inequality
In Panem there is a huge disparity between the lives of the rich and the poor. This disparity reveals itself in many ways, the most obvious being food. In the poor districts, many of the residents are starving. Katniss has to hunt illegally in the woods beyond the district’s borders to feed her family. The novel suggests that most of the district’s residents are not able to or don’t know how to hunt, meaning even given the little Katniss’s family has, it is still more than many of the other families in her district. All but the most basic foods are luxuries for the people of District 12. Katniss later learns that Peeta’s family, which owns a bakery and is thus one of the more well-off in the district, can’t afford most of the food they bake and eat the stale leftovers that nobody buys. In contrast, when Katniss arrives in the Capitol, she is awed by the lavish feasts and elaborately prepared dishes. The food is so rich and abundant that the people of the Capitol make themselves sick so they may continue eating.
The tessera system is another way that inequality shows itself in Panem. In theory, the lottery by which tributes are chosen is random and anyone could be picked. In reality, the poor are much more likely than the rich to end up as tributes because they may exchange rations of food and oil, called tesserae, for additional entries into the draw. Most children of poor families have to take tesserae to survive, so the children of poor families have more entries in the reaping than children of wealthy families. Tributes from wealthier districts are often trained and volunteer. These trained tributes, which Katniss refers to as Career Tributes, are generally bigger, stronger, and better prepared for the tribulations of the Hunger Games than those poor tributes selected by chance.
The tessera system is another way that inequality shows itself in Panem. In theory, the lottery by which tributes are chosen is random and anyone could be picked. In reality, the poor are much more likely than the rich to end up as tributes because they may exchange rations of food and oil, called tesserae, for additional entries into the draw. Most children of poor families have to take tesserae to survive, so the children of poor families have more entries in the reaping than children of wealthy families. Tributes from wealthier districts are often trained and volunteer. These trained tributes, which Katniss refers to as Career Tributes, are generally bigger, stronger, and better prepared for the tribulations of the Hunger Games than those poor tributes selected by chance.
the capitol
haute couture
suffering as entertainment
The Hunger Games present the tributes’ suffering as mass entertainment, and the more the tributes suffer, ideally in battle with one another, the more entertaining the Games become. Katniss at various points talks about past Games and what made them successful or unsuccessful, and the recurring motif is that the viewers want to see the tributes battling one another and not dying too quickly (because then the entertainment is over). The principle is best exemplified in Cato’s slow death at the end of the novel. Once the muttations have defeated Cato, they don’t kill him immediately, and Katniss realises that the Gamemakers want Cato to remain alive because it is a gruesome spectacle. It is the finale of the Games, and so they want to deliver prolonged suffering the audience at home won’t be able to turn away from. The suffering, however, doesn’t have to be purely physical. It can be psychological as well. Katniss’s and Peeta’s romance, for instance, is the subject of so much fascination because it is presumed to be doomed. They become the “star-crossed lovers,” meaning ill-fated, and that promise of suffering adds drama and makes them fun to watch.
the hunger games
violence as sport
the importance of APPEARANCE
Throughout the novel, Katniss and her team use her external appearance, including what she says and how she behaves, to control how other people perceive her. At the reaping ceremony, for instance, she won’t allow herself to cry in front of the cameras because she doesn’t want to give the impression of being weak. At the opening ceremony of the Games, the novel emphasizes how important appearances are by focusing a great deal on Katniss’s preparations (including things like waxing her body). The main feature of this focus is the dress Cinna creates for her. It is covered in synthetic flames, earning Katniss the epithet “the girl who was on fire,” and it makes Katniss stand out among the tributes. Drawing attention is more than just vanity in the Games. The tributes that are most memorable tend to attract sponsors, who can provide gifts that may prove critical during the Games. Katniss hides her tears during the Games for a similar reason, as self-pitying tributes are unattractive to sponsors. A tribute’s appearance and behavior can therefore serve as a significant part of their survival strategy.
katniss
actors and musicians
http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/the-hunger-games/themes.html