Panem: A dystopian society

By: Martine Olsborg

The Hunger Games has become a world famous YA-series, and all three books have been adapted into movies. The series is written by the American author Suzanne Collins. The story takes place in “the Hunger Games universe”, and it is set in the country “Panem”. Panem is a dystopian society, and we will now look at what makes Panem a dystopian.

First of all, what is a dystopia? Nikki Gamble describes dystopia as “a fictional, socially engineered society usually presided over by a totalitarian regime” (Gamble, 2013, p. 200). One of the most characteristic things about a dystopian literature is that the humans are the cause behind the dystopic state. A dystopic state can have similarities with the world we live in, but it is usually set in an imaginary future. It is a very restricted society where you have a superior authority that controls the rest of the citizens. (Gamble, 2013, p. 200)

So what about Panem? After national environmental disasters and war, North America was destroyed. Panem raised from the ashes and became a country. Humans where therefore the reason behind the evolving of this state. Panem is placed at an unknown time in the future, as dystopias often are. It is divided into 12 districts, and Panem’s source of power lies in a utopian city called “the Capitol”. The different districts are built on class divisions and they are not allowed to have contact across the districts. The society is built as a pure dictatorship with “President Snow” as the one in charge. He and his “peacemakers” makes sure that the citizens don’t contact other districts. This is to avoid that the people in the districts comes together in a new rebellion. The society is living in hunger, but in the Capitol people are eating more than they need. The fact that nobody can take a stand against the injustice in Panem, says a lot about how much power the government has and how much power they use to keep people from rebelling.

As you can understand, Panem is a very controlling society and it does not give the citizens much freedom. It is an unfair life how the people in the different districts lives. It is truly a dystopia and I’m just happy that I don’t have to take place in a society as Panem. 

Sources
- Gamble, Nikki. Exploring Children’s Literature. London: Sage Publishers, 2013
- http://www.flickeringmyth.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/The-HUnger-Games-Movie-Logo.png