The Hunger Games and Marxism

A Marxist perspective on Collins' The Hunger Games trilogy

The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins depicts a world where the majority of the population lives in poverty and hardship. The book is about a young girl, Katniss Everdeen who lives in District 12 in the dystopian world of Panem. In the Capitol, the leaders of Panem live and there, they control the twelve districts. There 13th District at first but the 13th one was demolished when citizens revolted against the Capitol. The Hunger Games was planned after this uprising and is a punishment for the previous rebellion made against Capitol. The Capitol control over the Districts with the Hunger Games where a boy and a girl from each district fight each other to death and every year this show is televised for the higher class audiences. The wealthy elite prepare a game placing the poor against one another and celebrating it. The Capitol's authority over all districts is a fundamental Marxist premise in The Hunger Games. Marxism is mainly concerned with the conflicts of the poor and working-class against society's wealthy, as well as the socioeconomic consequences of their struggle. This essay will apply Marxist theory to Hunger Games and will explore socioeconomic classes, capitalist society, and class ideology.

Marxism is a social, political, and economic theory originated by Karl Marx that focuses on the struggle between capitalists and the working class. With the rise of capitalism, the class struggle becomes more severe. Karl Marx believed that the social classes can be distinguished between two. The owners of the means of production (the bourgeoisie) and the workers (the proletariat)(Karl Marx, A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy). This article will discuss class differences, rebellion and revolution, and capitalism theories of Marx giving examples from The Hunger Games.

First of all, In the Manifesto of the Communist Party, Karl Marx stated that “Society as a whole is more and more splitting up into two great hostile camps, into two great classes directly facing each other – Bourgeoisie and Proletariat.” (Marx 15) According to Marxist theories, the class struggle was between the bourgeoisie so-called the dominant class that controls and owns the means of production, and the proletariat, the subordinate class. The proletariat is in conflict with the capitalist class for Marx. Marx’s materialist theory investigates literature’s role in the class struggle. A key component of Marxism is the constant struggle between the classes. There is a class conflict in the Hunger Games Trilogy, The capital portrays the bourgeoisie, the aristocracy, and the Districts represent the proletariat. The Capitol in the book signifies both the "Owning Class" and the "Bourgeoisie." That is to say, Panem has a war over class and the Capitol uses this to oppress the Districts. In The Hunger Games, the bourgeoisie and the proletariat represent the Capitol and Districts and how different the two groups are from each other because of class divisions. The Capitol restricted the permissions and rights of citizens of Districts. The Capitol has an abundant source and technology in comparison to the Districts. Having little money and food and starving, people living in Districts are like survivors. This is evidence of the principles which Marx suggests about the bourgeoisie owning the production. By the way, people living in the Capitol have all the luxuries in terms of living standards, supplements, and dressing. While people in the Capitol live in prosperity, those in the Districts live in poverty. This shows an inequality between the two societies. Not only do people from different districts vary from each other but also people within a district also divide within themselves. Although the first two districts are not as rich as the ruling capital, they still receive many benefits than the other ones. Those two can be examples of a middle-class population. Also, Katniss realizes that they are treated harsher and starved more than in Rue’s district. This unequal distribution of resources focused on the wealthy is a key problem that Marxism also outlines.

Secondly, Marxist premises claim that conflicts between classes eventually end up with an uprising against the capitalists. As a result of the uprising of the working class, a revolution in which the working class would overthrow the capitalist class would happen. And when the whole structure changes, the perception of social consciousness will have different perspectives and people's lives will change. “It is not the consciousness of men that determines their being, but, on the contrary, their social being that determines their consciousness.” (Marx, 131) According to Marx’s theory, the alienation and exploitation of the proletariat would inevitably drive the working class to rebel against the bourgeoisie and seize control of the means of production. The Hunger Games began after the districts attempted to revolt against the Capitol. The Capitol separates the Districts to avoid another uprising. In The Hunger Games, we can see some examples of the rebellion of the proletariat against the capitalistic system. According to the game rules of the capitalists, there will be one winner of this lethal game. However, Katniss and Peeta force the Capitol to award them both as victors of the Hunger Games and rebel against it when they threaten to kill themselves simultaneously. Katniss resists the Capitol and Peeta and her pretend as if they are eating the poisoned fruits to become winners together. “But the Hunger Games are their weapon and you are not supposed to be able to defeat it, so now the Capital will act as if they´ve been in control the whole time” (The Hunger Games, 435). Katniss and Peeta stood up to the Capitol by pushing it to change its regulations. They believe that since the Capitol changed its rules to only two members of the lowest classes, if the entirety of the poor population stood against them, a change in the system might happen. Consequently, despite Katniss belonging to the working class, the proletariat, she succeeds in being the leader of the rebellion against the Capitol. The three-finger salute becomes a symbol of the rebellion. The Mockingjay represents the revolution and it is used by people who want to resist the Capitol.

The third aspect of Marx’s theory is his critique of capitalism. A ruling class uses its control over the means of production to exploit the labor of a wider working class. 'The ruling class' owns the means of production. The Capitol has complete power over the citizens of the Districts and takes all decisions by using economic power and controlling society's structure. The Hunger Games represented the capitalist system in many ways. The differences between the Capitol and all districts are considered the symbol of the capitalist system where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. The Capitol controls the resources of Panem by making sure that the Hunger Games continues in order to sustain its income. The Games have a great number of viewers and it is important to take the attention of all those people to increase the number of viewers to gain money. The Gamemakers need to make sure that the players look fancy, beautiful, and mesmerizing. The dress designer of the players makes sure that the visuals are. The Capitol forces its citizens to watch the Hunger Games on giant televisions around the districts. In the Games, the people of the Capitol can be sponsored by the tribute. “In order to survive and win the Game sponsors are essential. The tributes must earn sponsors by showing skills before and during the Games.” (Jin 282) Thus, the capitalist system works by using the working class. The players get sponsors to receive food, water, medicine, and clothes while the game is continuing. By using sponsors, the Capitol demonstrates its power and control.

In conclusion, this article discussed several Marxist literary theories through The Hunger Games. This study shows that the class struggle reflected in Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games is the class struggle between the Capitol and the Districts. In The Hunger Games, there are two different classes as Marx discussed. The Capitol and Districts are representative of the bourgeoisie and proletariat. While The Capitol is the owner of the mode of production and has wealth and power, Districts are the lower classes with nothing.

WORKS CITED

Collins, Suzanne. The Hunger Games, Mockingjay. Scholastic, London. 2010.

Collins, Suzanne. The Hunger Games, Catching Fire. Scholastic, London. 2009.

Collins, Suzanne. The Hunger Games. Scholastic, London. 2008.

Jin, Young Dal. Socio-cultural interpretation of the Bow and Arrow in Digital Media:” The Hunger

Marx, Karl and Engels, Friedrich. Manifesto of the Communist Party