Joey Wolf
The Hunger Games
The Hunger Games, written by Susan Collins is about what happens when government over expands. There are many themes in the novel. The main themes expressed point to the dangers of an intrusive government. These themes are: control through entertainment, dehumanization to justify inequality, restriction of resources and restriction of information. These are all things that the capital does to its citizens. One of the worst things the capital does to its districts is dehumanization.
“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” (page 18). Imagine living in a world where the only source of entertainment is controlled under a totalitarian government. A world where the regimes ideology of “good television” is forcing twenty-four adolescences to fight to the death and the last man standing is the winner. The dark, twisted ideology of The Hunger Games has become a yearly ritual for the citizens who live within the Districts of Panem. The Hunger Games were established because of the uprising of the Districts against the Capitol (page 18). For the past seventy-five years, Districts One through Twelve have provided one girl and one boy, called tributes to participate in the brutal tournament (page 18). Many individuals from the Districts find these games as a cruel and malicious attempt to seek vengeance from the Districts that had once upraised and rebelled against the Capitol’s order. Though some may feel that the games are appalling, their actions say something completely different. Because of their refusal to challenge or boycott these inhumane games, the morality of Panem as a society seems to be nonexistent when it comes to the lively hood of others in reality television. The acceptance that the country has for The Hunger Games could stem from the fear they have towards their Government. Throughout the novel, the government’s relationship with the twelve Districts is seen and viewed as an unhealthy and corrupt one. After the Dark Days, and the signing of The Treaty of Treason, the Capitol used their powers to abuse and manipulate the citizens of Districts One through Twelve. As a way to humiliate and torment the twelve Districts, the Capitol requires them to treat the Hunger Games as a festivity” ( page 19). Panem’s government system is not run as a democracy as the Capital tells its citizens, but as a dictatorship. One of the ways they justify their treatment of the districts is by dehumanizing the people in the districts.
The Dehumanization of the Districts, is explored through the character Effie Trinket who has many moments where she says or does actions that dehumanize a lower class such as a moment on the train to the Capitol where Katniss sits down to eat dinner and picks up her knife and fork, Effie continues to comment with “At least you two have decent manners, the pair last year ate everyth...
