I will be reviewing the film ‘The hunger games’ and how it tackles the sociological problem of class. The Hunger games is set in Panem, a country that is made up of twelve districts and the capitol which is completely reliant on the poorer districts for all the necessary resources to maintain a luxurious lifestyle . The twelve districts represent a working class or proletariat. The capitol which is made up of an upper class / bourgeoisie and all of these districts work for the capital who own the means of production this emulates modern day society ‘The bourgeoisie owns the means of production and employs wage labour’ (Ritzer & Stepnisky, (2014), p62) Each district is separated by a manual labour profession demonstrating [MARXIST THEORY CLASS …show more content…
This tradition resembles that of ancient rome when men would fight to the death not only for entertainment but as a way for the elite to reinforce their social position by demonstrating their power over proletariat. confirming the relationship of master/slave as been unchanged throughout history ‘realtions of subordination have thus existed is societies since the classical antiquity and are evident historically up to the modern day’(Ken Morrison,Formations of social thought, second edition (1995), pg58) the prize for winning the games is a years food supply for their district, this incentive makes members of the districts more likely to accept this exploitation rather than try to oppose it, just as slaves in the past would have an incentive for fighting which would be their life. Another reward for winning the games is gaining a place in the victors village, each district has a gated community that contains a houses instead of a shacks, any victors are then housed here. This slight increase of physical capital begins to show how social mobility can be achieved. For example Hamish was also a member of district12 however due to him winning the games he begins to excel through the social ranks by socialising with members of the capitol this increase in social capitol allows him to function within …show more content…
This keeps them in a favourable position with the capitol. It is noted that members from district one take pride I 'm competing in the games and quite often volunteer to take part. once in the games we see how their tactics are to target the weaker contestants comparing this with the tactics of the higher numbered districts who don 't seem to kill anyone unless in self defence and focus more on survival than killing. this enforces the idea that the higher up the social hirearchy you are the more your morals agree with those of the capitol. when in the capitol many things shock katniss and in turn the viewers of the film. for example katniss attends a party where she witnesses people eating a variety of foods and then consuming a drink to make them sick to allow them to taste more food, all whilst people in the districts are dying from starvation. hunger is a product of poverty and inequality this scene in the film reveals the extent of the social inequality. The wealthy have no concern for the
Human life in the story is not valued in this setting either, since teenagers are thrown into arenas every year to kill each other just for sheer amusement of the government officials. The main city that is within the capitol conforms to the same thought process and and behavior, making them appear dehumanized to outsiders. The citizens of the capitol don’t question anything the government does, and worships them to the point of referring to them as ‘peace keepers.’ Going outside of the barrier is feared, as well as expressing any independent thought because of every district being under surveillance by the government. The whole concept of having the Hunger Games is to spread propaganda and to make light of the bigger districts and officials. They use technological control to add unnatural elements into the arena such as programmed wolf-dogs, genetically made death wasps, and fire blasts. The cameras watching every district constantly is also a form of this type of control. The society in this series is controlled by corrupt bureaucrats by forcing everyone to give to the government in order to have food, leaving many places poor and destitute. Adolescents have to risk their lives just to keep authorities happy. And anyone who tries to speak against what is happening, let alone tries to revolt, gets killed on the
In the essay “Spare Change”, the author, Teresa Zsuaffa, illustrates how the wealthy don’t treat people facing poverty with kindness and generosity, but in turn pass demeaning glares and degrading gestures, when not busy avoiding eye contact. She does so by writing an emotional experience, using imagery and personification whenever possible to get to the reader’s heart. Quite similarly, Nick Saul writes, in the essay “The Hunger Game”, about how the wealthy and people of social and political power such as “[the community’s] elected representatives” (Saul, 2013, p. 357) leave the problem of hunger on the shoulders of the foodbanks because they believe “feeding the hungry is already checked off [the government’s] collective to-do list” (Saul,
My group chose the movie, The Hunger Games, because we felt like it represented clear differences between today’s society and the society in the movie. This movie offers different mindsets and ideas compared to today’s modern society. For instance, the concepts of socialization, politics, and government are different in the movies society. In addition, the United States also does not select two members to compete to the death, nor split up groups according to power and wealth. Our government also does not allow the deviance like the movie does. The social changes are a huge factor as well in the movie. These are just a few concepts of sociology that will be discussed by the group that touch upon major cultural differences.
Struggle is an important part of Panem and the world we live in today. In the movie District 12 struggles the most with food. It is almost unbearable. In the world today families all over the globe are fighting hunger. Many children are dying from hunger because food is so scarce. According to the World Food Program "One out of every six people in the world today is hungry." In the movies Panem is seen to have many starving people. Panem shows the split between the wealthy and the poor districts. The wealthy being seen as having more than enough food and the poor barely staying alive. This is seen in our world today. Countries that are wasting and throwing out tons and tons of food, when others are starving and dying because they are unable to find or afford any at all.
The book The Hunger Games is full of critical scenes. A critical scene is a type of scene that is necessary for the book to have a story. One very important critical scene is when Prim was chosen at the reaping. When she was chosen Katniss decided to take her place as a tribute. Why did Katniss take her place? What could have happened if she didn't take her place?
In our Society when you don't follow the rules, you become an outcast to the rest of the society. Suzanne Collins’ novel series, The Hunger Games criticizes our society and its demands for people of specific genders to act in certain ways and become certain things. Stereotypes concerning gender are prevalent in our society and all over the world. However, The Hunger Games gives a very refreshing tone of “mockery” to these stereotypes. Katniss Everdeen isn’t your typical 16 year old girl, and neither is Peeta Mellark a typical 16 year old boy, especially when they are fighting everyday just to survive. The Hunger Games is a work of social commentary, used to convince us that there can’t and shouldn’t be any defined “roles” based on gender. A mixture of “stereo-typical” gender roles within a person and their actions is what people need just to survive in our world that is changing every day.
In both books they share some traits, even though they may not look anything alike they are. both of these novels are dystopian novels and many characters share similarity’s.
In a nation where children and teenagers fight each other to the death for live entertainment annually, what social norms can actually be considered ethical? This is the question that Katniss Everdeen faces throughout The Hunger Games series. She must choose between doing what is right, and what is accepted, because in her world, the wrong thing is breaking the rules, no matter how wrong they may be. The rules that she deals with are much different than the ethical principles that people in the real world deal with, but for Katniss and the rest of the districts in Panem, these rules are what they have known their entire lives. Catching Fire is the second installment in The Hunger Games trilogy, based on the books written by Suzanne Collins,
Access to food draws a thin line between the privileged and the poor. In Suzanne Collins’ novel The Hunger Games, food has a massive impact on the different characters from the different locations. Katniss Everdeen, the protagonist, lives in the poorest district in Panem – District 12. Each different district has a specialty that they use to provide for the Capitol; District 12’s specialty is coal mining. Author Despail explains the districts in a way that makes it easier to understand by stating that “[e]ach outlying district in Panem forms an identity around not only the products the district is known for but also the ways in which its citizens cope with their lack of food” (70). Because of this, many people in District 12 have a tough time
Since she is the female victor from district 12, she is in the 74th Hunger Games. She sees how painful and scary it is and so she tries to stop the capital which is who is controlling everything. She doesn’t want that to happen to anyone else. She rebels against President Snow in plan of eventually killing him to take over the capital and change the world. Teens can relate to this because a lot of the time we feel controlled. It might be by a parent, teacher, grandparent or someone else but all of us are controlled by someone. A lot of teenagers end up rebelling because they feel as if they have no choices. They go against the rules of who they are rebelling against. That persons rules and values are not necessarily right. Who decides what is right? It seems as if we have entered into a state time where there is no right and wrong. Katniss breaks free of that control and does her own thing. Another way teens can relate to the hunger games is through the love triangle. Some of us might have a similar situation of where we might like two people. In the movie it says, “What I need is not Gales fire, kindled with rage and hatred. I have plenty of fire myself. What I need is the dandelion in the spring. The bright yellow that means rebirth instead of destruction. The promise that life can go on, no matter how bad our losses. That it can be good again. And only Peeta can
Social Conflict in the movie was only worried about the high class and nothing more. Also, they only cared about the power they could abuse people with instead of helping the need. “The Hunger Games” will remain one of my favorite movies of all
The Hunger Games that follows, the term that defines a dystopian fiction. One main belief that defines Dystopian society is the development into a “hierarchical society” (“Dystopia”). A hierarchical society plays a big part in the story that outline the whole plot. For example, Capitol is wealthier than all the districts. Some districts are more privileged than others. The Careers, being tributes from districts one to three, are prepared and trained for years before the games. However, this is illegal, but because of the support towards District two from the Capitol, they are let off, along with District one and District four, the other richer districts. In this cas...
In The Hunger Games, the inequality between the rich and the poor is the biggest theme presented in the book. Throughout the book, Katniss mentions that starvation is common in District 12, and she has often gone hunting illegally in the woods for food for her family. This is an example of how the rich and the poor are separated. Wealth is only centralized in the hands of the rich, while the poor are left to starve, leaving disparity. The best examples of the inequality between the rich and the poor is seen in the tessera system, and the way the tributes are selected for the games. In the novel, they have what is called “the reaping”, which is the lottery at which they choose the tributes for the games. It is said in the book that the poor is more likely to be picked than the rich are. In the tessera system, children
In The Hunger Games the citizens of the districts are forced to labour for the rich Capitol. “Men with hunched shoulders and swollen knuckles” and “black cinder streets” (pages 4 and 5) shows how people of District 12 suffer as they work as coal miners therefore face consequences of damaged bones. Another quote from page 21 of Collins book states, “It’s the capitol’s way of reminding us how totally we are at their mercy,” proves the fact that the Capitol live by controlling the lives of the people from these districts with President Snow a major reason for a split in the
The main character, Katniss, volunteers as tribute for her district to save her sister from having to be tribute. Upon arriving in the Capitol for the games, she sees just how vast the gap between the Capitol and districts are. To fight against this class struggle, she begins to revolt. At first this comes in the form of small things, like shooting an arrow at a pig feast of Capitol higher-ups and refusing to kill her friend in the games, resulting in the first ever co-victors of the Hunger Games. Katniss’ actions soon lead to full blown rebellion in the districts, starting a revolutionary war between them and the Capitol. At one point Katniss remarks: “My ongoing struggle against the Capitol, which has so often felt like a solitary journey, has not been undertaken alone. I have had thousands upon thousands of people from the districts at my side.” (Catching Fire 90). In true Marxist fashion the working class needed to use a violent revolution to confront the class struggle against the ruling