Totalitarianism In Hunger Games

Power is an important tool for interaction among individuals and establishing authority in many aspects of life. Power is evident everywhere in the world. Bosses and their subordinates, teachers and peers and also government and its citizens. They are all expected to follow their dominant's rules. Power can be seen as "The ability to influence or outright control the behaviour of people" (Power (social and political)/Wikipedia). Some governments have absolute power over their citizens and they control their every action. This is called Totalitarianism, "A form of government in which the ruler is an absolute dictator" (Totalitarianism/Vocabulary.com). This political doctrine is depicted in many movies and have great influence over wide variety …show more content…
Hunger Games is about a dystopian country, set in the near future. The nation called Panem is divided into twelve districts and the Capitol, "the utopian city where the nation's most wealthy citizens live" (The Capitol/ The Hunger Games Wiki) is considered the ruling government of the …show more content…
The inhumane government, tributes and the main protagonist's potential, they all have powers. The only difference is how they use it. The Hunger Games author Suzanne Collins, told that her inspiration for the Hunger Games book, was from the Greek mythology of Theseus and Minotaur. The plot is very identical to each other. In the mythology, Theseus volunteers to kill the Minotaur, a monster that devoured many young maidens and youths. Collin's told that "Katniss is a futuristic Theseus" (A killer story: An interview with Suzanne Collins, author of 'The Hunger Games', Slj.com). The government was highly totalitarian and went as far to use their citizens for their entertainment by throwing them into the arena, while the Capitol citizens watched the tributes slowly and painfully die while doing their activities. The Capitol used their power to do something despicable and used the words "Treaty of Treason" to cover up their idea of preventing another rebellion. The districts and the tributes portrayed unjust power as some districts were more skilled than the other ones. Power is a resource that a person can use to help people and also help themselves. For example, philanthropy exists where people donate their wealth to provide people in need welfare. Power is not always a good characteristic. Not all people use it beneficially. The Capitol government had enough wealth and power