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 …show more content…
accessing food. Luckily, Katniss is a hunter and goes out to hunt for her own food to provide for her and her family. On the other hand, in the Capitol they see food as a disposable good by eating lavish desserts and throwing away leftovers after only eating two bites. This barrier becomes more prominent when the 74th annual Hunger Games is initiated and the tributes from District 12, Peeta Mellark and Katniss Everdeen, take a train into the Capitol and are amazed by how much is given to them. Food is being used as a source of power and control throughout the novel, allowing the reader to understand the vast differences between the different districts and the Capitol. Many authors realized this connection between food and power and allowed that to drive many claims about the importance Suzanne Collins’ novel has on society.
Emrah Peksoy wrote an article called “Food as Control in the Hunger Games Trilogy” and compared food to a controlling aspect used in society. He discusses how dystopian writers use food as a concept and an underlying image to show how important food is to a culture. The connection Peksoy makes with Collins’ novel is how she uses “… constant employment of food related discourse and food vocabulary metaphorically show characters’ own political, cultural and personal understandings of the society…” (79). This connection goes to make the imagery of food stronger for the reader to understand the power hunger has over a person. Peksoy made a point about how the novel revolves around food even if it seems unintentional to the reader. He states about the way Collins wrote how “one of the key scenes in the novel takes place between President Snow and Katniss while they are having tea and cookies” (82). Even though the food is not significant to the importance of the scene, it is a subliminal message given by Collins showing the prominence of food by making an important section in the novel surrounded by …show more content…
food. The theme of food in Collins novel draws a separation between the 12 districts and the Capitol. “How does food represent and enact power [in The Hunger Games]?” (Parks and Yamashiro 137). The Capitol is full of people who care more about what their hair and makeup look like than how the people in their surrounding districts are surviving. Peksoy put this into perfect terms describing “the people of the Capitol have forsaken their humanity and care for others in order to live a carefree life, where the most terrible thing for them is to be out of nail polish, whereas the really terrible things are not thought twice about” (81). Parks and Yamashiro take how the Capitol acts and relates it to food and states that “[f]ood provides a clear lens to analyze power and rebellion through theory, surveillance and the art historical genre of memento mori” (138). Momento mori is an object serving as a warning or reminder of death, often a skull. Katniss and Peeta are shocked how the Capitol consumes their food. Katniss and Peeta eat sparingly due to their lack of food they experienced in District 12, while the citizens of the Capitol look like savages eating as if food is an abundant resource – which it is in the Capitol. The one scene that shows “[t]he contrast between access to food in the Capitol and outer districts comes sharply into focus when Katniss first meets her stylist Cinna to discuss her costume for the opening pageant” (138). The readers find a sudden realization due to the way Katniss reacts to the way Cinna just orders a meal and it just appears. This reaction shows the true separation between the Capitol and the surrounding districts. In the second book of the trilogy, Catching Fire, Katniss and Peeta “become completely overwhelmed by the abundance of food at the party [after the Victory Tour]” (Peksoy 82). This goes to show that even after all the events of living in the Capitol before the games, these two still show a hesitation and sense of isolation when they are surrounded by all the food the Capitol offers. Even though the Capitol treats food as if it is not one of the important things in life, the districts would definitely have opposing feelings. Kjellaug Therese Hauge Hamre wrote a thesis about the Hunger Games Trilogy and Social Criticism. In one section of her thesis she discusses “Panem et Circenses and the Importance of Food.” This Latin phrase, meaning bread and circuses, “was used by the writer Juvenal to describe the society of ancient Rome” (13). This society was only concerned with food and entertainment – very similar to the society of Panem in The Hunger Games. Hamre states that Collins might have used her tactic of food and entertainment to warn the society of the changes that were impending regarding “political ignorance and desensitizing entertainment” (13). The phrase is a great representation of what is important to the society of Panem; most importantly to the Capitol and the lower level districts. Throughout the novel, there are many metaphors to food and connections between the characters that may often be overlooked when reading for pleasure. The “panem et circenses” is one that perfectly connects ‘bread’ and ‘circuses’ with the way the Capitol views the Hunger Games as actual sources of entertainment (Hamre 14). The secondary character in the novel’s name is Peeta, which is also a different spelling of the bread pita. He is known as “the boy with the bread, [and he] symbolically acts as the source of nourishment and hope when all the hope is gone” (Peksoy 82). The one scene where Peeta’s actions change the fate of the novel was when he tossed Katniss a loaf of burnt bread when she was sitting in the rain. This act of kindness, although driven by his love for her, made Katniss realize she wanted to take action. This one loaf of bread brought hope for Katniss and also brought hope for Peeta (Despail). The power of food is something that is taken advantaged by people, but this scene allows the reader to understand just how important food is for the characters in District 12. The complexity of food is nearly parallel to the culture, society, politics, and personal aspirations through the characters and events in the novel.
Max Despail wrote a critical essay that was published in the book Of Bread, Blood, and the Hunger Games: Critical Essays on the Suzanne Collins Trilogy that specifically focuses on “[t]he unusual culture, rooted somehow out of contemporary America, [and how it] reveals its complexity through social habits best portrayed in its use of food” (70). The novel’s culture may seem unusual; however, it is not that far off from the society of today. Yes, America does not have a reaping to select one man and woman to represent each ‘district’ in an annual game that children fight to the death leaving one victor, but America does have a steady line between classes that derives around food. Katniss lives in the poorest district in Panem, and is required to slip past the fence that confines her home to find food to feel herself and her family. Peeta, living in the same poor district, works at his family’s bakers; however, he is not usually allowed to eat the bread that is baked. On the contrary, the people in the Capitol do not have to worry about if they are going to eat because they know they will. This shows the complexity of food in relation to the societal
differences. The separation between the districts and the Capitol is better acknowledged by understanding that “[t]he Capitol government has written the perfect recipe for revolution by producing an ‘us vs. them’ mentality between itself and the districts” (Despail 70). This point is crucial in understanding societal differences between the districts and the Capitol. The Capitol lives an unfair luxury in comparison to the surrounding districts, and it does not allow the districts to raise up the societal ladder because of the way Panem is structured. The Hunger Games is one of the many examples “[t]he Capitol further practices its tyranny over the districts by requiring tributes between the ages of twelve and eighteen to fight to the death as punishment for the last organized rebellion…” (Despail 70). The name itself – Hunger Games – is a play on words in the sense of hunger from the Capitol for power, hunger for the blood that is shed in the games, and hunger for food. Although food has shown its course in relating to control and power, it also relates to rebellion. At the end of the games, Katniss threatens to eat the Nightlock berries with Peeta to “ensure the failure of the Gamemakers to produce a winner” (Peksoy 82). Katniss takes the initiative to try to rebel against the Capitol with the usage of a food that cannot be eaten. These small poisonous berries “first become a rebellious political concept, then shifted into an intentional rhetorical twist that has become a literal weapon of war…” (Despail 76). With this bold move, Katniss gives the Gamemakers an ultimatum of allowing both Peeta and Katniss to win or to have no winner at all. The Capitol would lose a sense of power if no victor was present during the Victory Tour and pull the control the Capitol has over the districts by showing that Katniss and Peeta had a sense of free will (Peksoy 82). The fact that one tiny berry could change the fate of Panem forever allows the readers to completely understand the power food has over the people in the Panem society. Works Cited Despail, Max. “The ‘Fine Reality of Hunger Satisfied:’ Food as Cultural Metaphor in Panem.” Of Bread, Blood, and the Hunger Games: Critical Essays on the Suzanne Collins Trilogy. Ed. Mary F. Pharr and Leisa A. Clark. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co., 2012. pp 69-78. Hamre, Kjellaug Therese Hauge. “Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games Trilogy and Social Criticism.” University of Oslo, The Department of Literature, Area Studies and European Languages, 2013, pp. 13–15. Parks, Lori L. and Jennifer P. Yamashiro. "Consumed: Food in the Hunger Games." European Journal of American Culture, vol. 34, no. 2, June 2015, pp. 137-150. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1386/ejac.34.2.137_1. Peksoy, Emrah. "Food as Control in the Hunger Games Trilogy." Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, vol. 158, no. 14th Language, Literature and Stylistics Symposium, 19 Dec. 2014, pp. 79-84. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.12.036.
In the novel Hunger Game, author Suzanne Collins narrates a girl name Katniss Everdeen who voluntarily replaces her younger sister, Prime, to be one of the tribute to participate in the hunger game. She is the family’s backbone after her father died in the mine accident and then the district only gives them a little compensation which it’s not enough for her family’s living. Soon, they run out of money and suffer from hunger. They live in the District 12 where it’s a poor and food shortage region. People often suffer from hunger and Katniss is of no exception. In one section of the story, Katniss could not trade old baby clothes for food or find food from trash bins. She is extremely hungry, until she passes by a bakery:
The story of The Hunger Games is an intense depiction of a totalitarianism society that is reigned by the Capitol, whom of which has complete political control over the twelve districts that are all located in Panem. Those who live in the twelve districts must undergo the possibility of entering into the infamous Hunger Games that are intended to remind and represent the Capitol’s authority over the powerless districts. Suzanne Collin’s novel and Gary Ross’s film of The Hunger Games have several things in common but also a few differences as well.
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 throughout the series is a 16-year-old girl from District 12 named Katniss Everdeen.
What are you supposed to do when your government makes you sacrifice 24 lives every year? How do you deal when they are innocent children, ranging from ages twelve to eighteen? Written by Suzanne Collins, in 2008, "The Hunger Games" is a masterpiece of unfairness, righteousness, and the rebelling against the wrongful doing of government. While the government reigns supreme, it is unfair and dehumanizing.
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.
The Hunger Games- “a futuristic dystopian society [Panem] where an overpowering government controls the lives and resources in twelve different districts” (The Hunger Games). The overpowering government lives in the Capitol of Panem and from there controls the citizens of the twelve districts through propaganda and other means. The Capitol has all of the economic and political power in Panem; they have complete control. The leader of the capitol is the harsh, dictator-like figure, President Snow. President Snow’s methods for keeping order in the districts are through Peacekeepers and the annual Hunger Games. The Peacekeepers are an army that monitors each district. Any sign of rebellion, and the Peacekeepers take care of it, usually by killing the rebel in some way. The annual Hunger Games are used to remind all of the citizens of Panem about the uprising in the now obliterated District 13. The Hunger Games, in a way, brainwashes all of the citizens, but a select few such as Katniss Everdeen, to believe that an uprising would be horrible and is not necessary and that the Capitol does what is best for all of the citizens. In
"There is no week nor day nor hour when tyranny may not enter upon this country, if the people lose their roughness and spirit of defiance" (Walt Whitman). In the novel The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, Katniss is a young girl from District 12, who lives in a society which finds great entertainment in the organized killing of children. These bloodbaths are constructed by the Capitol into an event known as the Hunger Games. In the Hunger Games, kids are thrown into a huge arena and forced to fight to the death. Katniss`s younger sister Prim is chosen to participate in the Hunger Games but Katniss volunteers to take her place as tribute. Over the course of the Hunger Games and the events that proceed it, Katniss changes from being impulsive and feeling impotent into a rational revolutionist, who quietly defies the capitol and takes a stand for what is right.
With a massive marketing campaign, it’s no wonder The Hunger Games quickly became a world-wide sensation. But, I believe its popularity isn’t due to marketing alone. In The Hunger Games we find important, if overly-dramatic, depictions of social conditions that weigh on the minds of young people today: an uneven distribution of wealth leading to massive and ever-growing class stratification; power in the hands of a few elite members; social control through widespread propaganda; and fierce competition among social classes for resources. Films like The Hunger Games are helpful for young people by teaching them a new way to see the world, through the lens of social theories such as Karl Marx’s Conflict Theory.
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
The movie The Hunger Games, originally based on a book by Suzanne Collins, is about a place called Panem, which is ruled by the Capitol and has 12 districts within it. These 12 districts are separated founded on their economic statuses, meaning the higher the district, the more impoverished the residents are. There are 2 tributes that are chosen to participate, forcibly, in The Hunger Games each year. Each competitor is instructed to eliminate one another in order to survive and come out on top. There is only one tribute allowed to come out of the arena alive. Katniss lives in District 12, which is the most impoverished district of them all, and she volunteers as tribute in “the Reaping” when her sister is chosen to participate. She and the other tribute from her district, Peeta, make it into the arena with the hopes that one of them comes out the winner and above all else, alive (Ross, 2012). I will refrain from going any further just in case you have not read the book or have not seen the movie. In terms of soci...
In the article “Where the food is both scarce and risky” by Alfred Lubrano it talks about the food conditions for the poor people. In chapter 3 of “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee, it talks about a boy named Walter that pours syrup all over his food when he goes to Scout's house for lunch. In the article many people describe the appalling food conditions of poor people and one being said, “When we get food up here, it’s like we get the end of all food, the last batch of it” (Lubrano). This shows that when the poor people get fed they eat like they've never seen food before or like they haven't been fed in days. Similarly, in chapter 3 Scout invites Walter to her house for lunch and “Walter poured syrup on his vegetables and meat with a
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...
The Hunger Games, a film based off of a novel written by Susan Collins, was released in March of 2012. The film, and the book it was based on, chronicles the struggles of a girl named Katniss Everdeen, a girl who lives in a poverty stricken province or “District”, until untimely circumstances forces her to play in the Hunger Games, a gladiatorial like contest where children between the ages of 12 and 18 are forced to fight to the death. A contest that was set up by an oppressive and authoritarian government, and has thus far been sustained via the forced obedience of the rebellious Districts, the brainwashing and conditioning of Districts 1 and 2, and the conditioning of the residents of its Capitol. The movie has a variety of messages, most especially in regards toward social control and social conditioning. With these ideas in mind, a case could very well be made that The Hunger Games, throughout its two hour long run time, shows a very realistic look at a socially conditioned society and what humanity can become with the right amount of conditioning and control by an authoritarian force.
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
What the author is trying to explain is that we do have problems, and now a days its not a game. We have people struggling, she's trying to tell everyone that it's not easy to survive in this crisis. There are people across the world that would eat the food we don't like or hate. They will be happy just to have any type of food they can get.