POLITICAL DYSTOPIA IN SUZANNE COLLINS’
THE HUNGER GAMES
A THESIS
Submitted to Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Degree of
Sarjana Sastra
By:
SISWANTIA SAR
209220048
ENGLISH AND LITERATURE DEPARTMENT
FACULTY OF LANGUAGES AND ARTS
ABSTRACT
Sar, Siswantia. 209220048. Political Dystopia in Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games. A Thesis. Faculty of Languages and Arts. State University of Medan. 2013.
The study deals with the aspects of political dystopia in Suzanne Collins’ The
Hunger Games. The objective of study is to describe the aspects of political
dystopia occur in Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games. The data were analyzed by identifying the statements found in Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games. The findings show that there are five aspects of political dystopia occur in the novel. The five aspects are: a) Totalitarian Government, b) Political Repression, c) Dehumanization, d) Restrictions of Freedom, e) Oppression which Led to the Rebellion. From those aspects, it is concluded that political dystopia occur in Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Alhamdulillahirabbil 'alamin, Thanks to Allah SWT for the blessing and
protection given to the writer, especially in the process of accomplishing this
thesis. This thesis would never have been accomplished without the help,
guidance, comments, suggestions and support from so many beloved people, for
which the writer would like to express her gratitude and special thanks to:
Prof. Dr. Ibnu Hajar Damanik, M.Si., the Rector of State University of Medan
Dr. Isda Pramuniati, M.Hum., the Dean of Faculty of Languages and Arts Prof. Dr. Hj. Sumarsih, M.Pd., the Head of English Department, Rika,
S.Pd., M.Hum., the Secretary of English Department, Dra. Meisuri, MA.,
the Head of Non-Educational English Program, and Dra. Masitowarni
Siregar, M.Ed, the Head of Educational English Program thanks for their administrative help during the writer’s study in English Department State University of Medan.
Department, especially Winda Setiasari, S.S., M.Hum. for sparing her time
to help the writer.
Maam Endah and Maam Eis for helping the writer in the purpose of the academic administrations.
Her beloved parents. Her father, F. Lowis Sar and her mother, Isnizar for the
prayer, love, motivation and financial support. Without their prayer, love and
support, the writer will be nothing and also thanks for the love and support
Her very best friends, SEMAK, Dewi (the lovely kindergarten child),
Hervina (the pretty who can’t live without mirror), Niar (the one with a great
fuss but so wise), Nurul (the patience and understanding GPS), Putri (the
cheerful and noisy one), and Vany (the beloved Ibu Ustadzah), thanks for the
love, happiness and even sadness that we have been through together.
Her friends in Applied Linguistics A (Youngkrow Mamen, Slash G, Geng C, and Together Forever) and Applied Linguistics B 2009, especially for her
comrades; Ines, Septi, Sisna (nande mixing), Suci and many others that she
cannot be mentioned one by one and also thanks for her other friends Yuni,
Nanas, and Itik for their love and friendship.
All others whose name cannot be mentioned one by one for their help and
support. Thanks for everything. May Allah bless us. Aamiin.
Medan, Juni 2013
Siswantia Sar
iv
CHAPTER I : INTRODUCTION ... 1
A. The Background of The Study ... 1
B. The Problem of The Study ... 4
C. The Scope of The Study ... 4
D. The Objective of The Study ... 5
E. The Significance of The Study ... 5
CHAPTER II : REVIEW OF LITERATURE... 6
A. Theoretical Framework ... 6
B. Literature ... 6
C. Fiction ... 7
1. The Elements of Fiction ... 8
D. Science Fiction ... 10
1. Science Fiction Subgenres ...10
E. Dystopian Fiction ... 13
F. Dystopian Aspects ... 15
1. Political Condition in Dystopian Fiction ... 16
v
1. Freytag Pyramid of The Hunger Games ... 23
H. Relevant Studies ... 24
I. The Aspects of Political Dystopia to Analyze Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games ... 25
CHAPTER III : METHOD OF RESEARCH ... 26
A. Research Method ... 26
B. Data Sources ... 26
C. Technique for Collecting Data ... 27
D. Technique for Analyzing Data ... 27
CHAPTER IV : DATA AND DATA ANALYSIS... 28
A. Totalitarian Government ... 28
B. Political Repression ... 35
C. Dehumanization ... 37
D. Restrictions of Freedom ... 40
E. Oppression which Led to the Rebellion ... 42
F. The Relationship between Suzanne Collins’ Backgrounds and Her Novel, The Hunger Games .... 48
F. Research Findings ... 49
CHAPTER V : CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS ... 50
A. Conclusions ... 50
B. Suggestions ... 51
LIST OF TABLES
Table 4.1. The Aspects of Totalitarian Government in Suzanne Collins’ The
LIST OF APPENDICES
Appendix A Political Dystopia in Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games ... 56
CHAPTER V
CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS
A. Conclusions
After analyzing the data, based on the novel “The Hunger Games” written
by Suzanne Collins, the writer concluded that:
1. Political dystopia is occurred in Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games.
There are five political aspects of dystopia that is found occur in The
Hunger Games. First, totalitarian government in which the country in the
story is led by a ruling city, Capitol. The dictator in the Suzanne Collins’
The Hunger Games is President Snow, a leader in the Panem country who
lead the country in a totalitarian way. Second, political repression in which
the Capitol repressed the citizens in the districts in order to make them
submissive and obedient towards the Capitol. Third, dehumanization in
which reflected by The Hunger Games show itself where humanity is
prohibited by Capitol. Fourth, restrictions of freedom in which Capitol
restricted the citizens’ freedom through the strict rules in order to make the
districts in line. Last, oppression which led to the rebellion in which the
main protagonist, Katniss Everdeen, rebels to the Capitol because of the
opression she had from Capitol.
2. Suzanne Collins, as one of many dystopian writers, would like to convey
They tend to describe dystopian future as a bleak, dark, horrible, and
miserable future. It is because they have vision of future further than
others. Their fears of a bleak future due to human actions make them try to
describe if human act very badly in the present then there is a possibility
of future they will get is a dystopian future. It can be seen from The
Hunger Games that Suzanne Collins describes the future as a tragic place
which is caused by none other than the human himself.
B. Suggestions
From the analysis, the writer would like to suggest as the following:
1. By this novel, hopefully the students especially English Literature students
are expected to know and understand about the dystopian fiction,
especially The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. Dystopian fiction is
expected not only as an entertainment for the readers but also as a lesson
for a better tomorrow by inspiring the readers with the possibility of
dystopian future might happen if war and violence as the result of human
action itself continues to happen. Dystopian fiction provides the perfect
outlet for this by exaggerating the problems of today in an author’s view
of a possible tomorrow.
2. It is suggested for the teachers especially for the teachers of english
literature class to introduce and explain about dystopia and the aspects that
can be found in dystopian fiction.
3. This thesis can be used as an additional matter for other researchers who
material for further research which is related to dystopian aspects
REFERENCES
Baccolini, Raffaella. 2006. “Dystopia Matters: On the Use of Dystopia and Utopia”. Spaces of Utopia: An Electronic Journal, (3), 1-4.
Booker, M. Keith&Thomas, Anne-Marie. 2009. The Science Fiction Handbook. UK: John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Cernak, Linda. 2011. Totalitarianism. Minnesota: Abdo Consulting Group, Ltd.
Chambers, Ellie&Gregory, Marshall. 2006. Teaching & Learning English
Literature. London: SAGE Publications Ltd.
Claeys, Gregory. 2010. The Cambridge Companion to Utopian Literature. UK: Cambridge University Press.
Collins, Suzanne. 2008. The Hunger Games. New York: Scholastic Press.
Darvish, Bahareh&Najjar, Mohammadreza Ghanbari. 2011. From Utopian Dream to Dystopian Reality: George Orwell’s Animal Farm a Case Study.
American Journal of Scientific Research, 100-106.
Davenport, Christian. 2010. Media Bias, Perspective, and State Repression. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Dieterle, Christof. 2003. George Orwell's 1984 and its implications on the
political system of the GDR. GRIN Verlag.
Dunlap, A. (2012). Eco-Dystopia: Reproduction and Destruction in Margaret Atwood’s Oryx and Crake.Journal of Ecocriticism, 5(1), 1-15.
Griffith, Kelly. 2011. Writing Essays about Literature: A Guide and Style Sheet.
Eighth Edition. Wadsworth: Cengage Learning.
Hart, Jonathan. 1994. Northrop Frye: The Theoretical Imagination. New York: Routledge.
Haslam, Nick. 2004. Dehumanization: An Interpretive Review. Melbourne: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Ltd.
Hawthorn, Jeremy. 1985. Studying the Novel: An Introduction. London: Edward Arnold LTD.
Kaufmann, Paulus. et al. 2011. Humiliation, Degradation, Dehumanization. New York: Springer Media.
Atwood: Dystopic Fiction as Politically Symbolic. Unpublished Thesis.
The Ohio State University.
Miller, T. 2006. The coming utopia/dystopia and communal possibilities. Spaces
of Utopia: An Electronic Journal, (1).
Moleong, Lexy J. 1990. Metodologi Penelitian Kualitatif. Bandung: Remaja.
Moylan, Tom&Baccolini, Raffaella. 2003. Dark Horizons: Science Fiction and
Reynolds, J. W. 2011. Games, Dystopia, and ADR. Ohio State Journal on Dispute Resolution, Forthcoming.
Sartre, Jean Paul. 1988. “What is Literature?”. US: President and Fellows of Harvard College.
Souza, Jonathan de. 2011. Violence and Society in Dystopian Fiction. Unpublished Thesis. Universiteit Utrecht.
Stuver, Amber L. 1998. The Totalitarian Destruction of Utopia. Maryland: Frostburg State University.
Vukadinovic, Jelena. 2009. Role of Women in Utopian and Dystopian Novels. Germany: GRIN Verlag.
Westfal, Jill. 2010. Dystopias in the Rear-View Mirror. Luleå University of Technology.
Wilson, Leah. 2010. The Girl Who Was on Fire: Your Favorite Authors on
Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games Trilogy. Texas: BenBella Books, Inc.
http://www.biography.com/people/suzanne-collins-20903551/09Juni2013/04:21:1
