The Hunger Games and Waiting for the Barbarians

I can understand why the Nobel Prize Committee approves of this novel.  When I finished the book it seemed to have no purpose, then I thought about the other books we’ve read and I categorized the story as a more in depth look at one of the cycles from A Hundred Years of Solitude.  The town was living happily until a government got involved.  The Empire caused fear within the town to keep them suppressed.  By supplying soldiers they gave the townspeople hope, but not enough hope that they still feel safe.  While they are in fear and the soldiers are among them, the soldiers have the ability to exploit the people.  When they enter shops, they take what they want and leave without paying.  The owners of the stores do not object, because there is nobody else to complain to.  The soldiers sleep with the daughters in town, and the only enemy they think they know is unseen and minding their own business.

            This story bears resemblance to A Hundred Years of Solitude, but it also is very similar to another story: The Hunger Games.  Suzanne Collins wrote of a time when the districts are isolated yet kept behind walls.  The Capitol defends the situation by saying they are protecting the people, but in reality the fear is a key to exploitation.  The Nobel Committee would never award Suzanne Collins with a Nobel Prize because she is American and her books are very popular.  They are extremely accessible and well liked since there is a love story involving young white people rather than an old man discovering young women are not actually interested in him. 

            I’m happy with the ending to Waiting for the Barbarians because the Empire has assured the barbarian’s victory.  They say the barbarians are waiting for the townspeople to go back from where they came and the Magistrate tells the policeman that it is only a matter of time before they have to leave because of the salt in the lake.  The end of the novel shows that the barbarians were right; the people all went back to where they came and probably died in the process.