The World of Dystopias

Dystopias have always interested me. Of course, growing up, I reading series like Divergent, The Hunger Games, and The Uglies, so in my mind, that is a different type of dystopia than The Road or Parable of the Sower. In the first three series, there is an overbearing government that has total control and an extremely oppressed society. The second two novels, there is nearly no government and every man is for himself. The people have no idea where it is actually better and go with a blind hope.

Panem's Capital and Districts
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The 5 Factions in Divergent
http://www.divergentlife.com/p/factions.html

For me, I prefer dystopias like the first three because there tends to be more action, adventure, bravery, and characters I could really relate to and look up to while growing up. Additionally, the situations in these universes seem like they could never happen in the world. They seem so far fetched and if there ever was a possibility of them happening, it would be way after my life time. They gave you worlds that you could imagine and fall into easily. The Hunger Games and Divergent movies take that world even further by making it real on the screen. As someone who has always been able to completely immerse myself in the worlds I read about, I thoroughly enjoyed being given a place that I could create in my imagination where there was also some happiness. The other kind are more real. Human life can be that savage and the world could easily fall into an anarchy at any moment if the situation is right. Additionally, by using the series tactic for the books, the stories can go even further. There can be more detail, explanation, and character development. Plus, by having this character development, the reader can grow with the characters as they wait for the next books to come out.

Warning for the Furture
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Dystopias also act as a warning for the current population. While it may take a read through or two to completely understand the warning, it is an important aspect. It can show what happens if government goes to far or if government fails. It can show what happens if the people allow for themselves to become suppressed and if people begin to think too individually when there are a lack of resources. There are so many possibilities for disaster when society strays too far outside of the nice, middle spot.

Symbol of The Hunger Games Trilogy
https://www.vippng.com/preview/iwTioih_the-hunger-games-wiki-all-hunger-games-books/

Of the books that we have read for this class, I have chosen to focus my project on The Hunger Games. This has always been one of my favorite dystopian worlds, so it just makes sense for me to pour creativity into the world that I've grown up imagining. In this class, we have learned that environment plays a big role in dystopias through Jane Bennett's (2010) Vibrant Matter. People can use the environment and the environment can completely shape a story and whether the characters succeed or fail. Therefore, I am going to focus on how the Capital utilizes the entire set up to stay in control and further more, how they brainwash the people of the Capital into not questioning and just blindly succumbing to President Snow's rule.

We learn that the people in the Capital can actually go to the arenas of previous games and either tour the arenas or role play as tributes in the games from that year. There have also been at least 75 years of games, so I'm going to look specifically at the games that we hear and know about, such as Finnick's games, Katniss and Peeta's first games, as well as the Quarter Quell. I am going to create a brochure that highlights the possibilities of people from the Capital to visit these arenas and promote the packages that they can buy in order to get the "Full Hunger Games Experience." There will be the possibilities to explore the arenas, play as your favorite tribute in a completely safe way, stay where the tributes stayed in the Capital, and even meet some of the tributes! It will be like an all exclusive vacation package for the people who live in the Capital.

74th Hunger Games Arena
https://www.deviantart.com/dnbcouture/art/74th-Hunger-Games-Arena-and-Activities-299235860

Through this, you will be able to see the craziness of the people who live in the Capital and feel the disgust that Katniss feels as she goes through her experience because who in their right mind would want to participate in something like this?

Work Cited 

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