The Hunger Games: A Dystopian Society

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

In life there is always some sort of violence and there always seems to be a good and a bad side. The Hunger Games, directed by Gary Ross is a movie about 24 tributes fighting to the death for the Hunger Games crown. The prize is riches, fame and freedom from ever having to physically fight in the arena again. It is a game of violence, ferocity, and blood, and only one tribute can win. Even though stories often have a Battle between Good and Evil, it is Katniss’s internal conflict confronting her own good and evil that portrays humanity with a longing for destruction, violent inclination, and sense of separation.

In the history of cinema, most movies involving a hero 's journey involve mostly the same plot; man gets a call, goes on a journey, gets in a battle or two, and saves the helpless woman from some evil source. The Hunger Games has the same plot as other hero films, but takes a complete turn on the actor encompassing the hero. The hero in this film is a Katniss Everdeen, a poor girl from a dystopian society. In this film Katniss volunteers for her sister to be in the Hunger Games, which is an event where individuals are thrown into an arena where people from twelve districts fight each other to the death for entertainment. Katniss must win the hunger games and make it back to her family. Katniss eventually befriends Peta and they defeat all obstacles and win the Hunger Games together. The Hunger Games is a perfect example of a hero 's journey plot. It follows the steps that any hero journey movie would, including the call, crossing the threshold, a supreme ordeal, companions and mentors, a transformation and the end gift. This film encompasses the classic hero journey plot, with an exception of having a strong female lead instead of male.

However, forcing Districts to give up their resources isn’t enough for the the Capital. It demands the Districts to surrender one boy and one girl to go into the annual Hunger Games, an annual fight to the death, in order to prevent all out war. Katniss, the main character in the book, ends up being part of the Hunger Games alongside Peeta. Katniss then has to fight for her life because only one victor is allowed by the Capital. Because of this situation in the book, conformity and civil disobedience play a huge role in the Hunger Games.

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

I chose to the modern mythology known as The Hunger Games a novel written by Suzanne Collins and later adapted into a feature film. The novel was actually part of a trilogy The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay. The story begins by introducing you to our main character Katniss Everdeen who lives in a world run by the Capitol where President Snow resides and has enforced a form of martial law on all 13 districts. Every year the Capitol hosts their annual Hunger Games which is a form of entertainment for the Capitol. Out of every district two tributes, one boy and one girl will be picked to participate in the Hunger Games which is a battle to the death. Whichever tribute manages to survive till the end will be rewarded by getting to stay in the capitol and their district will be given more food and supplies. The reason Katniss becomes a part of the games is because her little sister prim is chosen during the reaping to be the tribute so Katniss hearing her sisters name volunteers as tribute to save her sisters life but she tries to win the games for her district and to provide for them. The only problem is she finds it hard to murder the other tributes because they are all so young and she doesn’t see why she must kill them for the Capitols entertainment.

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

In the article “Why Young Adults 'Hunger' For the Hunger Games and Other Post-Apocalyptic Dystopian Fiction” Debra Donston-Miller states that dystopian and post-apocalyptic fiction is very popular among young adults as it is so cleverly expressed by the title. Miller suggests that this popularity is due to “a deep-seated social need or anxiety”. Young adults feel they relate to some extent, in the sense that there is pressure on them to define themselves. Personally I agree with Miller because I have read divergent and there is a sort of gnawing at the back of my head that the protagonist and I were not that different. Granted, I’m not fighting for my life like said protagonist, but the reminder to define one’s self to fit into society is there.

For example, in the novel Katniss insults the government, “ Taking kids from our districts, forcing them to kill another while we watch- this is the Capitol's way of reminding us how we are at their mercy.” (Collins, pg.18) The deaths in the game are a lesson to the people and their price to pay. There is little people can do because the authority, the government, thinks it is fair punishment and has total control. In addition, Katniss explains, “...The Capitol requires us to treat the Hunger Games as a festivity, a sporting event pitting every district against the others.”(Collins, pg.19) The Hunger Games is entertainment for certain people, it is even called a holiday. Wealthy people from the Capitol sponsor and invest in valuable tributes like athletes. The government and the prominent sponsors are entertained by the competition and the non-supporters have no voice or the ability to

In a not-too-distant, some 74 years, into the future the United States of America has collapsed, weakened by drought, fire, famine, and war, to be replaced by Panem, a country divided into the Capitol and 13 districts. Each year, two young representatives from each district are selected by lottery to participate in The Hunger Games; these children are referred to as tributes (Collins, 2008). The Games are meant to be viewed as entertainment, but every citizen knows their purpose, as brutal intimidation of the subjugated districts. The televised games are broadcasted throughout Panem as the 24 participants are forced to eradicate their competitors, literally, with all citizens required to watch. The main character

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).

The dystopian protagonist that is present in the Hunger Games is Katniss Everdeen. “Finally, I am too restless to even stay in bed. I pace the floor, heart beating too fast, breathing too short. My room feels like a prison cell. I run down hall to the door to the roof. The energy field enclosing the roof prevents any desperate form of escape” (Collins 148) Katniss is often struggling to escape or feels like she’s trap, she knows that she’s a tribute in the hunger games and is afraid that she will never see her family again if she doesn’t come out as the victor. Through Katniss’s perspective you can easily recognize that there is something wrong with the society that she lives in. “ I want to do something, right here, right now, to shame them, to make them accountable, to show the Capitol whatever they do or force us to do there is a part of every tribute they can’t own” (Collins 237). Katniss knows that the Capitol is cruel and wrong for having the hunger games, forcing the tributes to kill one another

The Hunger Games, written by Suzanne Collins, is set in a dystopian country called Panem. This country is split up into twelve districts, and the districts are lead by the Capitol. Annually, the Capitol forces children of the districts to fight in the Hunger Games until only one child is left alive. The Capitol uses the games to show their power and to discourage the people of Panem to start another war. The games are very entertaining to the people of the Capitol, and the whole country is required to watch on television. Even though this seems unusual to enjoy watching children fight to their death, this idea has been around for thousands of years.

In the Hunger Games, one young male and one young female are randomly selected from each District, or town, every year to go into war with one another. Only one of the twenty-four make it back out of the game alive. The mayor announces the chosen ones every year at a ceremony known as the reaping, where he explains the history and purpose of the games. There was a war in the past between the Capitol and the Districts. Since the Capitol won, they hold the Hunger Games in honor of their victory. The story mostly focuses on a specific Hunger Games tribute, Katniss Everdeen, who chose to volunteer for her sister who was originally chosen as tribute. Katniss and District 12’s boy tribute, Peeta, are shipped off to train for the games for a few weeks in order to learn more about how the game is played and how the Capitol actually has a huge hand on who wins depending on their likeability. People who live in the Capitol actually send survival gifts in the games, which is the key to winning.

A dystopia in the 21st Century consists of an unpleasant society that's made to seem as if it were a utopian world, but in reality is quite the opposite because of its unjust laws and rules, oppressive society, and harsh rulers. According to John Adams the word "dystopia" comes from Greek origin meaning literally a "bad place. [2] Dystopian fiction is a literary genre that "explores" political and social structures, usually of a futuristic setting. This genre has grown to be immensely popular, especially in the "Teen" category. The dystopia genre is relatively new as it's less than a century old. The dystopias usually consist of a protagonist going against a system made to seem like a utopia and fighting its oppressive government in hopes of defeating it and freeing themselves along with everyone else.