Academic: Morality in "The Hunger Games" and "The Road"

Haley Floyd

Abigail Barker

LIT-322

12 August 2019

Morality in The Hunger Games and The Road

Morality is an idea often debated for its ever changing views as it travels from person to person. Morality can be regarded as “the system people use, often unconsciously, when they are trying to make a morally acceptable choice among several alternative actions or when they make moral judgments about their own actions or those of others,” (Gert). In both the novels The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and The Road by Cormac McCarthy, the protagonists are forced to question their very nature as they reflect on their morality when confronted with desperate situations and whether they can maintain their compassion in worlds where brutality is the way of life. Through depictions of symbolism, Collins and McCarthy enable their readers to reflect on the protagonists’ actions and on the similar aspects in which contemporary society chooses to look upon morals with the relatability of such factors contributing to the popularity of the books.

In the world in which The Hunger Games takes place, the fine lines between artificiality and reality blend the concept of morality for a great many of the characters. Danielle Russell points out that “for the citizens of the Capitol, the games are riveting entertainment; for those in the districts, they are psychological warfare and an incessant form of terrorism.” (Russell) Such forms of entertainment bend the ideas of morality, abstract in the realm of the Hunger Games. It is for this reason that Katniss becomes a symbol of hope in these games, rebelling against the ideas and principals in her attempt to not simply survive, but maintain her morality. It is important to understand the “The imperative theory regards moral judgments as a special kind of command and points to the fact that moral judgments are primarily used to tell people what to do or, more frequently, what not to do,” as Gert asserts. This, as a whole, changes directive from person to person and from situation to situation. In such a Case as the Hunger Games, morality itself plays by rules of acknowledging what is good and bad in this world. Despite her sacrifice to save her sister, Katniss soon found herself somewhat lost to the elements of the “games” around her. Even showing emotion is a risk, “When they televise the replay of the reaping’s tonight, everyone will make note of my tears, and I'll be marked as an easy target. A weakling. I will give no one that satisfaction.” (Collins 23). To maintain ones humanity in a situation where such a thing could get one harmed or killed both on and off the field is a dangerous game to play and drives her to question the importance of survival versus morals.

Because of the brutal nature of her situation, it is not always possible for Katniss to maintain her bid for morals, often finding her mind wandering to the slaughter as she questions how exactly she can help herself to survive. One such example is during Katniss’ first encounter with the Avox girl. While thinking about the moment they had encountered one another, a moment in which Katniss chose to let this girl suffer to save herself, she thinks “…I’m ashamed I never tried to help her in the woods. That I let the Capitol kill the boy and mutilate her without lifting a finger. Just like I was watching the Games.” (Collins 85) Collins utilizes this girl as one of the first true pointers towards Katniss’s struggles, symbolizing her fears and regrets and displaying that it was not the first time during which Katniss struggled to maintain a level of humanity as she watched her fellow person suffer. She acknowledges that the principals set about by society affect not just the humanity of those who thrust the issues upon the world, but also that of the world itself, even herself falling victim to it.

Various insecurities and uncertainties about her place are further explored in Katniss’ conversation with Peeta just before the games, where she admits shame for simply considering how she was to survive instead of recalling and considering that which she had needed to sacrifice to get here, considering “….I bite my lip, feeling inferior. While I’ve been ruminating on the availability of trees, Peeta has been struggling with how to maintain his identity. His purity of self.” (Collins 142) Katniss finds reason to question these feelings, yet her question reflects her own loss of self as the preparation for the games progress, attempting to write off her shame as weakness on Peeta’s part and betraying her own character.

While a rarity, compassion does come into play following Katniss’ relationship with Rue. It is here that the true brutal nature of the situation around Katniss is brought to light, about how pointless the slaughter itself is, about how pointless Rue’s death is. Katniss makes a brutal realization as she glazes at Rue’s body, small as a child, “Rue’s death has forced me to confront my own fury against the cruelty, the injustice they inflict upon us…I want to do something, right here, right now, to shame them, to make them accountable… that Rue was more than a piece in their games. And so am I.” (Collins 236-237) These interactions displayed by Collins display through Katniss what it means to lose sight of what matters in humanity and symbolize the struggles she faces internally as she fights between survival of the body and survival of morals. Even though she struggles a great deal in her morals as the games continue on, there are still moments where she is able to maintain and exemplify the idea of moral principles even in the fight for her life.

A common theme discussed in The Road is the symbol of the flame, something the boy speaks of often along with “good guys” and “bad guys” when speaking with his father. Once again, it is important to refer to Gert’s aforementioned “imperative theory regards moral judgments” when considering the thematic experience in this story. When speaking of themselves being the “good guys”, the Boy asks the Man whether they would ever eat people, to which the man assures him they would not because they are the “good guys”, the boy associating the belief with the fact they are “we're carrying the fire,” (McCarthy). This fire symbolizes the metaphorical torch the Man believes they must pass on to the rest of humanity, reminding them of compassion and morals, the boy acting as the messenger to a point. The Boy does indeed carry this message far into the novel, holding it even past when the Man has died, speaking to Veteran,

[Boy]…So are you?

What, carrying the fire?

Yes.

Yeah. We are (McCarthy 283-284)

McCarthy uses this fire to establish the idea of a lingering light in the dark, unable to be totally snuffed out despite the extremes the Man once went to to survive. It is a representation of humanity even in a bleak and unkind world.

Despite his beliefs that he remains morally and ethically superior to “the bad guys” of the world in The Road, the Man has often found himself, at more than one point, stooping much lower than he may acknowledge in order to ensure he and the Boy survive. The Boy is the man’s reason for being, and, in a way, is a symbol of his own morality, his humanity. It is this which the man seeks to protect, even if this means he must defeat his own morality to do so. Desperate measures also display how far the Man was willing to go to protect this morality. Such an example is when the Boy and the Man encounter a thief on the road, intent on stealing their belongings. The man flies into a rage at the idea of losing what belongs to them, aware it is what is keeping them alive, and chooses that, rather than acting on compassion, he must act on desperation

The thief's eyes swung wildly. The boy was crying…

…Take them off. Every goddamned stitch.

Come on. Dont do this.

I'll kill you where you stand.

(McCarthy 256)

There are very varying reactions to this situation between the three characters: the compassion and fear of the boy as he cried, the fear of the thief, who was trying to do what he could to survive, and that of desperation and rage in the man, tying him to the idea of the “bad guys” he was so opposed to, defeating his “good guys” persona. The brutality of the situation is reflected in its extremes when the Boy constantly speaks up about the issue, his compassion and beliefs in morality attempting to reason with his father, whom is determined only to survive at this point “He's so scared, Papa. The man squatted and looked at him. I'm scared, he said. Do you understand? I'm scared” (McCarthy 259) The desperation is reflected heavily in the man’s words as he acknowledges his fears and uncertainties when reflecting on the world around him. However, it is the boy’s words that bring him back into reality as the boy speaks on the truth of their situation “[The Boy] looked up, his wet and grimy face. Yes I am, he said. I am the one.” (McCarthy 259) In this statement, the Boy shows himself to symbolize the morality and compassions the man has lost, being the one to have to hold the concerns of his humanity upon his shoulders as his father attempts to keep them alive without falling too low. To this, the boy “takes solace in the father’s strength but is dis-heartened by his willingness to defy ethics in the interest of survival. In his young mind, what matters most is the “goodness” he has only seen in dreams, in the stories his father has told him, which recall incidents and images of the world before the apocalypse,” (Frye 170). The boy continues later, realizations made of who they were, being far from the good guys, that “…in the stories we're always helping people and we dont help people,” (McCarthy 268) reminding the man of what they have done in the name of survival.

While Katniss and the Man must face the brutality of the world around them to survive, they never completely lose sight of their compassions. While it would be easier for Katniss to slaughter to find her way to safety and security, she would sacrifice her morals in doing so. She is shamed to realize this through Peeta, given her initial case for joining the games. This is why her relationship with Rue, no matter how brief, was so important, symbolizing the retention of her humanity despite. Similarly, the Man finds his own struggles with humanity. The Man speaks of himself as “the good guy”, yet finds himself going against this idea in favor of survival, without acknowledging wrongdoing. His son, however, offers him a way of redemption. His main priority was to protect his son, be it out of fatherly love or a deeper intent meant to bring the world to its knees in order to remind humanity of its own moral compass and compassion. By speaking of “the fire” so frequently, the man shows the Boy and the reader compassions in a cruel world even after the Man had passed on. This fire was the Man’s insurance that not only would his son retain his humanity, but also that his son would pass this compassion on to others as he encountered them, spreading it all like wildfire.

While portrayed in a very drastic light in these two novels in particular, a great deal of the popularity in The Hunger Games and The Road is contributed to by the relation many people feel to the themes portrayed in these stories, much like that of morality. While perhaps not displayed as a life or death situation every day, morality and the choices people make due to it is something people contend with every day. They are forced to make decisions, to make sacrifices or give in to their own desires in order to move on in life. Displayed in a more drastic light, however, readers can find moral pulls from stories such as The Hunger Games and The Road, pulling minor parallels to their own lives in acknowledging the things they have done to help themselves, help others or protect the ones they love

War is something that is endless and rarely finds change in itself. It can have different looks, reasons and concepts, yet the core of war always tends to remain the same. It addresses the brutality of human nature and combines it with a desire to protect and a morbid curiosity to observe. It is for this reason that it is likely the Iraq War was a major contributor to the popularity of the novels The Hunger Games and The Road. Humanity and morality plays a big part in the actions of these stories and does equally so in the actions of war. In the case of the former, the games presented in the Hunger Games reflect that of war games made into modern reality television, something not so far off from that which many of the viewers during the span of the Iraq War themselves were. Is the sacrifice of value worth the win? What about the sacrifice of life? Paul Savoy argues that, in relation to such questions on the way, “What is overlooked by those who believe the benefits of the war outweigh the costs is that killing even one innocent person to benefit others violates the most basic human right--the right to life,” (Savoy). In comparison, The Road is not so blatant in its direct parallels to the Iraq War, but takes relative influence from the events. No direct cause as to the apocalypse in The Road is mentioned, so it may very well be the results of a war torn world. As such, it might possibly find itself reflecting the results of a loss of morality and growth in brutality and need for survival. Even the mention of the Veteran at the end of this story and his own willingness to take the boy in could be seen as a spawn of hope in the face of wars such as the Iraq War, hopes for an end that would still reign in hope from time to time. All of these concepts present a major parallel to each event and offer a possibility as to why the book and its thematic experience with morality in the art of war is so powerful and popular.

The symbolism in The Hunger Games and The Road aims to reflect the thematic experience of humanity through depictions of struggle with morality and, in turn, reflects the impacts of society on similar themes and the popularity that accompanies it as a result. Both authors address the theme in a critical way, yet approach it in separate pathways. Collins shows that Katniss knows the difference between right and wrong, but loses her willingness to care until she realizes what’s at risk. Alternatively, McCarthy shows the Man as someone who truly believes he is doing the right thing even in the face of sacrificing his own values. In both such cases, however, these protagonists face a fall before rising once more at pivotal moments in the story. It is this that helps add to the popularity of the books, as it addresses the idea that to error in such a way is human, and moral choices are something everyone faces day to day. While perhaps such choices are not always so extreme, displaying the most extreme examples in such a case sheds light onto smaller issues and the importance of steps to identify personal morality. These novels help paint the world as a very grey area, where there is no true right and wrong, but rather a very blurry line made clear only though the identification of moral values and human virtues.

Works Cited

Collins, Suzanne. The Hunger Games. New York, Scholastic Inc., 2008.

Frye, Steven. Understanding Cormac McCarthy. University of South Carolina Press, 2009.

Gert, Bernard. Morality. [Electronic Resource] : Its Nature and Justification. Oxford University Press, 2005. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=cat04477a&AN=snhu.b1824530&site=eds-live&scope=site.

McCarthy, Cormac. The Road. New York, Vintage International, 2006

Russell, Danielle. “Courageous Mothering: Katniss Everdeen as Outlaw Mother in The Hunger Games Trilogy.” Motherhood and Single-Lone Parenting: A Twenty-First Century Perspective, edited by Maki Motapanyane, Demeter Press, Bradford, ON, 2016, pp. 96–112. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1rrd8wd.8.

Savoy, Paul. “The Moral Case Against the Iraq War.” Nation, vol. 278, no. 21, May 2004, p. 16. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f5h&AN=13128694&site=eds-live&scope=site.