“I wanted to write a story that was an allegory or fable about modern capitalist society, something that depicts an extreme competition, somewhat like the extreme competition of life. But I wanted it to use the kind of characters we’ve all met in real life,”
If it's an allegory for capitalism, it's sort of fits that
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One guy succeeds while literally everyone else dies, and he also ends up looking like a goof-ass clown because he's bored with his life
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Everyone dies. The game still goes on for the pleasure of billionaires at the expense of more desperate people. And becuase the guy who won was kinda good-hearted, he ends up with ptsd, survivals guilt, heavily depressed etc.
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The soldiers too. You can be spared the horrors or having to compete at the cost of losing your humanity and becoming a soulless automaton. One step out of line and you're also disposable.
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My read of him was that he went back to the games because it was all he knew at that point. I see him more as a tragic character who didn't feel like he could go back to living a normal life after experiencing the games, when no one else would be able to relate or even believe him. At least this way he can confirm that his trauma was real. But the show doesn't really say that so painting him like that might be too generous.