Examples Of Injustice In The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games is a well-known book written by Suzanne Collins. A dystopian society is a futuristic, imagined world that has the illusion of a perfect world. In the book, Panem is a dystopian society. It is a dystopian society because it is futuristic, it has constant surveillance, and it exaggerates worst case scenarios

Suzanne Collins, the author of The Hunger Games, imagines a world where people are divided by district just like the real world does with the high, middle, low classes. This book is full of themes, literary devices and also talks about how the government — in this case the Capitol — oppresses their citizens.

Corruption is a fraudulent behaviour that occurs excessively in the world of Suzanne Colin's novel, "The Hunger Games". Furthermore, this form of activity takes place most often in the Capitol. It's difficult to say if the capitol is corrupted or not, however many believe that the capital is doing what they must to survive. Citizens of the capitol do radiate a form of corruption over power. The capitol is undeniably corrupt and advantageous. Three meaningful reasons that corroborate to the contention are: The totalitarian government of Panem is noticeably corrupted because of the drastic differences in the treatment of its citizens. Secondly, the capitol forces voyeurism to symbolise authority and power, to grasp obedience from the districts. Thirdly, the future of the districts will be non-existent if the Capitol continues to make them pay sacrificial benefits with their respective citizens. These reasons noticeably state one of Suzanne Collins most prioritised morals. Too much power leads to corruption.

Much of the Hunger Games is centered around portraying a certain image, or identity if you will. The capital manipulates the weaknesses in their society and in their people to create an identity of unity and nationalism through the way they present the games to the districts of Panem. This idea of appearing to be one thing but really being another is ingrained in the society of Panem. District 12, in particular, maintains this image of complacency for the sake of survival, and Katniss is no exception to this.

The Hunger Games, the movie, was adapted from the popular young adult novel by Suzanne Collins. The Hunger Games is sometimes described as another cliche love story for which the young adult genre is infamous. Despite appearances, The Hunger Games illustrates a complex and creative dystopian world with a much deeper underlying message, including topics such as, politics, history, and celebrity worship. The setting appears to be a futuristic version of America. This future America is very classist, and the tyrannical government is sure to keep the classes divided by heavily oppressing the working class. The working class is divided into twelve districts, which used to be thirteen districts until the thirteenth district was annihilated as a result of its uprising. In response to the thirteenth district’s resistance, the President created a game called “The Hunger Games” in an effort to instill obedience in the remaining twelve districts. Through the course of the movie, we learn that “The Hunger Games” are not only a mechanism to force obedience on the working class, but also to serve as entertainment for the elite society who live in the Capitol. The Games require 24 randomly selected children from the working class districts to fight to the death in an elaborately staged battle, all of which is filmed and broadcasted to the entire nation, working class and elite alike. Thesis: The Hunger Games, the movie, has a hauntingly feasible storyline and clear references to real

Firstly, “The Hunger Games” is set in a futuristic period where war and rebellion have caused a serious problem with the development of society (or its progress). Basically, in the Hunger Games Universe, both men and women are thrown into a situation where the success of their families and hereditary lineages is based solely off of social status. Even in the beginning of the movie, it is made clear that people from differing districts cannot simply make normal exchanges and social interactions with each other due to the cruel and brutal nature of the social bar that was raised extremely high off the bat. In other words, in order to be viewed as successful in the Hunger Games universe, one must be in an elevated social class position so as to be respected and accepted by the upper-class members of society (those members being the men and women fortunate enough to be located in districts one, two, or three). This fact is highlighted in the scene where Peeta graciously gives Katniss a purposefully burnt loaf of bread in order to help her feed herself and her family alike. However, Peeta gets beaten for his act of kindness by his mother because bread is seen as the only way to efficiently make a stamp or impact in the society in which they found themselves living in. Therefore, food and clothing were always in high demand due to their value in making connections with

The dystopian genre makes parallels between the fabricated society and actual society. The reality TV element of the games demonstrates the link between the society of Panem and our society. From child beauty pageants to a rich family that no one knows why is famous, these shows are watched by many in today's society. People forget that these people are real and living their own lives compared to the “scripted” TV shows with paid actors. Capitol dwellers are obsessed with their image, making body modifications to look young and to stay in trend. This aspect of the novel makes a comment on plastic surgery and image in today’s society (Frade, 2014). The use of the hunger games as a social event shows that Capitol views the people in the districts as lesser individuals and are willing to watch people die for their entertainment. The games are watched “At homes and community halls around the country, every television set is turned on. Every citizen of Panem is tuned in” (Collins, 2008, p. 124). There is a disconnection from the people in the Capitol and the children fighting in the games. To the Capitol, those children are just part of an elaborate game, but for the Districts, those children are daughters, sons, brothers, and sisters. The view of humans as lesser individuals can be translated into society today. The top 1% of the population that control most of the wealth have power over the individuals that have less money. The Capitol is comparable to the top 1% and the Districts are comparable to the rest of the world. The geographical aspect of

Katniss Everdeen shares in Thoreau’s beliefs and has a strong hatred towards the government in which she lives under. The government she lives under, led by the Capitol, is a totalitarian government. They are very cruel and they attempt to control every aspect of the people’s lives. Katniss says, “Taking the kids from our districts, forcing them to kill one another while we watch--this is the Capitol’s way of reminding us how totally we are at their mercy” (Collins 17). This shows just how controlling and intimidating the government of her society is. Katniss expresses her hate for the Capitol when she says, “It’s the Capitol I hate, for doing this to all of us” (Collins 166). Katniss hates the government and how they operate, just as Thoreau and other transcendentalists do.

In The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins expresses two themes. The first one is that we can’t let the government use their power to treat, and use people like they want, they are oppressing them. “At one o’clock, we head of the square. Attendance is mandatory unless you are on deaths door. This evening, officials will come around and check to see if this is the case. If not you will be imprisoned.” (Collins, 16) we can see that the Capitol forces the people to participate in the reaping by threatening them. “When I was younger, I scared my mother to death, the things I would blurt out about District 12, about the people who rule our country, Panem, from the far-off city called the Capitol. Eventually I understood this would only lead us to

It is not said but possibly assumed that this was done to keep the district from rising up together. In order for the government to justify the Hunger Games, it keeps its minor districts in a constant state or poverty, requiring the children to take food rations in return for having their name entered in the lottery. Each ration counts your name once and if your name is called, you must enter the Games and fight your fellow district members to the death (2008). These acts while claiming they promote courage, honor, and determination in its citizens and participants do nothing more but enforce the submissiveness and loyalty of the society. Through both of these things, the American values of activity and work and efficiency and practicality (2003) are the only ones that survive to our grandchildren’s generation. That is unless you find racism and group superiority to be a valid type of value. It does not seem that in any state that education, democracy, equality, progress, or freedom (2003) are even thought of let alone key to the running of the society.

The Hunger Games is about a teenager named Katniss Everdeen. She lives in a place called Panem. In Panem, there’s the capitol and 12 districts. The president and Capitol citizens live in the capitol. All the districts contribute something to the capitol like food, or power, and in return, the capitol gives the district's security. Katniss lives in district 12. District 12 provides coal but is also the poorest district. Everyone lives off of small animals they can catch. In order to survive, Katniss hunts on illegal land to provide for her mom and her sister, Prim. Every year the Capitol holds an event called the Hunger Games. The Hunger Games is were two tributes from each district come to an arena and

The Hunger Games promotes the idea of a total government control. The Capitol controls everything that the twelve districts do. The world of Panem is divided into 12 districts where each district has its own role to fulfill from luxury to coal mining. "Taking the kids from our districts, forcing them to kill one another while we watch. This is the Capitol's way of reminding us how totally we are at their mercy" (Collins 18). This shows that the districts all pay a yearly sacrifice to the Capitol in the form of tributes. Another of showing that the Games is a dystopian society is that any evidence of an act of rebellion will result in the government having to kill anyone who gets in their way. "Look how he take your children and sacrifice them there is nothing you can do. If you lift a finger, we will destroy every last one of you. Just as we did in District 13" (18).

“Then came the Dark Days, the uprising of the districts against the Capitol. Twelve defeated the thirteenth obliterate” (Collins 18). The Capitol used their power and technology they had to defeat the districts, soon after the Capitol created the Hunger Games in order to take control of the districts and punish them for their rebellion.

For thousands of years, governments have been oppressing their people. Although their reasons for doing so may have been different, the outcomes were all the same: a revolt of the people. There are many examples of this throughout history, such as in the French Revolution and the American Revolution. The Hunger Games, a tale of a dystopian society filled with maltreatment by “The Capitol,” displays the path to insurrection triggered by the mounting cases of misery brought on by their government, that was attacking lower classes of people. By using common themes of oppression and rebellion found throughout history, The Hunger Games is a striking example of how repression by government will eventually lead to a revolt of the people.

While it is perceived that The Hunger Games is about action and romance, there is a deeper meaning behind this well-known movie. The movie is essentially about a nation, Panem, that has been divided between rich and poor. The rich lived in the Capitol and the poor lived in the twelve districts. In the beginning of the movie, the upper class is shown to be dominant and superior. However, as the movie goes on, the lower classes begin to rebel in order to make their voices heard and to not be looked down upon any longer.