THE HUNGER GAMES

VS. 1984

Dana Rafferty and Leah HoogerhydeMrs. Oehrlein

Honors English IIOctober 24, 2011

The Government

The Capitolvs.

Big Brother and the Party

Goals of Government

• Capitol maintains absolute power for the purpose of securing its own wealth and prosperity

• Capitol not interested in mind control

“Gale's voice is in my head. His ravings against the Capitol no longer pointless, no longer to be ignored.”

• The Party seeks absolute power•Seeks power not only over humans, but the laws of the universe•Is not interested in prosperity or wealth, only power

Hunger Games 1984

“Days of hunting and gathering for this one meal would be a poor substitution for the capitol version.”

“We are not interested in the good of others; we are interested solely in power. Not wealth or luxury or long life or happiness: only power, pure power.”

Government Make Up

• The Capitol is a totalitarian government headed by a dictator, President Snow

• The Party is also totalitarian, but has no single ruler•The Party is controlled by many inner Party members•Big Brother- not real, portrayed as a single dictator to represent the collective of Inner Party members

Hunger Games 1984

“Whatever words they use, the real message is clear. ‘Look how we take your children and sacrifice them and there’s nothing you can do. If you lift a finger, we will destroy every last one of you. Just as we did in District Thirteen.’”

“At all times the Party is in possession of absolute truth, and clearly the absolute can never have been different from what it is now.”

Power as a Philosophy

• For the Capitol, power is a means, not an end.

• Power does not mean taking individuality from its people

• Power is the Party’s end, its ultimate goal• Power over actions is not absolute, absolute power must also be over the mind• Individual thought must be squelched in each and every person to achieve power• The achievement of absolute power is worth every sacrifice necessary

“’ I don’t want them to change me in there. Turn me into some kind of monster that I’m not.’”

“’If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face-forever.’”

Hunger Games 1984

Manipulation of Fear

• The Capitol uses the Hunger Games as a fear invoking tool, its purpose to quell any potential rebellion

•omnipresent telescreens= tool•frequent demonstrations of the Party’s absolute power• Successful rebellion is so unlikely it is not considered a threat

Hunger Games 1984

“This is the Capitol’s way of reminding us how totally we are at their mercy. How little chance we would stand of surviving another rebellion. “

“Day by day and almost minute by minute the past was brought up to date. In this way every prediction made by the Party could be shown by documentary evidence to have been correct; nor was any item of news, or any expression of opinion, which conflicted with the needs of the moment, ever allowed to remain on record. “

The Society

Panemvs.

OceaniaSocial Hierarchy, Celebration,

Isolation

Social Hierarchy

The Hunger Games 1984

The Capitol has the most power

and wealth which decrease

in order to District 12

The Inner Party is most powerful, than the Outer Party, then the

Proles

“ Taking the kids from our districts , forcing

them to kill one another while we watch- this is the Capitol’s way of

reminding us how totally we are at their

mercy.”

“At the apex of the Pyramid comes Big Brother…Below Big

Brother comes the Inner Party…Below the Inner Party comes the Outer

Party…Below that come the dumb masses whom we habitually refer to as

‘the proles’”

Manipulation of Celebration

The Reaping and the Hunger

Games are made to seem like a

celebration

Hate Week is treated more like a celebration by the

people even though it is negative

The Hunger Games 1984

“To make it humiliating as well as well as torturous, the

Capitol requires us to treat the Hunger Games as a festivity, a

sporting event pitting every district against the others.”

“On the sixth day of Hate Week, after the processions, the speeches, the shouting,

the singing, the banners, the posters, the films, the waxworks, the rolling of drums and squealing of trumpets, the tramp of

marching feet…”

Isolation

The people of Panam live in isolation from

district to district

The people of Oceania live in

complete isolation from

each other

The Hunger Games 1984

“We have cut the links between child and

parent, and between man and man, and between man and

woman. No one dares trust a wife or a child or

a friend any longer.”

“I wonder if the Gamemakers are blocking

out our conversation, because even though the

information seems harmless, they don’t want

people in different districts to know about

one another.”

The Protagonists

Katnissvs.

WinstonMorals, defiance, values,

knowledge

(Winston from movie)

Morality In The Face of Death

In the face of death Katniss does not lose

value of human life

“I killed a boy whose name I don’t

even know. Somewhere his

family is weeping for him.”

“’You don’t give a damn what they

suffer. All you care about is

yourself.’”

When facing his fears Winston sacrifices the

person that he loves

The Hunger Games 1984

Knowledge of Government’s Power

“Somewhere, in a cool and spotless room, a

Gamemaker sits at a set of controls, fingers on the triggers that could end my

life in a second.”

Winston is naïve to think that he

has a way around the indomitable

government

Katniss understands that they

government has absolute control over

her life, especially when she is in the

Hunger Games

The Hunger Games 1984

“You were the dead; theirs were the future. But you could share in that future if you kept alive the mind as they

kept alive the body, and passed on the secret doctrine that two plus

two make four.”

Defiance Against Government

Katniss tries to show the

government she still has

individuality

“I want to do something, right here, right now, to shame them, to make them accountable, to

show the Capitol that whatever they do or force us to do there is a part of every tribute they can’t own. That Rue was more than a piece in their Games. And so am

I.”The Hunger Games 198

4

Winston tries to fight against the government even though the efforts

are useless

“DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER was written all over it, in

letters almost big enough to be legible across the room. It was an inconceivably stupid thing to have done. But, he

realized, even in his panic he had not wanted to smudge the creamy paper by shutting the book while the ink was wet.”

Values

“I reach her just as she is about to

mount the steps. With one sweep of my arm, I push her

behind me. ‘I volunteer!’ I gasp.”

Katniss is ready to sacrifice her life for her sister’s

Winston is greedy towards his family and believes he is more important

The Hunger Games 1984

“Then with a sudden swift spring he had

snatched the piece of chocolate out of his

sister’s hand and was fleeing for the door…He stopped, but he did not

come back.”

The Author’s Purpose

Suzanne Collins

vs.George Orwell

Message of Protagonist

• Katniss stays strong and does not lose herself

• Katniss gives a message of hope and of the strength of human will

• Winston ultimately losses his individuality and his identity to the Party

• Winston is meant to convey a warning that human will cannot hold out against a totalitarian regime

Hunger Games 1984

“ I spread out my fingers, and the dark berries glisten in the sun. I give Peeta’s hand one last squeeze as a signal, as a good-bye, and we begin counting.”

“ But it was all right, everything was all right, the struggle was finished. He had won the victory over himself. He loved Big Brother.”

Message of Politics

• If there is no rebellion, the totalitarian dictatorship only gets stronger with the passage of time

• People under totalitarian government s must act immediately

• Similarly, totalitarian governments must not be allowed to seize power

• Different in that once totalitarian government is in power there is little hope of going back

Hunger Games

“ Then came the Dark Days , the uprising of the districts against the Capitol. Twelve were defeated, the thirteenth obliterated.”

1984

“’The whole climate of thought will be different. In fact, there will be no thought, as we understand it now. Orthodoxy means not thinking-not needing to think. Orthodoxy is unconsciousness.’"

Human NatureHunger Games

• Humans have the capacity to love and sacrifice themselves for the people they love • Humans are able to hold onto individuality

1984

• Humans will lose their individuality if under enough fear• Humans will not resist conformity if they believe themselves to be in danger“ Because if he dies,

I’ll never go home, not really. I’ll spend the rest of my life in this arena, trying to think my way out.”

“ Much had changed in him since the first day in the Ministry of Love, But this final, indispensable, healing change had never happened, until this moment.”

ConclusionMajor Differences

• Hunger games= message of hope, human strength•1984= warning, message of ultimate human weakness•Hunger Games= entertainment• 1984= grim, not for enjoymentMajor Similarities• Both are anti- totalitarianism• Both have themes of love, power, and fear•Both give warning to resist or rebel and sort of totalitarian government