In Suzanne Collins’ novel The Hunger Games, Capitol citizens are monsters because they take pleasure in the annual Games, by delighting in each aspect of the annual fight to the death amongst children the Capitol citizens show the danger of a population that blindly follows a cruel, totalitarian leader. Effie Trinket enjoys the Games at the annual Reaping she is “bright and bubbly as ever…[and] trots to the podium and gives her signature, “‘Happy Hunger Games! And may the odds be ever in your favor!’” (Collins 19). Although the Reaping is the moment in which the boy and girl who will enter the arena and a fight to the death are selected. Effie enjoys the Reaping; she remains “bright and bubbly” and even “trots,” demonstrating that a moment …show more content…
Effie’s behavior shows how a totalitarian leader can infect his people with the same disregard for human life. Like Effie, the general populace of the Capitol views the moments leading up to the Games as exciting rather than tragic, according to Katniss, the citizens of the Capitol view the children from the districts as “a new shipment of tributes to roll in and die for their entertainment” (65). At the Parade of Tributes, the people of the Capitol “are going nuts, showing [Peeta and Katniss] with flowers…” (70). These examples illustrate that the citizens of the Capitol view the traditions leading up to the Games as exciting, citizens view the Games, which mean death for all but one of the Tributes, as just that: a game. Because they lead idle lives centered on the annual bloodbaths, and delight in the fanfare surrounding the Games, such as the initial Parade of Tributes; Capitol citizens demonstrate a disregard for the lives of the Tributes and their selfish concern only with their own enjoyment, even at the expense of someone else’s life. Even worse than the citizens’ celebration of the events leading up to the Games, though, is their participation in gambling about the Games; since gambling indicates a higher level of treating people