Morality as a Key Player in Extreme Circumstances as Expressed in The Hunger Games PDF

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Essay about The Hunger Games and the role of morality in the book/movie...

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Morality as a Key Player in Extreme Circumstances as Expressed in The Hunger Games It is relatively simple to recognize the role that morals play in one’s own society. Once the question of morals in a different society comes up, it can be very challenging. The Hunger Games expresses morals and ethics in a very unusual, dystopian future, by following a heroine who surrenders herself for her sister, murders others for her own survival and the protection of her loved ones, and who ultimately undergoes an identity transformation in order to stay alive. Many individuals would sacrifice themselves for the lives of their loved ones. Whether it is a mother for a child, a child for their sibling, or someone for their friend. This idea of sacrifice is expressed in The Hunger Games when Katniss volunteers to take her sister’s place when she is chosen to fight to the death in the annual Hunger Games. Katniss knows that she must make this immense sacrifice for her baby sister. For the most part, Katniss approaches her situation very sensibly. She has the motivation of protecting her sister and mother to keep her alive, and is unwilling to give up her life for this reason. However, during the games, her plan to be violent towards others shifts when she adopts sympathy for her other opponents. Specifically when she befriends a girl named Rue— who reminds her of her little sister—and the boy from her district, Peeta. She is not able to detach her feelings for these characters and therefore can do no harm towards them. Her strong empathy and morals keep her from becoming a merciless killer, unlike others who accompany her in the arena. Katniss not only shows how important her family is to her by risking her life for them, but she continues to stay as moral as she can in this deadly situation. This shows how even in situations where one’s life is on the line, their

ethics do not go out the window. If an individual carries a strong moral foundation, and are innately good people, they will do their very best in all situations to continue to act in this manner. An individual’s ethical way of thinking is greatly impacted by their surrounding environments and of which they were raised in. For Katniss, she feels a great amount of sympathy for her fellow opponents in the Hunger Games. Yet, this empathy does not stretch to include the Careers—highly trained tributes from wealthy districts—although

they have also been forced into the same nightmare as her. The social inequality of Katniss and the Careers outside of the games allows her to justify using violence against them, but not the others who are her more equal counterparts. This arena is an extreme environment therefore causing the contestants to act indifferent to how they would outside of the games. This shows that environmental factors greatly impact the way people live and think. An individual’s physical environment can affect their ethical ways of thinking because they are only thinking in terms of their specific environment, and not imagining other environmental situations. For Katniss, living in the arena is obviously very different from how she would at home; so, she fabricates her own moral guidelines for right and wrong in this new environment, which includes violence against her socially unequal counterparts. It has become obvious in today’s society that traumatic experiences can greatly impact an individual’s mental state and change their way of thinking, specifically ethical thinking. Before they enter the games, Peeta tells Katniss “If I die, I still want to be me,” expressing that he does not want his character to change once he enters the arena he has been forced into. If an individual risks losing or sacrifices their identity by conforming to

another’s idea, it can result in a change to their values and beliefs, therefore changing how they act and think in future situations. This is also seen when observing Katniss’s mentor, Haymitch. He is honest with Peeta and Katniss about the brutality they will face in the arena and shows through his words, as well as his alcoholism, that he has suffered a great amount of trauma, resulting in psychological scars. As the story continues, it becomes obvious that Katniss’s traumatic memories from the games has also left her with an immense amount of mental discomfort. These dreadful experiences change Katniss’s perspective on the world and how she acts towards others. She adopts a sense of anger towards those who adore violence, and empathy towards those who experience it, but she is overall left with a great amount of fear. She uses her fame and experiences to try and make a difference in her society and change the general perspective of violence. This is the morally right thing to do. After having to endure numerous ethical struggles in the Hunger Games, Katniss wants to prevent any others from experiencing this same thing. Although the media and wealthy characters in The Hunger Games beautify the brutality of the Hunger Games, the psychological hardships that both Katniss and Haymitch endure, prove to the readers that violence should not be glorified or celebrated in anyway. Instead the author shows that violence, which is sometimes necessary, ultimately scars

and leaves deep impression on those who are further unable to return to their original selves....