Chances are, when you think of Passover, you think of fried matzah and your great-uncle distributing newspaper clippings. But there is so much more to it than that! The problem is, the story of Passover came out way long ago, and your brain only has room for current memes and 90’s nostalgia. In case you don’t remember what’s going on with Moses and the song about the goat, let’s examine how Passover is like something way more relevant to your life right now: The Hunger Games.
The Good Guys Are Enslaved To Tyrannical Overlords
This is the most obvious one. Each story involves major haters. In The Hunger Games, you’ve got President Snow and his Capitol goons. The story of Passover has Pharaoh and anyone who supported ancient pyramid-building labor laws. The underdogs live in horrible conditions and need to leave civilization (i.e. hunt in woods, struggle through the desert) to help themselves.
Plagues Happen
In The Hunger Games, Katniss and co. are put through the ringer with fire, killer tracker jackets, and more, in order for The Capitol to exert their strength over the rebellious districts. In Passover, God’s all like, suck it, Egyptians, and throws down some boils and locusts, among other things. That’s also to prove a point. What is it with the evil flying insects obsession?
Everyone Wants To Kill The Children
When the going gets tough, storytellers throughout time screw over the children. In The Hunger Games, we have the Games themselves, in which each district is forced to offer up one child (usually a firstborn, since they’re the ones entering their names multiple times for the sake of getting their siblings food). The story of Passover begins with Pharaoh ordering that all Jewish male children be killed. And when we’re done with that, we get into the slaying of the firstborns as one of the plagues. Kid-killing is like its own genre of literature. Axe the old people, next time!
Days Of Crappy Food
Before you all get on me about how good the matzah-Nutella combo is, let’s think about the reasoning behind it. The Jews ate matzah because they had to go into exodus and didn’t have time for their bread to rise. The Hunger Games kids are encouraged to eat til they throw up, and then they, too, are running for their lives with very little food available to them. This makes for great entertainment, as we’re all very concerned about food.
There’s The Hero And The Spokesperson
How weird is that? The person we’re supposed to identify with in both stories (Katniss, Moses) is the one who’s like, “People don’t like me. I’m not good with public speaking.” They’re forced to pair up with a mouthpiece (Peeta, Aaron) in order to survive. Moses and Aaron don’t hook up, though, that I know of.
There Can Only Be One Winner
I don’t think this is in the story itself, but at a Passover seder, cousins are pitted against cousins. Prior to the family coming over, someone wraps a couple pieces of matzah is in a cloth napkin (the “Afikoman”) and hides it somewhere in the house. At a certain point in the meal there’s a big hunt, and whoever finds the Afikoman is entitled to a cash prize. I mean, everyone else is going to be fine, but still, it gets intense. Little kids cry.
You Want To Get Through It As Quickly As Possible
Once you start The Hunger Games, you’re not going to want to put it down. So many things happen in such large font! And once you open that Haggadah (the script at the Passover dinner), you’re counting the pages til the festive meal. Hurry up, Grandpa! I am really intrigued about the will-they-won’t-they of The Simple Son and The Wise Son.
How else is Passover like The Hunger Games? Feel free to add on in the comments!
Check Out The Differences I Noticed Between the Hunger Games Book and The Movie!
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