ipl-logo

Literary Analysis On The Hunger Games

1374 Words6 Pages

The Hunger for Capitalism The first book of the trilogy, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins introduces the oppressive reign of the Capitol in the futuristic United States. At the same time, the book demonstrates how the repressive violence of the State leads to serious psychological effects of the main characters. In order to determine this, I conduct a Marxist literary analysis of the Hunger Games, by focusing on representations of capitalism and commodities, and further, how the ideologies of the Capitol repressed the unconsciousness of Katniss in a way, that she accepts a capitalist dictatorship in Panem as a natural state. Usually, scholars interpret the Hunger Games as the novel critiquing capitalism. However, by using the sequence of …show more content…

Perhaps the most important reason why Freud’s Psychoanalysis could be really useful in analyzing repressed consciousness is that it suggests an explanation as to how capitalistic dictatorship has such a huge impact on the working class consciousness in the Hunger Games. Freud’s concept of the unconscious as the realm of repression defines the effect of the capitalist ideology on the personality of Katniss and other workers of the Capitol. Moreover, it is possible to trace the mechanisms of how this unconscious has been formed - inside the family through the experiences that begin from the childhood of each …show more content…

She remembers, that when she was eleven, Peeta saved her life by giving out burned bread to her. And even 5 years later Katniss fails to understand an unfair treatment of her class. “Why would he have done it? He didn’t even know me. Still, just throwing me the bread was an enormous kindness that would have surely resulted in a beating if discovered. I couldn’t explain his actions” (Collins 32). Katniss denies the fact that the cause of that starvation is the Capitol’s structures. She prefers to forget the part of her life where she was forced for the starvation to death, rather than to acknowledge the fact that this is not “normal” and overcome

Show More
Related

  • What Is The Hunger Games Theme Essay

    781 Words  | 4 Pages

    “To this day, I can never shake the connection between this boy, Peeta Mellark, and the bread that gave me hope, and the dandelion that reminded me that I was not doomed” (Collins, 33) The action of Peeta giving Katniss the bread, and the fact that it made Katniss remember she is not doomed, shows how important food is. Her family was on the cusp of starvation, but because they were given food, they survived through it. “But I’m stuffing myself because I’ve never had food like this, so good and so much, and because probably the best thing I can do between now and the Games is put on a few pounds”(Collins, 45). For starters, the fact that Katniss has never had so much food says a lot about how life in Panem can be. This also supports the fact that Katniss’s family usually was on the cusp of starvation.

    Read More

  • Katniss Tragic Hero Essay

    1053 Words  | 5 Pages

    Katniss is very poor which makes training for the Hunger Games very difficult for her. Unlike her opponents in other districts who train their whole lives for the Games. However, overall she proves to the city and district that she is a tragic hero through her self-sacrifice that led to victory. The Hunger games as you all are in common with was created by a bias capitol.

    Read More

  • Argumentative Essay: The Hunger Games

    1153 Words  | 5 Pages

    The twelve districts in theory should view the Hunger Games as the necessary tool that keeps Panem from uprising and self-destruction, however, the reception of the Games in the really poor districts clearly shows that the Capitol cannot reform them to think so. Statistically, the poor districts are always the most likely to lose one year’s competition because they lack resources to train tributes and their children are starving. Therefore, the response to the Hunger Games in the poor districts who are on the brink of starvation is the most dramatic. Citizens of districts such as 11 and 12 can only view the Games as injustice because once a child is chosen at the Reaping he or she is evidently doomed to die. There are rare exceptions as the

    Read More

  • Feminist Lens In The Hunger Games

    754 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Hunger Games is a fairly popular and typical tale that includes a heroine, courage, and bravery. This story can be read or watched through many different lenses such as a Marxist lens, feminist lens, or even an archetypal lens. Through these lenses one can see as a reader or viewer that this is not just a story that fits into one category, but one that can fit into many. Using the Marxist and feminist lenses a viewer can gain a great depth of knowledge into The Hunger Games story itself.

    Read More

  • The Lottery And The Hunger Games: A Literary Analysis

    801 Words  | 4 Pages

    The stories "The Lottery" and "The Hunger Games" are very similar to one another. Both stories show fear, sacrifice, and violence in some way. The government is corrupt and is not willing to stop deadly traditions that have gone on for too long. These traditions should have never started in the first place. In "The Lottery," citizens fear that they will no longer be able to grow crops as a result of not having this deadly game.

    Read More

  • Theme Of Abuse Of Power In The Hunger Games

    857 Words  | 4 Pages

    That’s how Americans get their entertainment. In addition to the previous statement, hunger and starvation is another symbol that describes the abuse of power is hunger and starvation. Hunger and starvation play a huge part in the storyline because the capitol has most of the food but in some districts food is very sparse such as District Twelve which is where Katniss resides. The reason that Katniss is participating in the Hunger Games and the reason why it’s called the Hunger Games is because whoever wins the games will be rewarded with extravagant gifts and mostly food so to speak. Furthermore, there is a lot of violence and war which makes this book gruesome and fun to read.

    Read More

  • Examples Of Responsibility In The Hunger Games

    727 Words  | 3 Pages

    Katniss had to be responsible for keeping her family and friends safe and alive, but she also had to take care of herself. In chapter eleven the Hunger Games had began and Katniss left behind the bow that was supposed to “belong to her”. She knew that there was no way she could have survived without it, but she also knew that it was her fault and she had to survive without it. In Chapter 13 Katniss was being “chased” by a fire and fire balls were being thrown at her. She got severely burned and couldn’t do much at all so she had to fix her own leg because there was no one else to help her.

    Read More

  • Essay On Corruption In The Hunger Games

    966 Words  | 4 Pages

    Firstly, The Capitol believes in a system that restricts the citizen 's freedom to ensure their supremacy on the public. For instance, when Katniss sneaks into the woods and comments about the situations of starvation

    Read More

  • Government Control In The Hunger Games

    780 Words  | 4 Pages

    Introduction: In the novel “The Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins an important idea the writer developed was the idea of Governmental Control and Oppression. This idea was important as it helped me understand an important message for teenager, the idea that laws could control some populations and abused of its power could cause those living suffering. Paragraph 1: Governmental Control in the “Hunger Games” was something that was really highlighted as people in the capitol had control over those living in the district. The district had strict laws inflicted upon them, making life difficult.

    Read More

  • An Essay About Katniss Decision Making

    709 Words  | 3 Pages

    This change of thought and decision making is only natural due to the nature of the Hunger Games. A large giveaway that Katniss is making decisions that benefit her is the fact that was killing people in the arena. An example of this is when a group of “career” tributes (the tributes that have trained for the Hunger Games since they were young) and Peeta chase Katniss into a tree in an attempt to kill her. They decide rather than follow her up, they would wait it out until she had to come down. Instead of crawling down and accepting her fate Katniss notices a nest full of tracker jackers, which are genetically modified wasps with deadly poison, and decides to cut it down onto the group below her.

    Read More

  • The Theme Of Sacrifice In 'The Hunger Games'

    1520 Words  | 7 Pages

    Theme # 1- No matter what tyrannical environment you live in, your identity can never be changed The Hunger Games focuses on the theme of identity and how it is immutable in any tyrannical environment. This tells the audience that no one can take away your identity and it can only be controlled by you. In the movie, 24 tributes are forced to enter a game where they kill each other in order to survive which led them to losing their identity and becoming pawns to entertain the people of the Capitol.

    Read More

  • The Hunger Games Hero's Journey

    1108 Words  | 5 Pages

    Mythologist, college professor, and author Joseph Campbell came up with the idea of the Hero’s Journey, which had a big impact of literature, and still does today. The Hero’s Journey consists of four main parts, with more ideas under each part. These four parts are Departure, Testing, Fulfillment, and Return. Each part is a key aspect of the Hero’s Journey. In The Hunger Games, written by Suzanne Collins, Katniss Everdeen goes through this journey.

    Read More

  • The Hunger Games Survival Analysis

    1438 Words  | 6 Pages

    Moreover, the evidence tells us that Katniss is a selfless person who would basically give up her life for her family, even though she will be forced to go the capital, where she will be used as a pawn in the Hunger Games. Furthermore,

    Read More

  • Dystopian Themes In The Hunger Games

    827 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Hunger Games trilogy revolves around universal dystopian themes such as :oppression, rebellion, class tension as well as appearance vs. reality ," Collins creates the world that on one hand seems quite improbable and extreme, but on the other, vividly reflects some specific issues in a real world, like social inequalities, ignorance and passivity of the people" (Macanić 7). Oppression is perhaps the most common and prevalent dystopian theme as it serves as a warning against a highly probable dark future through shedding light on the dark side of contemporary trends such as advanced technology and reality TV-shows .The Capitol 's oppression operates on two levels; districts and individuals. The districts in general and districts 11 and 12 in particular have suffered great injustices at the ruthless hands of the Capitol ; however, there is no greater injustice than The Hunger Games themselves not only are the people of Panem forced to surrender their children as tributes for the Capitol 's citizens viewing pleasure for a crime they had no hand in committing ,but they are also forced to watch helplessly as their children are killed in the most brutal of manners .In Catching Fire (2009) , President Snow decrees that " the male and female tributes will be reaped from their existing pool of victors" in order to get rid of Katniss once and for all ,and to further assert the Capitol 's dominance and quell any thoughts of rebellion(172).

    Read More

  • The Hunger Games Feminist Analysis

    1000 Words  | 4 Pages

    It aims at resisting traditional assumptions of gender (3). In doing so, feminist literary criticism examines how works of literature perpetuate or challenge patriarchal attitudes. In feminism lens, The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins’ presents itself as a pro-feminist series It challenges gender stereotypes by presenting a female protagonist; Katniss Everdeen. The book has successfully challenged gender stereotypes by showing that men and women are equal. It is the societal constraints that do not provide a level playing field for both genders.

    Read More

More about Literary Analysis On The Hunger Games

Open Document