Hunger Games- a Political Interpretation

749 Words3 Pages
While the Hunger Games, to the unaware reader, may seem like just another teen romance novel, lying between the pages is an intense political commentary. While Suzanne Collins’ novel covers various political issues, the two that this paper will focus on is the exploitation for goods and use of food for control. Throughout the novel, Katniss Everdeen, the protagonist, is forced to face many challenges, including how to feed her family, of which she is the provider of. Panem, the fictional nation that Collins’ creates in this novel, is made up of 12 districts, or states, and one main capital. Those in the capital are born into a lavish lifestyle, where food is provided by the touch of a button and the only issue facing the residents is what outfit is currently in style. The main form of entertainment for the capital is a televised event that takes place once a year when two tributes, ranging from 12-18, from each of the 12 districts are forced into a battle to the death where the last person standing survives, called the Hunger Games. The incentive for winning is a lavish lifestyle comparable to those in the Capital, with a nice home provided for by the Capital, and an amount of food and money unattainable to anyone in the Districts. The tributes are picked through a lottery system, and the odds are always against the worst of in society. Gale, Katniss’s closest friend in District 12, for example, has his name in the lottery over 40 times, the maximum for an 18 year old, due to the fact that he has taken out a tessera. A tessera in Panem is worth a meager year’s supply of grain and oil in exchange for submitting your name more times into the lottery. For many of the residents in the Districts, this is the only way to provide not only for themselves, but for their families when food is at such a high cost. The only way that Katniss and Gale are even able to support

More about Hunger Games- a Political Interpretation

Open Document