During the media presentation of “The Hunger Games”, I was really intrigued by the subtle religious undertones that I had not perceived before. It never really occurred to me that there were 12 Districts, and that they all surrounded the Capitol, which was seen as higher. But I think what interested me the most about the presentation was the talk surrounding the Nightlock berries. During the powerpoint, the berries were linked with the idea of the forbidden fruit, with Katniss being Eve, and Peeta being Adam. I think this is a good analysis, but I also think that there is more to it. If we were to take into account the analogy of the Gamemakers being ‘God’, then I think that the scene is a really interesting take on the temptation story. Instead of Eve ‘tempting’ and manipulating Adam, in this version, Eve is manipulating God. Not only that, but she beats Him at his own game. I think this is highly symbolic, and places Katniss in a situation where her overcoming of forces controlling her world makes her into a Christ figure; the twelve districts, I think, do not represent them following the Capitol. The twelve districts are to be her ‘disciples’, because Katniss is a symbol of their salvation.
Also, I think the idea of the Gamemakers as ‘God’ is both true and not; the structure is a lot more complicated than that, I think. On one hand, they do fulfill many godlike qualities, but I wouldn’t say Gamemakers are symbolic of God; I would say the Gamemakers are more like the angels, destructive and obeying their God, who I would say is President Snow. Which makes things a lot more complicated, in that Katniss may have outwitted fate, but not necessarily outwitted God himself. So there’s that.
Religion 100 Blog 