What Are The Similarities Between The Hunger Games And 1984

Payton Newsome

English IV

April 26, 2018

Mrs. Schroder

1984 vs. The Hunger Games

The book 1984 and the Hunger Games Books have many particularly similar concepts throughout them. Ranging all the way from the authority of the leaders to the views on children. The Government styles and settings of the two are relatively similar alongside the authority figures and sense of control and power.

In 1984 they use a common slogan, “war is peace, freedom is slavery, ignorance is strength”. This slogan was used through the book and is the Party and Big Brothers way to convince the people that these sayings are true. In The Hunger Games they use the slogan “May the odds be ever in your favor”. Even though they are putting two people from each district

against each other in a dangerous situation, this is their way of wishing them good luck.
1984 takes place in Oceania where Big Brother and the Inner Party are at the top of the “food chain”.

Under Big Brother and the Inner Party are the Outer Party and the middle class and then the very bottom is the Proles which make up eighty-five percent of the population. The Hunger Games takes place in Panem where the leaders are President Snow and his officials followed by the people that live in the Capitol. The social status gets lower as the “Districts” do.

In 1984 the upper class members were in charge and made up the rules for all their citizens expecting them to listen, and do nothing else against those rules. In The Hunger Games, Effie Trinket was the highest member that participated in district 12, she wanted the members participating in The Hunger Games to look nothing but their best and wanted them to come out on

top.
In 1984 they had the thought police. Which it tried to convince them to think a certain way. You are not allowed to write down or even think about your own thoughts and ideas. And even if you know something not right, it’s right. “O’Brien held up his left hand, its back towards Winston, with the thumb hidden and the four fingers extended. ‘How many fingers am I holding up, Winston?’ ‘ Four’ ‘ And if the party says that it is not four but five – then how many?’ ‘Four’” (Orwell 215). In The Hunger Games they had the peacekeepers. You have to follow the rules of what the capitol has set for you. And if you don’t the peacekeepers take it into their own hands and will do whatever they can to control that situation. In 1984 there were people that spied on you through the telescreens. They would watch your every move no matter where you were. There was nowhere you could go without being watched, this is how the party knew you weren’t abiding by the rules.
Oceania begins to control the thoughts of the people regarding their history, social values and language. The “thought control” in The Hunger Games is not as limited as the thought control values of 1984. In The Hunger Games, the control is on people who go against the ideas and values of the Capitol. “The instrument with little (the telescreen, it was called) could be dimmed, but there was no way of shutting it off completely” (Orwell 7). In The Hunger Games, both members from each district are filmed throughout their days in the Hunger Games. Being watched, by the citizens in their district, while fighting for their lives.
In 1984 Winston and Julia both have hate towards society. Throughout the book they have many ways to “try” and get around so the party will not catch them. Throughout their time together they talk about many ways to try and stop and rebel against the party. In The Hunger Games Katniss and Gale both hate and want to go against what their “leaders” say by having everyone in the district stop watching the Hunger Games, to see what their reaction would be, because things would go as planned for them.
In 1984 all children are enlisted into something known as the “Junior Spies”, during this period they are persuaded and encouraged to spy on their parents.

Whatever unfaithfulness their parents show they are to immediately report to the party. “’Who denounced you?’ said Winston. ‘It was my little daughter,’ said Parsons, with a sort of doleful pride. ‘She listened to the keyhole. Heard what I was saying, and nipped off to the patrols the very next day.’” (Orwell 101-102). In The Hunger Games two children from ages 12 to 18 from each district are forced to tribute themselves and fight for their lives in the Hunger Games. Children are given the chance to earn more food for their family by putting their name in the lottery an extra time. Every citizen gets forced to watch this game as a reminder to what happened to the citizens that tried to rebel years

earlier.
In 1984 Oceania is in a state of war with the other two places that have similar ideas to the ones that they have, Eurasia and Eastasia. They have an agreement to keep the war going so it keeps the groups diverse. In The Hunger Games Panem has the games, which kind of keeps all of the districts in a war with each other. In 1984 everyone looked similar, they look as if they are not showered, they smell like boiled cabbage, and it was always dark and gloomy. “The hallway smelt of boiled cabbage and old rag mats” (Orwell 7). In The Hunger Games, in District 12 it is also all dark, grey, and white. They have broken nails, and sunken faces, with black streets with grey houses.
These two books have many similarities as well as many differences. Ranging all the way from the authority of the leaders to the views on children. Spying on citizens through different ways is a big key concept throughout each of the books. The upper class in each book dictates the classes beneath them with each and every move possible.