Micayla Kotarski

Film and Culture

12/10/2015

Hunger Games and the Class Struggle

What is Class? As defined in our textbook Class is a term used to categorize people
according to their economic status. (Benshoff and Sean) This is usually determined by a level of
income, type of job, inherited wealth and family. Once these are all figured, a system of class
divisions are used to determine where a person belongs. In the movie the Hunger Games we
see many examples of these different classes. The Hunger Games is set in Panem, a dystopian,
possibly post-nuclear-apocalypse North America. The ruling class resides in the lavish, futuristic
Capitol while relying on the 12 outlying Districts for what's left of the Earth's natural resources.
To keep the Districts under control, the Capitol employs a regime of deprivation and propaganda,
the keystone of which is the Hunger Games. Every year, each district must offer two children as
"tributes" for the Games, in which they're thrown into a survival setting and must fight each
other to the death on live TV.
In The Hunger Games, which was written by Suzanne Collins, there are two different
classes in Panem social structure. The Capitol as a representative of the upper class and District
12 become representatives of the lower class. The Capitol as the owner of the mode of
production has wealth and power. This allows them able to do anything they want. While District
12 is the lower class, who do not have anything. They can only work for the Capital to survive.
As the result different social class bring both parties engage in sustainable conflict. The districts
are the powerless ones oppressed by the Capital, and they become objects of exploitation. This
raises their class consciousness and leads to the emergence of the class struggle among them.
The Districts decide they must unite in order to destroy their real enemy, the Capital which could
be said to represent capitalism.

Micayla Kotarski
Film and Culture
12/10/2015

In the movies is it made known that those from Districts 1, 2 and 4 usually do much
better than those from Districts 3,5-12 because they are more privileged than others, so they can
train their tributes to do well in the games. As for the poor districts 3,5-12? Well, they dont have
much of an advantage there. District 12, Katniss's district, is an impoverished coal mining region
that never stands a chance in the Games. They view the Games as a punishment that must be
endured. In the first movie it shows Katniss sneaking out of the compound under a fence that is
supposed to be electrified but isnt because the Capital doesnt really care that much about
keeping the people in. It is made clear that the only reason her family has survived is because of
Katnisss hunting. The District which she lives in is so poor that is it considered an
accomplishment to become old because most people die young from either hunger or mine
accidents. The show the town as basically being a bunch of huts to live in, a shack that has been
set up as a sort of underground trading center and a very fancy town square where all of the
televised events are held so that other districts will not know the severity of each Districts
situation.
In Panem, the people in the poorest districts are provided with very little to eat or live on. In the
Capitol, Katniss sees how the resources of the districts are being used to provide wealth and
excess for people who have plenty. Once Katniss and Peta make it to the training center in the
Capital they are overwhelmed at the amount of wealth and opulence there. Katniss is homesick
and disgusted by the idea of food at the push of a button. In the book she says this
I try to imagine assembling this meal myself back home. Chickens are too expensive, but I
could make do with a wild turkey. I'd need to shoot a second turkey to trade for an orange. Goat's
milk would have to substitute for cream. We can grow peas in the garden. I'd have to get wild

Micayla Kotarski
Film and Culture
12/10/2015

onions from the woods. I don't recognize the grain, our own tessera rations cook down to an
unattractive brown mush. Fancy rolls would mean another trade with the baker, perhaps for two
or three squirrels. As for the pudding, I can't even guess what's in it. Days of hunting and
gathering for this one meal and even then it would be a poor substitution for the Capitol version
(Collins). In this quote Katniss notes it would take her days to assemble a meal like this at home
and even then it would not be close to the quality of the Capitals.
The difference between the Capital and its Districts is shown in the movie by showing her family
watching her debut in the capital on a small screen in their run down house, while Katniss is in a
lot of makeup and very fine clothes surrounded by people who mutilate their bodies in the name
of beauty. You also see Katnisss friend Gale watching her in the games while he is down in the
dirty mine. You also see habits of people who are upper class come through with a trying to
keep up with the Joneses attitude. Everyone must have better clothes or makeup or surgical
enhancements then their neighbors. Katniss and Peta are thrown into this world and they are
shocked that people live this way. They also begin to talk to the other tributes in the games and
they learn how they live. Katniss is very interested in the other districts and it is amusing to hear
about how others live, It's interesting, hearing about her life. We have so little communication
with anyone outside our district. In fact, I wonder if the Gamemakers are blocking out our
conversation, because even though the information seems harmless, they don't want people in
different districts to know about one another (Collins).
Another way the capital keeps control of the districts is through education. If it keeps the
information of other districts away from each other then they will not be able to have another
uprising because they all have carefully manipulated information about the Capital and most

Micayla Kotarski
Film and Culture
12/10/2015

likely not all of it is the same. The only thing Katniss really knows about the Districts is what
they produce or do for the Capital and that those who are in Districts 1,2 and 4 are trained to be
murders. It is a privilege for the people of those districts to be chosen for the Games.
In the text book it talks about how most class studies are usually derived from Marxism.
The book says that Karl Marx believed that economic systems formed the base of society and
everything else must reflect that base. While the Capitol can be seen as a modified version of the
bourgeoisie, the districts too can be seen as a modified version of the proletariat. Just as the
proletariats revolution comes in stages with a majority overthrowing a minority, the people of
Panem too represent the oppressed majority whose revolution comes in stages where Katniss
Everdeen plays the role of the catalyst to get the war started.
Marx both outlines and simplifies the overall struggle of the proletariat into distinct
stages: first between individual workers, then the workpeople of the factory, and then trades
against the bourgeoisie. These stages of the proletariat overall progress as the people become less
and less scattered and more unified. At first, there were just a few individuals who fought the
Capitol, but eventually they realized their attacks were not doing much. Eventually the districts
come to the realization came that they are essentially powerless scattered. They use Katniss after
her rebellion in the games with the berries, to help give hope to the people that the Capitol could
be stopped. With this we see the comparison of Marxs proletariats development as he described
in stages with the majority hoping to overthrow the minority, it becomes clear that the people of
the districts within Panem have the possibility of following in the proletariats footsteps as long
as they rise to the occasion with the idea of hope as their drive.

Micayla Kotarski
Film and Culture
12/10/2015

The film makers and the author of the Hunger Games work really hard to make sure there
are class distinctions and that you realize the capital is not good. It has some good people in it,
and at one time it probably even had good intentions. Unfortunately as power made people
greedy and an overabundance of wealth made people lazy the good things were lost. If you are
looking for a good movie that shows you class struggle and distinction I would recommend the
Hunger Games because it shows you both of those things and it also shows you how to over
come it.

Micayla Kotarski
Film and Culture
12/10/2015

References
Benshoff, Harry M and Griffin Sean. America On Film. Singapore: Blackwell
Publishing Ltd., 2009. Book.
Collins, Suzanne. The Hunger Games. New York : Scholastic Press, n.d. ebook.