Revisiting Panem

In my last blog post about dystopian fiction, I'm going right back to probably my favorite dystopia, the fictional country of Panem, which is the country in Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games trilogy. If you have for some reason forgotten about the plot lines of these books, go ahead and watch the video below for a pretty comedic review of what happened! Don't worry, its only 3 minutes, so its a very quick review!

Now that you remember what happens in The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay, we can take a look at how some of my classmates have looked at Panem in regards to how those in power use popular culture, cultural hegemony, and the environment to manipulate the public.

In a majority of my classmates' blogs, they discussed the use of surveillance and a panoptic control over the citizens. Many commented that by using the things like the peacekeepers, the failed technology of the jabberjays, and even just cameras, the Capital has eyes everywhere. Kamryn's blog really placed these technological abilities of the Capital into the spotlight. With the knowledge that people in the Capital could always be watching, the districts are much more willing to follow the laws and strict guidelines. This willingness also comes from the constantly reminder of the carnage and destruction that is broadcasted regularly from the thought to be destroyed District 13.

A Panopticon Usually Includes Enclosed Spaces
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Along with the surveillance that the Districts undergo, many of the blog posts discussed the use of the walls or fences that surrounded the districts. Lauren's blog compared this to the reorganization of space in the 1800's as seen in O'Brien and Szeman's work. These divisions of space led to divisions in the community and the country as a whole. Teni's blog also looks at this division of space, but noted how it really began to separate the districts from one another. The Capital utilizes these separations to keep people in different districts away from each other. They also build up different cultures and have them focus on producing different goods that then support the Capital. Katniss sees a lot of these differences during her victor's tour through the districts. She sees how harsh things are in Rue's district, District 11. She sees the more lavish and well-off people living in District 1 and feels the influence that the Capital has on them when the little girl tells Katniss that she wants to do what she did and volunteer for the games. By creating such a vast separation, the districts have almost no opportunities to plan and even begin and uprising because they have almost no communications between them. Despite this problem, a resistance group does begin in the districts and it is not evident until the very end of Catching Fire that something is going to happen. 

Before I get into the rebellion and what my classmates thought about it, I want to discuss their thoughts about the uses of the Hunger Games themselves because a lot of them did mention the games themselves. In the clip below, you see the minute before Katniss and the other tributes begin the 74th Hunger Games. This time is filled with anxiety, adrenaline, and quick last minute decision. 

In many of my classmates blogs, they looked at the games themselves as the closest example to Connors' panopticon experiment. They are being watched all the time, but don't know when their actions are being shown to the entire country. While many tributes have disadvantages as a result of the environment in the games arena, Katniss has an advantage in the forest. Laura's blog looks at this in how some of the philosophers we read described the wilderness as a safe haven, but also the unknown. Most people in District 12 fear the woods because of the predators as well as punishment they could receive from the Capital. Katniss does not share this fear. The forest IS her safe haven and source of survival, so she knows she can use the woods in the arena to her benefit. 

In addition to the games themselves, the idea of the games were used to keep the people at bay. The games were punishment for the acts of rebellion committed that resulted in the destruction of District 13. The games become a part of the popular culture in Panem and the Capital places a grandeur around them. Not to mention, the games are every year AND streamed 24/7 in the districts, forcing all of the citizens of Panem to watch them. Teni points out that the children in the districts learn about the history and are taught to accept the games and that they are justified. However, in my opinion, if most of the children in District 12 and other severely oppressed districts are like Katniss, they will still have the belief that the games are disgusting and in no way justified, even if the Capital says they are. 

Katniss and the others on her team in the Capital during the Fight
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Now, I'm going to talk about the rebellion itself. The rebellion stemmed from the faction that was fed up enough and strong enough to begin a fight against the Capital. Coin's use of Katniss as the Mockingjay places Katniss into popular culture as a symbol of the growing resistance. However, were Coin's actions any better than President Snow's? Leah's blog was the only one that I saw that really went into the similarity of Coin and Snow's actions. Both were power hungry and I think she made an excellent point about the fact that being on the good or bad side does not dictate whether or not a person is good or bad. The intentions of the person once they have power are all that can say how the person and their morals are, good or bad. Coin made the decision to send in the bombs that not only blew up the children of the Capital, but also send in another fleet of bombs that killed people on her own side! All of these people were innocents and had nothing to do with the fight that was going on. Additionally, Coin wanted to hold a Hunger Games with the children of Capital officials. Many people in the districts joined the rebellion to end these evil games. Her idea and tactics made her no better than President Snow in anyway. 

Cornucopia in the 74th Hunger Games
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Now, I'm going to turn back to my original post about the popular culture of the Hunger Games. If you would like to review what I said, go ahead and click here to read it again! 

In my last blog, I really focused on the power structure and actions of the people in power. I focused on the fact the hierarchies really allowed for the Capital and even Coin to manipulate the public and people into doing what they want. One thing I did not account for though was the power of things in the manipulations of those in power. 

The many people in the districts, especially those who were poorer, needed food for their large families. However, in order to get extra food, only the children could obtain tesserae in exchange for adding their names more to the reaping for the Hunger Games. The Capital gives the food thing power. These small additions of something necessary for a family's survival then has the power to make a child enter into games where they could be killed or forced to kill others. Jane Bennett (2010) looks at how people can give things agency and when the people in the districts rely on these things, the Capital gives them more agency for them to use the things to their benefit. 

Every little thing in the games themselves has a lot of agency given to it by the capital and the tributes. Those are the weapons and supplies that the tributes need to fight and survive in the games. By limiting the amount of supplies, the game makers manipulate the tributes to fight for their survival. These items are doing nothing, but the things that they were made to do. However, the tributes place a heavy reliance on them, making them more powerful than they would be if there weren't any games to compete in. 

Overall, President Snow and Coin use everything around them in their manipulation. In Panem, surveillance is key in the control over the people, but also holding control over things that are necessary to living gives the Capital even more power. I noticed that my classmates looked a lot at the environment that the Capital could manipulate. If you add the idea of thing power to that, then you can see that the Capital controlled every little aspect of the lives of its citizens. Whether it be through random surveillance or with holding the things needed to survive daily life. 

*Author's Note - 

If you want to read any of the blogs from my classmates, all you have to do it click on their names and it'll take you right to their blogs! 

Work Cited

Bennett, Jane. 2010. Vibrant Matter: A Political Ecology of Things. Duke University Press.

Collins, Suzanne. 2009. The Hunger Games. Scholastic.

Foucault, Michel. 2008. "Panopticism." Discipline & Punishment. Indiana University Press.

Lawrence, Francis (Director). (2013). Catching Fire. USA: Lionsgate. 

Lawrence, Francis (Director). (2014). Mockingjay – Part 1. USA: Lionsgate.

Lawrence, Francis (Director). (2014). Mockingjay – Part 2. USA: Lionsgate.

O’Brien, Susie & Imre Szeman. 2019. “History of Popular Culture.” Popular Culture: A User’sGuide. Langara College.