I read the Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins a few years back as an adult. I saw many parallels to our society and to the way we treat the planet and creatures on it. I still can not get rid of the thoughts and images the plot brought me. So finally I decided to write it down and ask what you think of it.

The Hunger Games

You probably heard about the Hunger Games. If not here is a short summery:

In a dystopian future, the totalitarian nation of Panem is divided into 12 districts and the Capitol. Each year two young representatives from each district are selected by lottery to participate in The Hunger Games. Part entertainment, part brutal retribution for a past rebellion, the televised games are broadcast throughout Panem. The 24 participants are forced to eliminate their competitors while the citizens of Panem are required to watch. When 16-year-old Katniss' young sister, Prim, is selected as District 12's female representative, Katniss volunteers to take her place. She and her male counterpart, Peeta, are pitted against bigger, stronger representatives, some of whom have trained for this their whole lives. - Written by Suzanne Collins

A world of extreme contrasts

The Hunger Games trilogy consits of: The Hunger Games (2008), Catching Fire (2009) and Mockingjay (2010). The novels have all been developed into films, with the film adaptation of Mockingjay split into two parts. In every part you can see the contrast between the 12 districts and the Capitol. You learn that people in the districts hardly have enough to eat and the the people in the Capitol are relly to bored to be bothered.

When I was reading the trilogy I was shocked by a particular part. In Chapter 6 the heros Katniss and Peeta visit a feast, the victory dinner, in the Capital. They find themselves in a rich environment with bright colors, important people and beautiful dresses.

But the real star of the evening is the food. Tables laden with delicacies line the walls. Everything you can think of, and things you have never dreamed of, lie in wait. Whole roasted cows and pigs and goats still turning on spits. Huge platters of fowl stuffed with savory fruits and nuts. Ocean creatures drizzled in sauces or begging to be dipped in spicy concoctions. Countless cheeses, breads, vegetables, sweets, waterfalls of wine, and streams of spirits that flicker with flames.

Everybody enjoys the food very much. Nobody seems to be bothered by the huch amounts. Katniss and Peeta eat until they are full. When people see them stopping they lead them over to a table that holds tiny stemmed wineglasses filled with clear liquid. Peeta picks one up to take a sip and they lose it. He shall only drink it in the batroom.

“You have to do it in there,” says Venia, pointing to doors that lead to the toilets. “Or you’ll get it all over the floor!” Peeta looks at the glass again and puts it together. “You mean this will make me puke?”

So in this distopia people eat as much as they can and puke to eat more after that.

How we play the Hunger Games

You might be wondering about the title of this post. Right, we don´t sent children away to kill each other on tv for our pure entertainment. We don´t hold feasts where we puke in order to eat more of delicious food. But in many ways we do similar things.

The number of Child Soldiers is rising

Ok. So we don´t sent our children away to kill each other. But the waepons that are made in the western world are in the hands of Child Soldiers all over the world. Children kill and are killed in wars about money, drugs and power and the western world does not seem to care that much.

Child Soldiers can be 10 years old and younger. I bet they would agree to be in some kind of Hunger Games.

Tan Son Nhut, Vietnam, 1968. A twelve year old Vietnamese ARVN Airborne trooper who had been "adopted" by the Airborne Division, holding a M-79 grenade launcher. The picture was taken during a sweep of an Airborne Task Force Unit through the devastated area surrounding the French National Cemetery on Plantation Road after a day long battle there. Picture via Wikimedia Commons

A Child Soldier of the en:Sudanese People's Liberation Army (2007) taken in Malual, Northern Bahr el Ghazal. Picture via Wikimedia Commons

Food Waste

More than often you will find allot of food in those low, large, box looking, gray dumpsters. Picture via Wikimedia Commons

Over 100 million tonnes of food are wasted annually in the EU (2014). Many products, such as milk, are lit away to keep the prices at a specific point.

Corn and water are used to feet cattle. The numbers differ. Most sources say it takes 6 pounds of corn and about 7.500 litres of water to make 1 pound of beef. We use resources to produce meat, masses of meat which we can not even fully consume. So we live wastefully for our own convenience.

We don´t really care about the hunger in the world and we built our wealth on the suffering of others. That is how we play the Hunger Games.

Picture for the article: pixabay.com.