Social Control and The Hunger Games Essay - 1110 Words

The Hunger Games, a film based off of a novel written by Susan Collins, was released in March of 2012. The film, and the book it was based on, chronicles the struggles of a girl named Katniss Everdeen, a girl who lives in a poverty stricken province or â€Å"District†, until untimely circumstances forces her to play in the Hunger Games, a gladiatorial like contest where children between the ages of 12 and 18 are forced to fight to the death. A contest that was set up by an oppressive and authoritarian government, and has thus far been sustained via the forced obedience of the rebellious Districts, the brainwashing and conditioning of Districts 1 and 2, and the conditioning of the residents of its Capitol. The movie has a variety of messages,†¦show more content†¦The reason why is hope. Hope is the only thing stronger than fear. A little hope is effective...a lot of hope is dangerous. A spark is fine, so long as it is contained.† (Hunger Games) With this statemen t, President Snow reveals the overall scheme of the government, in how they use the Hunger Games to keep the Districts in line. They use the Games to punish the Districts, and make them fall into line, but at the same time, they use the Games to give the people in the Districts a false sense of hope. Because the Games have a winner, each District has the faint hope that someone they send might win, thus investing them in the contest, and giving them incentive to care about who wins and who loses. And if a District does have a winner, that winner and the District are given the chance for many rewards and opportunity for advancements and improvements. The winner of the Hunger Games will become a celebrity overnight, and would be able to use his or her power to help improve the conditions of their District, if they so chose. So with the Games giving the Districts this hope, a hope of a reward or a better chance, the government of Panem is able to keep the rebellious Districts in line, with minimum fuss. A perfect, if devious, combination of punishment and reward. However, the Capitol hasnt stopped there in its plans to subjugate the Districts with the Games. It goes beyond that.Show MoreRelatedHunger Games Sociology Essay1098 Words   |  5 PagesSuzanne Collins’ novel The Hunger Games and its big screen adaptation follow the journey of a teenage girl in the dystopian country of Panem. Katniss Everdeen must fight to survive in a game of death against other youth from the twelve districts in Panem. However, The Hunger Games is not just a young adult genre obsession, but also a complex study of the social sciences. 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