Young Adult Dystopian Literature on Fire:
The Importance of The Hunger Games Trilogy to
Critical Thinking and Social Justice
Master’s Dissertation Literary Studies. Programme Writing, Editing and Mediating. Department of English Language and Culture, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen.
Contents
Preface1 Exploring the Genre: YA Dystopian Literature ... 1
1.1 Dystopian Literature ... 1
1.2 Young Adult Dystopian Literature ... 4
1.3 Martha Nussbaum on Why Literature Matters ... 7
2 The Hunger Games: Power in Panem and the Hunger Games ... 11
2.1 The Author of The Hunger Games ... 11
2.1 The Dystopian Society of Panem ... 12
2.2 The 74th Hunger Games ... 16
3 Catching Fire: Gender and Performance ... 24
3.1 The Girl on Fire: Katniss Everdeen ... 24
3.2 The Hunter and the Baker ... 26
3.3 Performance in the 75th Hunger Games ... 28
4 Mockingjay: Technology and Trauma ... 35
4.1 District 13 ... 35
4.2 Real or Not Real? ... 37
4.3 Mentally Disoriented ... 40
Conclusion ... 46
Preface
Due to its immense popularity at the time of writing, I have chosen to analyse The Hunger
Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins. Despite, and perhaps due to the trilogy’s popularity
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1 Exploring the Genre: YA Dystopian Literature
1.1 Dystopian Literature
In The Hunger Games trilogy, society is divided into different districts that have their own characteristics. It is human nature that we make distinctions by categorising as much as possible. Putting things in boxes and labelling them seems like an easy task, but it often turns out to be more complicated than that. When it comes to literature, many distinctions regarding genre have been made. One label that can be assigned to The Hunger Games is the genre of ‘dystopian literature’ due to the trilogy’s dystopian setting. Before turning to the novels, it is important to establish the characteristics of the genre.
The notion of dystopia coexists with the category of utopia. It is possible to juxtapose these concepts and point out the differences when it comes to a
dystopian/utopian society, but they should not merely be regarded as opposites. When searching for a definition of utopia, we find that utopia was introduced by Thomas More’s
Utopia in 1516 as “an imaginary island presented by the narrator as having a perfect, social,
2 universal themes that appear in many genres complicates the process of defining utopia. To provide some clarity concerning the genre, Carrie Hintz and Elaine Ostry define it as follows:
We use “utopia,” a more familiar term for the reader, to signify a nonexistent society that is posited as significantly better than that of the reader. It strives toward
perfection, has a delineated social system, and is described in reasonably specific detail. Dystopias are likewise precise descriptions of societies, ones in which the ideals for improvement have gone tragically amok. (3)
As immediately becomes apparent in The Hunger Games and will be explored in Chapter 2, the utopian perspective is linked to the dystopian view. On the one hand, a setting of a perfect utopian society could lead to the fear of losing it. On the other hand, an imperfect dystopian setting enhances the yearning for improvement. In simple terms, what is
regarded as a utopian setting by some members of society might be perceived by others as dystopian.
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states that such classics of dystopian fiction offer a “ definite sense of continuity between the flawed world of the present and the even more profoundly flawed, monstrous world of the hypothetical future, where our society’s errors against justice and reason become a totalitarian dictatorship of organized justice” (27). The Hunger Games novels present the consequences of a system in which the government aims to maintain total political and economic power over the districts of the nation called Panem. Although the dystopian genre offers a different setting, the link between the current situation and a radically different one remains an important aspect of the genre. Therefore, readers are encouraged to think about both differences and similarities between the settings, become aware of the flaws of
society, and consider possible improvements.
A novel’s dystopian setting could also contribute to the adventure story. In many cases, the novel includes a story with a dystopian setting that is set in the future. As a result, writers often incorporate advanced technology which immediately indicates the difference between the current society and the one described in the novel. Sometimes, certain new gadgets, weapons, and medicines might improve life, while others should never come into existence due to the damage they can cause. Harmful technology such as military
technology and genetic engineering will be explored in Chapter 4, as Mockingjay
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only offer entertainment, but it also provides food for thought. The inevitable link to
political issues and social commentary can be seen in the way in which the alternative world is depicted in the novel. Jameson states that it is a mistake “to approach Utopias with positive expectations, as though they offered visions of happy worlds, spaces of fulfillment and cooperation, representations which correspond generically to the idyll or the pastoral rather than the utopia” (12). Instead, utopian and dystopian literature encourages readers to expect flaws in the society that is presented to them in the novel, and relate them to their own society.
1.2 Young Adult Dystopian Literature
At first glance, defining YA Dystopian literature might seem like a straightforward task. After exploring the dystopian genre it is now possible to add the label of Young Adult to indicate that we are dealing with dystopian literature that is targeted to readers between the ages of twelve and eighteen. YA dystopian literature adheres to the topics and themes that can be found in the adult dystopian novels. There is, however, a difference in the way in which these topics are presented to the young adult audience. Nevertheless, YA dystopian literature can serve as a means to develop young adults’ critical thinking skills that allow them to gain a better understanding of the world.
Currently, YA dystopian literature is part of popular culture. “For YAs, popular culture is more or less their lives (...) By looking at popular culture through a cultural lens, the
5 blogs. Today, YA dystopian novels such as The Hunger Games trilogy and the Divergent trilogy by Veronica Roth have large fandoms. Evidently, after the huge success of children’s and YA books such as Harry Potter and Twilight, these trilogies have been added to the list of books that have been made into films. Clearly, such developments contribute to book sales and help to encourage young adults to engage in reading. In a world in which people read and watch films about supernatural creatures such as hobbits, elves, wizards, dragons, vampires, and werewolves, it becomes clear that fantasy is an important aspect that many popular YA novels share. “Fantasy can also mirror and criticize reality, forcing readers to consider reality, ironically at the same time as they are escaping from it. Fantasy texts, especially those with specifically utopian or dystopian concerns, can be more than escapist: they can offer an improved vision of the future, or address deep and possibly unresolvable fears” (Hintz & Ostry 6). YA dystopian novels offer the themes of dystopian literature in a different way than adult novels do. One of the differences is the novel’s main characters. In the novels, we follow the story of the sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen as she takes part in The Hunger Games. In this event, young adults between the ages of twelve and eighteen have to compete against each other. Therefore, YAL is not only targeted at this age group, but it also includes characters of the same age. In this way, it is easier for young adults to identify themselves with the protagonists. Children’s and YAL usually place a child or adolescent against the adult world. “The sharp division between the child and the adult world allows for the social criticism that utopias contain. Through the child, the writer casts a “critical eye” on the world” (Hintz & Ostry 8). By reading YA dystopian literature,
6 reader joins the main character’s journey of discovering and evaluating socio-political issues. Hintz and Ostry point out that dystopia can act as a powerful metaphor for adolescence:
In adolescence, authority appears oppressive, and perhaps no one feels more under surveillance than the average teenager. The teenager is on the brink of adulthood: close enough to see its privileges but unable to enjoy them. The comforts of childhood fail to satisfy. The adolescent craves more power and control, and feels the limits on his or her freedom intensely. Denied legal and social power, teenagers in [dystopian] books often wield awesome mind control. (9-10)
Therefore, presenting dystopian literature to young adults is appealing and useful as they can easily identify themselves with the story and are encouraged to utilise critical thinking to get a better understanding of the world.
Another characteristic of YA dystopian fiction is its reliance on hope. As Monica Hughes puts it, “you may lead a child into the darkness, but you must never turn out the light” (156). In addition, she explains that “dystopian worlds are exciting! But the end result must never be nihilism and despair. Luckily for the writer, these very tensions lead to the development of plot, much as the grit within the oyster gives birth to the pearl (Hughes 156). Young adult literature is still able to provide hope while presenting it in an exciting dystopian setting. In the case of The Hunger Games trilogy, hope remains an important aspect throughout the novels. Although the young adults are tested and encounter many dangers, the story always hints at a light at the end of the tunnel. In fact, the annual Hunger Games is an example of this, as it is possible for one tribute to become the victor who wins a life of prosperity in the Victors’ Village. Although the people are oppressed by the
7 place. This is in stark contrast to the dystopian setting of adult novels. In adult dystopian literature it is often not necessary to provide reassurance and hope. For example, Orwell’s
Nineteen Eighty-Four does not focus on a change of the situation and a happy ending.
Instead, Orwell leaves the characters in a hopeless situation in which the government has total control. Commenting on children’s and YAL’s happy ending or epilogue, Mike Caddon sees “a connection between the moral imperative of writing for children and the hopeful nature of fantasy,” and he states that some writers “insist not on the contrivance of happiness but in the tenacity of hope” (345). Therefore, he argues that “a sense of
completion is actually more important than narrative closure” (Caddon 346). Although The
Hunger Games include a sense of hope, it becomes clear that happiness is relative. Young
adults do not necessarily need a happily ever after story, but they do need a sense of completion and hope; a reassurance that adolescents can change the world into a better place.
1.3 Martha Nussbaum on Why Literature Matters
Although several books and articles illustrate what YAL offers, many educational
institutions, the general public, and critics often do not regard it as literature that should be taught at a secondary school or university. When educators do include it, they often, as Chris Crowe puts it, “use a historical, literary approach and include Little Women [1868] [and] Anne of Green Gables [1908] and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn [1943]” (121). However, popular YAL like The Hunger Games should be included in a school’s curriculum to
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Due to the fact that this thesis stresses the importance of dystopian YAL to critical thinking and social justice, it follows the stance of “critics who have moved into the public and political arena, extending their literary and rhetorical expertise into this broader political and cultural struggle,” Martha Nussbaum in particular (Habib 205). Nussbaum argues against “the objections usually levied against literature or the imagination: that it is somehow unscientific, irrational inasmuch as it deploys emotions, and is unable to achieve a legal or scientific impartiality” (Habib 207). Habib further explains that she argues that emotions, properly used, “furnish a guiding foundation for rational thought, and the ability of literature to imagine alternative conditions is an essential component of democratic thinking” (207). It is during adolescence that young adults start to learn and think about society and their place in it and, therefore, educators should lay the guiding foundation during this period and encourage young adults to engage in critical democratic thinking. In Poetic Justice: The Literary Imagination and Public Life, Nussbaum makes two claims concerning novel-reading:
First, that it provides insights that should play a role (though not as uncriticized foundations) in the construction of an adequate moral and political theory; second, that it develops moral capacities without which citizens will not succeed in making reality out of the normative conclusions of any moral or political theory, however excellent. Novel-reading will not give us the whole story about social justice, but it can be a bridge both to a vision of justice and to the social enactment of that vision.
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This vision of justice and the enactment of it is an important theme in YA dystopian literature. As touched upon before, YAL places the adolescent against the adult world. Young adults “learn about the need for leadership, the stresses of decision making, and the dynamics of group cooperation against a common enemy” (Hintz & Ostry 11). Learning about social issues could lead to social equality; as Nussbaum argues, “Literary
understanding promotes habits of mind that lead toward social equality in that they contribute to the dismantling of the stereotypes that support group hatred. For this purpose, in principle any literary work (...) would be valuable” (92). Therefore, Chapter 3 examines the portrayal of stereotypes and gender roles in Catching Fire and how group cooperation is essential to overcome oppression. Young adults are constantly reminded of the fact that they need to act now to shape the future. Yet, although research indicates that YAL “can be effective for supporting the growth of literary understanding, for actively
engaging the high school student in analytical reading and writing, and for creating life-long readers out of reluctant and even poor readers,” the amount of popular YAL in the
classroom is low (Santoli & Wagner 66). However, allowing pupils to read novels that are part of the popular culture will change their attitudes towards reading in a positive way. If pupils are interested in the dystopian world of The Hunger Games, why not let them engage in it and emphasise the socio-political issues the novels tackle? Clearly, YA dystopian novels are able to provide as much social commentary as some of the classics do, and they could serve as a bridge to them as well. YAL can be an escape and form of entertainment while at the same time having the element of didacticism that evokes critical thinking.
10 we take Nussbaum’s perspective into consideration, it becomes clear that YAL contributes to democratic thinking. Due to this, we should reconsider the value of YAL and promote it in the classroom. Steven Wolk illustrates that “this is what rethinking school reading can do. By making substantive changes to what students read, we can bring immediacy and
spontaneity to their learning. We can make their schooling a living experience, as if it is truly relevant to life” (16). The next chapters examine how The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and
Mockingjay incorporate socio-political issues such as totalitarianism, mass media, gender
identity, technology, and trauma. Therefore, the popular YA dystopian trilogy is capable of broadening young adults’ knowledge of society and their place in it, and the novels
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2 The Hunger Games: Power in Panem and the Hunger Games
2.1 The Author of The Hunger Games
Before Suzanne Collins started writing The Hunger Games trilogy, she began her career by writing for several Nickelodeon television shows such as the Emmy-nominated hit Clarissa
Explains It All and The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo. She made her mark in children’s
literature with The Underland Chronicles in which the protagonist, Gregor, discovers a world under New York City, inhabited by humans and giant vermin. Gregor is faced with
challenging quests and struggles to survive a global war. In 2008, Collins published The
Hunger Games, her first YA Dystopian novel which instantly became a bestseller. As a result,
with the last film Mockingjay split up in two parts (2014 and 2015), the trilogy has been turned into four film adaptations.
In an interview with James Blasingame, Collins explains she grew up all over the world, because her father was in the military. She states that her father “did his best to pass his understanding of history, politics, and world events on to his children, and there is no doubt that [she] was influenced by his education and life experience” (726). She further explains that the socio-political overtones of The Hunger Games were “very intentionally created to characterize current and past world events, including the use of hunger as a weapon to control populations’’ (Blasingame 726).
12 the phenomenon of gladiatorial games. She found three aspects that are always present in the gladiator paradigm: “(1) a ruthless government that (2) forces people to fight to the death and (3) uses these fights to the death as a form of popular entertainment”
(Blasingame 727). Clearly, the dystopian setting and events in The Hunger Games reflect these aspects and demonstrate the power relations in the novel’s society while
simultaneously exposing the notion of power in today’s society.
2.1 The Dystopian Society of Panem
13 morning shift (...)” (Collins 4). While District 12 is concerned with coal mining, other
industries include fishing in District 4 and factories in District 5 (Collins 76). When Katniss meets Rue from District 11 (agriculture) during the Hunger Games, she assumes that Rue would have more food to eat than she does, but Rue explains that they are not allowed to eat the crops. When you do, the government shows how ruthless they are by “whip[ping] you and mak[ing] everyone else watch. The mayor’s very strict about it” (Collins 237). Katniss comments about this conversation as follows: “It’s interesting, hearing about her life. We have so little communication with anyone outside our district. In fact, I wonder if the Gamemakers are blocking out our conversation, because even though the information seems harmless, they don’t want people in different districts to know about one another” (Collins 238). Thus, while there are differences between the districts controlled by the government that keeps them as separate as possible, they do work together to benefit the same government situated in the Capitol.
14 social reality” (Žižek 11). Due to this, the relationship between the government and the districts could be regarded as a form of colonialism and capitalism. As Rue explained to Katniss, the districts produce their own resources and products, but they are then
transported to the Capitol. According to Aric Putnam, “colonialism is material; its motor is greed and its mode is violent. Equally important, however, is the fact that colonialism manipulates the culture of the colonized in order to achieve its material ends” (Putnam 21). Today, greed is still the motor of many governments. Companies still aim to find a way to produce products in the cheapest way possible, often exploiting the employees who work under dire circumstances. In fact, Panem, formerly North America, could be compared to the current North America, due to the Western World’s exploitation of Third-World countries but also because of their treatment of U.S. employees. For example, American CEOs “earn[e]d 331 times as much as average workers, and 774 times as much as minimum wage earners [in 2013]” (Dill). Also, while examining the overconsumption of food and starvation, Amber Simmons notes that “if we look at patterns of wastefulness in the United States, we are more closely associated with the Capitol, the bad guys, than with the
self-15 evident that they do this in its whole range, hence among other things rule also as thinkers, as producers of ideas, and regulate the production and distribution of the ideas of their age: thus their ideas are the ruling ideas of the epoch” (Marx 21). The Capitol is determined to present their vision as a universal truth that should not be questioned. In order to live in peace, the citizens have to be obedient, and this is still relevant today. For instance, citizens are not allowed to break the law and they have to pay their bills and taxes. In some
countries, the goal is to have equality and prosperity for the citizens, whereas other countries have a powerful totalitarian government quite similar to the Capitol. However, with great power comes resistance that could lead to a revolution. As Marx puts it, “For each new class which puts itself in the place of one ruling before it, is compelled, merely in order to carry through its aim, to represent its interest as the common interest of all the members of society” (21). Through Katniss, we learn that this interest is concerned with the peace and prosperity that can only be found in the Capitol.
16 slides “under a metre-long stretch that’s been loose for years [and that] there are several other weak spots in the fence” (Collins 5). In addition, she states that even though
“trespassing in the woods is illegal and poaching carries the severest of penalties, most of the Peacekeepers turn a blind eye to the few of us who hunt because they’re as hungry for fresh meat as anybody is. In fact, they’re among our best customers” (Collins 6). Katniss then continues to trade in the Hob, the black market where she makes most of her money. The fence with its weak spots is, in fact, an apt metaphor for the Capitol. Throughout the trilogy, the weak spots increase and the opportunities for resistance arise. Foucault stresses that "power comes from below; that is, there is no binary and all-encompassing opposition between rulers and ruled at the root of power relations, and serving as a general matrix - no such duality extending from the top down and reacting on more and more limited groups to the very depths of the social body” (HS 94). Although the Capitol uses the Hunger Games as a cruel reminder of their sovereign power, the event later becomes a symbol of rebellion when Katniss enters the arena.
2.2 The 74
thHunger Games
17 however, the Capitol’s actions cause great dissatisfaction. The Hunger Games “is the
Capitol’s way of reminding us how totally we are at their mercy (...) To make it humiliating as well as torturous, the Capitol requires us to treat [it] as a festivity, a sporting event pitting every district against the others. The last tribute alive receives a life of ease back home, and their district will be showered with prizes, largely consisting of food” (Collins 21-22). Thus, only in this case will the Capitol provide the bread to keep their people content. Before the Hunger Games begin, there is the so-called reaping of the tributes in which the children’s names go into a pool and the two names that are picked out will represent their district in the Games. However, “say you are poor and starving (...) you can opt to add your name more times in exchange for tesserae. Each tessera is worth a meagre year’s supply of grain and oil for one person” (Collin 15). This unfair reaping system is another way of
demonstrating how powerful the government is and it also functions as “a way to plant hatred between the starving workers of the Seam and those who can generally count on supper; and thereby ensure we will never trust one another” (Collins 16). As a result, there is also a division within the districts. The Capitol ensures that the citizens can hardly rely on each other, and because of this the people do not feel united and strong enough to resist the government.
Due to the fact that the Capitol presents the Hunger Games as a festivity, media coverage is highly important. The Games are broadcast live on television, and for the people in the Capitol it is a form of entertainment similar to popular reality TV programmes
18 gave his force to the law” (Foucault DP 58). In Panem, the public does not witness execution for a crime in a public square, but they watch twenty-three children die as a spectacle on their TV screens. It is annual punishment for the uprising of the districts that occurred before the first Hunger Games took place. On the one hand, especially for the people in the Capitol, there exists what Žižek calls “ethical illusion” which leads to “abstract reasoning” (36). Although people see blood being shed on their screens, they do not witness it directly and thus respond to it in a less emotional way. At the same time, however, media coverage emphasises the importance of the event and enhances the Capitol’s power. Instead of direct punishment during the reapings of the tributes, the Capitol demonstrates its control during the Games. The dystopia they have created in the arena is their board game, and the tributes are merely pawns that need to be eliminated until there is one victor left who symbolises the illusion of hope. The Capitol won the war years ago, remains in full control of the country and is the real victor of the Hunger Games.
Foucault also discusses disciplinary power which is concerned with how people’s behaviour is disciplined. He draws upon Jeremy Bentham’s concept of the Panopticon (Panoptes was a hundred-eyed giant in Greek mythology), a prison that would have the cells situated around a central observation tower. The “gaze” or surveillance system influences a person’s behaviour. We have seen that Katniss knows that she is being watched and
19 television screen on the wall that’s airing my arrival live and feel gratified that I appear almost bored” (Collins 46). Appearance and televised behaviour are very important aspects of the Hunger Games. Each pair of tributes gets a team of professionals that will guide them through the training period. This team could be compared to the PR people who work with celebrities: Effie escorts Katniss and Peeta to the Capitol, tells them all the ins and outs about it, and stresses the importance of appropriate behaviour, Haymitch once won the Hunger Games and functions as a mentor who presents the game plan, and Cinna is the stylist in charge of the image people will see on their TV screens. Katniss has to look presentable during the Games, that is, she will have the perfect hair and make-up, wear a nice dress, and walk in heels. Her stylist, Cinna, tells Katniss that he wants “the audience to recognize you when you’re in the arena (...) Katniss, the girl who was on fire,” referring to the synthetic fire he added to her dress (Collins 77). At this point, you would almost forget that the tributes are young adults who have to fight each other to the death in the arena. Suzanne Collins states she is “fearful that today people see so many reality shows and dramas that when real news is on, its impact is completely lost on them” (Blasingame 727). While discussing how the media promotes war and how war promotes media, Jean
Baudrillard explains that real time information “loses itself in a completely unreal space, finally furnishing the images of pure, useless, instantaneous television where its primordial function irrupts, namely that of filling a vacuum, blocking up the screen hole through which escapes the substance of events” (31). For many spectators in the Capitol and the richer districts, the impact of the cruelty of the Hunger Games is completely lost on them. To them, the image of the tributes and the entertainment are more important.
20 between the life and death of a tribute, there is the concept of sponsorship and
Gamemakers. The preparation period includes a makeover, media training, and actual combat training in the Training Centre to make sure the tributes can showcase their
21 the severe restrictions imposed on information and media by the Capitol have facilitated Katniss’s development of information and media literacies, suggesting that, by exerting oppressive control over information and media, a totalitarian government ironically may be its own worst enemy in encouraging the very skills among the populace that may ultimately undermine its ability to control them. (Latham & Hollister)
The death of Katniss’s ally Rue from District 11 is an important turn of events. Katniss’s reaction to this is as follows: “I want to do something, right here, right now, to shame them, to make them accountable, to show the Capitol that whatever they do or force us to do there is a part of every tribute they can’t own. That Rue was more than a piece in their Games. And so am I” (Collins 276). Although Katniss also points out that they might turn the cameras elsewhere, she knows that they will show Rue on TV when her body is collected. Katniss decides to decorate Rue’s body with flowers and turns to the cameras with her district’s gesture by bringing the three fingers of the left hand to her lips and then hold it out in the air: “it means thanks, it means admiration, it means goodbye to someone you love” (Collins 28). As a result, she receives bread from Rue’s district, and Rue’s fellow tribute spares her this one time when he gets the opportunity to kill her. The ultimate act of
22 she collected earlier into Peeta’s and her own hands. Just when they attempt to commit suicide, the Gamemaker Claudius Templesmith stops them and is “pleased to present the Victors of the Seventy-fourth Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark! I give you – the tributes of District Twelve!” (Collins 403). When Katniss and Peeta return to the
Capitol, undergo another makeover to remove all signs of injury, and prepare for a live interview, Haymitch tells Katniss that she is in trouble: “Word is the Capitol’s furious about you showing them up in the arena. The one thing they can’t stand is being laughed at, and they’re the joke of Panem (...) your only defence can be you were so madly in love you weren’t responsible for your actions” (Collins 417). This strategy makes it seem as though the Capitol was in control of the outcome the entire time and Katniss needs to be styled as innocent as possible and behave accordingly in order to keep her family safe. During the interview, they watch a recap of the Hunger Games in which the part of Katniss covering Rue with flowers is omitted. This means that the Capitol regarded it as an act of rebellion and a potential threat to society.
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3 Catching Fire: Gender and Performance
3.1 The Girl on Fire: Katniss Everdeen
25 you find yourself, you’ll never starve” (Collins HG 60). Katniss must discover who she is and believe in her own strengths in order to survive. Katniss is described as a strong female character and a potential threat to Panem, but at the same time she also needs to perform an identity that satisfies society.
One of the reasons why Katniss is considered as an example of female
empowerment is the fact that she is not the ‘damsel in distress’. Headlines about Katniss include the NY Times’ “A Radical Female Hero from Dystopia” and The Guardian’s “Why The Hunger Games' killer Katniss Is a Great Female Role Model”. These headlines focus on the following aspects: Katniss the great female, Katniss the warrior, and how this appears to be an unusual yet appreciated combination. As a result of research conducted about the dimension of masculinity versus femininity, Geert Hofstede states that “Masculinity stands for a society in which social gender roles are clearly distinct: Men are supposed to be
assertive, tough, and focused on material success; women are supposed to be more modest, tender, and concerned with the quality of life” (Hofstede 6). Katniss stands out because she reverses the stereotypical gender roles; she is mostly associated with masculine traits such as assertiveness and toughness. Although material success might seem like an impossible accomplishment for Katniss at first, it is an appropriate description for the food that she brings on the table and her victory in the Hunger Games. Furthermore, Katniss is not particularly interested in the concept of beauty. Although she appreciates Cinna’s
26 me to tears” (Collins 100). It is at Madge’s house where Katniss discovers there are uprisings when she stops to watch shots of Peeta and her celebrating in the Capitol during the Victory Tour on the mayor’s television. An update on district 8 appears and Katniss sees that “the square’s packed with screaming people, their faces hidden with rags and home-made masks, throwing bricks. Buildings burn. Peacekeepers shoot into the crowd, killing at random” (Collins 102). Katniss also learns that the Capitol has difficulty getting different products, becomes more controlling and violent by setting up whipping posts in public squares, it burns down the black market, and keeps the fence surrounding the district electrified all day, making Katniss want to start an uprising as well. However, she
understands that she needs support to do so, and some of that support she finds in Gale and Peeta.
3.2 The Hunter and the Baker
The trilogy includes a love triangle as a plot device. This device has gained negative
27 a pair we were – fatherless, frightened, but fiercely committed, too, to keeping our families alive,” Katniss remembers when she sits by his side after he had been publically whipped for his illegal hunting activities (Collins 133). Gale is the “strong silent type with a habit of railing against the government that morphs into a central role in the rebellion that develops as the series progresses (...) He is the poster boy for traditional masculinity” (Williams). When he tells Katniss that he loves her, she tells him that she knows and explains that she “never see[s] these things coming. They happen too fast. One second you’re proposing an escape plan and the next . . . you’re expected to deal with something like this” (Collins 111). Katniss also fails to deal with Peeta’s love declarations when he tells her that his nightmares are about losing her but that he is okay once he realises that she is there: “Ugh. Peeta makes comments like this in such an offhand way, and it’s like being hit in the gut. He’s only answering my question honestly. He’s not pressing me to reply in kind, to make any declaration of love” (Collins 98). Peeta Mellark is the baker, the boy who once gave her hope when he threw a loaf of burnt bread at her. He is the boy who told her before the Games that he dreaded to become a monster and wanted to die as himself. Williams states that “if Gale is the poster boy for traditional masculinity, Peeta is the poster boy for
28 continue their staged romance after the Victory Tour when it becomes clear that they will become tributes again.
3.3 Performance in the 75th Hunger Games
In Catching Fire, the third Quarter Quell takes place:“On the seventy-fifth anniversary, as a reminder to the rebels that even the strongest among them cannot overcome the power of the Capitol, the male and female tributes will be reaped from their existing pool of victors” (Collins 196). Katniss realises that “getting rid of me and subduing the districts all in one neat little package” is the Capitol’s answer for the uprisings, and punishing the victors emphasises their power as they “are our strongest, (...) the very embodiment of hope where there is no hope. And now twenty-three of us will be killed to show how even that hope was an illusion” (Collins 198-199). Thus far, gender has been explored in relation to gender norms and feminine or masculine traits. It would be simplistic to conclude that Gale and Katniss represent masculinity, whereas Peeta is a representation of femininity. On the one hand, many critics in Western society applaud the use of a ‘strong female protagonist’, but at the same time gender neutrality was important, because “from the start, the books were aimed at a crossover audience. The publisher, Scholastic, considered dozens of cover
designs, including portraits of Katniss, before settling on a more "iconic" image of a bird pendant that plays a role in the story” (Dodes & Jurgensen). Many questions arise, such as: are females only considered stronger when they show masculine traits? Why are they called masculine? Why would a portrait of a girl not appeal to a “crossover” audience? The
29 constructed, usually discussed in relation to masculine domination and female oppression, and that it “intersects with racial, class, ethnic, sexual, and regional modalities of
30 President Snow’s? Tattoo my breasts? Cut decorative patterns in my face? Give me curved talons? Or cat’s whiskers? I saw all these things in the Capitol. Do they really have no idea how freakish they look to the rest of us?” (Collins 55-56). There are, however, small differences regarding appearance that are similar to today’s gender expectations. For example, dresses are only worn by women, and body hair “means I get to spend the morning having the hair ripped off my body while Peeta sleeps in. I hadn’t thought about it much, but in the arena at least some of the boys got to keep their body hair whereas none of the girls did (...) but not one of the boys grew a beard” (Collins 54). While Peeta is charming and able to play the crowd, Katniss relies on her make-up, dresses, and the fake love story that enable her to perform an identity.
31 necessarily a bad theme for a YA novel, it is refreshing to have a female teen protagonist demonstrate different kinds of love related to family, friends and humanity. Katniss is very protective of the people she cares about. After taking on the role of both her parents in the household, Katniss’s love could be considered parental. Her first TV appearance shows her volunteering to be a tribute to save her sister, and when she starts to consider the
possibility of an uprising, Katniss thinks about her sister and Rue: “what has been done to them is so wrong, so beyond justification, so evil (...) whatever any of us are forced to endure, it is for them. It’s too late to help Rue, but maybe not too late for those five little faces that looked up at me from the square in District 11” (Collins 139). Katniss is
32 interview with Caesar, “the audience is an absolute wreck. The sight of me in my white silk bridal gown practically causes a riot” (Collins 283). Katniss then continues to play the crowd by utilising the love story further: “I’m so sorry you won’t get to be at my wedding . . . but I’m glad you at least get to see me in my dress. Isn’t it just . . . the most beautiful thing?” (Collins 283). Afterwards, it is time for Cinna’s last act of rebellion. The stylist who invented the ‘girl on fire’ look makes her twirl on stage again and turns her white wedding gown into a black mockingjay dress, the bird on the pin Katniss wears as a token. However, the bird is not just a token anymore, but it is becoming the symbol of rebellion.
33 victors staged our own uprising, and maybe, just maybe, the Capitol won’t be able to
contain this one” (Collins 292). The victors have used the media to point out how the citizens of Panem are used by the Capitol.
35
4 Mockingjay: Technology and Trauma
4.1 District 13
In the final instalment of the trilogy, Katniss learns that the undercover group aiming to overthrow the Capitol reside in District 13, the district said to have been obliterated in the war before the first Hunger Games took place. “It was the centre of the Capitol’s nuclear weapons development programme, [and] during the Dark Days, the rebels in 13 wrested control from the government forces, trained their nuclear missiles on the Capitol and then struck a bargain: they would play dead in exchange for being left alone” (Collins 19). The visible remains of the district were destroyed by the Capitol, and now the citizens of District 13 live underground, under the reign of President Alma Coin. Nevertheless, the district maintained high-tech developments that are both useful and dangerous. In District 13, people follow a daily programme: “every morning, you’re supposed to stick your right arm in this contraption in the wall. It tattoos the smooth inside of your forearm with your schedule for the day in a sickly purple ink” (Collins 20). No food is wasted, due to the fact that “serving is based on your age, height, body type, health and amount of physical labour required by your schedule” (Collins 40). District 13 also remains the centre of weapon development. They have a Special Defence area with a Special Weaponry hall: “Row upon row of firearms, launchers, explosives, armoured vehicles, [and] the Airborne Division is housed separately” (Collins 76). In addition, there is the “Command, the high-tech meeting/war council room complete with computerized talking walls, electronic maps showing the troop movements in various districts, and a giant rectangular table with control panels [Katniss is] not supposed to touch” (Collins 23). In Mockingjay, the power of
36 technology to launch an “Airtime Assault” involving “a series of what we call propos – which is short for ‘propaganda spots’ – featuring [Katniss], and broadcast them to the entire population of Panem” (Collins 49). Fortunately, District 13 has Beetee who “essentially redesigned the [Capitol’s] underground network that transmits all the programming,” and is therefore able to hack into their system (Collins 50). During the filming of one of these propos, Katniss witnesses the bombing of District 8’s hospital and is told that President Snow aired it live to send out a message to the rebels. She responds as follows: “I’m moving in towards the camera now, carried forward by my rage. ‘President Snow says he’s sending us a message? Well I have one for him (...)’ ‘Fire is catching!’ I am shouting now, determined that he will not miss a word. ‘And if we burn, you burn with us!’” (Collins 111). This moment is a turning point for Katniss, as she realises that burning the Capitol requires more than filming propos to show the injustice in Panem. Instead, the rebels must go to war with the Capitol. War, however, requires the use of dangerous technologies. While commenting on technological fear in dystopian writing for children and young adults, Hintz and Ostry state that “it can represent both darkest fears and brightest hopes, as young readers are exposed to anxieties about technologies while being shown the wonders that it can perform. Above all, portrayals of technology alert young people that no matter what technology is used, and the extent to which it is used, it must be used wisely” (Hintz & Ostry 11). Katniss is worried about the way in which District 13 uses technology to murder people. For example, when Gale helps Beetee to design bombs, they focus on human impulses like compassion: “A bomb explodes. Time is allowed for people to rush to the aid of the wounded. Then a second, more powerful bomb kills them as well” (Collins 208). Katniss feels that this “seems to be crossing some kind of line (...) I guess there isn’t a rule book for what might be
37 and I have been following the same rule book President Snow used (...)” (Collins 208).
Furthermore, after destroying the Nut, the mountain that houses the Capitol’s military base, Katniss disagrees with Gale about justifying the surprise attack. “‘But that kind of thinking... you could turn it into an argument for killing anyone at any time. You could justify sending kids into the Hunger Games to prevent the districts from getting out of line,’ I say. ‘I don’t buy that,’ he tells me. ‘I do,’ I reply. ‘It must be those trips to the arena’” (Collins 247). However, Katniss understands that the rebellion is necessary to fight the Capitol’s power. She wants to be the rebel’s Mockingjay and battle for justice, but she needs District 13 to succeed: “Maybe they are militaristic, overly programmed and somewhat lacking in a sense of humour. They’re here. And willing to take on the Capitol” (Collins 33).
4.2 Real or Not Real?
In Mockingjay, Katniss deliberately takes on the role of the face of the rebellion and discovers that her “ongoing struggle against the Capitol, which has so often felt like a solitary journey, has not been undertaken alone. I have had thousands upon thousands of people from the districts at my side. I was their Mockingjay long before I accepted the role” (Collins 101). The mockingjay bird is also a result of advanced technology. It is a hybrid of a mockingbird and a jabberjay. “The jabberjays were muttations, genetically enhanced male birds created by the Capitol as weapons to spy on rebels in the districts. They could
remember and repeat long passages of human speech” (Collins CF 105). The mockingjays lost the ability to memorise words, but they were capable of mimicking sounds. In a way, the fact that Katniss puts on a performance throughout the trilogy turns her into a
38 Haymitch stresses that the propos have to be real: “Every time we coach her or give her lines, the best we can hope for is OK. It has to come from her. That’s what people are responding to” (Collins 85). In addition, another advisor states that Katniss need to wash off the make-up on her face: “she’s still a girl and you made her look thirty-five. Feels wrong. Like something the Capitol would do” (Collins 85). Moreover, the Capitol did not intend to create mockingjays: “they hadn’t counted on the highly controlled jabberjay having the brains to adapt to the wild, to pass on its genetic code, to thrive in a new form. They hadn’t anticipated its will to live” (Collins CF 105). Thus, the mockingjay is a metaphor for Katniss and the way in which the Capitol strives to maintain total control of the districts. By creating a highly controlled society, the Capitol contributed to the citizens’ will to survive and to rebel against the government in order to improve life in the districts. Also, the Capitol had not anticipated acts of rebellion in their controlled arena, and they certainly did not intend to present Panem with a potential rebellion leader. Katniss has turned the Capitol’s own weapon, the Hunger Games, into a platform for the voice of rebellion. The televised event, the live interviews, and the focus on the star-crossed lovers supported the rise of the Mockingjay.
39 Capitol captured him and made him the star of their propos. In his interviews, Peeta stresses that war is not a solution and calls for a cease-fire. Katniss states that “Peeta’s physical transformation shocks me. The healthy, clear-eyed boy I saw a few days ago has lost at least fifteen pounds and developed a nervous tremor in his hands” (Collins 126). The Capitol has been torturing Peeta with a technique called hijacking: “it’s a type of fear conditioning. The term hijack comes from and old English word that means ‘to capture’, or even better, ‘seize’. We believe it was chosen because the technique involves the use of tracker jacker venom, and the jack suggested hijack” (Collins 202). This news breaks Katniss, and District 13 decides to send out a rescue team to return Peeta to her, because they cannot afford to lose their Mockingjay. However, the Capitol used the venom to tamper with Peeta’s
40 sent Peeta here, she’s decided something else as well. That I’m of more use to her dead than alive” (Collins 293). Using venom to turn the good boy into something he fears the most contributes to the fear of technology in the novel, but the underlying message remains the same: who is the real enemy? Mass media and poison could be used to distort reality, and Katniss and Peeta need to discover who the real enemy is in order to end the injustice in Panem.
4.3 Mentally Disoriented
Poison is not the only thing that affects the mind in the novel. In Mockingjay, Katniss and her allies suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), as a result of their exposure to violence and death. Cathy Caruth explains: “if PTSD must be understood as a pathological symptom, then it is not so much as a symptom of the unconscious, as it is a symptom of history. The traumatized, we might say, carry an impossible history within them, or they become themselves the symptom of a history that they cannot entirely possess” (5). As the main event of the novel is the rebellion, the psychological effects of war are highlighted. The narrative alternates between the preparations for war, the combat itself, and how the teenagers’ minds are affected by previous traumatic events such as the Hunger Games.
41 Since the first Hunger Games, Katniss experiences hallucinations and nightmares. In District 13, she wears a plastic medical bracelet that classifies her as mentally disoriented. After she discovers that Peeta will be tortured as long as she is part of the rebellion, she cannot handle the situation anymore. “I cross some line into hysteria and there’s a needle in my arm and the world slips away. It must be strong, whatever they shot into me, because it’s a full day before I come to. My sleep wasn’t peaceful, though. I have the sense of emerging from a world of dark, haunted places where I travelled alone” (Collins 183). The drugs they use to sedate Katniss make her hallucinate: “I’m still not entirely convinced that I was hallucinating the night the floor of my hospital room transformed into a carpet of writhing snakes” (Collins 4). Her doctors suggested using a technique in which she lists simple facts to more complicated matters: “My name is Katniss Everdeen. I am seventeen years old. My
home is District 12. I was in the Hunger Games. I escaped. The Capitol hates me. Peeta was taken prisoner. He is a traitor but alive. I have to keep him alive. . . (Collins 42 italics in
42 the look Boggs gives me as he protectively wraps the blanket around my shoulders. I miss him so badly it hurts” (Collins 236). The actions on the battlefield are juxtaposed with Katniss’s nightmares and memories. At the end of the novel, the impact of traumatic events such as war becomes clear when her doctor explains that she has “become a mental, rather than physical, Avox. That my silence has been brought on by emotional trauma” (Collins 395). Her mental health improves over time, but the memories and nightmares never disappear.
43 cup himself to deflect suspicion. But antidotes don’t always work. They say that’s why he wears the roses that reek of perfume. They say it’s to cover the scent of blood from the mouth of sores that will never heal. Poison. The perfect weapon for a snake” (Collins 192).
Johanna Mason was part of the rebel plot in Catching Fire and saved Katniss’s life by attacking her and cutting out the tracking device in her arm. When she visits Katniss in the hospital, “she quickly detaches the morphling drip from [katniss’s] arm and plugs it into a socket taped into the crook of her own” (Collins 245). Katniss explains that morphling “dulls the extremes of all emotions, [so] if she’s siphoning off my morphling, she’s struggling” (Collins 244-245). Johanna tells Katniss her head doctor is a “complete idiot. At least twenty times a session he reminds me that I’m totally safe” (Collins 245). Katniss understands that “it’s a truly stupid thing to say, especially to a victor. As if such a state of being ever existed, anywhere, for anyone” (Collins 245). During rebel combat training, Johanna did not pass the exam that challenged her weakness. “They flooded the street (...) That’s how they tortured her in the Capitol. Soaked her and then used electric shocks. She had some kind of
flashback. Panicked, didn’t know where she was. She’s back under sedation (...) I think of the way Johanna never showers. How she forced herself into the rain like it was acid” (Collins 283). Abuse of power and torturing techniques were the subject of the shocking C.I.A. Torture Report published in December 2014:
The C.I.A.’s interrogation techniques were more brutal and employed more
extensively than the agency portrayed. For example, the report describes extensive waterboarding as a “series of near drownings” and suggests that more prisoners were subjected to waterboarding than the three prisoners the C.I.A. has
44 “psychological and behavioral issues, including hallucinations, paranoia, insomnia, and attempts at self-harm and self-mutilation.” (Ashkenas et al.)
Similar to the C.I.A. report, the novel reveals the Capitol’s abuse of power. Therefore,
Mockingjay is not only a war story that focuses on the battles, but it incorporates how war
46
Conclusion
By analysing Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games trilogy, I have demonstrated how YA dystopian literature presents socio-political issues such as totalitarianism, mass media, gender identity, technology, and trauma, and what lessons can be learned from reading the novels. It has become clear that the dystopian setting provides an adventurous and exciting tale, but the focus is on the survival of oppressed people, young adults in particular. In order to survive, it is important to develop critical thinking skills that lead to a better
understanding of society. In the trilogy, wealth is contrasted with poverty, and therefore overconsumption and entertainment in the Capitol are in stark contrast to the hunger and grim life in the districts. As Katniss becomes more aware of the injustice in Panem, so do the young adult readers. Katniss discovers that there are weak spots in the Capitol’s “absolute” power, and that there are ways for the people to raise their voice and take action to end the injustice. Young adults read and learn about aspects such as power relations, capitalism, media events, and what kinds of strategies governments utilise to maintain their power, and they are encouraged to relate these aspects to contemporary societies.
Moreover, as discussed in Chapter 3, the trilogy offers a nuanced depiction of gender roles that should be taught at an early age. The fact that today’s Western society still
47 gender as a spectrum instead of two sets of opposing ideals. We should stop defining each other by what we are not and start defining ourselves by who we are” (Macaraig). Using YAL to discuss gender and identity during adolescence will help teenagers to develop a view on gender that regards it like the spectrum Watson discusses.
Furthermore, in Mockingjay, the way in which Katniss has developed her critical thinking skills becomes clear when she explains how appalled she is by technological
48 fire, kindled with rage and hatred. I have plenty of fire myself. What I need is the dandelion in the spring. The bright yellow that means rebirth instead of destruction. The promise that life can go on, no matter how bad our losses. That it can be good again” (Collins M 436). Throughout the trilogy, Katniss has gained a better understanding of power in society and is, therefore, able to use her knowledge to contribute to social justice, but she has also learnt to find her own identity and happiness in a world where life had always been so bleak.
Finally, the social relevance of The Hunger Games trilogy becomes evident while looking at recent global protests held by people of all ages. Bowker Market Research shows that young adults are not the only ones inspired by the novels: “55% of buyers of works that publishers designate for kids aged 12 to 17 – nicknamed YA books – are 18 or older, with the largest segment aged 30 to 44. 30% of respondents reported they were reading works in the
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