Essay on Capitol Symbol in 'Hunger Games'

A dystopia is a futuristic society, usually fictional, that is unpleasant and terrifying. the characteristics of a dystopian society are the use of propaganda to control, a person or concept worshipped by the citizens, the restriction of independent thought, information, and freedom, Citizens under constant surveillance, and dehumanization, and the citizen's fear of the outside world. The novel The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins shows the apocalyptic version of what used to be North America now called Panem, a nation divided into 12 districts with the Capitol controlling it all. The nation of Panem possesses many elements of a dystopian society, the dehumanization of the citizens of Panem, the use of propaganda to control and the restriction of information and independent thought. It is these elements that are the most common of a dystopia and that prove that Panem is without a doubt, a dystopian society.

To begin with, the capitol dehumanizes the citizens of Panem. First of all, if one of the citizens of Panem rebels against the capitol that person gets punished. The punishment for going against the capitol is getting your tongue cut off and being a servant to the capitol. The traitors are known as Avoxes. making the citizens of Panem Avoxes is extremely dehumanizing because the capitol removes to ability to talk from these people and makes them servants to the people of Panem. They are treating these people like slaves and not like humans. When Katniss says she thinks she knows one of the Avoxes Haymitch says “She’s probably a traitor of some sort. Not likely you’d know her.” (Collins 76) This shows that the people don’t see Avoxes as humans but as traitors to the capital.

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Second of all, the people of District 12 are starving and the capitol will only give them food if they add their name to the Hunger Games. In District 12 there is a big lack of food, and many people are dying from starvation, the capitol covers it with other explanations to make it seem like it isn’t a big problem. Katniss says “District Twelve. Where you can starve to death in safety” (Collins 6) which shows from someone on the inside of District 12 how unfair it all is. Also, Katniss has seen people die from starvation so this shows that starvation is a big problem in District 12. Some people like Gale and Katniss must hunt illegally to be able to put food on the table for the family that they must take care of. Also, in the district, there’s a place called the hob which is where everyone in District 12 buys and sells illegal items banned by the capitol, that’s their way of getting items they need. The capitol doesn’t help the citizens of District 12 unless they get a tesserae. a tesserae is a year's supply of grain and oil for one person but in exchange, you must add your name to the glass balls at the reaping for an extra chance to enter the Hunger Games. So, the poor people must risk their lives to get only a year’s worth of grain and oil, this is dehumanizing because the poor people aren’t treated like normal human beings. Every human needs necessities like food, water, etc. but poor people can only get the necessities to survive by risking their lives.

Last of all, the capitol makes the citizens of Panem fight to death for the entertainment of the people of the capitol. Every year one boy and one girl from every district get selected to participate in the Hunger Games. To win you must be the last person standing. The last tribute is declared the winner and is showered in gifts and lives the rest of their lives in luxury. The games are highly televised and viewed by everyone in Panem, the games are for the entertainment of the capitol. The Hunger Games are extremely dehumanizing because the capitol turns the tributes into animals by making them kill each other. Many of the tributes become unhinged because of having to kill other tributes and by trying to survive in the insane conditions of the games. The message of the games is “Taking the kids from our districts, forcing them to kill one another while we watch — this is the Capitol’s way of reminding us how we are at their mercy. How little chance we would stand of surviving another rebellion” (Collins 18), this shows that the capitol has no mercy for the young children being forced into the hunger games and that they don’t see them as innocent children but just one of the players in the games. The Capitol also dehumanizes people by restricting information and independent thought.

Second, the capitol restricts information from the people of Panem and doesn’t let them have independent thoughts. First of all, the capital punishes people if they say anything against them. in Panem, if you choose to speak against the capital you get punished as it is treated as a crime. When Gale and Katniss are gone to the other side of the fence to hunt, they will say things against the Capitol because the Capitol won’t hear them, it’s their only way to express their opinions without getting punished by the Capitol. Also, Katniss says “When I was younger, I scared my mother to death, the things I would blurt out about District 12, about the people who rule our country, Panem, from the far-off city called the Capitol. Eventually, I understood this would only lead us to more trouble.” This shows that in Panem you really can’t speak against the capitol. The fact that Katniss’ mother was scared shows that it’s a serious matter and that there are big consequences for speaking out against the capital.

Second of all, the capitol controls what is shown to the districts. The capitol has total control of all that is seen by the citizens of Panem, all information given to them is given by the capitol, so they don’t show any of the negatives from the capitol. An example of this is when they were showing the highlights of the games after Katniss and Peeta won, the capitol cut out the part where Katniss covers Rue in flowers after her death. Katniss says when watching the highlights “But I do notice they omit the part where I covered her in flowers. Right. Because even that smacks of rebellion” (Collins 355). The capitol cuts out that part because Katniss did it as an act of rebellion against the capitol, its purpose is to shame them, to show the capitol and the viewers that innocent children are being killed. If they didn’t cut that part out lots of people would get mad at the capitol and it could strike rebellion against them, also it shows the negatives of the capitol.

Last of all, the districts have very little information about other districts. the capital of Panem keeps the 12 districts separated. To begin with, the citizens can’t travel between districts, and the trains can only be used by the members of the Capitol and other people they authorize. Also, the capitol doesn’t show much on the inside of each district so the other districts only know the basic information about the other districts and this is shown when Rue and Katniss are talking about District 11, Katniss says “It’s interesting, hearing about her life. We have so little communication with anyone outside our district. I wonder if the Gamemakers are blocking out our conversation because even though the information seems harmless, they don’t want people in different districts to know about one another” (Collins 201). This proves that each district doesn’t know much about other districts, Katniss is interested to hear about Rue’s life in District 11 because she had no idea what life was in that district and how different it is from life in District 12. Plus, Katniss thinks the Gamemakers are going to block their conversation showing that they keep the information between the districts very limited. The restriction of independent thought is also shown in the propaganda because the capitol makes the games seem more innocent than they are and uses it as a way to control them.

Lastly, the capitol uses propaganda as a way to control the citizens of Panem. First of all, the capitol broadcasts the reaping and the games to the citizens of Panem and forces them to watch. The capitol portrays the Hunger Games as a fun yearly event, they make it seem like you’re lucky to be picked at the reaping since the winner gets showered in gifts and the chance to live the rest of their lives in luxury. The Capitol makes sure every household has a television and that there are some places in town to make sure that everyone’s watching the games, you can’t escape watching the games. That makes the people feel like it's more of an important and positive event for Panem. Also, President Snow will broadcast live to the citizens of Panem and talk about how the Hunger Games are very important for Panem. After the games the capitol shows highlights of the games, during that time Katniss says “It’s time for the show. This will last exactly three hours and is required viewing for all of Panem” (Collins 354) this proves that everyone must watch during the hunger games and that it’s treated like such an important thing because everyone must stop what they’re doing and watch.

Second of all, the capital turns the games into a celebration and festivity. The capitol presents the gruesome Hunger Games as a special time of year that everyone should celebrate. Since the winning district receives food from the Capitol for a year, everyone from that district celebrates because they won’t starve to death for a year. Also, Katniss explains how everyone acts after the reaping, “Tonight. After the reaping, everyone is supposed to celebrate. And a lot of people do, out of relief that their children have been spared for another year. But at least two families will pull their shutters, lock their doors, and try to figure out how they will survive the painful weeks to come.” (Collins 10). this shows that people celebrate the fact that they live another year and do not have to be in the games but she also says that that’s what they’re supposed to do, the capital makes them celebrate it as a festivity.

Last of all, the capital makes the Hunger Games seem more enjoyable by having a talk show to interview the tributes. The talk show is hosted by Caesar Flickerman. The talk show is to distract people from the deaths of innocent people in the Hunger Games. Caesar interviews all the tributes before the games and the winner at the end of the games. he also adds comments during the games. the talk show adds more entertainment to the game so more people want to watch. The romance between Katniss and Peets started on the talk show, the romance made lots of viewers more interested in the games, and more people were watching. during the interviews before the games, Katniss says this about Caesar “I’ll say this for Caesar, he does his best to make the tributes shine. He’s friendly, tries to set the nervous ones at ease, laughs at lame jokes, and can turn a weak response into a memorable one by the way he reacts.” (Collins 124) This shows that Caesar is an entertaining person to watch, if the host is entertaining then more people will tune in to watch so more people will want to watch the games.

The nation of Panem in the book The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins is without a doubt a dystopian society because of the dehumanization, the restriction of independent thought and information, and lastly the use of propaganda to control. It is very clear that in this story the capital of Panem controls everyone and everything in the nation and leads the dystopian society. Many wonder if the world we live in will one day resemble a dystopian society like Panem.