Governmental Oppression The movie The Hunger Games (based on the novel by Suzanne Collins) and The Giver, a novel by Lois Lowry, both display governments that enforce strict rules in order to limit the freedom of their citizens. Both of these novels are centered on dystopian societies in which the government removes the freedom of choice and individuality in order to establish oppressive control over its citizens. Katniss and Jonas are the exception when it comes to the citizens of both “communities” and how they are overly controlled while being unaware of their loss of freedom. Both characters selflessly put themselves in danger in order to save their younger siblings, or adopted sibling in Jonas’s case, from the oppressive government. Katniss takes the place of her younger sister in the fight to the death, while Jonas takes responsibility of a young child by removing him from the corrupt and enclosed community in which they live. Both Katniss and Jonas challenge the oppressive rules in their communities by being brave and selfless. In a dystopian society, the government watches and dictates everything. It is the opposite of a perfect world in the sense that careers and social status are pre-destined. The government of this society does everything in its power to make the citizens believe that this is the most ideal place to live. The word “dystopia” ultimately roots back to the Greek word “dys” meaning bad and “topos” meaning place (www.merriam-webster.com). Citizens in a dystopian society rarely question their government. Many citizens are brainwashed and others are just too frightened to speak out against injustices evident in their society. The Hunger Games and The Giver are perfect examples of dystopian texts d... ... middle of paper ... ..., Thought, & Appreciation: Re-examining Our Values Amid Terrorism Through The Giver." ALAN v29n3 - Grief, Thought, & Appreciation: Re-examining Our Values Amid Terrorism Through The Giver. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 July 2014. . Latham, Don. "Discipline and Its Discontents: A Foucauldian Reading of The Giver." Project MUSE - Discipline and Its Discontents: A Foucauldian Reading of The Giver. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 July 2014. . Lowry, Lois. The Giver. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1993. Print. Thoron, Elise. "Ovations Offstage." A Study Guide for the School-Time Performance. Hannaford Hall, Portland. Hannaford Hall, Portland. 3 July 2013. Reading. The Hunger Games. Dir. Gary Ross. Perf. Jennifer Lawrence, Liam Hemsworth. Lions Gate Home Entertainment, 2012. Film.
, Sean Tuohy, and Sally Jenkins. In a Heartbeat: Sharing the Power of Cheerful Giving. Detroit: Gale, Cengage Learning, 2010.
The Hunger Games. Dir. Gary Ross. Perf. Jennifer Lawrence. Lions Gate Home Entertainment, 2012. Film.
Decision making is a big part of the freedom we have as humans and so is being able to express ourselves. This story is considered dystopian because we lose those freedoms, we lose touch with ourselves and most importantly, we are unable to make our own decisions. They are no longer individuals, but a collective
It is commonplace for individuals to envision a perfect world; a utopian reality in which the world is a paradise, with equality, happiness and ideal perfection. Unfortunately, we live in a dystopian society and our world today is far from perfection. John Savage, from Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, V, from V for Vendetta by James McTeigue and Offred, from The Handmaid’s Tale by Margret Attwood, are all characters in a dystopian society. A dystopia is the vision of a society in which conditions of life are miserable and are characterized by oppression, corruption of government, and abridgement of human rights.
Dystopia represents an artificially created society to where a human population is administered to various types of oppressions, or a human population lives under the order of an oppressive government. The novel Fahrenheit 451 and the film V for Vendetta both effectively display this dystopian concept in their works. The nature of the society, the protagonist who questions the society, and the political power that runs the society are examples of how the novel and the film efficiently capture the main points of a dystopian society. The authors of the novel and the film use their visions of a dystopian future to remark on our present by identifying how today’s society is immensely addicted to technology and how our government has changed over the past decades. Furthermore, the authors use our modern day society to illustrate their view of a dystopia in our
Rea, Steven Rea. “The Hunger Games: A fantasy film reflecting reality”. Inquirer Movie Critic. http://articles.philly.com/2012-03-18/news/31207613_1_hunger-games-katniss-everdeen-suzanne-collins-book. March 18, 2012. Web. May 04, 2012.
Imagine a chaotic society of people who are so entangled by ignorance and inequity that they do not realize it; this would be called a dystopian society. Dystopian societies are very popular among many fictional stories. In fact, in the stories Fahrenheit 451 and “The Veldt” by Ray Bradbury and The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, dystopian societies are represented. In many of these stories, the people in the fictional societies are violence-loving, irrational people who always seem to do what people of the U.S. society would consider "immoral." These stories are not a representation of how the U.S. society is now, but how it could be in the future. Unlike the society of Fahrenheit 451, the U.S. allows people
A dystopian text often consists of a society that is based on a utopian ideal of a “perfect” society. Despite being a fictitious setting, the more realistic a dystopian text seems, the more disturbing it is for the audience. The novel The Handmaid’s Tale, written by Margaret Atwood, takes place in the Republic of Gilead that was formerly the state of Massachusetts. Massachusetts has been reformed to a place where puritan traditions and beliefs are the only customs allowed. Gilead and its totalitarian government oppress women to the extent where rape is a norm in their society. The novel The Hunger Games, written by Suzanne Collins, is about a contest held in the country of Panem, where twelve teenagers are forced to fight one another until only one survives the battle. The people of Panem are mandated in watching this contest, as a reminder of the previous uprising that was stopped by their totalitarian government called the Capitol. Atwood depicts Gilead in a way where it is almost possible for the society in Gilead to
The Hunger Games, directed by Gary Ross, was released in 2012. The film is about a young girl who lives in one of the twelve districts of the Capitol of Panem. To keep these districts from resorting to war like past times, the capitol now forces one girl and one boy to fight to the death until only one remains. Jennifer Lawrence, staring as Katniss Everdeen, has been chosen to represent district 12. The film uses many different elements to display all the emotional and physical struggles Katniss must endure while participating in the games.
Dystopian worlds are often seen as fictitious, though this may not be the case in the future. Many people have no interest in current events in the world or even their own country, and are more concerned about matters that are more trivial, and even if they were to pay a lot of attention, news sources are often biased and don’t release information that would hurt a certain cause. It is in this way that the citizens are kept ignorant of what is going on right in front of their noses.
Dystopian novels are written to reflect the fears a population has about its government and they are successful because they capture that fright and display what can happen if it is ignored. George Orwell wrote 1984 with this fear of government in mind and used it to portray his opinion of the current government discretely. Along with fear, dystopian novels have many other elements that make them characteristic of their genre. The dystopian society in Orwell’s novel became an achievement because he utilized a large devastated city, a shattered family system, life in fear, a theme of oppression, and a lone hero.
The novel Anthem by Ayn Rand and the movie The Hunger Games directed by Francis Lawrence and Gary Ross are popular among teens because they can relate to them by the high expectations put upon them. In a dystopian novel or movie, there is a dystopian protagonist. A dystopian protagonist is someone who often feels trapped, struggles to escape, questions existing systems, believes or feels as if something is wrong in the place they live in, and then helps the audience realize the effects of dystopian worlds. These are both good examples because it takes us on a walk through the protagonist's life and only then do we see what dystopian really is.
“A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself.”- Joseph Campbell. The film The Hunger Games by Gary Ross and Francis Lawrence and the novel Finders Keepers by Stephen King, feature major characters that share similar qualities. The antagonists in these works sometimes appear to be egoistic, while the protagonists clearly share altruistic qualities. Through the interactions with the supporting cast, the antagonist’s decisions are impacted. With the antagonist’s decisions being affected, this changes the outcome of the novel and film. The main characters of the novel and film, Peter and Katniss are in their early youth, as they both have younger siblings and are suffering through
Dystopia is a term that defines a corrupt government that projects a false image. Thus, in a dystopian society, we have the belief and comfort that the society is proper to its followers. One good example of dystopian society is the Hunger Games. The terms that describe dystopia towards the Hunger Games are a “hierarchical society, fear of the outside world, penal system and a back story” (“Dystopia”). The Hunger Games that follows, the term that defines dystopian fiction.
Feminism and Marxism are two major themes in the film Hunger Games. Increasing government control over the individual leads to human-rights violations and institutionalized oppression. Where there is oppression, there is resistance. The unequal social structure empowers the individual to reject immoral controls and stimulates the emergence of Katniss’s feminism.