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Examples Of Dystopia In The Hunger Games

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Discussing Dystopias Imagine it is 1,000 years into the future and the continent of North America is divided into sections. Now give each section a purpose and a class in society. Throw in a totalitarian government force and picture your own life. This is the world that Katniss, Tris, and Tally live in every day. In The Hunger Games, all of North America was divided into twelve sections called districts; each district served an intention for the well-being of the population. Similar to this, in Divergent, a large section of the continent was divided into five factions, each representing a single theme. Unlike these novels, Uglies was divided by stages of human lives. Before the kids turned sixteen, they lived in Uglyville; once they got …show more content…

However, each government had its twist on totalitarianism. Uglies made people subject to the operation, Divergent made people take a serum that put them in a trance that made them kill people, and Hunger Games made two people from every district compete in a killing game as well as stationed troops within each district that ensured people complied with the government. In The Hunger Games anybody who in any way went against the government was assassinated. For example, in District 11, At one time they talk about their districts and their lives and therefore Rue tells Katniss that “[...] [they are] not allowed to eat the crops“ (p. 202) and that if you eat or keep parts of the harvest “[...] [they] whip you and make everyone else watch [...]“ (p. 202). Moreover, Rue says that when the people in her district work on the 8 fields during night-time, the Peacekeepers distribute glasses for night vision and “[...] [one] time, this boy Martin, [...] tried to keep his pair“ (p. 204) and because this is not allowed “[...] [they] killed him on the spot“ (p. 204). Those are examples of the violent, fearful, and bureaucratic control of the government. (The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins - a Typical Dystopian

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Violence has been a tool used by governments to control their citizens throughout history. The Hunger Games' Capitol employs the games to maintain power and order over its districts, much like past authoritarian regimes have used propaganda and public executions. The recurring theme of using fear and violence to maintain control is a common theme in dystopian literature, emphasizing the risks of unchecked government power. The rise in popularity of reality TV shows and competitions like Survivor and Big Brother raises the possibility of such gruesome events being televised for public consumption, as in the Hunger Games.

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A dystopian society can be described as “a society in which people lead wretched, dehumanized, fearful lives.” Imagine living in a world where every individual is suppressed from having freedom because the government oversees every thought and action made. In this type of society, citizens don’t question their government because any rebellion against the totalitarian power is punishable by torture and death. These dystopian elements are portrayed in George Orwell’s 1984 and Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games. In both novels, the government controls their citizens’ minds through physical, psychological, and technological manipulations in order to maintain power.

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Is dehumanization for entertainment acceptable? In the novel, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, 24 tributes, 2 people per district, are sacrificed and forced to fight until death. This fight, or as the Capitol calls this , “The Hunger Games”, is live streamed like a reality TV show as entertainment.

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Suzanne Collins incorporates and reinforces themes of a dystopian society throughout her novel, The Hunger Games. A dystopian society is an undesirable, oppressive and dehumanised society which is the central theme of the novel. This dystopian piece of literature explores social inequality and segregation within Panem, surveillance and monitoring exhibited by the Capitol and the annual Hunger Games. Readers observe the establishment of inequality between social classes and districts which is an integral part of a dystopian society. This is evident through the quote “Gale knows his anger at Madge is misdirected.

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Despite the many differences, there is always at least one individual willing to speak up about the injustice they witness and say what they believe is right. The dystopian societies in Fahrenheit 451 and The Hunger Games are often similar to modern-day society, but the

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Lies. Fears. Death. These are all the characteristics of a dystopian society. Dystopian literature are stories that is set in the future and involves a society with dystopian themes, such as flaws and rebels.

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Fear can be defined as an unpleasant feeling triggered by a situation. It is an emotion encountered by every human being. However, the reactions of people to fear may vary. Indeed, it ranges from the loss of rationality to the capacity of adaptation in extreme conditions. Thus, fear can be perceived as a weapon to control and manipulate society.

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In the Hunger Games series, a dystopian future is set up. The government of Panem, The Capitol, holds the wealth of Panem giving it the power to control all districts. In order to enforce this theory, they created the Hunger Games. They suppressed the rights of the citizen’s of Panem and selected their children in order to fight each other do death for survival. These games were created to scare the people and show them who was in charge.

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In the hunger games, Suzanne Collins, describes a world where there is no freedom or privacy and people are pit against each other. The Hunger Games is a competition where two tributes are chosen from each of the 12 districts and are forced against each other in a battle of survival of the fittest. Some people think that this isn't a potential future. However, the current state of the U.S is a reflection of the world depicted in the Hunger Games.

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The Hunger Games is a fairly popular and typical tale that includes a heroine, courage, and bravery. This story can be read or watched through many different lenses such as a Marxist lens, feminist lens, or even an archetypal lens. Through these lenses one can see as a reader or viewer that this is not just a story that fits into one category, but one that can fit into many. Using the Marxist and feminist lenses a viewer can gain a great depth of knowledge into The Hunger Games story itself.

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The Hunger Games trilogy revolves around universal dystopian themes such as :oppression, rebellion, class tension as well as appearance vs. reality ," Collins creates the world that on one hand seems quite improbable and extreme, but on the other, vividly reflects some specific issues in a real world, like social inequalities, ignorance and passivity of the people" (Macanić 7). Oppression is perhaps the most common and prevalent dystopian theme as it serves as a warning against a highly probable dark future through shedding light on the dark side of contemporary trends such as advanced technology and reality TV-shows .The Capitol 's oppression operates on two levels; districts and individuals. The districts in general and districts 11 and 12 in particular have suffered great injustices at the ruthless hands of the Capitol ; however, there is no greater injustice than The Hunger Games themselves not only are the people of Panem forced to surrender their children as tributes for the Capitol 's citizens viewing pleasure for a crime they had no hand in committing ,but they are also forced to watch helplessly as their children are killed in the most brutal of manners .In Catching Fire (2009) , President Snow decrees that " the male and female tributes will be reaped from their existing pool of victors" in order to get rid of Katniss once and for all ,and to further assert the Capitol 's dominance and quell any thoughts of rebellion(172).

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A few of the ways the government will manipulate and distract its people are by the development of a clever social hierarchy system and the believable techniques of propaganda. The totalitarian governments created in George Orwell's 1984 and Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games are very comparable when it comes to the rigid social structure to maintain control and power over its citizens. The social hierarchy developed in the novel The Hunger Games, begins with a leader figure of the nation Panem: President Snow. He runs the futuristic Capitol which lords over all the other twelve districts and portrays economic dominance over Panem.

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The hunger games by Suzanne Collins is typically called a dystopian novel. Since it sheds the light upon a utopian society that is controlled by the government. A society that is fooled by the totalitarian government of the Capitol in order to maintain power, and prevent the uprising of the Districts.that authority is practiced by making people from the districts live in a dehumanized state using another form of dystopia which is propaganda for the reason that they showed them the penalty of disobedience. Another characteristic of a dystopian society that we can see in the novel are keeping the players during the games under surveillance at all times, and everywhere. The last thing that make "The Hunger Games" a supreme example of a dystopian society is the fact that freedom is restricted by forcing the families from the districts to send their kids to death, also known as the hunger games.

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Peeta Mellark, one of the main characters in the book The Hunger Games, once said, “ My nightmares are usually about losing you. But I am okay once I realise your here.” The novelis about two teens from each district in the country Panem being selected to be in the Hunger Games, a reality TV show that requires them to fight to the death. Over the course of the novel, the two main characters, Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark, develop romantic feelings for each other.

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