The Hunger Games Cultural Analysis
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.
Life is overfilled with messages, like weeds in a sea in unmaintained grass. Whether it’s warning a person, or pointing out a flaw; these little lessons are there to further grow the positive parts of that person’s personality. A simple demonstration of this is To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. An old, children’s book serving no meaningingful purpose is what it may seem, nevertheless, it actually is a novel that offers a unique outtake on all aspects of human life. In the book, two children Jem and Scout, who learn about equality, racism, and social class through court cases, tea parties and more.
“The Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins is a suspenseful and frightening story about a 16 year old girl, Katniss everdeen who is born into a small village called District 12. The capitol, which controls the districts hosts an annual Hunger Games each and every year. Two tributes, a boy and a girl from each district are chosen between the ages of 12-18 to compete against 22 other tributes, but only one can win. Katniss is not chosen, but her younger sister Prim is chosen at only 12 years old. Katniss volunteers in Prim 's place and is now in the hunger games.
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.
The Hunger Games is a film series that was based off the novels written by Suzanne Collins. It stars Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen, Josh Hutcherson as Peeta Mellark, and Liam Hemsworth as Gale Hawthorne. The Hunger Games (2012) was the first movie in the series followed by Catching Fire (2013), Mockingjay - Part 1 (2014), and then ending with Mockingjay - Part 2 (2015). The Hunger Games is the 15th highest-grossing film franchise of all time, having grossed over US$2.9 billion worldwide. This film is an American dystopian science fiction adventure (The Hunger Games (film)).
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.
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).
The theme of the dystopian novel The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins is survival. Katniss Everdeen is the epitome of this theme; her disposition luckily possesses all of the attributes needed to survive. Katniss displays the theme of survival because she is resourceful, has integrity, and has perseverance. One trait of Katniss's that helps project the story's theme of survival is her resourcefulness.
There are several themes in the book, each one has a significant meaning to the storyline. The first symbol that describes the theme of abuse of power is government control. The reason that they hold the Hunger Games is because it is a dystopian society and most of the districts are poor and the capitol likes it because it keeps them entertained just because they believe that they are superior to everyone else who lives outside the capitol. To explain this more into detail, the government controls all the districts and all the districts have to follow the rules or else there is a serious punishment.
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.
Responsibility is key to survival in The Hunger Games because you must be responsible and careful before making a decision that depends on your life. “The price of greatness is responsibility.” (Winston Churchill) In The Hunger Games, two tributes, one male and one female under the age of eighteen, must leave their district to go and compete in The Hunger Games. While in the games all twenty-four tributes must fight to the death to entertain their Capital city.
Dystopian novels and movies always have “identity” as one of their central themes and plays a pivotal role in the characters story. In Suzanne Collins’, The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen’s identity is profoundly transformed by her experience in the Games. Firstly, she deals with her identity as a human being under the control of the Capitol. Secondly, she struggles with a conflicting identity. Finally, she shows difficulty with coming to terms with the person she will inevitably become if she wins the Games.
The famous Roman orator and senator Publius Tacitus once wrote that “the more the laws, the more corrupt the government.” A corrupt system always tries to put restrictions and create laws in order to ensure that their power as an authority is not in danger of being disregarded. In Suzanne Collins’ renowned novel The Hunger Games, the Capitol is a corrupt system in Panem because it abuses its powers to control the citizens. It does so by forcing restrictions on the freedom of the people, favoring the rich and imposing harsh punishments.
The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins tells a story about a girl whose bravery changed the way people thought about their world. The three grueling challenges that the main character, Katniss Everdeen, had faced show what I believe to be challenging. The first challenge that I have chosen was when Katniss had to provide for her family by hunting in the woods for food. My second challenge that I have chosen was when Katniss and Rue began to form a bond during the games. My third challenge that I have chosen was when Katniss offered the Nightlock berries to Peeta.
It aims at resisting traditional assumptions of gender (3). In doing so, feminist literary criticism examines how works of literature perpetuate or challenge patriarchal attitudes. In feminism lens, The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins’ presents itself as a pro-feminist series It challenges gender stereotypes by presenting a female protagonist; Katniss Everdeen. The book has successfully challenged gender stereotypes by showing that men and women are equal. It is the societal constraints that do not provide a level playing field for both genders.
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