The text I chose to review for this assignment is The Hunger Games. The series consists of 3 books, but the overlying theme of them all is the government is in total control, living affluent lives in the capital, while everyone else in the US is living in poverty. Every 4 years the Hunger Games are hosted and once you turn the age of 13 you name is added to the count. If you are selected you are forced to fight to the death and if you win you receive a nice house, riches and to never have to enter the hunger games again.
President Snow is the leader the Panem and holds all the power. If anyone attempts to flee or not accept government decisions they are tied to a steak in the middle of the districts and whipped infant of the town, or possible killed. President Snow is able to have sole power because his power comes from the fear he inflicts. When Katniss and Peta the two man characters are the last two alive in the Hunger Games, rather than one of them killing the other (the way its supposed to go) then attempt to kill themselves together. The Game Makers stop them before they succeed and they are pronounced the 2 winners. This strips a lot of power from President Snow as Katniss and Peta showed the entirety of Panem that it is possible to uphold president Snow. Winning the Hunger Games not only raises the class of Katniss and Peta and the actions they performed but they hold power from disobeying capital laws and remaining alive. This infuriates Snow as he makes it his mission to kill Katniss as her stunt created a cascade effect of rebellion in the districts.
This is similar to DeBeauvoirs’ excepts on “the Other”. There is The One and then the “Other” which is usually the undesired and the lesser option. In Hunger Games the people of Panem are the other’s as they are all poor, unrepresented and under strict control. Relating to the Hunger Games, President Snow “sets himself up as the essential, as opposed to the other, the inessential, the object.” This is a strong representation as to what President Snow is doing and demonstrates that President Snow somehow made him self essential and made and treats the people of Panem as objects.
Collins, S., 2008. The Hunger Games. Scholastic Press.
sarner, l., 2021. Why the ‘Hunger Games’ prequel book is so controversial. [online] New York Post. Available at: <https://nypost.com/2020/01/22/why-the-hunger-games-prequel-book-is-so-controversial/> [Accessed 25 April 2021].