DYSTOPIA: REFLECTION OF REAL WORLD IN THE HUNGER GAMES

Abstract

This study analyzes the ways in which social and political critique has been offered by the depiction of government institutions in the imagined societies of the dystopian novels. For this purpose, the novels The Hunger Games (2008), Catching Fire (2009), and Mockingjay (2010) written by Suzanne Collins are selected. These novels fall under the category of young adult dystopian literature. The study is qualitative and exploratory in nature. It analyzes the role played by government in the dystopian society presented in these novels. The government exerts its power over the inhabitants by controlling their mind and body. Oppression from the government and continuous misuse of power results in an uprising from the citizens against the government. People become aware of the totalitarian regime and resist against the injustices of the ruling class. Therefore, the concept of Ideological State Apparatuses by Lois Althusser (1971) and the idea of Discipline and Punishment along with the concept of resistance discussed by Michele Foucault (1979) provided the necessary framework for the study. The study falls under the New Historicist approach as it compared the imagined society of Panem with the real world American government by focusing on its power structure, justice system and surveillance. This helps readers to become aware of their social and political surroundings and it produces a possibility of social and political change by bringing such ideas of change into adolescent consciousness.