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Symbolism In Panem

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Panem: A Dystopian Utopia Suzanne Collins portrays the future as a time that has lost its connection to current times, yet has themes such as rebellion and racism, and technology and innovation that ties it to not only the 21st century, but also the history preceding it; even though there are clear modern influences visible in the novels, there is a distinct parallel drawn from the barbarianism from early, dark times. Panem, a nation raised from the ashes of civilisation, based in a dystopian future, the phoenix that rose from the age of war as a strong nation. However calling this nation utopian, would be far from the truth, for it is a nation where the abundance of the rich, leeches off the labours of the poor. Collins was born in 1962, Connecticut, …show more content…

The weapons such as bows and arrows, spears, swords and tridents are all obsolete in today‟s age, yet are extensively used in the Hunger Games; not only for their effectiveness, but also their symbolism. The Gladius, the primary sword of the Roman foot soldiers, is used by the tribute Cato in the 74th Annual Hunger Games. The weapon is a symbol for the valiant warriors that were ever-eager to engage in glorious combat to prove their mettle. Daggers are double-edged fighting knives that can be wielded by anyone, but only mastered by a few. Daggers are the ideal weapons for versatile fighters, who are able to adapt to the situations they are in, and make the most of it. It is the weapon of choice for Gloss, the tribute from District 1 in the 75th Annual Hunger Games: the Quarter Quell. He uses them at close range defence, as well as projectiles to strike opponents at distances. Tridents are three pronged spears, portrayed as the weapon of choice of the Greek God, Poseidon, the god of sea, earthquakes and storms. The only tribute known to use the weapon is Finnick Odair from District 4. He uses the weapon in multiple ways: to stab, slash like a sword, to block another blade, and as a throwing spear. Lastly, the most symbolic weapon in the series: the bow and arrow. The bow and arrow is a set of two main parts, the bow and

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The Book and Movie, The Hunger Games, is an allusion to The story of Theseus and the Minotaur from Greek Mythology. The story goes that Minos, the king of Crete, once sent his only son on a visit to Athens, and he was sent by the Athenian king to fight a bull. When the boy died from the fight, the angry Minos captured Athens and declared that he would destroy it unless they completed his bizarre demand: once every nine years, the Athenians had to send a tribute of seven maidens and seven youths, who would then be forced to confront the Minotaur, who would devour them. This directly parallels the story of The Hunger Games. This rewritten version of an old Greek legend shows a theme of how history can repeat itself.

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In a book “Among the Hidden” by Margaret Peterson Haddix, symbolism is used to create a powerful feeling with a place or thing. For example, Luke (the main protagonist) was "... always safe and protected by the house and the barn and the woods. Until they took the woods away." (pg. 11) The woods were Luke’s playground where he didn’t have to worry about being seen, his only safeguard and protection from the Population Police.

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1156 Words | 5 Pages

Asleep “I don’t try to predict the future; I try to prevent it.” Ray Bradbury is an author of many works, of which include The Pedestrian, There Will Come Soft Rains, A Sound of Thunder, and The Veldt. In these texts, there is a theme of a futuristic reality where destruction is to occur which might not be that far off from our own. This is purposeful, Bradbury claims to use his writing as a message to the masses calling them to open their eyes to the direction our world is hurdling towards. These texts deal with warnings of losing touch with the natural world and other humans, devaluing life, an increase in disastrous irresponsibility, and the most prominent being the abuse of technological advancements.

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528 Words | 3 Pages

Throughout literary history, the science fiction genre has revolved around the concept of time. Whether it be the past, present, or future. Each piece of science fiction uses this trope to help further the plot of the story. The first science fiction novel was written by a young woman named Mary Shelley. This book was “Frankenstein.”

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‘Dystopian novels help people process their fears about what the future might look like; further, they usually show that there is always hope, even in the bleakest future.’ -Lauren Oliver. Dystopian stories give readers a futuristic, imagined universe that portray an illusion of the perfect society through technological, moral, corporate or bureaucratic control.

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976 Words | 4 Pages

Ray Bradbury 's “The Veldt” takes place in a house that can do anything the want which results in the main characters-George, Lydia, Peter, and Wendy Hadley not sharing a strong bond with their family. You end up having no connection to your family so you have trouble communicating and having feelings for them which results in even though the machines don’t have any feelings or connections having to machines more that other people this shows how when people use technology too much or machines. People become to rely on them too much which dehumanises them and Bradbury shows that by symbolism, imagery and dialogue. Ray Bradbury uses symbolism to show how machines dehumanise people. One example is what the lions actually mean, the lions represent

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574 Words | 3 Pages

Symbolism is used to help you not only understand the characters but also helps develop a coherent theme. In the long way gone the symbol used to help explain Ishmael’s struggles comes straight from his own pocket in the form of a beat-up cassette. It follows him along on the journey and with its demise you also see the tragic end of the childhood it has represented. When the fighting and violence started to occur brought by rebels and soldiers Beah and his friends still had the cassettes to enjoy and dance around with allowing them to still have an essence of childhood.

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Again, this is to get the attention of all of those who oppose them. Also, Katniss is destined to kill the other 23 players, and Odysseus is destined to kill 108 suitors. There are several other characters in the Hunger Games that relate to the characters in the Odyssey, for example, Primrose Everdeen could be considered Penelope or Telemachus, Peeta could be Calypso, but Katniss and Odysseus are the main characters that we focus on. The Hunger Games is considered a modernized version because it involves advances in technology.

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1963 Words | 8 Pages

I am the Messenger is a novel written by Markus Zusak and published in 2002, it shows the perspective of Ed Kennedy, the main character, about different events that he goes through after his first encounter of a bank robbery, as the novel is displayed in the form of a first person omniscient narrative. Markus Zusak refers to Ed’s ideology when analyzing an event as he interprets what that character may be thinking of, he shows the role of the other characters through Ed Kennedy as he interacts with them and truthfully describes them as he also did when it comes to the addresses that he had to visit and supposedly help. This book provides many themes for the reader mainly through his creative use of symbolism, the most obvious theme is that of love which is shown in many different methods. This led to the question that will be encountered in this essay: How is the theme of love portrayed in Markus Zusak’s novel I am the Messenger through his use of symbolism? Ed Kennedy is a nineteen year old taxi driver who enjoys

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A Rube Goldberg machine is a complicated machine built to do a simple task. This type of machine was invented in the early 1940’s by Rube Goldberg. Rube Goldberg machines are made by combining various simple machines. The three simple machines that I will b using are inclined plane(s), lever(s), and when and axle(s). Inclined planes are very commonly used simple machines and consist simply of a flat, sloping surface.

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Dystopian literature has become more common in today’s society. Some of the top book series are about dystopias. One of the top dystopian book trilogies is “The Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins. While most dystopian novels are similar in some aspects, “The Hunger Games” is specifically relatable to Margaret Atwood’s novel, “The Handmaid’s Tale”. Collins describes the society of Panem in “The Hunger Games”.

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857 Words | 4 Pages

There are several themes in the book, each one has a significant meaning to the storyline. The first symbol that describes the theme of abuse of power is government control. The reason that they hold the Hunger Games is because it is a dystopian society and most of the districts are poor and the capitol likes it because it keeps them entertained just because they believe that they are superior to everyone else who lives outside the capitol. To explain this more into detail, the government controls all the districts and all the districts have to follow the rules or else there is a serious punishment.

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1520 Words | 7 Pages

Theme # 1- No matter what tyrannical environment you live in, your identity can never be changed The Hunger Games focuses on the theme of identity and how it is immutable in any tyrannical environment. This tells the audience that no one can take away your identity and it can only be controlled by you. In the movie, 24 tributes are forced to enter a game where they kill each other in order to survive which led them to losing their identity and becoming pawns to entertain the people of the Capitol.

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2038 Words | 9 Pages

1. Introduction ‘When any civilization is dust and ashes,’ [Jimmy] said, ‘art is all that’s left over. Images, words, music. Imaginative structures. Meaning – human meaning, that is – is defined by them.

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939 Words | 4 Pages

People use literacy to express their thoughts, feeling and sometimes experiences. Some stories are similar and others are not, these stories are then categorized into different genres to have a universal organization for the many literature pieces we have. I have decided to read and analyze a collection of stories that all fall under the genre of dystopian fiction. By imagining and writing about the extremes of a society, which are dystopian societies in these stories our present society is enabling itself for the actions, it needs to take in the chance of a similar event. Human instinct finds comfort in a situation that one has experienced before but the fear of the unknown causes threat.

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