Hunger Games: Do No Evil

Last week’s post (here) ended with Katniss Everdeen and the readers empty-handed before a cruel world full of tough moral dilemmas, and no end in sight. This week we’ll try to fix that—with moral know-how taking the place of the bow that Katniss uses to shoot her way out in the film.

But before we jump into the arena with Katniss, one simple premise:

No evil.

If what you want is evil, your actions are tainted by that desire. If what you do is evil, no number of good intentions can change the fact that what you did was bad. Those two ingredients—what and why—are what counts when you need to know if x, y, or z was the right thing to do. Circumstances can make things easier or harder, but what and why have the last word.

The four possible combinations of good, bad, what and why give us the three types of human actions: the good, the bad and the very ugly.

-The good: you do what’s good, and you do it for a good reason. End result: a hero, who needs to stay on guard against…

-The bad: you do what’s good, but you do it for a bad reason (say you try your hardest, but only because you want to show someone else up). Or you do something that’s bad, but with a good intention. Either way, you’ve done or wanted something that’s bad. End result: a weak human being, who needs to get back on track, or risk becoming…

-The ugly: you do evil, and want evil. End result: a monster.

Into the arena! Towards the end of The Hunger Games—SPOILER ALERT—Katniss, Peeta and their nemesis Cato are all that’s left of the original 24 tributes.  The good news is that Cato isn’t much of a threat—he’s all but dead, lying in a pool of his own blood, ripped to shreds by a pack of mutant dogs. The bad news is that Peeta is also seriously wounded and fading fast.

To end the games, Katniss hangs down from the mouth of the Cornucopia, and calmly shoots her last arrow into Cato’s mangled skull.

Good? Bad? Ugly?

The circumstances are definitely not in Katniss’ favor. She’s stiff with cold. Hungry. Peeta is dying, his blood trickling away down the side of the Cornucopia. The torture of the games has to end. Peeta has to live.

But those are only circumstances. The real question is what does Katniss do, and why? She kills someone in cold blood. It’s not self-defense. Cato is no threat. He’s lying there on the ground, bleeding and helpless. And Katniss puts an arrow in his head. That’s... bad.

Katniss doesn’t kill Cato out of vindictive spite. She wants to end the games, save Peeta’s life, and put Cato out of his misery. So she’s no monster. But that doesn’t change the fact that, even if Katniss is well-intentioned, she still does the wrong thing. Arrows aren’t anesthesia. Pity and love are noble sentiments, but can’t justify murder.

That’s just one of the many tough choices that The Hunger Games and real life are full of. The rest are all yours.

By Benjamin O'Loughlin