Essay HUNGER GAMES – Dystopian Literature

Genre: Dystopian literature

Point of view: Katniss Everdeen narrates The Hunger Games as the events of the
novel occur.
The story is told in the first person and recounts the narrator’s personal history and
experiences. The narrator is mostly objective, but on occasion she will imagine what other
characters must be feeling.
Tone · Mostly stoic, but occasionally very emotional
Tone · Mostly stoic, but occasionally very emotional
Tense · Present
Setting (time) · An indeterminate time more than one hundred years in the future
Setting (place) · Panem, the country created after the governments of North America
collapsed
Protagonist · Katniss Everdeen
Major conflict · Katniss must endure numerous deadly ordeals, navigate complex
personal relationships, and learn to control how others perceive her in order to survive the
Hunger Games.
Rising action · After volunteering to take her sister’s place in the Hunger Games,
Katniss has to manage others’ perceptions of her to gain the best strategic advantage possible,
then learn to survive inside the arena.
Climax · Having outlasted the other tributes, Katniss and Peetathreaten suicide rather
than fight one another after a rule change turns them from allies into adversaries.
Falling action · Even though she and Peeta won the Hunger Games, Katniss must try
to assuage the Capitol, which is angry with Katniss for threatening suicide and forcing a
decision they didn’t like.
Themes · The inequality between rich and poor; suffering as entertainment; the
importance of appearances
Motifs · Fire, defiance, hunting
Symbols · Mockingjay, Panem, Katniss’s dresses
Foreshadowing · Katniss demonstrates her ability to hunt and forage in order to
survive; Madge gives Katniss the mockingjay pin; Peeta excels at the camouflage station in
training; Katniss saves the berries that killed Foxface.
 Dystopian literature without a doubt has sealed its place as a prominent genre among
juvenile and adult readers alike. The genre only continues to grow in popularity and diversity.
“Young adult (YA) dystopian literature is a trend that is taking the nation by storm. Since
September 11, 2001, the genre has gained a strong backing from academics, authors, an YA
readers; after Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games (2008), however, YA dystopian literature
has become the forefront of teen reading,” (Ryan 1). However, this popularity among readers
poses the question, what exactly makes this genre so appealing to readers? This may be due to
the relatability of the themes and characteristics common in dystopian literature and how they
reflect the real world. “Constant surveillance, oppressive ruling regimes, lack of freedom, and
forced conformity are all aspects of adolescent life that teenagers deal with on a daily basis,”
(Ryan 2). These themes and conflicts that are prevalent in dystopian literature not only reflect
aspects of life for teenagers but also are implicative of the real world.

To fully comprehend how dystopian literature reflects the real world, one must
understand what a dystopia is; per English instructor Terri Chung of North Seattle Community
College, a dystopia in the literary sense is, “A futuristic, imagined universe in which
oppressive societal control and the illusion of a perfect society are maintained through
corporate, bureaucratic, technological, moral, or totalitarian control.” Despite dystopian
literature taking the conditions of the real world and spinning them to extremes, the themes
and elements present in dystopian societies are still applicable to real-life society. The Hunger
Games and the other books of the trilogy are some of the most popular books in the dystopian
genre, and while this may be largely due to the romantic elements of the story, its success can
also be derived from the relatability of the themes touched on in the story. In the case of The
Hunger Games, these themes include but are not limited to social-class divisions, outlandish
beauty standards and ideals, and ideas of what is considered entertaining in the media.
In the story, the districts are divided based on the good or commodity that they provide for
the
Capitol. The importance of the good a District provides along with simply how close it
is to the Capitol determines the quality of life in that District and the how wealthy its
population is. Although the Capitol likes to push that all the districts are equal, the clear-cut
social-class divisions from district to district are too glaring to gloss over. This drastic division
in the quality of life and the government’s message of equality is an almost obvious nudge at
the state of the real world and touches on the theme of equality versus equity. For example,
right here in America, which claims to be the land of equal opportunity, one can see the
obvious distinctions between places such as Compton and Beverly Hills with the cities having
a per capita income of roughly $13,000 and $85,000 respectively according to the U.S.
Census Bureau. In addition, the gap between the Capitol and the Districts reflects the gap
between the richest one percent and the rest of the population. In an article from BBC News,
Oxfam, a confederation of 19 organizations worldwide in a fight against poverty, “…
calculated that the richest 62 people in the world had as much wealth as the poorest half of the
global population.”

In The Hunger Games, the people of the Capitol are described as having outlandish
features about them cosmetic-wise. For example, one of Katniss’ two stylists, Venia, is
described as having, “… aqua hair and gold tattoos above her eyebrows.” The citizens of the
Capitol are always changing their facial and body features to match the newest Capitol trends
even to the point of going through body modification procedures to keep up with these trends
and be considered beautiful, handsome, etc. However, not just in the story but also in the real-
world people are willing to go to great ends to keep up with all the latest beauty trends; this
includes purchasing products or performing actual body modification procedures all for the
sake of being considered pretty. Additionally, in the weeks leading up to the actual Games, the
tributes are put through a thorough cleaning and grooming process and are dressed up in the
fanciest Capitol wear even though they are about to be sent to their deaths. This reflects
today’s society because people of all ages today still spend vast sums of money on beauty
products and body modification procedures; in fact, the beauty and cosmetics market is worth
about $62 billion as of 2016 per MarketResearch.com. Nevertheless, things get worse than
just over-indulging in cosmetics and beauty products in the Capitol and in reality.

Although a group of 24 teenage children are being sent to their imminent deaths, the
citizens of the Capitol view the Hunger Games as nothing more than a show; the Capitol
simply shrugs it off and chalks the practice up to sport. This twisted sense of what is
considered entertainment, while not quite exhibited to this degree in real life, can be seen
easily in today’s media. Television broadcasts such as UFC, where opponents brutally beat
down each other in a bloody brawl, and almost every reality television show, in which people
draw entertainment from the drama and conflict in famous people’s lives, can be seen all too
clearly in today’s society. In an article discussing the negative effects of reality television on
adolescents, a Penn State Psychology student wrote, “Several adolescent televisions shows
these days are full of fun, partying, fighting, and drama. Many of these shows can be
categorized as reality television shows.” Another aspect of the games in relation to television
is the tributes having to put on acts (e.g. Katniss and Peeta’s love) in order to get sponsors to
increase their chances to live in the Games. This reflects the wave of adolescents today that
think that they can “make it big” by simply doing something over-the-top and crazy to get
discovered and become famous overnight. While it is a means of survival in The Hunger
Games, in the real world it leads to undriven children who aren’t willing to really work for
anything because they’re holding out for their “big break.

In conclusion, several of the themes and principles of dystopian societies can be

related back to the real world. Issues faced in dystopian societies are issues faced by not only
young adults but people of all ages, albeit not quite to the same extent as in dystopian
literature. In The Hunger Games, themes such as social class divisions, beauty standards, and
ideas of entertainment are all present in today’s society, and this relatability is part of what
makes the book series so successful. Perhaps this is where the allure of dystopian literature
stems from, people can see reflections of their own lives in stories like The Hunger
Games. The connections that can be drawn from the story to the real world allow people to
better understand the world they live in and how to keep it a better place than the broken,
dysfunctional world they dove into.

References:

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