Panem is what remains of North America as we presently know it after some kind of environmental tragedy stuck (HG p. 18) - perhaps an intended reference to climate change?
In response to catastrophe, there’s always a government ready and willing to save the day by taking away people’s freedoms. This is what the Capitol does in Panem, a world split into 13 districts that exist on the land that remains. Panem, as we know it, is post-rebellion. We’re quite some time removed from whatever catastrophe put the world in the shape it’s in, but we’re just 74 years removed from a revolution that was quelled with horrific force by the Capitol. As a yearly reminder not to get out of line, two children from each district are selected …show more content…
There is discussion of abuse of power during wartime. “If I held them [the berries] out to defy the Capitol, then I am someone of worth.” Katniss begins to recognize her faults: “I’m selfish. I’m a coward….No wonder I won the Games. No decent person ever does” (CF p. 117) This is a book series about the plight of the oppressed poor against the Masters of War, “those who use their brains to find amusing ways to kill us” (CF, p. 236).
The story focuses not on those who are ready to fight a new rebellion (Gale and Peeta), but on the young woman who isn’t: Katniss. Here’s the political key to The Hunger Games, “What we achieve inwardly will change outer reality.” No, that Plutarch quote that Rowling used isn’t found anywhere in the books, even though we do have a key character named Plutarch Heavensbee.
“Yes, everyone in the districts will be watching to see how I handle this death sentence, this final act of President Snow’s dominance. They will be looking for some that their battles have not been in vain. If I can make it clear that I’m still defying the Capitol right up to the end, the Capitol will have killed me … but not my spirit. What better way to give hope to the rebels? [...] I will be more valuable dead. They can turn me into some kind of martyr for the cause”…. (p.