Social Classes In The Hunger Games
Social classes are groups of people within a society who possess the same socioeconomic status. Social classes have been important in the theory of society and are widely used in census. Not only are social classes present in real life, but they are also a big part of The Hunger Games, a novel by Suzanne Collins. The novel takes place in the future time in Panem, located in North America. The nation of Panem is made up of twelve districts, each district getting more poor from one to twelve. In Panem, money makes or breaks you. The capitol is the richest part of Panem, and they dominate the twelve districts. Life in Panem is very different for people of various economic standings, such as Katniss, Madge, and the people in the capitol. Katniss
Everdeen is one of the main characters in the novel, the narrator, and a spitting image of the impoverished society in Panem. Katniss and her family live in district twelve, one of the poorest districts in the nation. Five years before the novel takes place, Katniss's father died in a coal mining accident, leaving her mother depressed and Katniss taking care of her mother and sister. Since district twelve is the poorest district, people work all day for one piece of food, and hunting is strictly prohibited. However, Katniss says in the novel that she and her best friend Gale sneak into the woods and hunt for food “making sure that both [their] families had food” (Collins 111). Gale and Katniss feel obligated to break the rules to keep their families fed and healthy. Katniss has always dealt with being poor, so she has adopted ways to keep herself and her family in society.
Madge is the daughter of the mayor in district twelve, and one of Katniss’s closest friends. Madge is part of the richest family in district twelve, which would put her in the middle class of the economic rankings. The people in the capitol are the richest in Panem, and they have so much money that they do not know what to do with it. Thus, came the Hunger Games, a way to show how much power the wealthy have over the poor. In the games, people who work for the capitol draw names out of a bowl for one girl and one boy from each district to fight in the games. When a child in Panem turns twelve, their name is automatically in the bowl to be picked for the games. President Snow is the president of Panem, and he rules the nation and is in charge of the games. He has gamemakers, who are people who work for him and control what happens in the games. The people in the capitol are very wealthy and eat posh meals, unlike the poor districts. After analyzing the differences in the lifestyles of Katniss, Madge, and the residents of the capitol, there are significant differences in their lifestyles based on economic standings. Life in Panem is similar to the lives people lived in the civil war time period. In the time period of the civil war, people of color faced severely harsh treatment by the white people. Segregation was highly destructive to people of color, and they were fighting to have rights. This is similar to the hunger games, where people of different economic standings are fighting to live. People in the wealthier districts have a higher chance of winning the games because they have the money for training and schools. People in poorer districts are given less opportunities and privileges than those in wealthier districts or the capitol. Same goes for the african americans in the past, they had less opportunities and didn’t have the same educational privileges as the white people. Social rankings today and in The Hunger Games have the same effects as race did in the past.
Everdeen is one of the main characters in the novel, the narrator, and a spitting image of the impoverished society in Panem. Katniss and her family live in district twelve, one of the poorest districts in the nation. Five years before the novel takes place, Katniss's father died in a coal mining accident, leaving her mother depressed and Katniss taking care of her mother and sister. Since district twelve is the poorest district, people work all day for one piece of food, and hunting is strictly prohibited. However, Katniss says in the novel that she and her best friend Gale sneak into the woods and hunt for food “making sure that both [their] families had food” (Collins 111). Gale and Katniss feel obligated to break the rules to keep their families fed and healthy. Katniss has always dealt with being poor, so she has adopted ways to keep herself and her family in society.
Madge is the daughter of the mayor in district twelve, and one of Katniss’s closest friends. Madge is part of the richest family in district twelve, which would put her in the middle class of the economic rankings. The people in the capitol are the richest in Panem, and they have so much money that they do not know what to do with it. Thus, came the Hunger Games, a way to show how much power the wealthy have over the poor. In the games, people who work for the capitol draw names out of a bowl for one girl and one boy from each district to fight in the games. When a child in Panem turns twelve, their name is automatically in the bowl to be picked for the games. President Snow is the president of Panem, and he rules the nation and is in charge of the games. He has gamemakers, who are people who work for him and control what happens in the games. The people in the capitol are very wealthy and eat posh meals, unlike the poor districts. After analyzing the differences in the lifestyles of Katniss, Madge, and the residents of the capitol, there are significant differences in their lifestyles based on economic standings. Life in Panem is similar to the lives people lived in the civil war time period. In the time period of the civil war, people of color faced severely harsh treatment by the white people. Segregation was highly destructive to people of color, and they were fighting to have rights. This is similar to the hunger games, where people of different economic standings are fighting to live. People in the wealthier districts have a higher chance of winning the games because they have the money for training and schools. People in poorer districts are given less opportunities and privileges than those in wealthier districts or the capitol. Same goes for the african americans in the past, they had less opportunities and didn’t have the same educational privileges as the white people. Social rankings today and in The Hunger Games have the same effects as race did in the past.