Redemption in The Hunger Games?

I’m reading James Scott Bell’s The Art of War for Writers again (excellent book) and flipped open to page 104 today: “The writer who understands redemption is on the border of enduring fiction.”

I read this three days after seeing The Hunger Games, a movie that disturbed me greatly—and, truth be told, still does.

I think I’m beginning to understand why the movie so bothers me: No redemption—or is there?

Literary redemption

Redemption Scene from The Shawshank Redemption

I have not read the books. I saw the movie with my wife, a children’s librarian, because I thought it would be an interesting experiment—a movie buff who hasn’t read the book watching the movie with a reader who generally doesn’t appreciate movies. Plus, it was at the bargain theatre.

From Bell’s book: “Flannery O’Connor talked about the need for a story to show ‘grace being offered.’ …  Redemption is bound up in choice. The right choice brings about redemption because the wrong choice will leave the character in a worse moral condition.”

First of all, what do I mean by redemption?

Redemption: The action of saving or being saved from sin, error, or evil.

This includes, but is not limited to, the traditional Christian understanding of redemption: Where Jesus Christ laid down his life to save humans from their sins, and the price of those sins, eternal separation from God.

Lies and more lies

If you haven’t seen the movie or read the book—and you want to—you may want to stop reading.

Katniss and Peeta considering suicide

At the climactic moment, after being lied to by the games’ organizers that both could survive, Katniss (the book’s main character) and Peeta, a young man from her District and also a participant in the game, are faced with a horrific choice: one of them must kill the other to survive and win the game or they both must kill themselves, choosing to go out on their own terms.

There is no redemption—no way to save or be saved from sin, error, or evil. In fact, what Katniss’ gambit (pretending to be star-crossed lovers willing to commit suicide) does is force the game’s organizers (who are clearly evil) to offer a faux redemption and reinstate the rule change that two participants from the same District could win together. There will be repercussions for all involved.

But wait

Earlier in the movie, after finding Peeta injured and dying, and after hearing the lie that there could be two winners if they were from the same District, Katniss risks coming out into the open to retrieve the medicine Peeta needs to survive.

And even earlier, Peeta, seeing Katniss nearly starving to death and being in love with her, contrives a way to get a loaf of bread to her that saves her life. Self-sacrifice! There is redemption, then.

But Katniss doesn’t really love Peeta the way he loves her. She has another young man back in District 12 she’s in love with. But she knows the “star-crossed lovers battling against insurmountable odds to survive” is a powerful myth that will resonate with the television audience watching the game.

So her love is “ends justifies means” love—she will love Peeta if it means they have a better chance at survival.

What does it all mean?

The phrase the end justifies the means refers to the morality of an action and is based solely on the outcome of that action and not on the action itself. Example: Telling a lie that has no negative effect on anyone, and saves someone grief, is good.

But there can be no redemption in a lie. “O how terrible for those who confuse good with evil, right with wrong, light with dark, sweet with bitter.” Isaiah 5:20 (The Voice)

Think about that quote from Bell again: “Redemption is bound up in choice. The right choice brings about redemption because the wrong choice will leave the character in a worse moral condition.”

At the end of the story, all of the characters are in a worse situation than they were before—alive, but morally compromised. I walked out of the theatre, dejected and oppressed rather than encouraged and freed.

At the end of the Harry Potter movies, even the darker ones, good triumphed—often at cost, but it triumphed. That does not happen here.

What do you think? Have I missed something essential by having not read the books?

Michael Ehret loves to play with words and as editor of the ACFW Journal, he is enjoying his playground. He also plays with words as a freelance editor/writer at WritingOnTheFineLine.com, where each Tuesday he takes a writer Into The Edit, pulling back the veil on the editing process. He has edited several nonfiction books, played with words as a corporate communicator, and reported for The Indianapolis Star.

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The Hunger Games Movie--A Review

I read the NYT best-selling trilogy, The Hunger Games, with my teenage son. As far as stories go, it was, page one to the last, full of action, love, and moral questioning. It gave my son and I many opportunities to discuss what God would have us do if, heaven forbid, we ever found ourselves in similar circumstances. When the movie was released, we couldn’t wait to share the story with my 10 year-old son, who couldn’t get into the books.

If you’re one of ten people in North America who haven’t read the books, or seen the movie, here’s the premise: “In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV. Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she is forced to represent her district in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before-and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that weigh survival against humanity and life against love. Acclaimed writer Suzanne Collins, author of the New York Times bestselling The Underland Chronicles, delivers equal parts suspense and philosophy, adventure and romance, in this searing novel set in a future with unsettling parallels to our present.”

The movie took some liberties, as most, if not all, movies do. The most obvious is the playing down of much of the brutal violence contained in the books. If they didn't, the movie would have earned them a rating of R instead of PG13 and would have alienated much of the core readership audience.  Woody Harrelson was a shocking choice as Haymitch. I don’t recall the exact descriptions Collins used for the character in the books, but I saw him in my mind as a short, balding, frumpy sort of man. Harrelson turned out to be great in the part. I thought the casting throughout was perfect. My favorite surprise was Lenny Kravitz as stylist, Cinna.

The biggest liberty, I thought, was how Katniss came to wear the mockingjay pin, but honestly, it wasn’t a big thing to me. All in all, I think they did a fine job with the movie and I look forward to the sequel.

The best part of the movies and the books, for me, wasn’t the action or love triangle, it was the moral questions that arose. I love movies and books that make me think and Hunger Games gave much to think about. In many ways, America, and other wealthy nations, can represent “The Capital”. It’s easy to see the rest of the world looking at us this way. We are fat, happy, spending money on changing our eye color with contacts while third world countries have millions who are starving. Is it okay to take care of our own wants while others needs aren’t being met? I like asking myself this question. I like having to think about weighty matters that as a Christian, I ought to be thinking about. I especially like knowing my children are thinking about such things. I don’t want to raise children who stick their fingers in their ears and pretend their problems are the only ones in the world that matter.

My ten year old son said after the movie ended, “That was really sick. If my name was drawn, I wouldn’t kill anyone. I might run and hide, but I don’t think God would want me to kill other kids just because they were unlucky enough to have their name drawn.”

He looked to me to agree, which I did. “Some things are worth dying for,” I said. “And at the end of our lives, it’s not the government that we stand before, it’s God. What would He have you do?”

My two sons and I walked home from the theatre in silence as each of us considered that question. That contemplation alone earned two thumbs up from this Christian mom.

Gina Holmes is the founder of  Novel Rocket. Her debut, Crossing Oceans, was a Christy and Gold Medallion finalist and winner of the Carol Award, INSPY, and RWA’s Inspirational Reader’s Choice.  Dry as Rain, released in 2011. She holds degrees in science and nursing and resides with her family in southern Virginia. She works too hard, laughs too loud, and longs to see others heal from their past and discover their God-given purpose. To learn more about her, visit www.ginaholmes.com.

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News That's 10 Years in the Making!

We are so pleased to announce that our friend and critique partner, Jessica Dotta, has signed her historical trilogy with Tyndale House Publishers!

Having read it, I can honestly say, it's one of my all time favorites. I can't speak highly enough of this Austin meets Bronte epic. Estimated release mid-2013.

CONGRATULATIONS Jessica!!!

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