Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games did not become instantly popular. No doubt, the novel has an independent, strong female protagonist, and the elements in it enable readers find a connection between the dystopia created by Collins and the world they are living in at the moment. The reality of war is made evident to the young adult audience of the novel without any hesitance. As readers read The Hunger Games, they should be able to see that Suzanne Collins is indirectly criticizing the modern day society in the United States, especially the role of entertainment in the American society of today.
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Usually, authors take a real existing situation and reconstruct it in order to create a dystopian society (Booker 15). Such a society is also confronted in The Hunger Games in the form of the nation, Panem. The Capitol, the nation's ruling capital city, is reminiscent of the Capitoline Hill, which was the center of power of the ancient Romans. As its name suggests, the Capitol really is a “capital,” having money and holding power over the citizens of Panem. Just like consumers are a vital part of the American society, similarly the Capitol also makes its citizens radically adopt consumerism. However, the Capitol does not include the citizens of the district into this, even though they are producers.
Since Panem is apparently a North American nation, formed as a result of manmade disasters and wars, the word can be interpreted also be interpreted as Pan-Am, which seems like an acronym for pan-American. Yet, according to Collins, it was Greek and Roman history that served as an inspiration for the novel. However, it cannot be denied that she is criticizing the American society. Many American citizens have the same thinking that Katniss has that the ancestors of the people of today who took part in wars that broke up this planet never stopped to think about what would happen to future generations. If The Hunger Games is regarded as model, then it cannot be denied that a dystopian future might be inevitable for the global society unless change happens.
In the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, readers were introduced to how the leader and the authorities of a society may put their citizens under constant surveillance. Similarly, in The Hunger Games, every move that Katniss makes is being watched by cameras. Moreover, not just the authorities and the leader, rather all the citizens are watching. Today, surveillance cameras are installed in every major city and people are being observed in silence. However, just like Katniss wonders over the course of her journey, there are probably many more that cannot be seen. No doubt, The Hunger Games encourages readers to ask questions that are relevant to their own lives ("A Conversation with Suzanne Collins").
Katniss becomes aware of the cameras upon becoming a part of the Hunger Games, and this prevents her from being herself completely. The presence of cameras nearly everywhere has made the American society greatly media oriented. At the same time, despite her awareness of the cameras, the cameras are never revealed in the novel. Not knowing when and where someone might be watching them is bound to transform the behavior of people in their everyday lives. Considering how prevalent surveillance cameras are becoming in the U.S., the difficulty faced by Katniss in the novel might eventually be applicable to American citizens as well.
Susan Collins’ dystopian novel also deals with the theme of entertainment, which is basically a combination of culture and technology. The Hunger Games shows that at times, people are too desperate to be entertained. The Capitol and Panem are not the only symbols used in the novel. The title of the novel itself is quite meaningful. It is mentioned in the novel that the event is named The Hunger Games because spending time in the arena makes the contestants go hungry quite frequently. On the other hand, from an outside viewpoint, the name can be interpreted as craving for food but also as the craving the viewers have to be entertained.
Apparently, reality television is a projection of the modern American generation’s fears (Turner). In fact, The Hunger Games itself was inspired from an instance when one day Collins was flipping through television channels and she happened to come across a reality and when she flipped the channel, she came across footage of the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
The Hunger Games in the novel are very much like certain reality shows that Americans watch on television these days. For instance, there is the reality game show, Survivor, where contestants are taken to an isolated, unknown location, where they have to survive by using their knowledge and skills, and contests themselves are allowed to cast their votes each week for one of them to be eliminated. The game show may not be as life threatening as the Hunger Games, but the locations keep getting more and more remote and rough, simply to captivate the audience’s attention. On the basis of this example, it can be assumed in The Hunger Games, Collins is showing how far people are willing to go just for the sake of entertainment.
It was quite artistic of Collins to decide to write The Hunger Games entirely from the perspective of Katniss, which makes it easier for readers to connect to connect to her. The first-person narrative of the novel sheds light on how other characters and the rest of the world is viewed by the narrator. This also builds the reader’s trust in whatever Katniss believes in and sees, and readers become doubtful themselves when she doubts something. Based on how Collins has used narration in the novel, it seems that she is attempting to make it more convenient for readers to connect and relate to Katniss. Even though the world that Collins depicts in her novel is considerably different from that of her readers and the things Katniss goes through are rather extreme, readers are still able to figure out what is going on in her head and as a result of that are able to understand motive behind her decisions.
Through the novel, Collins also makes it apparent that Katniss is not exactly fond of being in the public eye, since she is not able to form a connection with the viewers. On the other hand, Peeta’s character seems to be the opposite of hers, since he appears to reveal in fact that that he is being watched. No doubt, there is plenty of violence that takes place in the novel and the characters do some very horrible things without any hesitance, however, Peeta seems to serve as a means of livening up the story with his belief that fighting and weapons are not the only option of solving a conflict. In simple words, many readers may feel that they are somewhat like Katniss, but at the same time they may wish they were more like Peeta.
Readers of The Hunger Games may or may not realize that Susan Collins is sending an important message in the novel by having Katniss select Peeta. He is referred to as “the boy with the bread” in the novel, since he gives Katniss some bread when she was hunting for food for herself and her family. Moreover, the name of the nation comes from “Panem et Circenses,” which is a Latin phrase that translates to “bread and games (circuses),” which refers to giving up of political freedom and rights by the citizens of a nation. Thus, the act of giving bread to Katniss can be seen as giving her freedom, and this increases the significance of Peeta’s role in her life.
Even though the intention of an author does not have to be a very important topic of discussion in the analysis of a literary work, it is arguable that the society that Collins saw around her is what inspired her into writing The Hunger Games, especially the rapid pace of the evolution of television. Unlike the past, when a limited number of people had televisions just in their homes, television screens can now be spotted in cars, in restaurants, in trains, and many other places. Many people are less focused on the real world; they are being greatly affected and influenced by the fake world that they view on the television screen. Just like the viewers of the Hunger Games, the society of today has also become desensitized to occurrences that are taking place around them.
The goal of this analytical essay was to argue that Suzanne Collins has criticized the modern day American society in her novel, The Hunger Games. The undertone of the novel, based on the above references suggests that she is indeed criticizing the society of today. Moreover, she wrote the novel for a young adult audience, which can be assumed because she is aware that only the young generation can bring a chance in society. Parallels between The Hunger Games and the society of the U.S. and the rest of the world cannot be denied, which is a clear indication that our society is being criticized in the novel.
Works Cited
"A Conversation with Suzanne Collins." Scholastic. Scholastic. Web. 15 Mar 2014. <http://www.scholastic.com/thehungergames/media/qanda.pdf>.
Booker, M. Keith. The Dystopian Impulse in Modern Literature: Fiction as Social Criticism (Contributions to the Study of Science Fiction and Fantasy). Westport, Connecticut: Praeger, 1994. Print.
Collins, Suzanne. The Hunger Games (Book 1). Reissue ed. Croydon: Scholastic Press, 2010. Print.
Turner, Megan Whalen. "The Hunger Games." Publishers Weekly. PWxyz, LLC., 3 Nov 2008. Web. 15 Mar 2014. <http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-439-02348-1>.
