Panem and America

2 Panem's society

2.1 The Definition of Panem based on the book 

The nation "Panem" is a tyrannical dictatorship lead by President Snow who holds total political and economic dominance. The nation is separated into 12 official districts and one government area which is placed around the North American territory. The Districts are separated by borders with barbed wire and are kind of sorted from wealthy (district 1, 2, 3)to very poor (district 10, 11, 12). It is forbidden to cross the borders and travel through districts, except for economic reasons (cf. THG p. 42). Each district has its work specialization. For example the 12th district is known for coal mining (cf. THG p. 5, 66) and "District 11, agriculture. District 4, fishing. District 3, factories."(THG p. 66). All these districts mainly produce goods for the government. It is not allowed to choose a job, and it is impossible to move to another district in order to work in the specialization there. The 13th district has its history and was destroyed by bombs from the government to fight down the call for a revolution against the Capitol. (cf. THG p. 19). These days also called the Dark Days in which "Twelve were defeated, the thirteenth obliterated." (THG p. 19). New laws were passed to maintain peace and the Hunger Games were introduced. (cf. THG p. 19) The Hunger Games is the way of the government to remind its citizens to not rebel against it at any point. The Hunger Games tribute lottery, also called "the reaping", in which everyone between 12 and 18 years, is forced to take part is only for the purpose of demonstrating the power of the Capitol and to cut down any kind of hope for a working revolution. (cf. THGp. 19). One could say that the Capitol is the perfect representation of a working (at the end of the trilogy not anymore) tyrannical dictatorship and a lot of things that have been done wrong in the past in dictatorships are correctly implemented here. The society of Panem can be reduced to more or less three main aspects for understanding. 

1. The gap between poor and rich and the understanding of freedom 

2. The norms and values that embody the society 

3. The "free" will, the understanding of Freedom 

2.2 Aspect 1: The gap between poor and rich and the understanding offreedom 

In the book these mutuality's represent one of the greatest influences of the government on those, the structures and the behavior of the people. 

In many parts of the nation Panem it is the difference between the districts that determine whether you need to fight for your survival and have to worry about starving within the next days, or if you can watch the Hunger Games on TV full, saturated and satisfied. The gap between poor and rich is so big that on the one side even getting fresh bread or having more food than needed is a rarity and a reason to be happy and thankful. For example at the beginning of the story where Katniss and Gale share a meal and Katniss thought that: "It's real bakery bread, not the flat, dense loaves we make from our grain rations." [...]"Fine bread like this is for special occasions." (THG p. 8) shows how poor the working class is.On the other side there is the mass consumption of food by the upper class, those people who live in the first few districts, government area or work at a high position for the Capitol. The upper class has such a variety and quantity of food and things to consume that Effie Trinket(Hunger Games moderator for district 12) "[...] keeps reminding [...] [Katniss Everdeen andher friend] to save space because there's more to come." (THG p. 45). The difference getseven clearer when we compare Effie Trinkets criticism on Table manners from other tributesfrom district 12: "The pair last year ate everything with their hands like a couple of savages. It completely upset my digestion." (THG p. 45) with the thoughts of Katniss Everdeen: "The pair last year were two kids from the Seam [poorest area in district 12] who'd never, not one day of their lives, had enough to eat. And when they did have food, table manners were surely the last thing on their minds." (THG p. 45). This makes the difference between people from the upper class like Effie Trinket and poor people like Katniss Everdeen clear. The fact that Effie Trinket does not understand why the tributes do not value manners, represents how little she understands the poor, and that most of the time they (the poor) need to eat what they get but also how little she is interested in understanding. She is not only uninterested in the background of such manners but also represents with her behavior the general attitude ofthe upper class towards the poor. They despise and detest them and prefer to deal as little aspossible with them. Furthermore the system is not only designed to take advantage of the gap between poor and rich and to maintain it with the help of fear and disproportionate punishments, but it is also even actively committed to widening the difference. Panem's structure has many individual goals, but one of the main goals is to structurally support and maintain the difference between rich and poor. This becomes very clear when the book speaks of "reaping" which is similar to a lottery, where everyone has to throw their name in a pot in order to take part in the Hunger Games. (cf. THG p. 13-14) But here is the catch. There is the option reinserting the name into the lottery, receiving monthly rations of grainand oil for one year. This is of course not necessary for the upper class but essential for everyone else to survive. The displeasure towards the wealthier people is increased, and the poor are repeatedly shown how much less worthy they are and that the Capitol does not care about them at all. The hatred against the wealthy people is powered by the unfair system and by the fact that the poor people in need are reliant on the money and their generosity (cf.THG p. 13, 14). The social structure of Panem's society is designed to keep the poor people as poor as possible and the rich people as rich as they can get, also called the pecking order, by using inhumane methods. Methods in which the poor are not only kept as often as possible small and repressed and have as little influence as they can have on their own lives, but also show how hopeless an uprising against the system is. The message from the government is clear: "Look how we take your children and sacrifice them and there's nothing you can do. If you lift a finger, we will destroy every last one of you. Just as we did in District Thirteen."(THG p. 19) The Hunger Games itself are presented as the great celebration of the battered rebellion where everyone is happy and beautiful. The reminder for the oppressed population that no matter how much they do, they will never be able to compete against the Capitol, is celebrated every year, and everyone is forced to watch it. Another important part of the distinction between rich and poor is the understanding of freedom. This part is connected to the third aspect and will be explained more detailed in it. There must be adistinction in Panem between the understanding of freedom for the upper and the lower classes, as there are major differences. The difference is that the upper class defines freedom with material goods, the independence of work and money and the feeling of being something better than the rest of the nation. (THG p. 101) The poor population defines the freedom that they do not have enough food to live and the opportunity to pursue their dreams without being punished. (THG p. 7) This also shows how differently the two classes think and how far the gap between them is.