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by: Pawestri
1032
E STUDY P UAGES AN TE UNIVE 7
ANALYSIS
All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us
– J.R.R. Tolkien
Happiness can be found even in the darkest of times, if one only
remembers to turn on the light
– J. K. Rowling
First and above all, I praise Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala, for everything in my life including the time and opportunity to accomplish this thesis. I also would like to express my gratitude to many people for their contribution to the accomplishment of this thesis.
My deepest gratitude goes to Drs Sugi Iswalono, M.A. and Rachmat Nurcahyo, M.A. for their guidance, support, patience, time, and knowledge in helping me finish this thesis. I would also express my appreciation for all lecturers of the English Education Department, and the whole staffs of the Languages and Arts Faculty of Yogyakarta State University who taught and guided me during my years of study.
I would also like to express my gratitude to my mother, Ibuk Djuwarni, and father, Bapak Sudarto, who shower me with love and faith; my sisters, Mbak Dian and Mbak Puput and brother, Mas Didik, who understand me; and my many nieces, Atta, Faya, Luna, Kinar and one nephew, Fahry, who bring light into my darkest time.
My special gratitude is delivered to Syahroni Febriantoro for his smiles and frowns, and making things better in my highs and lows.
APPROVAL SHEET ... ii
RATIFICATION SHEET ... iii
PERNYATAAN ... iv
MOTTOS ... v
DEDICATIONS ... vi
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ... vii
TABLE OF CONTENTS ... ix
LIST OF FIGURE & TABLE ... xi
LIST OF APPENDICES ... xii
ABSTRACT ... xiii
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION ... 1
A.Background of the Study ... 1
B.Research Focus ... 5
C.Research Objectives ... 6
D.Research Significance ... 6
CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW ... 8
A.Theoretical Review ... 8
1. Karl Marx and Marxism ... 8
a. Material Conditions as Fundamental Reality ... 9
b. Relation of Dominance and Exploitation among Classes ... 10
c. Base and Superstructure ... 11
2. Ideology ... 12
B.Background of the Novel ... 17
1. The Author ... 17
CHAPTER III RESEARCH METHOD ... 24
A.Research Approach ... 24
B.Data and Source of Data ... 25
C.Research Instrument ... 25
D.Data Collecting Technique ... 26
E.Data Trustworthiness ... 27
F. Data Analysis Technique ... 28
CHAPTER IV FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION ... 30
A.Criticism towards Capitalist Ideologies revealed in Collins’ the Hunger Games ... 30
1. The Revelation of the Degrading Natures of Rugged Individualism ... 31
a. Ignorance as an Acceptable Virtue ... 33
b. The notion of Self against Other ... 38
2. Self-reliance as a Facade ... 43
a. Socioeconomic Attributes as the Determining Element ... 43
b. The Negative Role of Ego Gratification ... 45
B.Commodification as a Dehumanizing Culture in Collins’ The Hunger Games ... 50
CHAPTER V CONCLUSIONS ... 59
REFERENCES ... 61
Figure 1 : The Conceptual Framework ... 23 Table 1 : The Example of the Data for the Criticism towards the
Repressive Capitalist Ideologies in Collins’ The Hunger
HUNGER GAMES: A MARXIST ANALYSIS
By Niki Septi Pawestri NIM 09211141032
ABSTRACT
This research aims to analyze (1) how Collins’ The Hunger Games criticizes repressive capitalist ideologies in the 21st century of the U.S., and (2) to identify the prominent capitalist culture in the 21st century of the U.S. that is criticized in Collins’ The Hunger Games. Therefore, the researcher applied Marxist literary criticism to analyse the ideologies and the prevailing culture in the novel.
The research was a descriptive qualitative study with the researcher as the main instrument. The object of this research was Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games. The data were phrases, clauses, and sentences related to the repressive capitalist ideologies and their flaws, along with the commodification as the corresponding culture of capitalism. In collecting the data, the researcher read and tried to interpret every sentence in the novel. Then, the data were categorized and analyzed based on each category of the repressive capitalist ideology and the commodity culture. To enhance the trustworthiness of the data in this study, the researcher applied triangulations by asking two friends to review and to check this research.
A. Background of the Study
The end of the notion of ideology was once marked by the collapse of the Soviet Union, which also signified the end of communism. Lately, the notion of ideology is once again claimed to be “obsolete”, even though the world has confronted the influx of violence and conflicts in the name of ideologies (Eagleton, 1991: xi). The Middle East has faced both regression from democratic upheaval of the Arab Spring and the emergence of religious fundamentalism in the last decade which spread violence across Middle Eastern states’ borders. Cold War-type tension loomed in Eastern Europe, particularly Ukraine. Even some of the most powerful and advanced governments were involved in violent crackdowns on their minorities because of their different religious beliefs or their fear of militant extremists (Roth, 2015: 1). In the middle of all these ideological clashes, the very notion of ideology itself is renounced as an absurdity.
nation states, its grip on the people’s mind is strong, proven by the destructionist political acts in protest to the opressive regimes commited by Moslem demonstrators, or the collective consent of a nation towards a military intervention that cost the lives of the innocents.
According to Eagleton (1991: xiii), as long as people still act and commit atrocities in the name of ideas, as long as people still differentiate one another as either “gods” or “vermin” based on ideas, study of ideology is important in guiding the people to their political emancipation, where they could free themselves from oppression that formerly has became natural conditions for them. People who believed that they are inferior is taught to feel and believe that they are inferior. Vice versa, in order to free them from this oppressive belief, they also have to be taught and made aware of their sufferings and gratifications from their own vantage point, from their own understanding of themselves. Therefore, the study of ideology as “an inquiry into the the ways people may come to invest in their own unhappiness” is necessary to understand how people live in a mixture of pleasure and misery when the political conditions appear dangerous and impossible (Eagleton, 1991: xiii-ix).
being better than yesterday is not enough, an individual constantly strives to be better than the others, and this is often represented by their consumerism and commodification (Tyson, 2006: 60-62). These dominant world view in capitalist society is gradually perceived as common or obvious, and it is inherent in individuals’ perception of their identity, particularly the way they place themselves in the society. People are constantly attempt to “get ahead” by succumbing into endless material consumption and relying on commodification of everything. As the inherent result of capitalism as the dominant mode of production, these cultures are embedded in the society as an inevitable routine and perceived as natural.
Among many cultural products that contribute to the shaping of world views, literature becomes a prominent mediation of the society to its existing material reality. Literature does not only passively reflect the material base in which it is formed, but it also reacts back and mediate the society and its historical reality through its content, form, and structure (Eagleton, 1976: 14-15). According to Leon Trotsky (in Eagleton, 1976: 14), literature has a “high degree of autonomy”, although it is still determined by the economic base. In relation to ideology, Trotsky (in Eagleton, 1976: 24-25) argues that the literary form is influenced by “the ways of perceiving social reality”, so that the change in literary form is also the change in the collective ideological perception. In this way, literature becomes an effective medium in understanding the material reality that is formerly unattainable for the subjects of the dominating mode of production (Eagleton, 1976: 18).
author challenge the common beliefs by entrenching the capitalist ideologies and capitalist culture such as commodification in the form, structure, and other literary devices of the novel.
B. Research Focus
Capitalist ideologies and culture are deeply entrenched in the minds of the people who live in the capitalism which has became a dominant mode of production in the 21st century. Seen as the only prevailing belief after the triumph of the free market and liberalism, capitalism has strengthen its grip on the people from its origin country, the United States of America, as well as the countries affected by its policies and interventions. Ideologies such as individualism and self-reliance is often portrayed as positive ways of life regardless the decadence and remaining poverty of the invisible classes found in even the most advanced civilizations. Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games attempt to understand the realities of capitalist ideologies and culture in the post-apocalyptic version of North America through the arduous life of Katniss Everdeen and other tributes of the titular The Hunger Games, a state apparatus attempting to sustain the opressive ruling order.
understanding the material conditions to keep them subservient to the ruling system; and the nonrepressive ones, such as Marxism itself, which acknowledge the existence of ideology as an inherent part of the sustenance of the status quo. The repressive ideologies shape individuals’ understanding of the world through the scope that sustain the relations of dominance and exploitation.
The object of the analysis of the study is the identification of the criticism towards repressive capitalist ideologies and their corresponding commodity culture in the 21st century of the U.S. in Collins’ The Hunger Games. The research attempt to reveal the criticism towards capitalism, specifically in the ideologies of individualism and self-reliance, and the decadent culture of capitalism portrayed by the form, content, and other literary elements of the novel.
C. Research Objectives
Based on the research focus above, the objectives of this research are as follows: 1. to analyse how Collins’ The Hunger Games criticizes repressive capitalist
ideologies in the 21st century of the U.S., and
2. to identify the prominent capitalist culture in the 21st century of the U.S. being criticized in Collins’ The Hunger Games.
D. Research Significance
1. Theoretically, it is expected that this research can contribute to the knowledge regarding ideologies and its culture. The findings of this study are expected to give useful information to conduct similar studies.
CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW
A. Theoretical Review 1. Karl Marx and Marxism
Karl Marx was born in Trier, in the German Rhineland, in 1818. His family was Jewish but converted to Christianity in order to pave the way for his father to work under the Prussia’s anti-Jewish law. He studied law in Bonn and Berlin, and then wrote PhD thesis in Philosophy. After acquired his doctorate, his involvement with a group of radical thinkers prevented him to work in academic institution. Commiting to journalism, he engaged in political and social issues and contemplated about communist theory. Among many of his prominent works, The Communist Manifesto, co-written with Friedrich Engels, is probably the most widely read. Nevertheless, his main economic work is Capital or Das Kapital, published in 1867, which was famous for his critique to capitalism (Wolff, 2015: par.2-3). He was influenced by Hegel as reflected by his early works, but later he was able to distinguish himself from Hegelian thoughts (Althusser in Ferretter, 2006: 23). He was known as a revolutionary thinker, as well as philosopher, due to the foundation of many communist regimes in the twentieth century inspired by his conception (Wolff, 2015: par.1).
programmes that had been derived from his works”, which was represented by defeated communist regimes in the past (Roberts, 2000: 17). According to Lois Tyson (2006: 53), the defeated communist societies as we know it in twentieth century is in fact oligarchies, in which a small group of leaders who have the control over money and weapons force its policies and phisically intimidate a population to keep them in line. Nevertheless, Marxism concerns in bring about the change to the world in order to make the world a better place to live in, where inequitability and opression should be abolished. Therefore, his philosophy is a materialist philosophy, concerning about the actual world in which people live instead of abstracts ideas (Roberts, 2000: 17). He believes that the organizing principle behind society is economics and this conception influences most of his writings.
a. Material Conditions as Fundamental Reality
background. Thus, in Eagleton’s words, “consciousness does not determine life, life determines consciousness” (1976: 4).
According to Tyson (2006: 54), for the Marxist critic, all human events, either personal or political, and human productions such as nuclear submarines and television shows can only be understood through the scrutiny of the specific material/historical circumstances in which those events and productions occur. An accurate understanding of human affairs cannot be obtained by the use of abstract conceptions, it should be based on the concrete conditions in the world instead. Hence, to understand human events and productions, marxist analysis focuses on relationships among socioeconomic classes and the distribution of power in the society (Tyson, 2006: 54).
b. Relation of Dominance and Exploitation among Classes
dominance and exploitation practiced by the ruling class towards the working class was the determining factors of this nation’s glory.
As explained by Tyson (2006: 54), according to Marxist criticism, the most significant element that divide the society is differences in socioeconomic class. The differences is sharply drawn between the bourgeoisie, or those who control “natural, economic, and human resources”, and the proletariat, or “the majority of the global population who live in substandard conditions” and who always “perform the manual labor” such as mining, factory work, ditch digging, railroad bulding, which eventually benefitted the rich (Tyson, 2006: 54). The working class is oblivious to this material conditions of dominance and exploitation which disadvantages them by allowing themselves to be divided into warring factions based on gender, races, or ethnicity. This separation prevents them into raising and uniting under the common banner against the injustice imposed by the ruling class which will radically alter the power structure and culminate into a classless society (Tyson, 2006: 54).
c. Base and Superstructure
cultural products such as philosophy, arts, and literature. These cultural products resulted from the consciousness of the people are ideology. Ideology is further explained by Marx (in Ferretter, 2006: 16) as “the forms of conciousness in which its members represent their lives to one another in a way determined by that society’s production relations”. These are values, ideas, and images bind individuals to their social functions and, in doing so, prevent them to understand the material reality as a whole (Eagleton, 1976: 16-17). Thus, ideology of a person in a society cannot be separated from the forces and relations of production where that person lives. This is depicted by cultural products of the postmodern period, in which the marxist critic Fredric Jameson (in Ferretter, 2006: 17) expounds them as the cultural representation of complex network of economic relationships that formed global capitalism in the twenty first century.
2. Ideology
According to Terry Eagleton (1976: viii), Marxist criticism is a part of theoretical analysis which aims to understand “the ideas, values, and feelings by which men experience their societies at various times”, or ideologies. Ideologies are part of the superstructure. They take the forms of social consciousness which function to legitimate the ruling class’ power in society. It is also believed that, in consequence, the dominant ideas in the society is the ideas of its ruling class (Eagleton, 1976: 5).
in the first place a set of doctrines, it is rather the way men live out their roles in class-society”, it comprised of the values, ideas, and images which bind them to their social functions which simultaneously prevent them from a true understanding of society as a whole (Eagleton, 1976: 16-17). Examples of ideology as the way men understand their roles in a society are as ordinary as the role adopted by a mother through familial attributes in which she strives to make the world a better place for her children, or the role adopted by a hardworking man in which he sees his daily struggles in life as necessities to achieve material success, or a religion adherent who sees the world as a series of temptations to his faith. The ordinary struggles of both the priviledged and the commoners are intertwined with ideologies, as the scope in which they attempt to make sense of their lives.
ownership as the result of Reaganism in 1980s (Sultana, 2011: 1; Dreier, 2004: par.12).
acknowledge the flawed system, or by the absence of internal recognition of the lower classes that they are being deprived systematically.
On the other hand, nonrepressive ideologies such as Marxism, aims to produce awareness of the existence of repressive ideologies that divert the people from understanding themselves as the products of their socioeconomic circumstances. Hence, nonrepressive ideologies prevent the subservience of the working class people to the order established by the ruling class’ repressive ideologies (Tyson, 2006: 57).
world, to cope with the difficulties and tribulations they faced regularly. It helps them to accept reality as it is.
Capitalist ideologies, such as American Dream, become one of the focuses of Marxist criticism due to their support to the socioeconomic inequities in America as a capitalist country (Tyson, 2006: 58). American Dream was founded on the ideas of “getting ahead”, competition, and rugged individualism, among many others. These ideals that form the self-made men, such as Benjamin Franklin and Abraham Lincoln, become the common trajectory of all Americans, the ordinary or the priviledges ones. Many believe that it is natural to be able to feel “better” or “ahead” than anyone else, as well as that competition is only a natural way of things, as old as Darwinian “survival of the fittest”. Above all, rugged individualism is perceived as an innate or natural way to see the world, the only means to realize one’s ambition. According to Marxist analysis, these ideologies are repressive in which they “blind” the people “to the enormities of their own failure”, such as the slavery of the Africans, the racism and abuses suffered by the immigrants, the gaping disparity between the rich and the poor, and others. Ideologies justify ignorance, aggression, and segregation due to their perception as obvious truth. In fact, as concluded by Tyson, the success of American Dream relies to the misery of the masses, and ideology diverts the people to understand these harsh realities (2006: 58).
particular age in which the texts are being produced. Since humans are unable to avoid their involvement in social relations, they are influenced by their mode of economic production, along with their products. Eagleton (1976: viii) explains that the responsible of Marxist criticism is to understand the ideas, values, and feelings experienced by people in particular historical conditions. Those ideas, values, and feelings are available to the critics only in literature. In order to explain a literary work more fully, therefore, a Marxist critic focuses on its forms, style, and meanings, and grasping those elements as the products of a particular history (Eagleton, 1976: 3). The complex relations between the works and the social relations they inhabit are manifest not only in themes but also in style, rhytm, image, quality, and form (Eagleton, 1976: 6).
B.Background of the Novel 1. The Author
hunt in the forest to survive, and the traumatizing events in the war in Vietnam that her father experienced.
Since her childhood, she often moved repeatedly following her father’s deployment and this resulted in her experience as a stranger. She eventually resorted to books and was particularly interested in fantasy and Greek myths, which become the inspiration for The Hunger Games. She was also influenced by the dark tales of Edgar Allan Poe, revolving around the themes of death, loss, and violence which are also inspired her works. She particularly believes that children and young adults can be benefitted by stories with serious subject matters and frightening themes.
She was graduated from Indiana University and earned Bachelor of the Arts degrees in theater and telecommunications. Later on she began her career as a writer for children television shows. In 2008, she published The Hunger Games and the book made her a celebrity. The inspiration for the book came when Collins was watching television late at night. When she was changing the television channels, she came to realise there is little difference between reality show and the coverage of the Iraq war. This inspire a fictional character, Katniss Everdeen, who is trapped in the throes of war in a dystopian future (Henthorne, 2012: 13-18).
2. The Hunger Games
of the novel, Katniss Everdeen, volunteer to be participant in The Hunger Games, a fight to death reality show, in an exchange for her sister. The game’s rule is simple, the last one to live wins. Katniss has to eliminate the other 23 teenagers in order to survive the game.
The story relies on the perspective of 16 years old Katniss when she struggles against the dangerous obstacles in the game, her feeling about killing other person in the game, and her affection to her fellow tribute Peeta Mellark. She despises the game and the government who forces its citizens to be involved in the game and make them watch their children dies. At the climax of the story, Katniss has to choose between life and death, between her or Peeta’s life. She finally decides to act as if she and Peeta intend to commit suicide together because she knows the game cannot end without a victor. The act resulted in the change of the rule of the game and both she and Peeta are called the victors of the game.
C.Social Background: Classes in the 21st Century America
prominent than ever. As it is explained by Lois Tyson (2006: 55), the class disparity is visible through the socioeconomic lifestyle.
Tyson (2006: 55) describes the striking disparities between “the homeless”, “the poor”, “the financially established”, “the well-to-do”, and the “extremely wealthy”. The homeless possess none or a few material possession as well as hope for improvement, the poor struggle to support their families with the constant fear of being homeless and own limited education and career opportunities, the financially established are economically secure in a sense that they own nice homes and cars and are able to send their children to college, the well-to-do are rather similar with the financially established but they can afford to buy more homes and cars, and finally the extremely wealthy, or the American aristocrats, who own large corporations and abundant of wealth for whom money become their last concern. Tyson loosely refers to them as America’s underclass, lower class, middle class, upper class, and “aristocracy” (2006: 55).
underclass and lower class, but they also deeply affected by economic changes since they also share the nation’s tax burden (Tyson, 2006: 55-56).
D.Previous Studies
The researcher found that feminism is the most commonly used literary criticism to analyze Suzanne Collins’ the Hunger Games. One of the research is done by Kristi Loobeek, a student of Concordia University, St Paul, in 2012. The research, entitled “A Feminist Analysis of the Film The Hunger Games”, focuses on identification of the main character, Katniss Everdeen, according to the third wave feminism. This research is similar in terms of the object which is Collins’ The Hunger Games and the scrutiny of the main characters’ traits and corresponding actions. However, this research analyze the book instead of the film, and uses Marxism instead of Feminism to be more specific in ideology and its flaws that are manifested in the novel.
entertainment and surveillance, while this research attempt to understand the manifestation of the U.S. capitalist ideologies in the book as the mediation between the text and the social realities of the U.S. in the 21st century.
E.Framework of Thinking
The focus of this research is to reveal the capitalist ideologies in the book and their flaws as an attempt of mediation to the social realities of the 21st century America. The characters and their corresponding actions are analysed using Marx’s theory of ideology which can be found in Lois Tyson’s book entitled Critical Theory Today: a User-Friendly Guide, and supported by Terry
Figure 1. The Conceptual Framework Marxist Literary
Criticism
Marx’s Ideology
RQ 1: How does the Collins’ The Hunger Games criticize repressive
capitalist ideologies in the 21st century of the U.S.? Material Conditions
as Fundamental Reality
Relations of Dominance and
Exploitation
Base and Superstructure
Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games
RQ 2: What is the capitalist culture criticized in Collins’
CHAPTER III RESEARCH METHOD
A.Research Approach
This research used qualitative research design. According to Denzin and Lincoln (in Creswell and Miller, 2007: 36), qualitative research consists of a set of interpretive, material practices that make the world visible. It involves an interpretive, naturalistic approach to the world. This means that qualitative researchers study things in their natural settings, attempting to make sense of, or interpret, phenomena, in terms of the meanings people bring to them, without manipulation of phenomena or issues. Since the findings from qualitative research are resulted from real world settings, they cannot be measured through means of statistical procedures (Strauss and Corbin in Golafshani, 2003: 600).
criticism towards capitalist ideologies and the corresponding culture in Collins’ The Hunger Games.
B.Data and Source of Data
The primary data source of the research was Suzanne Collins’ novel entitled The Hunger Games which was first published in 2008, with the paperback edition published in 2009. The novel is comprised of 374 pages and three parts with 27 subparts. Therefore the data collected for this research were in the forms of language features such as words, phrases, clauses, and sentences, taken from the primary data source. The data were collected based on the theoretical framework used in this research, i.e. Karl Marx’ theory of ideology stemmed from his conception of historical reality discussed in Lois Tyson’s Critical Theory Today: a User-Friendly Guide with the related discussion in Terry Eagleton’s Marxism and Literary Criticism. The researcher also used other sources from printed materials and the internet including academic journals and other books that explains Marx’s theory of ideology such as Eagleton’s Ideology: an Introduction.
C.Research Instrument
gathering the data, the researcher is encouraged to follow some protocols or procedures, but she has to conduct these procedures herself.
Therefore, by conducting the research, the researcher worked as the human instrument. She initially planned the research, marked and collected the data, scrutinized and interpreted them, and finally reported the result of the analysis according to the procedures. The researcher also arranged the data and the corresponding interpretation into the data sheet, which is useful to scrutinize the data systematically.
D.Data Collecting Technique
Table 1. The Example of the Data for the Criticism towards the Repressive Capitalist Ideologies in Collins’ The Hunger Games
No. Category Sub Category
Data Explanation Page
1 The Revelation of the Degrading Natures of Rugged Individualism Ignorance as an Acceptable Virtue
Why him? I think. Then I try to convince myself it doesn’t matter. Peeta Mellark and I are not friends. Not even neighbors. We don’t speak. Our
only real interaction
happened years ago. He’s probably forgotten it. But I haven’t and I know I never will . . . .
Katniss attempt to distance herself from Peeta, her would-be competitor in the Games. This is an adjustment for her in order to obey the rule of the Games.
26
E.Data Trustworthiness
review or debriefing is the review of the data and research process by someone who is familiar with the research or the phenomenon being investigated. A peer reviewer provides support, challenges the researchers' assumptions, pushes the researchers to the next step methodologically, and asks difficult questions about methods and interpretations (Lincoln and Guba in Creswell and Miller, 2000: 129). By seeking the assistance of peer reviewers, the researcher added credibility to the research. The researcher was assisted by two English Language and Literature Program students majoring in Literature to check the research. More importantly, the researcher also discussed her analysis with her first and second consultants, Bapak Drs Sugi Iswalono, M.A and Bapak Rachmat Nurcahyo, M.A. to gain greater accuracy and validity of the research.
F.Data Analysis Technique
Creswell and Miller (2009: 185) mentions that there are six steps in data analysis: organizing and preparing the data, reading the data, coding and categorizing the data, giving data a description, interrelating description and interpreting the meaning. The researcher analyzed the data following Creswell’s data analysis procedures in order to accomplish the researcher’s objectives. The six steps to analyze the data are explained below:
2. The second is reading, rereading, and highlighting the data which consists of words, phrase, clauses, and sentences taken from the primary source of the research.
3. The third is categorizing the relevant data based on categories.
4. The fourth is sorting the relevant data and giving the data a description.
1. The fifth is making the interrelation between the description of the data and Marx’s theory of ideology; and the background of Collins’ The Hunger Games to get the finding based on the objectives: (1) to analyse how Collins’ The Hunger Games criticizes repressive capitalist ideologies in the 21st century of the U.S., and (2) to identify the prominent capitalist culture in the 21st century of the U.S. being criticized in Collins’ The Hunger Games.
A.Criticism towards Repressive Capitalist Ideologies in Collins’ the Hunger Games
According to Marxism (Tyson, 2006: 56), an ideology is a belief system which is the outcome of cultural conditioning. Ideologies in general are divided into two categories; the repressive ideologies, or those that distort the masses in understanding material realities of human condition, and nonrepressive ideologies. Repressive ideologies refuse the notion that material conditions shape the way an individual live his world. It often functions to legitimize the opression of a particular group in society by posing as natural ways to see the world to distort the material reality. On the contrary, a nonrepressive ideology functions to create awareness that individuals are shaped by their material conditions and reminds the existence of repressive ideologies that help individuals to submit to the ruling power (Tyson, 2006: 57).
natures of rugged individualism and the facade of self-reliance. The researcher also attempts to analyse the damaging commodity culture as its second objective.
1. The Revelation of the Degrading Natures of Rugged Individualism
this case, this ideology helps people with inferior attributed qualities to cope with the harsh reality of constant discrimination and injustice in many legal systems, such as education and workplace. Many fundamental ideas of the American dream functions to enlist the support of the society, even those who fails to fulfill it, in endorsing the interests of the ruling class (Tyson, 2006: 58).
One of the dominant trait of American dream is rugged individualism. Rugged individualism romanticizes an individual who dares to go out all alone in pursuing a difficult aspiration (Tyson, 2006: 60). The task is difficult and not everybody can fulfill it. Although it appears to be an ideal trait for the modern society today, who is faced with increasingly difficult technological progress and tough competition, rugged individualism belongs to the repressive ideology because it prioritizes self-interest above everything, including even the survival of others. By putting the interests of each individuals over the interest of the society as a whole, this ideology disrupts the well-being of society as a whole and threaten the survival of the underpriviledged people (Tyson, 2006: 60).
volunteered to be a tribute in The Hunger Games and managed to win it, which elevates her socioeconomic standing.
Individualism in the characterization and Katniss’ responses is a form of revelation of the contemporary American ideology. The book depicts Katniss’ adaptation to individualism and self-reliance as the ways to fight back against the grim prospects of the future and the authoritarian government who limits civil rights and liberties. However, these ideologies entail flaws that hamper their adherents to see the material reality of their conditions and help them to accept their disadvantaged circumstances. Therefore, they function as repressive ideologies which pose as natural ways to live the world while sustaining the unjust social structure.
a. Ignorance as an Acceptable Virtue
inferior class because of their individualism, reflected by their constant dissent to tax policies, which is going to be used to fund the underclass, seeing it as a burden for them (Tyson, 2006: 56). This ideology sustain the idea of classism, it puts individuals into their own places, separated with others because they are restricted by their collective self-interest. Thus, this ideology is crucial in a capitalist society because it nullifies compassion between classes and sustain the classist society.
The endorsement towards individualism that is adhered by many of the American citizens today is reflected by the main character in the book, Katniss Everdeen. As a proletariat who has to cope with unjust economic system, Katniss resorts to individualism, constantly projects her dream on a better life in which she can live in peace alongside her sister and mother. The freedom to live with her family without being restricted by her subordinated circumstances as they are living in the poorest slum in the most backward district, is her definition of life fulfillment, her American Dream.
For the first time, I allow myself to truly think about the possibility that I might make it home. To fame. To wealth. To my own house in the Victor’s Village. My mother and Prim would live there with me. No more fear of hunger. A new kind of freedom. But then . . . what? What would my life be like on a daily basis? Most of it has been consumed with the acquisition of food. Take that away and I’m not really sure who I am, what my identity is. The idea scares me some. I think of Haymitch, with all his money. What did his life become? He lives alone, no wife or children, most of his waking hours drunk. I don’t want to end up like that.
(Collins, 2008: 310-311) The quest of the realisation of her self-interest influences her view and understanding of her environment as a harmful place that threaten to disintegrate her family’s well-being. This is signified by her protectionist measures taken to protect her sister, such as her illegal trespassing in the woods, trading in the black market, and volunteering to be the tribute of The Hunger Games. Those were all done in order to realize her dream.
I protect Prim in every way I can, but I’m powerless against the reaping. The anguish I always feel when she’s in pain wells up in my chest and threatens to register on my face.
Her regard for the well-being of her family often puts Katniss in positive lights. However, this dream of betterment for her family also fuels her ignorance to the well-being of others, particularly those people that she considers as competitors. She puts her self-interest above the others’ well-being. This ignorance to others is apparent from her thoughts and corresponding actions to her competitors, particularly Peeta. For example, just after she and Peeta are declared to be tributes, she has the intention to get rid of Peeta eventhough he has helped her in the past. Peeta is not just anybody to her, he saved her life in the past when no one else cared. At first, she feels grateful for him, but at the end of the contemplation she genuinely imagines her kiling him in the arena. This signifies her ignorance to the misery of others, a possessive individualism. This is where she comes to a realization that she must be freed from any relation with others except those relations that is in accordance with her self-interest (Macpherson in Taylor, 1965: 242). This is caused by her prioritizing her own interest above all else, even the person whom she owes her life to. The evidence can be seen as follow.
To this day, I can never shake the connection between this boy, Peeta Mellark, and the bread that gave me hope, and the dandelion that reminded me that I was not doomed. And more than once, I have turned in the school hallway and caught his eyes trained on me, only to quickly flit away. I feel like I owe him something, and I hate owing people. Maybe if I had thanked him at some point, I’d be feeling less conflicted now. I thought about it a couple of times, but the opportunity never seemed to present itself. And now it never will. Because we’re going to be thrown into an arena to fight to the death. Exactly how am I supposed to work in a thank-you in there? Somehow it just won’t seem sincere if I’m trying to slit his throat.
This action is the form of ignorance which is only natural for Katniss, resulted from her perception of the world as a place which constantly threaten to disintegrate her family. In seeing her objectives, she disregards other people who stand in her way. Most of the people in contemporary society also adopt this manner of thinking. Ignorance to the suffering of other people has become a habit due to the loss of communitarian solidarity and the emergence of individualism. As long as one’s life is uninterrupted, one would not budge when seeing atrocities commited in other parts of the world caused by civil war or military intervention.
This adoption of ignorance as a virtue in the contemporary capitalist society is also manifested in other characters in the book, notably the priviledged class. It can be seen as follows.
“At least, you two have decent manners,” says Effie as we’re finishing the main course. “The pair last year ate everything with their hands like a couple of savages. It completely upset my digestion.”
The pair last year were two kids from the Seam who’d never, not one day of their lives, had enought to eat. And when they did have food, table manners were surely the last thing on their minds. Peeta’s a baker’s son. My mother taught Prim and me to eat properly, so yes, I can handle a fork and a knife. But I hate Effie trinket’s comment so much I make a point of eating the rest of my meal with my fingers. Then I wipe my hands on the tablecloth. This makes her purse her lips tightly together.
concern to this crucial issue, but focus on superficial thing instead, such as manner. As a part of the ruling class, ignorance to the fate of the underclass is a normal virtue. Their subordination, which rest on her priviledged life, does not concern her because it does not bring direct harm to her life. This is shown by her negative response due to the absence of table manner which directly influence her appetite, it “upset her digestion”. She only reacts when the action of these people, who notably come from another class, threaten to directly disturb her.
Moreover, the ruling class’ attitude shown by Effie signifies their belief that they are superior, and this diverts them into seeing that people from classes lower than theirs suffer from discrimination, in this case, of fair distribution of welfare. This superiority perpetuates ignorance as a common way when dealing with people from lower classes. The ruling class perceives the working class to have worse attributes than them and deserve the inequalities and unfair judgements befall upon them as a consequence for their lack of civilization. This perception helps them to justify their ignorance to the people from classes lower than theirs, and simultaneously keeping each classes in their places.
b. The notion of Self against Other
well-being of others, or even the perception of others as obstacles to one’s pursuit of happiness. Therefore, usually the others are branded as villains or enemies.
The branding of other as villain is manifested in the United States during Bush administration. After the 9/11 attack, the collective citizens under the Bush administration released the ‘with us’ or ‘against us’ rhetoric, pitting the international community to take side with the U.S., otherwise they were branded as enemies. This belief became the collective ideology of the American society at that time due to their perception to the threat posed by terrorists. The aggressive measure was seen as the only obvious way to cope with their fear of terrorism. However, the violence commited by both the state and its citizens often affected those who are innocents, such as the civilian casualties died during the bombings or ambushes in Iraq. Hence, the collective individualism adapted by the United States at that time caused the misery of many, disrupting civilians’ security.
Katniss labels the other tributes in the Games as enemies, or weaklings, those who deserve to be sacrifice in order to attain her own self-interest, eventhough their encounters with Katniss are caused by the unfortunate circumstances, not because of their deliberate will to cause her harm. This can be seen from Katniss’ labelling of her rivals as ‘other’, or as ‘enemies’. She gives them various inhuman attributes in justification of her ignorance and aggression. The evidence can be seen as follows.
old girl from District 11. She has dark brown skin and eyes, but other than that, she’s very like Prim in size and demeanor. Only when she mounts the stage and they ask for volunteers, all you can hear is the wind whistling through the decrepit buildings around her. There’s no one willing to take her place.
(Collins, 2008: 45-46)
By branding her enemies with various threatening inhuman attributes, she labels them as the ‘others’, emphasizing her self-centeredness. This hampers her to see these people as her equals because she only sees them as obstacles to her goal. She forgets that they are in the same position as her, thrown into brutal competition due to the condition which obligates every individuals to compete in order to survive. This is the same as the condition in the contemporary American society today, in which competition has become the people’s reality and one cannot escape in order to survive (Tyson, 2006: 57). People from various social and economic background have made competition as their reality, thus hamper them to see their rivals as their equals and separated them into frictions and classes, each following their own self-interests.
constantly at risk of losing his life due to his work conditions. However, when it does happen, there is no government’s support that would significantly help his family to be able to carry on. This is a vicious circle that disadvantages the underpriviledged even more due to their high risk jobs. Nevertheless, her individualism often makes her blame others for the injustice that she has to suffer.
You can see why someone like Madge, who has never been at risk of needing a tessera, can set him off. The chance of her name being drawn is very slim compared to those of us who live in the Seam. Not impossible, but slim. And even though the rules were set up by the Capitol, not the districts, certainly not Madge’s family, it’s hard not to resent those who don’t have to sign up for tesserae.
(Collins, 2008: 13) Individualism leads to act of agression to others. In one occasion, Katniss deliberately pushes Peeta when she feels threaten by his action, namely his declaration of love to her. This action leads her to believe that Peeta is dangerous for her chance in winning the Games because she is convinced that his strategy will make her appear to be a weak candidate. Nevertheless, the declaration of love is actually a good move on Peeta’s part not only for himself, but also for Katniss, because it solicits sympathy from the audience for their cause. This will help them shape their image as star-crossed lovers and draw sponsors. However, her self-pride resulted from her individualism leads Katniss to keep her good judgement against Peeta. Since she has already marks him as enemy, everything he does is evil in her eyes. This ultimately lead her to take agressive measures against him. The evidence can be seen as follows.
tiny pieces. Peeta lands in the shards, and blood immediately flows from his hands.
“What was that for?” he says, aghast.
“You had no right! No right to go saying those things about me!” I shout at him.
Now the elevators open and the whole crew is there, Effie, Haymitch, Cinna, and Portia.
“What’s going on?” says Effie, a note of hysteria in her voice. “Did you fall?”
“After she shoved me,” says Peeta as Effie and Cinna help him up. Haymitch turns on me. “Shoved him?”
“This was your idea, wasn’t it? Turning me into some kind of fool in front of the entire country?” I answer.
(Collins, 2008: 134-135) Individualism expressed by Katniss’ detachment to her fellow tributes is important in keeping individuals separated from each other and prevent the class struggle for the common cause. As the cornerstone of capitalism, individualism encourages individuals to acquire and perform characteristics that distinguish them from the masses as unique individuals with their own self interests that erodes class identification and thus, the class consciousness (Rottenberg, 2004: 76). As Katniss choose to detach herself by ignoring or labelling her fellow tributes as enemies, she simultaneously refuse to acknowledge the common struggle that they are all entitled to and instead, sustaining the flawed system that marginalizes them.
misundertanding because they contribute nothing to change the injustice that they suffer.
2. Self-Reliance as a Facade
According to Emerson (in Izaguirre, 2014: 20), self-reliance “emphasizes the essential uniqueness which resides in each individual and asserts that true fulfillment transcends rationality, science, and societal customs”. It encourages individuals to acknowledge and accept the internal genius that resides in everyone, urging them to trust themselves and determine their own path in life because no other people can do it for them. The beauty of this belief is that everybody have the capability to attain their life goals regardless their social background.
a. Socioeconomic Attributes as the Determining Element
Katniss is often depicted as a tragic hero, who has to rely to herself in order to resolve all the obstacles in life. Her freedom and independence are depicted as the result of her willingness to adapt and to acknowledge her survival skills. She gains her skill to hunt due to her talent and experience in the wood. This hunting experience also manages to deliver her to be crowned as a victor. Here, according to self reliance, Katniss is depicted as an individual who is suceeded to attain her life goal by acknowledging and utilitizes her skills.
to struggle to find source of food in the forest in daily basis, therefore she is able to attain her “destined” skills. Her self-reliance is heavily shaped by her material condition as a member of underclass society instead of something that is innately endowed in her. She also inherits her superior hunting ability from her father, who is a hunter as well as a coal miner, who regularly trains her since she was a child. Thus, the novel reveals that self-reliance is not merely something that can be obtained through self-discovery. It is influenced by material reality as well as socioeconomic background. One of the evidences can be seen as follow.
The next day, we were off school. For a while I hung around the edges of the Meadow, but finally I worked up the courage to go under the fence. It was the first time I’d been there alone, without my father’s weapons to protect me. But I retrieved the small bow and arrows he’d made me from a hollow tree. I probably didn’t go more than twenty yards into the woods that day. Most of the time, I perched up in the branches of an old oak, hoping for game to come by. After several hours, I had the good luck to kill a rabbit. I’d shot a few rabbits before, with my father’s guidance. But this I’d done on my own.
relies in herself, one’s capability is influenced by one’s socioeconomic background and the corresponding experience.
Self-reliance hampers an individual in conforming to the society because it believes that societal values cannot determine an individual’s destiny or life goals. Since it believes that each individual is unique, therefore societal values would bind them to normalities that hamper their true aspirations. This belief often leads alienation of an individuals from the rest of the society, along with the societal norms. In aspiring to her goal, for example, Katniss disobey the law and often found that she is better to be left alone. She is disocciated from her surroundings due to her determination in resolving every problems on her own. Although this appear to be an admirable trait, usually this lead to to undesirable actions. As an example, Katniss breaks the law by tresspassing into the forest and joining the trade in the black market. The evidence can be seen as follow.
Even though trespassing in the woods is illegal and poaching carries the severest of penalties, more people would risk it if they had weapons. But most are not bold enough to venture out with just a knife. My bow is a rarity, crafted by my father along with a few others that I keep well hidden in the woods, carefully wrapped in waterproof covers. My father could have made good money selling them, but if the officials found out he would have been publicly executed for inciting a rebellion.
(Collins, 2008: 5)
b. The Negative Role of Ego Gratification
come from the underclass, ego gratification is important in keeping them to carry on living. This gives them illusion that they are able to overcome their hardships despite the limited resources in their possession, and in suceeded in doing this, they are better than the rest of their lot. Ego gratification gives them false assumption that they have the ability to influence and change their life using their own power, even though their lives are heavily influenced by the socioeconomic conditions. Ego gratification is important for the ruling class to sustain their power because it eludes the masses into thinking that the opressive condition is acceptable for them because they can overcome it anyway. It makes them belief that anything is possible if only they keep trying.
Katniss derives the sense of gratification from her ability to fulfill the role of the breadwinner of the family, replacing her father. Her only happiness relates on the pleasure she derives on keeping the well-being of her family, particularly her sister, secure.
I prop myself up on one elbow. There’s enough light in the bedroom to see them. My little sister, Prim, curled up on her side, cocooned in my mother’s body, their cheeks pressed together. In sleep, my mother looks younger, still worn but not so beaten-down. Prim’s face is as fresh as a raindrop, as lovely as the primrose for which she was named. My mother was very beautiful once, too. Or so they tell me.
she perceived from her family’s well-being keeps her satisfied and continue living without significant objection or protest to the social system, let alone trying to change it.
The sense of gratification keeps her attached to her role as the head of the family and this makes her preoccupied. She devotes all of her time and energy into keeping her family alive and well, and this leaves her no time to contemplate about her subordination to the social structure. The role as the head of the family keeps her mind and body busy, and fulfill her needs to be recognized in the family and society as a capable individual. As a result, she ignores the social structure and focus on her family needs instead.
Somehow it all comes back to coal at school. Besides basic reading and math most of our instruction is coal-related. Except for the weekly lecture on the history of Panem. It’s mostly a lot of blather about what we owe the Capitol. I know there must be more than they’re telling us, an actual account of what happened during the rebellion. But I don’t spend much time thinking about it. Whatever the truth is, I don’t see how it will help me get food on the table.
or even if she realizes it she prioritizes her family’s well-being above the risk of taking government’s tesserae.
On May 8th, I went to the Justice Building, signed up for my tesserae, and pulled home my first batch of grain and oil in Prim’s toy wagon. On the eighth of every month, I was entitled to do the same.
(Collins, 2008: 51) Her hunting and gathering abilities trained and gained through her practice with her father constitute her individuality and consolidate her superior role in the family above her mother and sister. As a result, she often feels detached from her mother, to whom she previously relied on.
When I am done with instructions about fuel, and trading, and staying in school, I turn to my mother and grip her arm, hard. “Listen to me. Are you listening to me?” She nods, alarmed by my intensity. She must know what’s coming. “You can’t leave again,” I say.
My mother’s eyes find the floor. “I know. I won’t. I couldn’t help what -”
“Well, you have to help it this time. You can’t clock out and leave Prim on her own. There’s no me now to keep you both alive. It doesn’t matter what happens. Whatever you see on the screen. You have to promise me you’ll fight through it!” My voice has risen to a shout. In it all the anger, all the fear I felt at her abandonment.
Furthermore, ego gratification also enables her to detach her emotional feeling from the other people who become the victim of the Games, such as Peeta. Katniss’ sheer presumption of superiority enables her to remove any symphaty or any personal attachment to her fellow tributes, even one whom she owes her life to.
I’ve been right not to cry. The station is swarming with reporters with their insectlike cameras trained directly on my face. But I’ve had a lot of practice at wiping my face clean of emotions and I do this now. I catch a glimpse of myself on the television screen on the wall that’s airing my arrival live and feel gratified that I appear almost bored. Peeta Mellark, on the other hand, has obviously been crying and interestingly enough does not seem to be trying to cover it up. I immediately wonder if this will be his strategy in the Games. To appear weak and frightened, to reassure the other tributes that he is no competition at all, and then come out fighting. This worked very well for a girl, Johanna Mason, from District 7 a few years back. She seemed like such a snivelling, cowardly fool that no one bothered about her until there were only a handful of contestants left. It turned out she could kill viciously. Pretty clever, the way she played it. But this seems an odd strategy for Peeta Mellark because he’s a baker’s son. All those years of having enough to eat and hauling bread trays around have made him broad-shouldered and strong. It will take an awful lot of weeping to convince anyone to overlook him.
injustice social structure. In detaching herself, she puts distance between her and him, preventing the possibility of them making alliance or unity in which they could fight for the common cause against the system. Therefore, self reliance and individualism enable the subjects to divert their awareness and efforts to change the unjust social system by providing the false sense of ego gratification.
B.Commodification as a Dehumanizing Culture of Capitalism in Collins’ The Hunger Games
As one of the prominent Marxist critics, Georg Lukacs (in Roberts, 2000: 38) expounds that the misery of the masses are based on either alienation or commodification as the result of capitalism. Alienation refers to the detachment of the workers towards their products. Mass produced, the products of their labour becomes alien to them, it has no workers’ features, no uniqueness that represents their relationship with the objects that they produce. Hence, they are in the state of perpetual dissatisfaction because they feel no relation to their functions in the society.
commodified like the jewel she is wearing. Even human relationship can be commodified (Tyson, 1994: 7).
Commodification is an inherent part of the American Dream (Tyson, 1994: 6). It permeates Americans’ identity, seeing their worth according to what they could buy and what they are wearing, even what they could derive from their relationship with other people. It shapes one’s sense of selfhood due to its function in escaping the “existential inwardness”, the consciousness of one self as a creature that has to respond to her place in the world (Tyson, 1994: 8). Commodification serves this function by putting distance between the subject and their socioeconomic realities, such as financial worries, the inevitability of aging and death, and the fear of emotional pain among other things (Tyson, 1994: 8-9). The manifestation of commodification as a way to deal with the socioeconomic realities is visible in literary works produced in America, including The Hunger Games.
age and ended at her becoming a victor at the end of the novel, showered with wealth and high social standing that define her place in the society.
The journey of selfhood begins with the narrator, as well as the main character, Katniss Everdeen’s defined masculine attributes such as her ability to provide for her family, her superior hunting skill, her inability to commit to any form of romance apart from her bond of sisterhood resulted from the socioeconomic pressure, and her reluctance to submit to the authority. Those were all that defines her at the beginning. Those were her primal innocence, untouched by the vulgarity of modernization. In this stage, Katniss has already assumed an authentic identity which marks her uniqueness in her proletarian community. However, when she starts to volunteer to the Games, she was brought to the ruling city, the Capitol, and is introduced to the new notion of self.
At first, the new notion of selfhood occurs from the external fabrication, her succumb to the physical transformation in the hands of her stylists from the Capitol.
I’ve been in the Remake Center for more than three hours and I still haven’t met my stylist. Apparently he has no interest in seeing me until Venia and the other members of my prep team have addressed some obvious problems. This has included scrubbing down my body with a gritty foam that has removed not only dirt but at least three layers of skin, turning my nails into uniform shapes, and primarily, ridding my body of hair. My legs, arms, torso, underarms, and parts of my eyebrows have been stripped of the stuff, leaving me like a plucked bird, ready for roasting. I don’t like it. My skin feels sore and tingling and intensely vulnerable. But I have kept my side of the bargain with Haymitch, and no objection has crossed my lips.
such as body hairs or imperfect nails. Even at this early stage, she has already felt the commodifying treatment, as she consciously refers to “like a plucked bird, ready for roasting” (Collins, 2008: 62). By restraining her objections and referring this as part of her “bargain” with Haymitch, she accepts her condition as a commodity in the Games.
Later on, she was transformed into something other than her old self. At the beginning of the novel, she was identified by her “hunting boots”, simple “trousers” and “a shirt” with “a forage bag” (Collins, 2008: 4), each marks her simple upbringing and circumstances. When she agrees to follow her stylist, she was changed into an entirely different person, in Katniss’ own words, an otherwordly being.
The creature standing before me in the full-length mirror has come from another world. Where skin shimmers and eyes flash and apparently they make their clothes from jewels. Because my dress, oh, my dress is entirely covered in reflective precious gems, red and yellow and white with bits of blue that accent the tips of the flame design. The slightest movement gives the impression I am engulfes in tongues of fire.
I am not pretty. I am not beautiful. I am radiant as the sun.
decreases the sense of relatability of the audience to Katniss as a victim of the system. Therefore, this commodification distort the people from seeing the larger picture in which Katniss is not an idol that deserve to be celebrated, but a victim of a social structure instead. Using Eagleton’s words, this is the way in which audience is alienated from a performance, preventing them to emotionally identified themselves which “paralyses” their powers of critical judgement (1976: 66). Human commodification is accepted as normality, or a festivity, in which individuals’ fame and popularity is paramount than their humanity.This is the form of dehumanization, in which human is reduced into a commodity and treated as a thing that is valued based on its exchange value, such as beauty, physical endurance, or ability do defeat others.
These external transformation were not limited to the externals only, they also began to slip into the inner thought of the subject.
The pounding music, the cheers, the admiration work their way into my blood, and I can’t suppress my excitement. Cinna has given me a great advantage. No one will forget me. Not my look, not my name. Katniss. The girl who was on fire.
during which she eventually rebels against the Gamemakers as well as the government. Cinna’s motive might be noble, the physical transformation is meant to attract sponsors who will help Katniss survive in the Games. Nevertheless, the manipulated identity has been assumed by Katniss and by accepting the given identity in exchange for her chance in surviving the Games, she turns herself into commodity. Her identity, from a girl who comes from the poorest district, has transformed into a fearless “girl who was on fire”, an idol in the ruling city in which everybody can bet on to win.
Katniss has traded herself in exchange for her survival. She turns herself into a thing, which everybody can pay a sum of money for her survival. She is further labelled according to her ability, her chances on winning the Games. Not only is her appearance used as commodity to appeal to the masses, she also has to demonstrate her offensive skills in archery to attract sponsors to bet on her.
Eleven!
Effie Trinket lets out a squeal, and everybody is slapping me on the back and cheering and congratulating me. But it doesn’t seem real. “There must be a mistake. How . . . how could that happen?” I ask Haymitch.
“Guess they liked your temper,” he says. “They’ve got a show to put on. They need some players with some heat.”
“Katniss, the girl who was on fire,” says Cinna and gives me a hug. “Oh, wait until you see your interview dress.”
Tyson’s conception of reification (2006:62), which is “the act of relating to objects or persons in term of their exchange value or sign-exchange value”, Katniss has transformed herself into a commodity to buy her survival or her victory in the Games. She has sold her self worth and her identity in an exchange for her survival. This is later proved to help when she is badly injured in the Games.
In the faint light of the Careers’ torches, I inch back down to my fork to find the best surprise I’ve ever had. Sitting on my sleeping back is a small plastic pot attached to a silver parachute. My first gift from a sponsor! Haymitch must have had it sent in during the anthem. The pot easily fits in the palm of my hand. What can it be? Not food surely. I unscrew the lid and I know by the scent that it’s medicine. Cautiously, I probe the surface of the ointment. The throbbing in my fingertip vanishes.
“Oh, Haymitch,” I whisper. “Thank you.” He has not abandoned me. Not left me to fend entirely for myself. The cost of this medicine must be astronomical. Probably not one but many sponsors have contributed to buy this one tiny pot. To me, it is priceless.
survival. Fredric Jameson (in Roberts, 2000: 39) argues that commodification is “the transformation of a person, process or abstract concept into a thing”. Therefore, she does not only commodifies her identity, but also her romance.
Haymitch couldn’t be sending me a clearer message. One kiss equals one pot of broth. I can almost hear his snarl. “You’re supposed to be in love, sweetheart. The boy’s dying. Give me something I can work with!”
And he’s right. If I want to keep Peeta alive, I’ve got to give the audience something more to care about. Star-crossed lovers desperate to get home together. Two hearts beating as one. Romance.
(Collins, 2008: 261) Romance is used by Katniss due to its exchange value, which is the means to save both she and Peeta. She deliberately uses Peeta’s declaration of love to her and his responses when they are together, such as kisses and other physical affection, to pull more sponsor. This sponsorship saves them through food and other means, and eventually through the change in the rule of the Games which benefitted them. Peeta is oblivious to this fact, but Katniss is well aware and she intentionally exploit their romance. This conveys that she has changed her romance into a thing that has an exchange value as their savior. As a result, she is eventually confused by her notion of self, whether it is defined by her real feeling or her fabricated infatuation with Peeta, even though the latter is not real.
class man and woman in the 19th century. The Hunger Games, as a text born in contemporary capitalist America, is latent with the influence of capitalism which is its dominant socioeconomic condition during the time it was written.
The existence of reification in The Hunger Games embodies the criticism towards capitalist culture. The author heavily criticizes the commodification that permeates the western society through its depiction of dehumanization in exchange for fame and wealth, done by the titular The Hunger Games. However, the author also embraces the commodification as the only means of ‘survival’. Superficial transformation and the manipulation of one’s identity in the society is perceived as an inevitable thing to keep on going in the harsh world full of rash judgement and unfair competition. Instead of progressing and arrived at the understanding of herself, Katniss is confused of her own identity. Throughout the novel, she assumes the superficially cons
