The Hunger Games And The Knife Of Never Letting Go

“When you see corruption being rewarded and honesty becoming a self-sacrifice, you may know that your society is doomed.” A quote by famous 1900s author Ayn Rand. Displaying an idea is just as evident in dystopian literature today as it was 100 years ago. Written in the 1900s, The Lottery by Shirley Jackson and The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas by Ursula LeGuin interconnect with texts from the early 21st century, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and The Knife of Never Letting go, through the themes of utilitarianism, sacrifice as capitol control and tradition.

The theme of tradition is displayed in the text, The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins. An annual tradition called The Hunger Games takes place within this dystopian world. Twenty-four

These chosen participants are called tributes; they are to fight to the death until only one victor remains. Orchestrated by The Capitol, The Hunger Games serve as a punishment to all district citizens of Panem for the defiance and rebellion once shown against authority. Often tributes are resentful towards this tradition, Peeta Mlark, a District 12 tribute in the 74th annual Hunger Games, expressed, “Only I keep wishing I could think of a way to show The Capitol they don't own me…. That I'm more than just a piece in their Games.” Peeta expresses the indestructible nature of The Hunger Games tradition through this statement. He knows his fate is inevitable and that there is no escape from entering the games. He emphasises The Capitol's views on these children, who are no more than objects that provide entertainment for the wealthy masses. It is a tradition that cannot break, and attempts to do so would have fatal repercussions for tributes’ families. Similarly, in The Lottery by Shirley Jackson, tradition is depicted by the annual lottery. Every year on the 27th of June, the town's 300 inhabitants gather together in

In the pursuit of a better harvest in the summer. They blindly yet faithfully follow this tradition as it is ingrained within their ancestry. The amnesia surrounding this tradition is evident in the following quotation, “Although the villagers had forgotten the ritual and lost the original black box, they still remembered to use stones.” This quotation shows the power of this tradition. The citizens of this small village mindlessly follow this tradition as they fear the consequences of challenging it. They have no evidence that this tradition works, or if it ever has, only that their ancestors have done it for centuries. Jackson's use of tradition shows the readers that often, in society, we are followers. Following the lead of others and their decisions and opinions, mindlessly like a flock of sheep. We follow these with no context because we don’t want to fit outside the societal ‘normalities,’ Jackson is urging the readers to question others’ choices and challenge the decisions others make for us. Whilst the victims of the lottery paid the ultimate price for their utter blindness to this tradition, we, readers, can learn from the error of their ways. By