Politics in Panem

Kayleigh Navarro​BSA-I​​Pol Sci 14- 4

POLITICS IN PANEM

Everything has a deeper meaning behind it. Suzanne Collins’s masterpiece, The Hunger Games, is no exception. Surprising as it may seem, the trilogy is composed of political allegories.

Starting from the basics, you can say that there is patrimonialism involved. All the districts are governed by the Capitol, the ruling government of Panem and the city wherein only the nation’s wealthiest and most powerful people lived. The districts were forced to harvest most of their resources and export it to serve the Capitol’s citizens, leaving insufficient resources left for the districts’ own use and thus causing poverty, starvation, and even death. It was highly likely that the Capitol was aware of the districts’ conditions but they never seemed to care. Because of this, the districts rebelled. In the end, the Capitol quelled the rebellion, defeating twelve of the districts and obliterating the thirteenth.

​As a yearly reminder of the Capitol’s power and authority over the twelve districts left, the Hunger Games was established. Basing on the plot, you can say that the residents of the districts went from Parochial to Participant. It first started off in the Reaping, when they just passively obeyed the Capitol’s orders and sent their children to be chosen for the Hunger Games. It wasn’t because they didn’t care for their children that they sent them to these Reapings, it was because they just couldn’t do anything about it. They had no control. Whoever disobeys the Capitol will be punished. But as time went by, the people of Panem (excluding the Capitol) grew tired of it. It was during the 74th Hunger Games when the odds were in District 12’s favour, since they had not only one victor, but two—Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark.

When Katniss volunteered for her sister during the reaping, the people became participant. Katniss was a skilled archer and because of that, she gave hope to the people of District 12. As...