Macbeth And The Hunger Games: A Comparative Analysis

Macbeth by William Shakespeare and The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins are two texts written centuries apart but with very similar ideologies on the concept of power. They both explore power and its use politically, through physical measures and in Macbeths case supernaturally. Exploration of themes such as power leading to corruptness and then on to revolt are also prominent in both texts. Protagonist Macbeth and antagonist President Snow head their respective totalitarian societies and used force to control anyone who opposed them This is how they achieve and retain their power.
But first, what is Power? When researching Power in a dictionary or thesaurus words such as authority, control, direct, command and influence all appear. These words
This leads to them using force to assert their power. Macbeth decides to eliminate Banquo because due to Banquo’s inside information and the witches’ prediction that Banquo’s sons will be kings, Banquo is a threat to Macbeths Power. Owing to this Banquo has the power to control and influence others into rebelling against Macbeths power. Macbeth therefore sends his murders and when the return they report that “his throat is cut, that I did for him.” Macbeth does this so that his power is safe from and so that his ability to influence and control others remains. Similarly, In the Hunger games, There is a rumour, that President Snow killed those who opposed him by poisoning them. This use of ruling by force, such as eliminating enemies is proven when he murders Seneca Crane because his actions threatened Snows power. It was implied that Crane “decided to stop breathing.” Implying he decided to suicide, but later revealed that President Snow locked him in a room with only poisonous berries. President Snow like Macbeth is insecure about his power as it is not legitimate. If power is the ability to control and influence others, then if someone decides to threaten this control and influence then those in power chose to eliminate this threat through use of force, in this case control others to