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Comparing Power And Control In 1984 And The Hunger Games

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Technology; Power and Control in 1984 and The Hunger Games
By: Sophia Zervaas
Utopia, a seemingly perfect paradise in which a society lives in harmony and happiness. Dystopia, a deprived, dehumanised place where a society lives in oppressive subservience. Both plausible, both improbable, both blur into one obscured singularity. The novel 1984, written by George Orwell in 1949, and The Hunger Games, directed by Gary Ross in 2012, both explore the ideas of a utopian, dystopian world to which the subjugated protagonists Winston Smith and Katniss Everdeen doggedly navigate their respective societies that have been corroded by greed and corrupted by power. Within crafted worlds of Technological Surveillance systems purposed for coercive control, …show more content…

In both 1984 and The Hunger Games individuals are rendered powerless by oppressive states which subvert technology to surveil and distribute propaganda. In George Orwell's 1949 novel, 1984, telescreens placed in the homes of individuals deemed a possible threat to the party are symbolic of the omniscient panopticism Big Brother yields. Winston psychologically struggles with the constant surveillance and subsequent lack of privacy: ‘Winston kept his back turned to the telescreen. It was safer, though, as he well knew, even a back can be revealing.’ Telescreens act as a pervasive deterrent, yet in a place where individuals are always watched, always listened to, and always judged, resentment is inevitable, and recidivist acts increasingly likely. The simple act of keeping his back to the telescreen ‘from habit that became instinct’ is Winston’s small but symbolic act of defiance, yet paradoxically this instinctual act underscores Big Brother’s dominion over all aspects of an individual’s private life, inclusive of thoughts which have been rewired to register Big Brother’s insidious omniscience. In contrast, in Gary Ross’s 2012 film, The Hunger Games, citizens of Panem are given the blessing of privacy in their homes; however, technology is used to showcase the death of tributes selected on reaping day, broadcast as a macabre form of reality TV called The Hunger Games. Gary Ross’ satirical allegory of death and suffering as simply consumable entertainment of the Capitol elite parallels reality tv shows in today’s society that convey a similarly phlegmatic detachment of the ruling class. The close-up eye-level camera shot of Katniss, the District 12 tribute, when Caesar Flickerman declaims ‘You know her as The Girl on Fire!’ conveys to the audience Katniss’ sense of fear and uncertainty. Her vulnerability, crafted as an entertaining distraction purposed to maintain the

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”(Collins par10) The people living in the twelve districts know the evil premise of the hunger games but all they can do is sit around and watch.

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The dystopian behaviour of gambling on the lives of human beings and receiving pleasure via gladiator style entertainment is backed by “To make it humiliating as well as torturous, the Capitol requires us to treat the Hunger Games as a festivity, a sporting event pitting every district against the others”. The irony in this quote emerges from how the idea of a contest or celebration conflicts with the appalling reality of the games. The adoption of irony is substantial because it is a condemnation of systemic oppression and the discrimination of the oppressed classes for the entertainment of the aristocracy. The product of the Hunger Games is a dystopian society as it's unjustified and tyrannical. The government has total ownership over people's lives generating a dystopian society and

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The power of a rebelling protagonist can cause a group of people to follow in their footsteps and shift the way the world works. In conclusion, the stories 1984 and The Hunger Games exhibit the theme of dystopia through limited freedom with unreasonable human rights, both societies being controlled by a totalitarian government, and the retaliation of a protagonist who rebels against authority. Throughout both narratives, it is shown that there is a lack of freedom as a government abuses their power to manipulate a population. It is also clear that a totalitarian government strips away all individuality and uses police systems to keep citizens in line with the rules. Lastly, 1984 and The Hunger Games share the theme of dystopia through the uprising protagonist that rebels against authorities to make a change in society.

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Imagine being in a world where your life is controlled or monitored and privacy becomes a thing of the past. These fears that were once disregarded as impossible are now a reality seeing as government and social media platforms can control and oversee every part of our lives. We see that mass surveillance is the premise of the novella, 1984, by George Orwell of how our lives can be monitored where anything and everything you say can be controlled. While Orwell wrote this Dystopian novella in 1948, most of his ideas are spot-on to what we see in our government today. 1984 portrays a society where the government has total surveillance over citizens using technology like telescreens, microphones, and spies to monitor its citizens.

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