Simple Fictions

Dear reader,

You may or may not be aware that I, Jenny, tend to cultivate unhealthy relationships with characters in books. This, I believe stems from my brain's inability to sort out reality and fiction. Because sometimes fiction feels more real! And, of course, it is very often more interesting. This kind of quality was cultivated and encouraged when I was a child. They called it 'imagination' and all the conventional people were doing it. Or they thought they were. I don't think that they grew up and literally prayed for Harry, Ron and Hermione to make it out alive before coming to their senses and realizing that it was just a book. I don't think they relived Sirius's death scene over and over again. They didn't understand Harry the way I did.

Sound like a psychotic fan girl? Here's the thing. I am and I ain't. I know its a bit egotistical to say this, like my love is more real than theirs! More delusional! More unhealthy! but...I really think it is. I'm not into the paraphernalia of a lot of books or the theme parks (okay yes clearly we are still focusing on Harry Potter but I'll leave that in a minute, I promise). I literally feel this deep connection like you would with a close friend. I was in this stupor when I finished the 7th HP book. I literally just felt this hole in my life: it was over. I started to question everything. My existence. The point of my life. How I could be real when Harry wasn't? The world I had just stepped out of seemed so genuine as well. The only way I can explain it is to draw from the movie Inception. When they come out of the dream, they question reality. They can't be sure what is real and what is a dream. Because in some cases they are equally meaningful.

Key word: some. There are some books that are total crap and we're not gonna talk about them.

But back to the point: there is something wrong (or right!) with me which causes me to be ....consumed by fiction.  This explains my actions over the past few weeks. When I got home from school I just read. And READ!!! Fiction! Oh, so much fiction! It was beautiful! It was the kind of thing I never do anymore as an English turned IR major. It was gloriously irresponsible. Like the cookie monster gorging on treats I just compulsively kept reading.

Well okay. All of this buildup (which I didn't actually expect to write but ended up writing anyway so that maybe I could rationalize my coming statement a little bit) comes down to this:

I
LOVE
THE
HUNGER
GAMES



There. I said it. I LOVE it. Like, unhealthily so. The first time I read it a few summers ago, I had my doubts. I knew a lot of Mormons liked it which made me approach it with caution. But I read the first one and was absolutely hooked. So then I read the second one. This was in a period of between 24-48 hours. I'm not a super fast reader but you can bet that I was flipping through those pages almost that whole time. Food, sleep, everything goes on hold when there's a good book around. So, I finished the second book, but the third one wasn't out yet. This was upsetting. I had entered the world of Panem and inirita would not let me back out. I felt this deep connection. So...I read them again! I remember literally putting book two down, thinking about it and then (at the latest the next day) deciding to pick up number one again and re-read them both. All this in one approximately 5 day period.

Then the 3rd book came out and it was like....kind of exhausting. So much bad happens! I liked it, with reservations, put it away with fond disappointment and kind of got on with my life.

Then the movie came out. And this really is pretty fan girl-ish here because I'm supposed to be a book snob  but...I really loved the movie too. So I thought to myself why? Why do I love this movie of innocent children forced to kill each other? Why can't I get it out of my head? Out of my gut?

Well, obviously the author is trying to make a point with her subject matter.

I just wasn't sure exactly what it was. But the story-it resonates with a lot of people. Which means there most be truth in it. I mean, there is the kind of simple yet still disturbing message that we readers are, in fact, the capital. We love reading a book about children dying just like they love watching it. What does that reveal about us?

Well, as you may have already picked up on, I'm going to wax philosophical here. There is a quote I absolutely love which states:
 
 "The details of reality can disguise essential truths that are best revealed through simple fictions."

This quote came from (of all places) page 37 of my econ text book sophomore year. See? I told you all the conventional people were doing it! It has now become one of my mantras as an aspiring writer. The reason fiction is so powerful is because, whether overtly or not, it can be a conduit of truth. Truth we can't see in our own complex lives which we lead with oh so much internal bias.

Now, I'm not sure what exactly the truth of the Hunger Games is. But I am convinced that it is this truth nipping at everyone which is the source (however deep) of the superstardum of the series. I would guess that there isn't one meaning for everyone. Many people argue that there is in fact no meaning--I was very annoyed a few months ago when a boy in my lab scoffed at the writing saying 'it's not Shakespeare' to which I wanted to reply, 'No! Of course it isn't! You wouldn't read it if it was!' Sometimes mass appeal is a form of genius. There is definitely a meaning. It's just multifaceted and obscured by a lot of fun action which is why I love analyzing it so much.

So earlier this summer I read the trilogy again with slightly newer eyes. I was very moved by it (again), very thought provoked and yet still unsure what exactly the author was trying to critique about man and the modern society. It wouldn't be a good book if it was too easy to moralize. However, I did get to one section from the end of Mockingjay which I can only describe as the thesis of the entire series. It comes as Katniss is being dropped back off in district 12: 

                 “Are you preparing for another war, Plutrarch?” I ask.

                 “Oh, not now.  Now we’re in that sweet period where everyone agrees that our recent horrors should never be repeated,” he says. “But collective thinking is usually short-lived. We’re fickle, stupid beings with poor memories and a great gift for self-destruction. Although who knows? Maybe this will be it, Katniss.”

                “What?” I ask.

                “The time it sticks. Maybe we are witnessing the evolution of the human race. Think about that.” And then he asks me if I’d like to perform on a new singing program he’s launching in a few weeks. Something upbeat would be good. He’ll send the crew to my house.  (pg. 379)

Well there you go. I read this passage and it kind of hit me why I love the series. The IR student within me who studies wars and the UN and peacekeeping and what not is fascinated and vindicated by the plot line. The English major in me loves the sharp juxtaposition between the prospect of human's constant need for war and for entertainment. Or both as one? And then another reason it appealed to me, sort of hit me on the head.

I'm going to Uganda to study child soldiers. Children in war. Well, that's exactly what the Hunger Games is. I sudden't didn't feel so guilty about shirking my research. 

The more I thought about it the more I liked this interpretation. The author isn't really preaching. She's not saying exactly what's right and what's wrong- Katniss votes to continue the Hunger Games for goodness sake! What she's doing is pointing out the complex human condition in a way that made people want to listen. 

And, I admire her writing. The last book? She was not trying to please anyone with it. I wasn't pleased at first. It was tough and horrible and sad and a lot of people died and it wasn't particularly satisfying. But you know what?  Even though it took place in the future where people wear funny clothes and use children as gladiator's and have crazy mutation animal weapons: it's realistic.

Real life doesn't exactly have a plot arch. Real life doesn't worry about killing off your favorite character. Real life doesn't balance the amount of violence-there isn't a quota. Real life doesn't erase pain just because the enemy is vanquished. Indeed, is the enemy vanquished at the end of Mockingjay? Its ambiguously implied that a new one will just take its place. That's the nature of the world.

 I don't need to go out and kill anyone or start a revolution. But I need to think about these issues. We all do. And anyone, author, teacher, actress, whoever, who can reach out to so many people and get a dialogue going gets credit in my book.