Comparing The Hunger Games 'And The Smile'

A dystopia is an imagined state or society where there is great suffering or injustice. Even though a novel can actually be called a ‘dystopian novel’, it doesn’t mean that the main concept is strictly about the dystopia. In the dystopian novel “The Hunger Games” the main concept is about how the main character, Katniss Everdeen, prevails against her struggles and social injustice. In the dystopian short story, “The Smile”, the main idea is about how the main character, Tom, is able to find hope for a better life in all of his suffering. Through both of these stories the idea of a hero or “chosen one” is displayed. Both "The Smile" and “The Hunger Games” feature a "chosen one" archetype. In doing so, these texts explore the ability to find

The Capitol is hurting people by forcing them to endure hard labor, and in return they don’t even get the bare minimum to survive: “Starvation’s not an uncommon fate in District 12. Who hasn’t seen the victims? Older people who can’t work. Children from a family with too many to feed” (Collins 24).The Capitol also hurt their society by brainwashing everyone into thinking the Hunger Games is a normal thing. In Susan Tan’s article "Burn with Us: Sacrificing Childhood in The Hunger Games,” she argues, “If the adult world impresses violence, sacrifice, and objectification onto childhood, if children grow up as tools of their parents' survival, if children are denied entry into the Symbolic because the adult world denies them voice, then those children will grow into the same adults, who can only sit by and enable as these same ideologies are impressed onto their children.” The cycle of parents teaching their children to just sit idle and watch as other children are literally getting kidnapped and murdered for entertainment would’ve still been spinning if it wasn’t for Katniss. Some parents were even so twisted by society that they trained their children just for the Hunger Games, which is the opposite of what Katniss did. Like Kathryn Hansen demonstrates in her article, “A fierce desire to protect her sister is the initial plot catalyst, leading Katniss to volunteer to take Prim's

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. lived in a broken world like how Katniss and Tom do, and he fought for what he believed in how Katniss did and how Tom will. He inspired everyone to heal this broken world with his famous “dream” that everyone could live in harmony one day. MLK truly did leave the legacy of chosen one, and even on the day of his death, he was assassinated because he planned on joining a labor strike. He never quit fighting for what he believed in and it has “inspired a shared vision of hope, justice and equality for all.” (Edwards). Dr. MLK Jr. still inspires people fifty-five years after his death and according to Karethy Edwards scholarly journal, “He called us to act then and continues to call us to action now. Dr. King reminds us that what we do today influences