Suzanne Collin’s novel The Hunger Games, explores the blurring boundary between private and public life, a process amplified by the entertainment industry, and draws a commentary upon the parallels existing in our society. The Hunger Games takes place in the futuristic, dystopian nation of Panem, located in the present day U.S. The country consists of a wealthy Capitol, surrounded by twelve poorer districts exploited and ruled by the Capitol. The class struggle is all too real in Panem, drawing parallels to our Society’s unequal distribution of rewards and opportunity, by way of institutional discrimination and brute force. Katniss Everdeen resides in one of the 12 Districts forming Panem, District 12, a destitute coal mining district. Here, the only options for food are tightly regulated Tesserae, tokens worth a meager year's supply of grain and oil for one person, and equipped with the risk of being selected as a Hunger Games tribute. For …show more content…
The word panem is Latin for “bread,” and given the similarity of the Hunger Games to the gladiatorial Games of Ancient Rome, it hints at panem et circenses, or “bread and circuses.” Such a phrase refers to the Roman strategy of quelling public discontent by providing the citizenry with plenty of food, and entertainment, the latter being in the form of gladiatorial games. In the novel, these gladiatorial Games are synthesized with reality television to create the Hunger Games. The metaphor itself becomes more nuanced due to the ancient Roman influences on Panem. The result is a metaphor that uses Panem to draw connections between Ancient Rome and the modern United States, and it implies that the modern United States has something like its own panem et circenses strategy in place, with reality television taking on the role of the gladiatorial Games.
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Show MoreThe Hunger Games is the first book that makes up the famous trilogy written by Suzanne Collins. Katniss, the book’s main character, is a sixteen year old girl, who lives in Panem, a country divided in 13 different districts. Each year, a reaping is hold, where every district chooses one boy and one girl to participate to the games. The participants have to kill each other for their survival, and only one person can end up as a winner. Because of Katniss’ ingenuity and strategies, both tributes from her district were able to survive and get through this challenge. This world clearly relates to the reality television in our contemporary world and to the gladiator fights. This essay will analyse the different themes, which are used to convey symbols and messages, that arise throughout the novel.
Panem, the fictional world of which The Hunger Games is based, has received its name from the Latin expression, ‘Panem et circenses’. This translates to ‘bread and circuses’, and is used to describe how the Roman emperors kept their people content by providing food and entertainment. This is in many ways similar to the Capitol’s ruling of the districts, as they are in charge of how to distribute the harvest and entertain the inhabitants of Panem with the annual Hunger Games. There is an imbalance of power in Panem, and this can be seen in what the nation’s name suggests; the bread. Katniss describes the bread of her home district as ‘flat, dense loaves we make from our grain rations’ while she
The Hunger Games that follows, the term that defines a dystopian fiction. One main belief that defines Dystopian society is the development into a “hierarchical society” (“Dystopia”). A hierarchical society plays a big part in the story that outline the whole plot. For example, Capitol is wealthier than all the districts. Some districts are more privileged than others. The Careers, being tributes from districts one to three, are prepared and trained for years before the games. However, this is illegal, but because of the support towards District two from the Capitol, they are let off, along with District one and District four, the other richer districts. In this cas...
The hunger games was held in Panem, a totalitarian state where the government takes over the state and seeks control of the all aspects of life. A “reaping”is an annual event that takes place in every district each Hunger Games, where the tributes of the upcoming Games are chosen. Each district's escort randomly chooses the name of one male and one female tribute from two separate ballots.The contestants of the game are between the ages 12-18 years old.The Hunger Games, are the main source of the government’s power and were designed to warn the citizens against rebellion.Throughout the novel, the protagonist(Katniss Everdeen)is constantly exposed to the Capitol's cruel acts representing the resentment for the Capitol's residents. This leads
The idea of our country being separated into different districts and being forced to pick random children and have them fight to the death is very farfetched. But the concept of poverty, war, separation, and famine are so very easy to grasp. The Hunger Games presents each of these things in the movie and makes its audience understand and start thinking that this story line could possibly happen in reality. The idea that people are struggling on many different levels, both the people of Panem and the ones living in America. Panem and our society today have many similarities. There are many differences and similarities in survival, punishment, physical appearance, and control in Panem that is also seen in today's world. Although The Hunger Games and Panem are not real, the ideas and things presented in the movie could possibly happen. That idea is what draws the viewer in and has people really thinking about where our society is headed.
Finally, in The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen volunteers in place of her sister and enters an overwhelmingly displeasing, deadly arena to fight for her life. Despite the fate of the victims of these social traditions, their greedy, self-centered societies still do nothing to save an innocent individual’s destiny. By blindly blending in with the crowd and its society’s traditions, people’s daily lives become impacted tremendously.
Access to food draws a thin line between the privileged and the poor. In Suzanne Collins’ novel The Hunger Games, food has a massive impact on the different characters from the different locations. Katniss Everdeen, the protagonist, lives in the poorest district in Panem – District 12. Each different district has a specialty that they use to provide for the Capitol; District 12’s specialty is coal mining. Author Despail explains the districts in a way that makes it easier to understand by stating that “[e]ach outlying district in Panem forms an identity around not only the products the district is known for but also the ways in which its citizens cope with their lack of food” (70). Because of this, many people in District 12 have a tough time
Murty, Govindini. "Decoding the Influences in "The Hunger Games"" The Atlantic. The Atlantic, 26 Mar. 2012. Web. 25 Nov. 2013.
The Hunger Games take place in Panem, a dystopian society that is divided into twelve districts and ruled by the Capitol, a totalitarian power. The people of the districts are suppressed; they have no rights and no freedom of speech. In Dystopian Fiction for Young Adults, literary criticism by Patrick Smith, he contributes to the idea of a dystopian society saying “dystopias feature totalitarian regimes and shattered economies, global war, climate change, the lack of meaningful personal relationships and lost identities, and the underdog fighting against near-impossible odds. All current societies, dystopian novels suggest, are just one cataclysmic event away from collapse.” This accurately describes the occurrences in Panem.
As you can see the hunger games is no different than our society because we go through the same things, even though they are done differently. We both suffer of violence, terror, and brutality. This is three of the big things that stand out because they are either people’s real life or just their
The novel ‘The Hunger Games’ by Suzanne Collins (2008) is a novel about a teenager named Katniss Everdeen who volunteers to compete in a death reality television show called ‘The Hunger Games.’ I agree that the text shows the people with power are controlling and manipulating the powerless. Firstly I will be discussing how the capitol manipulates and alters reality. Next how the Capitol controls the districts and how the districts a limited. Finally how if the capitol didn’t edit the hunger games the districts will erupt into rebellion.
Complete governmental control develops as an apparent theme of both 1984 and The Hunger Games. 1984 uses the concept of big brother for the sole purpose of instilling a dependence on the government for every aspect in the citizens’ lives. Similarly, the capitol of Panem in The Hunger Games censors information from the people so that any idea of revolution will be instantaneously
The Hunger Games- “a futuristic dystopian society [Panem] where an overpowering government controls the lives and resources in twelve different districts” (The Hunger Games). The overpowering government lives in the Capitol of Panem and from there controls the citizens of the twelve districts through propaganda and other means. The Capitol has all of the economic and political power in Panem; they have complete control. The leader of the capitol is the harsh, dictator-like figure, President Snow. President Snow’s methods for keeping order in the districts are through Peacekeepers and the annual Hunger Games. The Peacekeepers are an army that monitors each district. Any sign of rebellion, and the Peacekeepers take care of it, usually by killing the rebel in some way. The annual Hunger Games are used to remind all of the citizens of Panem about the uprising in the now obliterated District 13. The Hunger Games, in a way, brainwashes all of the citizens, but a select few such as Katniss Everdeen, to believe that an uprising would be horrible and is not necessary and that the Capitol does what is best for all of the citizens. In
First of all, the novel shows that there are differences between the society classes in Panem, which is controlled by the dictatorship government. The Capitol’s citizens are the richest person in the country while the districts are suffering from poverty every day (Shmoop, n.d.). Food is the most noticeable feature to distinguish the gap between rich and poor (Sparknotes, n.d.). Katniss lives in District 12, which is the poorest in the poor districts according to Suzanne, where villagers do not have enough food to eat and survive. “District Twelve. Where...
Summary: Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins narrates the story of a dystopian society with a strict regime and corrupt government system. It all occurs in the futuristic country of Panem – old North America– which originally consists of thirteen districts; however, due to a rebellion the Capitol drops bombs on the thirteenth district destroying it completely. This uprising leads to the creation of the Hunger Games in order to instill fear in the population and prevent a second revolution. Twelve districts remain but appear divided not only by physical fences but also emotional barriers, wealth, and power. The Capitol serves as the Mecca where individuals with major monetary income reside and so does the President. Even though Districts 1 and