Counter Culture and the Capitol

By -
I think one of the most important issues in the Hunger Games has to be the fact that it’s a very valid analogy for American Culture at the time of writing. Don’t get me wrong, I’m aware that it’s an exaggeration, but I think the fact that the Capitol works as a pretty direct parallel for how a lot of people see America today is a little disturbing. It’s a prevalent and interesting thing to look at the vapid, detached, incredibly consumer-driven climate of the  supposedly evil enemy culture whose entertainment that these kids are fighting for and realizing that, oh wait, you’re the bad guy.

It’s a fun twist! Like what M. Night Shyamalan tries to do.

The classism is much more direct, at least. It’s a lot more difficult to work your way up in Panem than it is in America. Rereading this novel really brings me back to the Occupy movement, which was so prevalent during my first round through it. For what it’s worth, the Capitol isn’t portrayed as all entirely evil one percenters. Just… indifferent. At least in the first book. I don’t know how many of my fellow students have read ahead into the following novels, so I’ll suffice it to say that we do get some positive representation of Capitol folk eventually. But I think that Collins’ idea to make the “enemy” a pastiche of American culture really works. Especially because, as Prof. Thomas is wont to point out, YA novels are about counter culture. So when this book is literally promoting counter culture—going against the obliviousness and indulgence that has become a sort of typical depiction of American culture outside the US.


Comments

  1. TashaTOnlineSeptember 12, 2016 at 9:11 AM

    Wow! You make some incredible connections! I wish you had written more. Nice insight!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Growing Pains - The Symbolism of the Tree in Speak

By -
I have felt the paralyzing pain of internal disease. The kind of trauma that causes your mouth to curl in and swallow you whole. I, like so many other women, are walking the halls in Melinda’s shoes in “Speak.” I thought Laurie Anderson did a phenomenal job of twisting all of the tribulations a high school girl goes through, into the tree that Melinda is. Whether we’re as strong as an oak or weak as a bush, we have all gone through the disease that strikes Melinda from the inside out. Melinda is like a half-dead tree. Some parts of her strive to blossom and create beauty. Other parts are broken and diseased. Like a dead tree, Melinda needs to save herself and “cut off the damage, [so it] is possible for the tree to grow again” (187). The symbolism of a tree is significant in “Speak.” Trees reflect her growing process. In the beginning, Melinda is a sick and lifeless tree. Her view is negative and dark. She’s so far past repair, bursts of sunlight do her no good. Sunlight would be pe
Read more

How Starr Goes from Acting to Embracing in The Hate U Give

By -
In The Hate U Give, Starr Carter is caught between two worlds. She lives in a predominantly black neighborhood, but her father sends her and her brothers to a private school where she is surrounded by white people. She talks about acting differently depending on what group she is around, which can create some identity problems. She says on page 11, "Funny how it works with white kids though. It's dope to be black until it's hard to be black." When at Williamson, she sees white kids that think it's cool to engage in black culture, but she knows they don't understand what she goes through in her Garden Heights community. She witnessed her friend Natasha's death when she was 10 years old, and she sees gang activity in her community all the time. When she is among her black friends, like at the party, they tease her for hanging out with the white kids. This reminds me of a Drake song where he says, "I used to get teased for being black, and now I'm
Read more

Postmodernism in Curious Incident

By -
Before I start writing, I first want to acknowledge that I just really loved this book! It seemed like a lot of the class had trouble enjoying or appreciating the novel because it's so different stylistically, which is understandable, but all of those unique elements helped make the novel more authentic. The main topic I want to focus on (also what I'm writing my paper on) is how a lot of postmodernist elements were used in the novel to make Christopher come to life. While obviously not every postmodern novel is about an autistic kid, I think Haddon really used a lot of these elements to his advantage and they ended up working out really well to characterize Christopher. One of the major postmodern elements which helps this book really craft an authentic portrayal of autism is the fact that it's metafictive. Basically, this means it's a "story within a story." Readers would be extremely limited just reading the parts of the novel which are meant to be C
Read more