Abuse Of Power In The Hunger Games

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The love of power is a major factor of human behaviour. We crave power, and the more we gain, the more we want. The cruelty of the Capitol, the ruling city of Panem demonstrates the extent to which power can cause us to deny the rights of others and lose our capacity for empathy. In this futuristic novel, the protagonist, Katniss Everdeen, lives in a post-apocalyptic, dystopian society in the ruins of North America. The recreated region is a country called Panem. It is composed of a totalitarian Capitol ringed by 13 districts. In Panem, all the Districts are at the Capitol’s mercy. The Hunger Games is an annual game show on live TV where 24 tributes, two from each district between the ages of 12-18 fight to the death. The Capitol abuses its power in other ways as well it keeps the vast majority of its citizens impoverished and on the verge of starvation. The Hunger Games were created to remind citizens that the Capitol controls them completely and they must never rebel against it ever again. Perhaps the most cruel demonstration of the totalitarian power is the suffering prior to…show more content…
At the reaping, the mayor explains the origin of the Hunger Games. As a result of the rebellion of the Districts against the Capitol, formally named the Dark Days, the Hunger Games were invented; they made it clear to the citizens of the Districts that the Capitol had complete control. In the Games the tributes must fight to the death; this is a horrific blood sport for the entertainment of the Capitol, and to keep the Districts under control. Every year in Katniss’s home in District 12, preteens and teens between the ages of 12-18 must gather at the square for the reaping; this includes 16 year old Katniss, and her 12 year old sister Prim. This year, the odds were entirely in Prim’s favor, since she did not sign up for tesserae. Still, Katniss’s little sister Prim was selected. Katniss volunteers as

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