Akshata Satluri, B.A. (Hons.) Global Affairs 2019.
First, there was the concept of utopia, the yin to dystopia’s yang. The former sprung from the mind of Sir Thomas More, who wrote Utopia in 1516. Ironically, More possessed serious reservations about the existence of utopias. Such a good place, More seemed to reason, was not anything we knew, and so it must not exist. If a utopia is a place that’s too good to exist, a dystopia is a place that we certainly don’t want to exist. The Hunger Games series, written by American author Susanne Collins, fits squarely into the realm of dystopian fiction. It deals with themes of totalitarianism, western universalism, schadenfreude, and larger themes of liberty and it’s effects on the citizens of a State.
The Hunger Games in the Western Context
Suzanne Collins sets up the argument of Western universalism. This is seen as key to several works of dystopian fiction as “contemporary Western social ideologies condition subjects to value personal freedom, innovation, self-realisation, and self-expression, so readers are quick to discern when a society is being depicted as authoritarian and repressive”. This, in combination with the idea that there is one utopia and an infinite number of dystopias attributed to it, allows Collins to set up a narrative in which the characters are in a clearly dystopian world. In addition, by writing about conditions that are similar to past realities of the Eastern world in the form of dystopia, the author reinforces the idea of western hegemony.
Over the course of the three books we see some similarities between Mao’s communal mode of society and Panem’s districts. Along with the obvious parallels in military reinforcements such as curfews, harsh working conditions, collectivisation of resources by the states, and lack of freedom to travel; we also see cultural similarities. The children in Panem are only taught what they need to know in order to enter their district’s profession along with Panem’s history. This history is written by the Capitol, condemning the rebellion of the districts and describing how their present situation is much better than that of their predecessors who had rebelled. Mao had also implemented mandatory education in the Mao Zedong thought (with vocational training), which controls the dominant narrative within education and minimizes scope for critique of the State. The peacekeepers in the districts may well be compared to Mao’s Red Army, which worked tirelessly to remove any impure capitalist influence from China. We see how these policies are a reflection of the idea of discursive determinism: if the people in Panem are made to internalize the idea that their dissent will not produce better material conditions, then they will “rationalize” that it’s not worth it to rebel, except their rationality is simply a manifestation of false consciousness, as there is epistemic asymmetry.
We also see parallels between Panem and Khmer Cambodia. The district dwellers themselves are divided into poor and slightly richer strata, and there is a deep hatred between these sects. This is seen in Pol Pot’s Cambodia as there was a harsh anti-urbanization movement. It is not as though the urbans ended up having a significantly better standard of living under the regime, the State simply deployed this hatred as a form of distracting dissent away from the State.
These allusions to, and subsequent demonisation of, non-Western culture is an especially powerful tool, as her target audience are mostly young teenagers, starting as early as the age of 12 or 13, and they will readily internalize the “liberalism is good, everything else is bad” culture that the series propagates.
Liberty In Panem?
It is interesting to note how the Capitolians and the district dwellers are both oppressed, even though the optics reflect the Capitol to be a shining beacon of liberty. To draw such a comparison, one can consider Isaiah Berlin’s essay, “Two Concepts Of Liberty” in which he discusses his conception of “positive” and “negative” liberty.
The former can be understood as self-mastery. More specifically, it engages with the idea that people need to be conscious of themselves as a “thinking, willing, active being[s], bearing responsibility for [their] choices and [explaining] them by reference to [their] own ideas and purposes”. We may link this to a Kantian conception of the “higher self” in which people are said to be governed by their passions (lower selves) until they attain control of their rationality. Totalitarian states and other oppressive political regimes operate on the assumption that their subjects are incapable of acting through their higher selves.
On the other hand, negative liberty is best understood as the area within which one can act unobstructed by other people or institutions. This space is conceptualised as distinct from the sphere in which their actions are directly restricted by the actions of a third party. Negative freedom is seen as indispensable for the development of natural faculties.
Keeping these parameters in mind, it is clear that district dwellers do not have negative freedom. The oppressive military state of Panem entirely breaches their personal space and leaves no room for development, they are forced to fit the mould of “District 12 coal miner”, or “District 8 lumberjack” for example. Consequently, the district dwellers seldom have interests of their own, and are predominantly occupied with fulfilling their professional requirements so they may earn a sustenance wage for their families. The district dwellers do, however, display a remarkable level of control and reasoning behind their actions. This may be a result of the surgical severity of the military personnel that are permanently stationed throughout Panem and strict censorship laws in the state.
In contrast, the Capitolians have this freedom, they can express themselves creatively and indeed do so with their eccentric fashion choices.
The Capitolians, lost in the idea of Panem et Circenses (bread and entertainment), “abdicate their power”. Since they are so entrenched in luxury, they do not need to access their higher selves. Their lives revolve around the schadenfreude they experience from their annual viewing of the games and their incessant cosmetic beautification to their own bodies. According to Berlin, this is not true freedom, and if this was taken away from them, nothing of any value will be lost. It is also worth mentioning that negative freedom, in it’s true sense, is hampered form developing in these citizens as there are heavy censorship and educational laws that prevent these citizens from developing a stance that is critical of the State.
Panem is dystopian, yes. But it is important to reflect on this form of literature to see why it exists. After all, if these ideas have been generated cohesively enough to create a multimillion dollar franchise around them, surely that must indicate some truth in them?
Sources:
1) Kula, J. (2017). “May the Odds be Ever in Your Favor” Dystopian Reality in Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games Trilogy.New Horizons In English Studies,2, 49. https://doi.org/10.17951/nh.2017.2.49
2) Sabine, G. (1959). Two Concepts of Liberty: An Inaugural Lecture Delivered before the University of Oxford on October 31, 1958. Isaiah Berlin.Ethics,70(1). https://doi.org/10.1086/291245
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