Had you suggested, several years ago, that I would be reading young adult fiction, I would have laughed. That was before I discovered the Hunger Games and Divergent series. What, you might ask, would a person of a certain age find attractive in young adult fiction? Depth.
While much of what passes for modern adult literature focuses on personal angst, Collins and Roth consider heady themes: the relationship between the individual and the state, the personal and social costs of war, and the importance and limits of love, loyalty, family, and friendship.
Collins and Roth have deftly wrapped their explorations of what it means to be human in historical perspective. Collins cleverly draws a parallel between Panem's hunger games and the classic Greek tale of Theseus and Minatour and the long-term warfare between the ancient Athenians and the Spartans. She links Panem's hunger games with the decadence of ancient Rome in terms clearly meant to critique the modern thirst for violent entertainment.
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Roth's stories don't hit as hard as Collins's - at first. The Divergent stories take place in a dystopian American future rooted in familiar twenty-first century customs and habits. As the story unfolds, Tris Prior, like Collins's Katniss Everdeen, wrestles with moral dilemmas. Unlike Katniss, who puts her own interests first, Tris directly confronts the deeper question of whether human behavior is based on free will or is hardwired and, therefore, practical and self-serving. Judging by the storm of criticism leveled at Allegiant, Roth's answer doesn't resonate with many of her readers. Apparently, we prefer our hunger games without a heart.
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