Solidarity as Rebellion: How Katniss Fights Back The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins is the unbelievable story of Katniss, a young girl from a post-apocalyptic world where people are forced to fight to the death for the entertainment of the most lavish city, the Capitol, in an event called the Hunger Games. But as The Hunger Games becomes more and more sensationalized, even being made into a major motion picture, it seems the world relates to Katniss and her harsh life more than expected. Katniss’ story represents so much more about particularly the U.S: a failing economic and social structure, rebellion, revolution, and change against an unfair and oppressive system. The Hunger Games could even be interpreted as a criticism against modern …show more content…
Katniss, who is poor and has suffered all her life, and she has been forced to withstand extreme conditions, including nearly starving to death many times. She has been forced to be resourceful, learning to hunt and gather from her father and Gale to feed her family. Katniss has always had less. Realistically, this would only be a disadvantage for Katniss, being malnourished, but in this scenario, it levels the playing field. The Careers, who have been well-fed and well taken care of, cannot withstand as much. Katniss uses her survival skills as a way to win. In the U.S., many people work long, difficult hours at one, two, or even three jobs and have learned to be frugal despite not receiving a living wage. Could this suggest that if the rich were stripped of their resources, the lower classes may have the chance to rise and succeed economically because they have learned to be frugal? In The Hunger Games, Katniss destroys the food stash, which is all the remaining provisions in the game, meaning that she sabotages herself too in a way. If the lower class was to rise up against the wealthy in this country, by violence, rioting, or movements like Occupy Wall Street, they too would be at risk of arrest, losing their job, or getting hurt or killed. Is the sacrifice worth it? To Katniss, yes. Katniss’ actions are obviously out of survival, but it interesting that she teams up with Rue, a young girl from District 11, the agricultural district. Katniss and Rue are the smallest and weakest tributes in the games, and yet find a way to get an upper hand over even the strongest tributes. Capitalism creates the competition that divides citizens, and Katniss’ form of rebellion here is solidarity with Rue, and to the Capitol: a refusal to compete. This could represent something called solidarity economics, described by Huffington Post writer Beverly Bell as, “…basically a concept rescued by Chilean sociologist Luis Razeto Migliaro. It refers
Suzanne Collins has, through her writings, used great imagery to expose the meaningful side of ‘The Hunger Games’, the side that is not all about what takes place in the arena. The Capitol’s rule over the districts, the reality-show part of the Hunger Games and the Mockingjay pin are all fragments of deeper meanings that create the basis of all that the story is. Suzanne Collins has depicted the country of Panem as a place overruled by a large city, known as the Capitol. The Hunger Games is apparently a means to keep peace and a fair punishment for the rebellion of the districts, where district 13 was obliterated in the mess. However, Collins has spun this interpretation around and unveiled a different perspective – that The Hunger Games is
The 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.
A dystopian text often consists of a society that is based on a utopian ideal of a “perfect” society. Despite being a fictitious setting, the more realistic a dystopian text seems, the more disturbing it is for the audience. The novel The Handmaid’s Tale, written by Margaret Atwood, takes place in the Republic of Gilead that was formerly the state of Massachusetts. Massachusetts has been reformed to a place where puritan traditions and beliefs are the only customs allowed. Gilead and its totalitarian government oppress women to the extent where rape is a norm in their society. The novel The Hunger Games, written by Suzanne Collins, is about a contest held in the country of Panem, where twelve teenagers are forced to fight one another until only one survives the battle. The people of Panem are mandated in watching this contest, as a reminder of the previous uprising that was stopped by their totalitarian government called the Capitol. Atwood depicts Gilead in a way where it is almost possible for the society in Gilead to
Love and loyalty are commonly associated with humanity and freedom, which is why they are often featured within the Dystopian genre in which dictatorships try to change what it means to be human. Love and loyalty are common themes running throughout George Orwell’s 1984, written in 1949 and Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games, written in 2008.
The Hunger Games, a film based off of a novel written by Susan Collins, was released in March of 2012. The film, and the book it was based on, chronicles the struggles of a girl named Katniss Everdeen, a girl who lives in a poverty stricken province or “District”, until untimely circumstances forces her to play in the Hunger Games, a gladiatorial like contest where children between the ages of 12 and 18 are forced to fight to the death. A contest that was set up by an oppressive and authoritarian government, and has thus far been sustained via the forced obedience of the rebellious Districts, the brainwashing and conditioning of Districts 1 and 2, and the conditioning of the residents of its Capitol. The movie has a variety of messages, most especially in regards toward social control and social conditioning. With these ideas in mind, a case could very well be made that The Hunger Games, throughout its two hour long run time, shows a very realistic look at a socially conditioned society and what humanity can become with the right amount of conditioning and control by an authoritarian force.
Entertainment can come and be enjoyed in many different forms. Television shows and movies are some of the different forms of entertainment can be in. The lives of famous actors from shows or movies are constantly scrutinized on and off screen. Within the world of The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins a version of reality entertainment is the televised murder of innocent children. Those who are chosen to be within the Hunger Games become a scrutinized celebrity. Katniss and other tributes that are forced to fight and kill show how human identity can become lost as they become objectified for the people of Panem. The Hunger Games helps represent the harm that reality television can have by using the glorification of death with the objectification
The Hunger Games was a good movie when it came out. This movie refers to a dystopia world in which there are 12 districts and a capitol who rules with an iron fist, in which the districts must provide a tribute to fight in an annual Hunger Game as a punishment for a past rebellion. Katniss Everdeen is a hunter from the 12th district, which Gale, her friend gives her tips on hunting. One day her sister, Primrose Everdeen, is chosen for the Hunger Games, and in order to save her, she volunteers instead to serve in the Games along with Peeta Mellark. During a TV interview, Peeta confesses her love for Katniss Everdeen, which causes the enragement of the latter; however, she later forgives him as he explains to her that it was only to gain sponsors. During the Hunger Games, she did not receive a lot of supplies except some medicine to cure a wound, but Districts 1 and 2 almost won the Game due to their training, and amount of supplies which Katniss destroys but cannot recover any of them. The Hunger Games was one of the best movies I ever watched because it has a little bit of everything and it captures the real-life survival game that we live on a daily basis.
Civil disobedience is described as the refusal to comply with certain laws as a form of political protest. Civil disobedience is commonly thought of as being nonviolent resistance, however that is not always true. The protesters standing up for what they believe in are often legally punished, but morally accept their punishment because they know what they are doing is not right. Thoreau explains the importance of speaking out and rebelling against unjust laws in his piece, Civil Disobedience. Another author that does this is Suzanne Collins. She is the author of The Hunger Games trilogy and does a great job of showing rebellion in her books. Collin’s idea to add civil disobedience in her novels encourages her readers to stand up for what they believe in, and to speak their mind instead of just going with the flow. Thoreau and Collins both have similar ways to express civil disobedience in their writing.
Mahatma Gandhi once said “Power is of two kinds. One is obtained by the fear of punishment and the other by acts of love. Power based on love is a thousand times more effective and permanent then the one derived from fear of punishment.” Power is something that a lot of people tend to misuse. Power can be great at times, but most the time it can make bad things happen. People think just because they have the power to do something means they should do it, when really that is not the case. In the movie “The Hunger Games” power is used to abuse everyone and everything around.
Conflict theory could between when there are two or more groups who are experiencing social strain and when that social strain that promotes social changes. The conflict theorists argue that the two groups are competing for limited resources. To be more precise, conflict theory is defined as “groups in society are engaged in continuous power struggle for control of scarce resources” (Kendall 19). This could be seen in The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins when majority of people in District 12 die of starvation and the children are forced to take out tesserae to help feed their families (Collins 28). According to Kendall, the conflict theory is mostly derived from Karl Marx and Frederick Engels who wrote The Communist Manifesto, and Max Weber. Marx saw society as two halves, the haves (bourgeoisies) and the have nots (Proletariat) and the conflict between classes was desired in order to encourage social change and ultimately making society a
Dystopia is a term that defines a corrupt government that projects a false image. Thus, in a dystopian society, making belief and comfort that the society is proper to its followers. One good example of dystopian society is the Hunger Games. The terms that describe that dystopia towards the Hunger games are a “hierarchical society, fear of the outside world, penal system and a back story” (“Dystopia”).
In a not-too-distant, some 74 years, into the future the United States of America has collapsed, weakened by drought, fire, famine, and war, to be replaced by Panem, a country divided into the Capitol and 13 districts. Each year, two young representatives from each district are selected by lottery to participate in The Hunger Games; these children are referred to as tributes (Collins, 2008). The Games are meant to be viewed as entertainment, but every citizen knows their purpose, as brutal intimidation of the subjugated districts. The televised games are broadcasted throughout Panem as the 24 participants are forced to eradicate their competitors, literally, with all citizens required to watch. The main character throughout the series is a 16-year-old girl from District 12 named Katniss Everdeen.
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
The residents of the districts in The Hunger Games are cruelly treated by the ruling Capitol. In the poorest districts, their labor as miners (District 12) or farmers (District 11) is exploited for the good of the rich while they slowly starve or are injured or killed by their dangerous work. This is very clearly a tale of capitalism run amok: the wealth disparity between the rich (the Capitol), the poor (most of the districts), and the “middle class” (the districts with Career tributes, 1 and 2) mirrors that of contemporary American society. Katniss is a vocal critic of this structure throughout the novel, often thinking things like “What must it be like, I wonder, to live in a world where food appears at the press of a button? How would I spend the hours I now commit to combing the woods for sustenance if it were so easy to come by? What do they do all day, th...
The main character, Katniss, volunteers as tribute for her district to save her sister from having to be tribute. Upon arriving in the Capitol for the games, she sees just how vast the gap between the Capitol and districts are. To fight against this class struggle, she begins to revolt. At first this comes in the form of small things, like shooting an arrow at a pig feast of Capitol higher-ups and refusing to kill her friend in the games, resulting in the first ever co-victors of the Hunger Games. Katniss’ actions soon lead to full blown rebellion in the districts, starting a revolutionary war between them and the Capitol. At one point Katniss remarks: “My ongoing struggle against the Capitol, which has so often felt like a solitary journey, has not been undertaken alone. I have had thousands upon thousands of people from the districts at my side.” (Catching Fire 90). In true Marxist fashion the working class needed to use a violent revolution to confront the class struggle against the ruling