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Similarities Between American Psycho And The Hunger Games

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Power's corrupting nature has been a constant theme in literature, with authors exploring how individuals can become consumed by their thirst for power, leading to moral degradation. The portrayal of the corrupting effect of power in two popular novels, The American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis and The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, will be compared and contrasted in this essay. Bret Easton Ellis' work “American Psycho” and Suzanne Collins' novel “The Hunger Games” both portray the corrupting nature of power in their respective civilizations, where the quest of power pushes individuals to perform horrific deeds, ultimately leading to their collapse. The corrupting nature of power is brought up through; Patrick Bateman’s acts and his similarities …show more content…

His desire for dominance drives him to conduct heinous acts of violence, such as murder and torture. As he sinks deeper into his own craziness, his thirst for power consumes him, causing him to lose contact with reality and ultimately lead to his demise. According to Bateman, "I had all the characteristics of a human being—flesh, blood, skin, hair—but my depersonalization was so intense, had gone so deep, that my normal ability to feel compassion had been eradicated" (Ellis, 1991, p. 24). Similarly, President Snow, the major antagonist in The Hunger Games, is a corrupt leader who retains power by fear and oppression. He organizes the yearly Hunger Games, in which children from several districts are forced to fight to the death for the entertainment of Capitol people. Snow's passion with power drives him to commit heinous acts of violence in order to keep his power at any cost. As he tells Katniss Everdeen, "You know, my dear, it's entirely within my power to destroy you" (Collins, 2008, p. …show more content…

He attends extravagant parties, snorts cocaine, and conducts heinous acts of violence against individuals he thinks to be weaker than him. Bateman's thirst for power drives him to lose touch with reality and engage in more violent behavior. "I just want to have a meaningful relationship with someone special," he tells one of his victims. Someone I can relate to. "Someone with whom I can share my life" (Ellis, 1991, p. 326). However, The Capitol maintains power over the oppressed districts in The Hunger Games by holding annual Hunger Games in which children are forced to fight to the death. The Games aim to remind the districts of their weakness in the face of the Capitol's rule. The ruling elite uses its influence to keep control over the masses by manipulating and abusing them. According to Katniss, "the Capitol's control is like a virus, infecting everything with its poison" (Collins, 2008, p.

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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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(Shusterman 162). This journal entry by Scythe Goddard perfectly summarizes all points of believing that he himself believes he is better than everyone else, he doesn’t care for empathy or morals, and is a stone-cold killer. Hunger Games takes a different approach. Instead of displaying the theme by showing a character kills because he craves bloodshed, it shows characters who don’t value life and see death as entertainment through the Gamemakers and Capitol. After the games, after 22 kids died brutally, the capitol prep team has nothing to say, no consoling words to Katniss after weeks of torture, besides that they “Just had my eyebrows dyed!”

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He feels no remorse or doesn’t stop to consider his actions, only acting out of impulse and satisfying his drive for savagery, which has only grown stronger from the beginning of the

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President Snow is the President at the capital, in the movie, The Hunger Games. President Snow was in favor of having 24 innocent people battle to the death, and only 1 person would be able to survive. President Snow believed that the reason they had a winner of the hunger games, was because of hope. ”hope is stronger than fear.” President Snow does not always make it clear why he does the things

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The quotation “The hunger games are a reminder of what happens when we rebel against the capitol" implements foreshadowing to postulate that rebelling against the capitol is a heinous and dangerous act that will result in severe consequences. The Hunger Games themselves serve as a metaphor for the consequences of defying a totalitarian government. This statement underscores the significance of the games to the capitol in maintaining control over the districts. The game serves as a warning to anyone who attempts to invoke or confront the capitol, or even goes against the capitol's rules. The use of foreshadowing and symbolism emphasises the importance of obedience and the consequences of rebellion which is dystopian behaviour.

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350 Words | 2 Pages

In the Hunger Games the Capitol, led by President Snow is behind the brutal competition that took place annually, one boy and one girl are selected from each twelve districts and our sent to fight to the death. President Snow holds a tyrannical dictatorship which places the power in the people, the majority of whom makes the decisions. He holds total political and economic dominance over panem which is enforcing capital punishment and nuclear devastation. The Capital puts on the Hunger Games world wide to the twelve districts to the Capitol’s power and entertainment. President Snow is a powerful president creating a negative effect on

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427 Words | 2 Pages

Patrick Bateman’s acts of violence are a projection of the capitalist society he resides in, Bateman is essentially America society, and the violence he inflicts on those he believes to be a lower social class than himself because of their gender, social status, race or sexuality, by inflicting this violence he believes he is helping restore American society when in fact it becomes increasingly more evident that he is just oppressing those who are already oppressed by society, those who were not born into this “yuppie culture” of extreme consumerist values. In the world of the rich man, Ellis emphasises the damage of the desires of the “yuppies” of Wall Street particularly on the social underclasses, through the use of irony throughout American Psycho in order to present the social injustices created by Capitalism, while ridiculing Bateman and others, Ellis shows the violent and dehumanizing side

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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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The twelve districts in theory should view the Hunger Games as the necessary tool that keeps Panem from uprising and self-destruction, however, the reception of the Games in the really poor districts clearly shows that the Capitol cannot reform them to think so. Statistically, the poor districts are always the most likely to lose one year’s competition because they lack resources to train tributes and their children are starving. Therefore, the response to the Hunger Games in the poor districts who are on the brink of starvation is the most dramatic. Citizens of districts such as 11 and 12 can only view the Games as injustice because once a child is chosen at the Reaping he or she is evidently doomed to die. There are rare exceptions as the

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1910 Words | 8 Pages

On analyzing the novel "The Hunger Games", we would be able to understand that it is clever satire of Western manias like fashion, reality television shows and the cult of celebrity. The main source of power that has been dealt in the novel is the authorities of the totalitarian government of the Capitol, though Capitol holds almost all the wealth of Panem and was able to control the lives of the people in all the districts. The Hunger Games had been designed in such a way as an ultimate display of power that has been held by the government and also to warn the plebs against rebellion. Every citizen of Panem is destined to be the pawn in an elaborate game of life and death. Though only one contestant could win the Games, all the tributes were forced to slay other corrival from other districts and also one from their own district.

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938 Words | 4 Pages

Exploitation and intimidation of others to achieve personal goals is considered greed and inhuman acts. All the characters in the novel American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis, demonstrate the theme of greed at one point. The constant desires for money and power are shown through Patrick Bateman’s power dominance of women during sexual intercourse. Although he paid the women money, but he forced them to the point that it is abuse. This greed is especially shown as he is trying obtain power through his rape of women.

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For the participants of the Hunger Games, they are unwillingly required to murder all other competitors in hopes of being the sole tribute who makes it out alive. The Capitol is eagerly watching the death match on television, enjoying the thrill of the games. The government’s attempt of controlling the districts using the Hunger Games obliges all contestants to brutally murder one another without a second thought, while the wealthy enjoy viewing the death match, unaware of the inhumanness of the process. Thus, the totalitarian governments in both Divergent and The Hunger Games instill desensitization to extreme violence among the population. The use of violence to maintain control over society creates a cruel tension among the citizens, dehumanizing their discernment of

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827 Words | 4 Pages

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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2018 Words | 9 Pages

Along with a cabinet of Capitol members with President Snow who assist him with his intelligent governing. The utopian Capitol is very equipped with highly advanced technology and is where all the outrageous, wealthy people live. Their sense of fashion and choice of life is very unique by the varieties of hair and skin colours, creative makeup, and the strange things they choose to dress up in. Districts 1, 2, and 4 are more wealthy than the others and are considered the Capitol’s lap dogs. They are mainly labeled Career Tributes who happily volunteer for the Hunger Games

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780 Words | 4 Pages

Unable or making it really difficult to manage life and feedstocks, while those living in the capitol are free with an easy going life. Such power is capable of controlling those living in the district, making them fight for power while they watch for personal entertainment, “This is the capitol's way of reminding us, now totally we are at their mercy”. Another example of the capitol's power is that “Each district must nominate one boy and one girl for this years annual hunger games; control over the people, denial is something impossible for those living in the district. The freedom of the people

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