A Marxist Analysis of Social Classes and Exploitation of the Lower Class in
Suzanne Collins'
The Hunger Games
THESIS
Submitted in Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree of
Sarjana Pendidikan
Jennifer Cristy Rimun 112009117
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
FACULTY OF LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE
SATYA WACANA CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY
SALATIGA
A Marxist Analysis of Social Classes and Exploitation of the Lower Class in
Suzanne Collins'
The Hunger Games
THESIS
Submitted in Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree of
Sarjana Pendidikan
Jennifer Cristy Rimun 112009117
Approved by:
Danielle Donelson-Sims, M.A. Deta Maria Sri Darta, S.Pd., M.Hum.
Supervisor Examiner
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Copyright@ 2013. Jennifer Cristy Rimun and Danielle Donelson-Sims, M.A.
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A Marxist Analysis of Social Classes and Exploitation of the Lower Class in
Suzanne Collins'
The Hunger Games
Jennifer Cristy Rimun
Abstract
Capitalistic societies exist even without the awareness of its citizens. Marxist literary analysis seeks to find the flaws in how a Capitalist society who exploits the lower class. The Hungers Games is a widely acclaimed novel describing a futuristic country whose bourgeoisies enjoy extravagance, yet the proletariats are bound to poor living standards. This journal article will
analyze two differing lifestyles in the novel’s fictional society and how capitalistic mindsets lead to exploitation of the poor. The Marxists terms complementing the analysis are
hegemony, reification, and false consciousness. The findings of this analysis include hegemony where proletariats submit to the orders of the bourgeoisie and accept their poor lifestyles without question. Also, reification exists because the citizens in the districts become the labor force that providing all daily necessities for the country and becoming machines in the ideological world that the bourgeoisie wants. Despite promising a better future for all, the bourgeoisie in the Capitol fail to live up to the expectations because only the rich enjoy a better life, illustrating a false consciousness. This novel is an eye-opener to evaluate the state of the citizens living in a society, to see whether or not the lower class is clearly mistreated but disregarded because of their socioeconomic status.
Key words: Marxism, hegemony, reification, false consciousness
1. Introduction
Have you ever wondered what would happen to our precious homeland should it face:
ultimate disasters, droughts, storms, fires, encroaching seas swallowing up the land, and
brutal war? No need to think long. Our very own country has experienced firsthand what
these destructive events can do. Yet, here we are still alive and breathing the air in Indonesia.
Unfortunately, in the science-fiction novel written by Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games,
these disasters struck North America, and the ruins of this continent led to the rise of a new
government can have control over how its citizens live (Duncan 1). Despite the story’s future
setting, as a citizen of a country filled with inequality and class divide, it’s hard not to think
that in the future the rich will still have all the control.
The Hunger Games has been adapted into a motion picture which received wide
acclaims from viewers and movie critics, with the Rolling Stone calling it an “epic spectacle”
(Kehe 2). As I watched the movie, the grandeur of the theme of a new world took me by
surprise. The movie’s brilliance in captivating the viewers, including myself, is a sure sign
that the book is a must read. While watching the movie, something struck me, this story is not
just about teenagers fighting each other to prove they are worthy of becoming victors and
ensuring they will survive. Both the novel and the movie, The Hunger Games, are giving a
glimpse of what the future might look like: almost the same like our present. There will be
people who live in poverty, and also there will be people living lavishly with no worries
about lacking everyday necessities. For this analysis, I will use the novel, as the book itself
gives an even sadder account of what the citizens in the districts of Panem have to endure to
satisfy the needs of the people in the Capitol and the strict government.
The Hunger Games is a novel written about the future North America after being
obliterated, but it has risen again in the form of a new country, Panem. Within this new
country, new rules come to form which put the lower class society at a disadvantage. For
those who do not live in the megacity of the Capitol, their whole life will only be to serve the
needs for those living in the Capitol. This unfairness, portrayed vividly throughout the book,
creates a need to analyze how deep governments can enforce the capitalistic values in their
country.
The dichotomy of poor and rich depicted in The Hunger Games is proof why Marxist
be a subject of concern in the future as well. With regards to this class divide, we can see that
the present state of Indonesia is evidence that we are currently living in a country where the
politicians live in comfort, yet the streets are still filled with homeless people and people
barely surviving without money in their pockets. Just based on the history of Indonesia, the
poor have always struggled to live while the rich live in comfort. Whether a superpower
country or a rising third-world country, there will be people who fall into the rich or poor
category, respectively, regardless of its government. Because I believe the subject of the stark
differences between the dominantly rich and the oppressed poor has been evident in the past,
present and the future, this analysis is important to help readers be more aware of how the
social classes have always been unfair and are predicted to be unfair in the future. From what
Suzanne Collins has interpreted through The Hunger Games, this topic about unfairness will
remain a topic of concern in the future.
In analyzing the differing lifestyles that led to the exploitation and devaluation of the
lower class society, I will use Marxist literary criticism to uncover traces of false
consciousness, hegemony, and reification present in Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games.
This analysis will evaluate how these three ideologies lead to the great divide between the
bourgeoisie and the proletariat –those who ‘have’ and those who ‘have-not’ (Tyson 54).
Through Marxism, the driving force behind all social and political activities in this book will
be linked to economic power of the rich. Also, I seek to inform the readers of how influential
a person’s economic state can be to their own livelihood as exemplified through the novel’s
two different groups of people, the people in the Capitol and in the districts. Consequently,
these capitalistic values lead one powerful group to take advantage of its economic power to
2. Summary of Text
The Hunger Games is a science-fiction story, written by Suzanne Collins, depicting a
dystopian society in the country of Panem, which used to be North America. Within this
country, there are 13 districts and the Capitol, where the government and the rich reside.
According to the history of Panem, in decades past, District 13 of Panem rebelled against the
rules that the government had enforced, leading to the Capitol destroying the 13th district.
Because of this rebellion, the Capitol invoked a new rule to prevent the remaining twelve
districts from following the rebellious acts and repeating the same mistakes. These events are
the reason for the birth of the Hunger Games.
In the Hunger Games, one boy and one girl, between the ages of twelve and eighteeen
from each of the 12 districts, all come together to fight as a reminder that acting out against
the Capitol has its consequences. Each girl and boy are picked during the Reaping, the day
when they have a lottery to decide the boy and girl who will represent their district in the
Hunger Games. The Reaping is also a way for the children to get more food or tesserae to
meet their family’s needs for the upcoming year. They have to enter their name at least once
and can enter their names in the lottery as many as the number of people in their family. In
addition, as a child enters their name more, they will receive a larger amount of food, which
will help those who have a large family. However, this leads to a greater chance that certain
children’s names will be called. Hence, the saying “May the odds be ever in your favor”
(Collins 20) becomes a common expression among the characters. On the day of the Reaping,
all the children between twelve and eighteen years old in the district gather in the district’s
main area, while a representative from the Capitol picks a name out of a lottery bowl to
represent the girl and boy to go on to the Game. This gathering of the Reaping is mandatory,
that if a child decides to skip it will end in their own execution. No excuses are allowed to
avoid this day.
The main characters in this book are Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark, teenagers
from District 12, who have been chosen to represent their district among the teenagers from
the remaining eleven districts. This is their first time entering the Capitol, and they are
amazed at the contrast between their sad predicament back home with the lavish lifestyle
people in the Capitol seem to have. Before they enter the arena where they are to fight for
their lives, they are introduced to the lifestyle that is strikingly different than the one they
have in their hometown.
The Capitol, being where the rich and the government reside, illustrates how unfair
the Capitol is toward their neighboring districts. Each district provides specific or special
products, from jewelry to lumber to power to coal, that are mass-produced in the respective
districts; yet the only ones who are able to enjoy these products are the Capitol residents. The
citizens of the twelve districts work tirelessly each day to please the Capitol’s needs, yet the
ones who work for these products are only given a small amount of money for what they
produce. To add to their poor living conditions, due to their limited supplies, daily necessities
are bought by trading other goods. If a person does not have meaningful goods to trade, they
will not get the amount of food supply that they need. Yet, having goods to trade does not
guarantee its value will amount to a good trade.
During the Hunger Games event itself, the tributes battle each other for survival. The
people in the Capitol and the districts watch on the live telecast as the tributes struggle with
the hardships of the Games. Throughout this event, people in the Capitol, especially the rich,
are determining factors whether the tributes can remain alive or not. Besides the betting that
happens between the people in the Capitol on who will win, the ones who can afford food,
medicine, or other helpful objects and can send them to their favorite tributes. Though the
game’s conditions are harsh and wild, the winner will be the one who is able to remain
Miraculously, Katniss and Peeta are two of the last three tributes left standing in the
end of the Games. After fighting another tribute from a different district, these District 12
children are left to wonder which of them should remain alive. Because they both feel it is
unfair to have just one winner, they decide to eat poisonous berries to voluntarily end their
lives. As they are about to eat the berries, the Games officials announced they will have two
winners, to avoid having no winners at all. This is a different ending than what the Capitol
officials intended and different from the previous results of the Games. Here, Katniss and
Peeta have succeeded in steering from the norm, which can be seen to be rebellious.
3. Theory
A school of thought founded by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, the Marxist
perspective, professes that different socioeconomic classes have more powerful effects in
dividing people compared to differences in religious beliefs, race, ethnicity, or gender (Tyson
54). To that extent, Marxist critics believe that economic power is the root of all social and
political activities within a society. Critics of Marxism seek to investigate how those in power
within a society use each method of their government system to hide the unfairness in their
“socioeconomic arrangement” and the repercussions that this unfairness has towards the less
fortunate (Cain, Finke, and Johnson 762). Therefore, another aim of Marxism is to bring to
the surface the ideologies that hinder us from seeing the reality of the class struggle beyond
what is visible to us by “interpret[ing] text according to its relevance with the class struggle”
(“History Marxist Criticism”). Furthermore, Marxist critics have created a model of the kind
of society they see, which includes “a base (the material means of production, distribution,
and exchange) and a superstructure, the ‘cultural’ world of ideas, art, religion, law, and so
on” (Barry 157). The base of this society represents how money affects how everything is
run. As a result, every part of society - from its social, political, and ideological standpoint -
exists or remains standing only because of money.
Moreover, Marxism classifies two kinds of social classes: “the bourgeoisie—those
who control the world’s natural, economic, and human resources—and the proletariat, the
majority of the global population who live in substandard conditions and who have always
performed the manual labor” (Tyson 54). The bourgeoisie are the rich and powerful, the
controllers of a society. In contrast, the proletariats are the subordinate - poor citizens who
live in oppressed situations under the ruling of their powerful government. Because of the
presence of two differing socioeconomic classes, there are bound to be conflicts between the
rich and the poor as class struggle becomes visible. Barry states that “Marxism sees progress
as coming about through the struggle for power between different social classes” (156). Class
struggle is a big part of history because it is driven by the competition for the social,
economic, and political advantage – the superstructure of every society.
The system in which a society works is heavily influenced by a notion of ideas called
ideologies. Within Marxism, there are certain ideologies, which according to Althusser,
“represent the imaginary relationship of individuals to their real conditions of existence” (18).
People in capitalistic societies may see that their way of seeing themselves and the world they
live in as something natural, when in fact it is not. According to Bertens, ideology blurs the
line between whether or not society acts on their own will or their actions are caused by the
system (86). Furthermore, ideology also deems what the society thinks is the norm or
valuable. It is imperative to not overlook the ideologies within a text that show the “absences
–the ‘not-said’ of the work and certain ‘definite forms of social consciousness’” (Eagleton
555). For this reason, in this analysis, I will focus on three interconnected ideologies of
class, or people in the districts, are exploited by the government of Panem in The Hunger
Games.
The first ideology, which shows that a society whose dominant ruler takes advantage
of its power, is false consciousness. Dobie stated that false consciousness is “responsible for
making people aware of how they have unconsciously accepted the subservient, powerless
roles in their society that have been prescribed for them by others” (86). It will not matter
whether the poor can be more productive than the rich people, because they are not entitled to
the same lifestyle and daily comforts that rich people enjoy. This ideology serves the purpose
to show how those in power take advantage of their position to promote their own interest
(Tyson 58). Because of the bourgeoisie’s high status in society, they are allowed to be who
they are without being scrutinized for their actions. In addition, false consciousness shapes
the thoughts of the rich to act superior.
` Secondly, hegemony describes a Capitalistic society that has its own set way of
running its society because it seems to be what is natural. In particular, “hegemony is like an
internalized form of social control which makes certain views seem 'natural' or invisible so
that they hardly seem like views at all, just 'the way things are'” (Barry 165). Hegemonic
ideology shows that society sees each person’s socioeconomic class as fine the way it is. So,
even though the poor remain in poverty and the rich live with no worries about their wealth,
the society does not question the differing states of life. Even though the district workers are
living under poor conditions and will not be able to rise in power, the government in charge
will condition the subordinates to believe that their lives will improve as long as they follow
the “guidance” and see the government as the protector for their lives (Tyson 63). Hegemony
is one way those in power will control the mindset of its citizens to believe that their current
position in society and their state of life is where they are supposed to be, without realizing
they are being controlled by their government.
Lastly, another Marxist ideology which oppresses the lower class is reification. Egan
describes that, in reification, people are projected into their products and “relationships
between people are mysteriously transformed into relationships between these inanimate
objects” (29). Therefore, reification is “an attitude of valuing things not for their use, but for
their power to impress others (monetarily) or for their exchange value” (Dobie 83). Marxist
criticism claims that each individual has a specific price tag to signify how much they are
worth based on what goods, whether tangible or not, they can produce that is beneficial for
the society, especially if it’s useful for the higher class. In essence, people are no longer seen
as human beings, but how much they worth. People, in other words, become things.
Marxist criticisms will help make known the parallelisms between the reality and the
hidden content within The Hunger Games. It will be more evident that the conflicts between
the bourgeoisie in the Capitol and the proletariats in the twelve districts are proofs of class
struggle. This method of analysis will prove that there are numerous instances throughout the
novel where the lower class is exploited for the benefit of the rich and the lower class has to
struggle to overcome these harsh treatments. As evident by the world around us, the class
struggle in this fictitious future country is a mirror of today’s harsh reality.
4. Discussion
For 74 years and counting, people of Panem have had to witness the intentional live
battle to the death of their own children. These innocent children come from the twelve
districts of Panem. The twelve districts each produce the necessities consumed mostly by the
rich citizens in the Capitol. On the other hand, those children living in the Capitol can say
that they are lucky. They never have to worry about turning twelve, the age when children
children know that by entering their names into the Hunger Games, it will ensure they have
the supplies needed for their family’s daily food. However, their life will turn around
instantly if their names are drawn to enter the Games in an arena of death. In the end, the
Capitol will ensure a yearly supply of never-ending food for the child’s winning district after
the live telecast of these children’s fight for survival, leading to the twenty-three deaths.
The dominance of the bourgeoisie in The Hunger Games is translated throughout the
book, and the sufferings of the proletariat become the backdrop of the proletariat’s powerful
subordinate continual happiness. It is the basis of Marxism, as Dobie stated, is to be “a
thought that sees inequitable economic relationships as the source of class conflict” (79).
Therefore, Marxist criticisms become imperative in the analysis for the novel, The Hunger
Games, as traces of inequality and exploitation of the lower class in the districts of Panem are
transparent within the pages. Dobie continues to claim that Marxist critics are concerned with
“identifying the ideology of a work and pointing out its worth or its deficiencies” (89). The
injustice of dehumanizing citizens because of their lower status in the socioeconomic ladder
within The Hunger Games, proves that an analysis of these interconnected ideologies –false
consciousness, hegemony, and reification – is needed.
4.1 Ideology and Hegemony
In a society, there will always be different types of groups living in one large area.
When reading texts using a Marxist perspective, readers will find that the characters are
categorized into different socioeconomic groups. For Marx, in any society, its foundation will
be heavily influenced by economic organizations consisting of two groups: the capitalist and
the workers (Bertens 84). It is by this ideology of two different social classes that conflicts
arise, which are sometimes implicit within a story.
From the socio-economic base where everything centers on money, the superstructure
appears in the form of social and political systems, values, and etc. These are the ideologies
that influence how Panem is run through the system that has been put in place by the
capitalist. The capitalists, the officials in the Capitol, exploit the working class in the
established districts by determining how much money or food ration they receive and their
working and living conditions. It has been stated by Eagleton that “the function of ideology
is to legitimate the power of the ruling class in society. The dominant ideas of a society are
the ideas of its ruling class” (555). Unfortunately, ideologies of Panem put the people in the
poor districts in suffering.
Separating the woods, in fact enclosing all of District 12, is a high chain-link fence
topped with barbed wire loops. In theory, it’s supposed to be electrified twenty-four
hours a day as a deterrent to the predators that live in the woods – packs of wild dogs,
lone cougars, bears –that used to threaten our streets. But since we’re lucky to get
two or three hours of electricity in the evenings, it’s usually safe to touch. Even so, I
always take a moment to listen carefully for the hum that means the fence is live.
(Collins 4)
The districts are made to believe that the officials have divided the lands where people
live and in the woods danger of wild animals exists. This ideology of enclosing the citizens
from danger discourages people from hunting in the woods. Yet, the woods is the source of
food that they need to survive because hunting outside of the district will bring in more food.
Essentially, without some of the citizens even realizing it, they are being bounded to an
ideology where they believe they are being “kept safe”; however, because of this they may
lack food. According to Bertens, ideology presents reality as being “natural and harmonious
what is artificial and contradictory” (85). The fences surrounding the district contradicts its
yourself in safety” (Collins 5). Though the protaganist admits their predicament, the citizens’
safety is not quite ensured if the fence only runs on two to three hours of electricity. What has
been promised as safety is not fulfilled if they are free from “danger” for only a few hours in
the day.
In this case, hegemony occurs because the interest of the powerful bourgeoisie in the
Capitol has been universalized within the society, and so the exploitation and mistreatment of
the poor is seen as the natural way of life for the whole society. Storey describes hegemony
as where “a society in which conflict is contained and channelled into ideologically safe
harbours.” (80) So it seems that Panem is currently a safe country, but a consequence to
submitting to hegemony, two different societies exist within the same country.
On the other side of the country, in the Capitol, it seemed like a different society
despite still being a part of Panem. The stark contrast between the life in the Capitol and the
districts exemplifies hegemony.
The Capitol twinkles like a vast field of fireflies. Electricity in District 12 comes and
goes, usually we only have it a few hours a day. Often the evenings are spent in
candlelight. The only time you can count on it is when they’re airing the Games or
some important government message on television that it’s mandatory to watch. But
here there would be no shortage. Ever. (Collins 76)
As Katniss observes the pleasure in living in the rich city, she ponders on the
difficulties people in the districts are going through at that moment. In the grand city, lights
surround the city to show its grandeur. However, at the same time, people in the districts
spend their nights with candle light. After spending their day at work, the workers in the
districts come home to a dark home. They are given the fair amount of electricity only when
they have to watch the live battle of the Hunger Games. That being the case, the basic
necessity of electricity is not distributed equally among the different social groups in Panem.
Yet, this unfairness continues every day in Panem with no change, because it is just the way
of life for both of these classes.
Ideologies, though they are belief systems, are results of what culture that society has
deemed natural (Tyson 56). Yet, ideologies have their disadvantage when “undesirable
ideologies promote repressive political agendas and, in order to ensure their acceptance
among the citizenry, pass themselves off as natural ways of seeing the world instead of
acknowledging themselves as ideologies” (Tyson 56). Accepting ideologies set by the
bourgeoisie as natural is the case for the citizens of Panem living in the districts. For the
Capitalist bourgeoisie to reap maximum profit for themselves, they have imposed rules that
discourage the proletariats, or the workers, to gain anything. However, these rules are seen as
natural to the workers because it is the natural order in their society, and coincidentally, the
rule makers in Panem are the bourgeoisies in the Capitol.
One rule that has evolved to be “natural” in Panem is Treaty of Treason.“The Treaty
of Treason gave us the new laws to guarantee ‘peace’, and as our yearly reminder that the
Dark Days must never be repeated, it gave us the Hunger Games” (Collins 17).This imposed
law was made to guarantee peace to hinder any rebellion which could lead to the Dark Days
faced by Panem years ago. From this law, it can be seen that these citizens fall prey to
hegemony where “there is a large measure of social stability; a society in which subordinate
groups and classes appear to actively support and subscribe to values, ideals, objectives,
which bind them to, and incorporate them into the prevailing structures of power” (Storey
80). Therefore, this law supposedly helped maintain “peace” for 74 years, even though it
Consequently, the bourgeoisie’s Treaty of Treason led to the Hunger Games which
isolates underage children in a grueling battle to be a “supposed” sacrifice for peace. Though
there could have been other positive ways to promote peace in Panem, the officials use the
Treaty of Treason as a reminder that Panem district workers and their families are indebted to
the “peace” they have now. This treaty is advantageous for those who live in the Capitol
because their children are exempt from entering in the Hunger Games(Collins 42).A law
that was supposedly made for the betterment of the people in the districts, the Treaty of
Treason actually only benefits the people in the Capitol. Sadly, the isolation of only the
district children in an extreme arena is a ruling that has been implanted in their minds for 74
years. This ideology becomes the normal life and it seems they’ve brought it on themselves
because of past rebellious history. Egan explains that “ideology functions at the
psychological level so that each individual internalizes the social order's governing principles
and lives them as though they were her own which, being so deeply embedded, they are”
(32). Citizens in the districts have internalized the Treaty of Treason as their annual
obligation, making it clear that the bourgeoisie have succeeded in achieving their “peace,”
only to work to their own advantage.
In conclusion, people in the Capitol have no reason to rebel because they are provided
with luxury and easy living, and the districts’ poor treatment is told to be what they deserve
as their status as workers. “Taking the kids from our districts…is the Capitol’s way of
reminding us how totally we are at their mercy” (Collins 17). Forcing the subordinate citizens
in the districts to fight against each other and die is acceptable in the minds of the Capitol.
People living in the districts are not allowed to question how the Capitol enforces the rules
that clearly discourage a better living situation for the District. It has been implanted in a
capitalistic society’s minds that what socioeconomic class a person belongs to will determine
the kind of lifestyle they will have, whether they could live or die.
4.2 Reification
Another ideology which people in Panem fall prey to is reification. When seeing the
grandeur of the Capitol, readers may not automatically think of who produces these
magnificent things. Moreover, while reading The Hunger Games, we might find ourselves
glued to every page when reading how Katniss and the other tributes are surviving the brutal
circumstance of the Games, making it the most-watched and anticipated show in the country.
However, when we dig deeper, we may find something more behind these successes of the
Games or the luxury that surrounds the Capitol. This is where reification comes into play to
show class struggle. The Hunger Games poses numerous scenes of exploitation through the
dehumanization of the lower class, in which Cohen describes as “classes as personifications
of value categories” (169). Therefore, being the higher class, the bourgeoisie is left to
manipulate the lower class because of the high value and sense of importance the bourgeoisie
has in the society.
First of all, reification, as Tyson calls commodification, is “the act of relating to objects or persons in terms of their exchange value” (62). A person only holds value if they
are able to contribute or produce something that is beneficial to the advancement of the
bourgeoisie. So, people in the districts are labeled as the workers, or the proletariats, and are
valued for the benefits they bring to the bourgeoisie. To ensure the social order remains this
way, “the outer provinces hold the Capitol's semi-enslaved workforce, kept in line through
forced poverty, a heavy police presence” continuing the endless cycle of exploitation (“Pick
an Allegory”). On the other hand, people in the Capitol are the bourgeoisie, which entitles
them to the luxurious lifestyle that their social status allows for. Because the social system
has deemed this exploitation of the workers as acceptable, the workers continue to live in
poor living conditions, and the rich will continue to rise in the social system. Their
nobody lower than them has a better life. By making the district citizens the labor force – or
machines – the bourgeoisie continue to take advantage of their higher status for their
betterment.
An example of reification within this novel is when all the tributes arrived in the
Capitol. Being from the districts where their main activities are hard labor, they are
welcomed to a training center for the Games where each district’s tributes will have his or her
own floor with crystal elevators (Collins 69). Because of their value to the livelihood and
peace of Panem, they are given luxury suites before they enter the deadly arena and to ensure
their best performance in the Games. By immersing the tributes into a wealthy lifestyle
beforehand, it will encourage and increase motivation in this battle of their imminent death.
The luxury suits provide comfort that will eliminate the negative connotations about the
Games. The officials realize that tributes know that once they enter the arena, they are facing
their death. However, indulging the tributes with luxury will hopefully help boost their
performance in the Games to make it an interesting show to watch. Though luxury suits
seems to be viewed only as accommodation, it is one of the ways the officials of the Games
control how the sacrificial children to be of use to them.
To that extent, tributes will also win sponsors if they put on an interesting show
during the Games. In this game, tributes become a source of entertainment to satisfy the
people in the Capitol who are overly enthuastic seeing the deaths and misery that the tributes
go through. It is a negative game where children kill each other for their safety, but these
tributes become the puppets in the game that is deadly, action packed entertainment that
officials look for (Collins 137). Though the officials of the Games disapprove of cannibalism,
they will form a new species of hungry animals with their advanced technology and let them
roam in the arena to give variation in the game. “Because those who control production have
manipulate politics, government, education, the arts and entertainment, news media - all
aspects of the culture - to that end” (Dobie 82). By manipulating the Games, the officials of
Panem ensure that they are still in control of the Games and aren’t being outwitted by the
cunning minds of the tributes.
To illustrate reification, Katniss also becomes a machine in the game where she is
supposedly fighting her own battle. “Katniss is encouraged to present herself as Peeta's lover
in order to win the hearts of the audience and potential sponsors” (“Pick an Allegory”).
Knowing that the sponsors can mean the difference between life and death, Katniss’ mentor
encourages her to create a love story between her and Peeta to gain popularity among the
viewers. From this popularity, she could win the sympathy of those with money, leading
them to send gifts of food or medicine to her playing field. It is sad that “the capitalist mode
of production generates a view of the world – focused on profit – in which ultimately all of
us function as objects and become alienated from ourselves” (Bertens 83). The officials of
the games made the battle difficult to win, so in order for tributes to lessen their chance of
dying early, they need to present themselves as great entertainment to win helpful gifts.
Through these gifts , which costs are ‘astronomical’ (Collins 188), the officials gain profit
from the sponsors. However, these sponsors are paying large amounts of money to help them
because they have put their bet on their favorite tribute. Seeing the tribute’s death as their
loss, the sponsors pay to see their tributes continue their fight in the Games. In other words,
the sponsors are also alienated from themselves because they have been captivated by the
battle of these children to the extent that they pay to see their favorite tribute alive. However,
they do not know the officials designed these sponsorship so they receive more monetary
4.3 False Consciousness
Every society lives under ideals to improve the livelihood of its citizens. However, in
a capitalistic society, false consciousness occurs. False consciousness is when ‘an ideal
functions to mask its own failure and promote the interests of those in power” (Tyson 58). As
the people in the Capitol glorify the tributes in the Hunger games, they do not realize that
they are concealing the failure of the Treaty of Treason, which guarantees peace and a better
life for the districts. In reality, people in the districts live below poverty and work harder than
those in the Capitol. So, while the bourgeoisie’s ideal of peace has been achieved, as seen by
the 74 years of no rebellion, the Treaty is masking the unfortunate circumstances that the
workers have to endure.
In this novel, the bourgeoisie in the Capitol are victims of false consciousness from
the ideology of the dream of peace. As Butler stated, “the bourgeois consciousness is in fact a
false consciousness, whose inherent self-contradictions, particularly concerning liberty,
become more and more apparent as the bourgeoisie in power fails to live up to those
enlightenment ideas which gave it birth” (111). They have promised peace for Panem as long
as people in each of the districts sacrifice two children each year for the Hunger Games. This
was once their conscious dream; yet in reality, years after they have made their promise,
people in the districts live in poverty and near death conditions.
Starvation’s not an uncommon fate in District 12. Older people can’t work. Children
from a family with too many to feed. Those injured in the mines. Straggling through
the streets. And one day, you come upon them sitting motionless against a wall or
lying in the Meadow, you hear the wails from a house (Collins 28).
While the bourgeois are living a fulfilled life, their lavish lifestyle causes the hard
workers in the districts to suffer. In other words, “the acquisition of a wealthy lifestyle [for
the Capitol] rests on the misery of [the workers]” (Tyson 58). The dream of peace promised
by the Treaty of Treason has been realized for those living in the Capitol, but unfortunately
not for those in the districts. Their ideology becomes false because it doesn’t succeed when
applied to reality, as only one group continues to rise, and the other doesn’t reap the same
reward of this dream. Tyson correlates false consciousness to the idea of the “American
dream” which became a false ideal because every day people work hard to find success in
this dream, yet they never achieve it. Only those who are wealthy experience this “American
dream.” Because the workers struggle daily to achieve their dream, they are not aware that it
is difficult to attain this ‘dream’; similar to the workers in Panem’s struggle to attain the
dream that was once promised by the Capitol officials.
In addition, the Games itself comes a sign of false consciousness. People in the
districts and the tributes fighting for their lives believe that the Games were made for the
promise of food for the winning tribute. Yet, the officials will keep gaining profit from the
Games, long after the annual event is over.
The arenas are historic sites, preserved after the Games. Popular destinations for
Capitol residents to visit, to vacation. Go for a month, rewatch the Games, tour the
catacombs, visit the sites where the deaths took place. You can even take part in
reenactments. They say the food is excellent. (Collins 138)
A site that was the deaths of innocent children becomes a place for the officials to
reap profit. The visitors who can afford these vacations are people in the Capitol. They pay
money to spend a month revisiting the place of death of district children. They come to the
arena, which has been labeled as a ‘vacation’ spot; yet it is a way for the officials to mask the
tragedy of the forced deaths of 23 children. Vacations are usually taken by people who wish
Games, the officials are putting behind the negative images of children suffering in harsh
conditions among other starving children. A place that they have iterated as a vacation spot is
a contradiction to the events that precede it. These government officials and those who take
vacation there are victims of false consciousness because what they believe vacation is to be
positive is in actuality an irony, because children died where they now gain profit. For
decades, the officials have used the sites as a money-making opportunity and to lure the rich
Capitol citizens to what was once a deadly battlefield. By doing so, the horrendous Games
always pass every year as entertainment and a normal yearly event.
5. Conclusion
A great example of a Marxist society lies in the pages of The Hunger Games, which
has become a worldwide bookseller, leading to it becoming a blockbuster movie which has
captivated people of all kinds. Based on The Hunger Games, the story may evoke emotions
of displeasure as the pages detail the struggles of the people in the districts in Panem. People
living in the districts of Panem have lived through years of poor living conditions because of
a past historical clash between the workers and the ruling class. Their ancestors’ war led to
new laws that continue to bring down the working class, with no way of overthrowing this
unfair system. Living with the ideologies that continue to favor the rich, the three Marxist
ideas that best explains Panem’sworking class’ struggle are hegemony, reification, and false
consciousness. Marxism suggests that class struggle occurs in a given society because
hardworking people are impoverished and dehumanized for their social standing. The ruling
class continues to rise, while the working class is treated with much injustice.
Readers might question why the workers have not fought the Capitol for a better life.
With the Capitol promising safety, food, and a job, they are relying on the Capitol for these as
they struggle to survive. However, from the struggles of the working class, it becomes
imperative to delve into the exploitation that is shown throughout the novel because of its
similarities to what goes on in our own country today.
Though Panem is a futuristic country located only within the pages of a book, it
might bring back thoughts to the conditions of the people living in our country. Are there
groups of people living in the same country, yet it seems that they are worlds apart? Any
society with people falling into differing socioeconomic categories – whether the rich or the
poor – will have some form of exploitation to the unfortunate group. Though it seems to be
an inevitable future with history proving that exploitation continues to exist, there should not
be a classification of how we should treat people. Hence, it is the basis of Marxist’s founding
fathers, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, that history has been shaped as “inequitable
economic relationships [become] the source of class conflict” (Dobie 79). If history
continues to repeat itself, then we may find ourselves leaving our future generations an
unfairness which should be dealt with as soon as it surfaced.
It can be seen that this novel contains many images of exploitation of the lower class
indicating that an analysis using Marxism is imperative. This journal article viewed the novel
as a whole showing how the lower socioeconomic class was exploited because of their social
standing in a society. However, one should also analyze deeper into each character in the
novel, especially Katniss, the female protagonist. Using a feminist literary analysis, one will
see how Katniss is treated and viewed throughout the novel, specifically during her
performance in the Games. She might have been seen as an underdog for her gender. Her
abilities were undermined from the beginning and her chances were thought to be slim. The
Hunger Games proves to possess a window of opportunity to create a better understanding of
Acknowledgement
This skripsi is definitely the result of hard work and determination. Along this
journey, there are a lot of people I wish to thank for their involvement. This isn’t a thank you
note to only those who helped throughout my skripsi process, but it’s also to those who have
made the journey with me since I entered SWCU. First, I would like to thank my supervisor,
Danielle Donelson-Sims, who has been kind enough to do advising after office hours, and
also thank you to my examiner Ibu Deta Maria for her help with my skripsi. I am forever
grateful for all your input, Danielle, and your support throughout this writing process. I want
to thank my parents who have been supportive in prayers and their encouragement. They
believed in me more than I believed in myself. I love you for that, mom and dad! Next, I want
to thank my best friends who have supported me from our first semester up til now – Dian
Puspita, Paideia Sumihe, and Diane Nuhamara. I can’t stop thanking God for bringing me a
group of girls who have come to bless me in every way they can. I can’t believe our time here
in SWCU has come to an end, but I know that our journey has just begun. Lastly, I would like
to thank Niners for being just the awesomest angkatan I could ever hope for. The last 4 years
have been an incredible journey of ups and downs, but I’m glad I went through it all with
Niners. BIG THANKS and BIG HUGS to everyone as I close the chapter on my college life.
~To God be the glory~
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Butler, Christopher. Interpretation, Deconstruction, and Ideology: An Introduction to Some
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Bertens, Hans. Literary Theory: The Basics. London: Routledge, 2001. Print.
Cohen, Jean L. Class and Civil Society: The Limits of Marxian Critical Theory. Amherst,
MA: University of Massachusetts, 1982. Print.
Dobie, Ann B. Theory into Practice: An Introduction to Literary Criticism. Belmont, CA:
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Duncan, Ann, and Andy Langford. "Teen Hero: Life and Death in the Hunger Games." The
Christian Century 4 Apr. 2012: 12+. Questia. Web. 5 Nov. 2012.
Egan, Gabriel. Shakespeare and Marx. New York: Oxford UP, 2004. Print.
“History Marxist Criticism”. www.ucm.es/info/siim/siim2/3.HistoryMarxistCriticism.pdf. 5
Nov. 2012.
Kehe, Marjorie. "'Hunger Games' Movie Reviews: What Are They Saying?" The Christian
Science Monitor 22 Mar. 2012. Questia. Web. 5 Nov. 2012.
"Pick an Allegory; 'Hunger Games' Offers a Feast for Sci-Fi Fans." The Washington Times
Tyson, Lois. Critical Theory Today: A User-Friendly Guide. 2nd ed. New York: Routledge,
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