricities are noticed by everyone but themselves.
The other Districts (2 - 12) are also victimized in different, but no less significant ways. Ultimately (as is always the case) the greatest victim of them all is the children. Any culture, during any time, that turns inward on itself and bases its moral compass on its own 'self direction' (which is mis-direction) will always victimize and sacrifice its youngest and weakest. I have observed the following three ways I believe the Hunger Games Trilogy reveals a culture's mis shaped desires (i.e., desire shaped back toward oneself) lead to the sacrifice its youngest and weakest. As you read them, ask yourself - do we experience some of this today?
Deprivation
By this I mean that those who are the youngest and weakest amongst us are deprived of the basic essentials that help form a flourishing and fully human life. In the Trilogy this exists everywhere, save the Capital, District 1. While everyone experiences this deprivation, we feel its pain through the story the children tell in the voices of Katniss, Peeta, Prim, Rue, and Cato most notably.
Detachment
By this I mean that those who are the youngest and weakest amongst us are detached from significant personal and communal relationships that help form a flourishing and fully human life. In the Trilogy we note this at the turn of every page. Trust is a commodity not afforded the children. They are in every conceivable way detached from one another, adults, the authorities, themselves. The only semblance of attachment is found in Gale and Katniss's relationship which is discovered in those moments when they manage to escape the Capital's 'ever seeing eye.' It is a culture marked by mistrust, broken relationships, deception. Its result is a life lived without dignity and without hope.
Desperation
By this I mean that those who are the youngest and weakest amongst us are left without the hope of the righteousness and justice that help form a flourishing and fully human life. Therefore, they are encouraged to act desperately, particularly if such action is the only means of survival available to them. Katniss acts in desperation to save her younger sister, Prim, from being 'reaped.' Gale acts in desperation to save his district (book 2). Peeta acts in desperation to feed Katniss. There is no sense of righteousness or justice to be achieved or even hoped. No. One must take matters into one's own hands and behavior must be justified by the ends it achieves.
The question this Trilogy has forced me to ask myself is this: 'Toward what (or whom) are my desires aimed and where might that take me?' Indeed, where might that take us all?
the shape of desire
Biz
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