Imagine living in a country that is essentially a dystopia, every minute you are controlled by a government that is constantly punishing you for a rebellion that occurred almost a decade ago. This country is comprised of 13 districts, one of which was completely demolished when the rebellion occurred, and in each district, the people are forced into slave labor, working to give the upper class a highly privileged life. The upper class of this country all live in the Capitol, the region that controls the districts and is also home to the government. Every year the government forcefully sends two people from each district, one man and one woman, to fight to the death in a televised event to serve as a reminder of what happened during the rebellion and that the Capitol controls everyone. This battle royale between the district citizens is known as....
The Hunger Games.
The book trilogy that has recently taken the pop culture scene by storm is based on this very country, called 'Panem' located in future North America. Panem's dystopian society uses the Hunger Games so that the upper class can find entertainment through the death of the lower class district citizens. The protagonist of this story is Katniss Everdeen, a citizen from district 12 that is strong, intelligent, and has gone through many hardships brought down on her from the government just like every other citizen. Her adventure starts when she volunteers to go into the dangerous hunger games in order to save her younger sister from going in. Katniss doesn't realize it, but her being put into the hunger games ends up being the best thing to ever happen to the 13 districts of Panem. Due to a sequence of specific events, plenty of symbolic moments, and a country filled with restless citizens who eventually all fall in love with Katniss during her time in the hunger games results in a building sense of rebellion towards the Capitol among the districts.
The Hunger Games book, and the two books that follow after bring about some very unique symbolic representations, if you have not read the books then this post may be a little hard to follow, but the symbolic representations mentioned should be familiar.
The Rebellion:
The people that live in the 13 districts work very hard to supply goods to the Capitol and the almighty government of Panem, but the people reap no benefits from their hard work. Their lives are also governed by the Capitol in that they get rationed food, are not allowed to wear nice clothing, not allowed to leave the fenced-in district, and have to abide by strict laws, rules, and restrictions. All of these factors are almost identical to the conditions of the original 13 colonies in America. The colonies were governed by the distant tyrannical British Empire and their lives were devoted to supplying the British with goods, living by their rules, and not getting the benefits from their hard work. The colonies ended up getting their freedom from the British through a rebellion, and with such similar conditions, it seems that the districts of Panem are on the verge of rebellion too... Wouldn't you say so?
Suicide:
During Katniss's time in the hunger games, she engages in a fake "love" with Peeta, the other hunger games tribute from her district, dubbing them the 'Star Crossed Lovers' of Panem. This love catches the emotions of the districts citizens and makes them all completely engaged in her and Peeta's lives, hoping so badly that they live. These two end up being the only two left, and rather than killing one or the other, Katniss and Peeta decide to attempt a double suicide by eating poisonous berries. An act of rebellion that would leave the Capitol with no victor, and the districts with outraged emotions of hatred toward the Capitol because their beloved heroes were dead. They wanted to attempt this act of suicide in order to completely defeat the purpose of the hunger games, and they did, because they were stopped before they could commit suicide and were allowed to both live. Romeo and Juliet anyone? Sounds familiar to me...
Allegory? Food = Wealth
All of the districts and their citizens live a life that is in the shadow of the districts. They don't have big meals, nice clothes, luxurious lifestyles, or anything that represents wealth. When Katniss is put into the hunger games, she is taken into the Capitol in order to prepare for the big televised event. During her preparation she is giving extravagant meals, beautiful clothing, breathtaking makeup, and a lifestyle unimaginable in the district. During all of this she comes to realize the horrible ideology that the Capitol has placed on the 12 districts. Her exposure to a luxurious lifestyle became the backbone to her wanting to destroy the Capitol because she was revealed to what life was like outside of her home. She quotes in the book, "What must it be like, I wonder, to live in a world where food appears at the press of a button? How would I spend the hours I now commit to combing the woods for sustenance if it were so easy to come by?" In Panem, food is the divider between the rich, and the poor.
Reality Television
The Hunger Games is reality television, and it is the ONLY television that the district citizens watch for that matter. This reality show is similar to ours in some ways, but it is different in many ways as well. The Hunger Games is about teenagers... yes teenagers fighting to the death, it isn't about a bachelor living in a mansion with 20 women, or 6 overly ridiculous New Jersey natives, or a handful of housewives with nothing else to do but cause drama and be scandalous. This type of reality television is much deeper, it involves well-known and well-liked young adults killing each other because they are forced to. But even amidst this killing, there is still the question as to what is real and what isn't. Our reality television is for the most part, not actually reality, and is very much fake. The hunger games holds an element of this as well, particularly in Katniss's fake 'star-crossed lovers' act she had with Peeta throughout the entirety of the games. The tributes in the games are forced to feel like they need to put on a 'show' and Katniss even thinks constantly about how she has to hide her emotions because she is always on camera. The televised Hunger Games hold different meanings to the people of the Capitol, and the people of the districts as well. In the Capitol, the games are EVERYTHING to them, and they all absolutely are in love with the games. While the districts hate them, and see the games as one of the worst things in their lives. The people in the Capitol and the people of the districts don't realize the difference in what type of impact the games have on each other though. So it makes me wonder, is the gap between televised entertainment and human brutality and death closing? I think that the author is trying to point out that it might be...
All in all, the Hunger Games trilogy allows for a great read full of intense, nail-biting, edge of your seat can't put the book down moments. The symbolism throughout is brilliant, and the trials and tribulations that the protagonist (Katniss) has to go through make the reader want to constantly cheer her on in hopes that the Capitol and Panem will someday be obliterated. A piece of literature about a dystopian society that absolutely should be picked up because it offers some great themes and lessons, plus who doesn't enjoy a book that involves a one-on-one winner-take-all death match? If anything else you should read the first book due to the fact that the movie is currently in theaters and we all know the book is always better than the movie...
