Dystopian literature is a staple of any book shop, offering its catastrophic vision of society’s impending future. Warnings against authoritarian governments, corrupted corruptive technology, and warped twisted social values alert readers of the increasing threat of totalitarian rule, but to what extent are these simply fictional warnings rather than a mirror image of our reality?
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, first published in 2008, is a classic within any slightly pessimistic teenager’s bookcase, following the life of sassy, bow-wielding Katniss Everdeen. Central to the book is the relationship between the wealthy Capitol and the twelve districts it rules over, who work to produce goods for the elites. These two classes could be seen to be representative of Marx’s proletariat, the workers, and bourgeoisie, the wealthy elites. But could our own global society be separated into these two camps?
Indeed, many high street chains, such as H&M and New Look, make use of child labour, paying workers as little as 13p an hour. This duality, the exploitation of children compared to the consumerist attitudes in the global north perhaps then have sickening similarities to the divided society in Collins’ trilogy.
These two global classes are again seen in the differing lifestyles. The series takes place around the annual Hunger Games, where the twelve districts send two children each to compete to the death, as The Capitol watch and bet. However, this brutal desensitisation to conflict could also be reflected in today’s news. The celebration of ostentatious celebrities is often contrasted in the news by visions of death, famine, or violence in the news.
This was particularly evident during the Met Gala, where celebrities dress up extravagantly to fit whichever theme Anna Wintour has chosen. This year however, many online communities compared the death and suffering taking place in the conflict in Gaza to the bombardment of photos from the event on the news. This displays the clear duality of lifestyles around the globe, questioning the presence of the event on so many major news sources, drowning out suffering in sequins, corsets, and a strange grey cardigan (Kim Kardashian I’m looking at you). Could this clear contrast in societies perhaps echo the divided society in Collin’s trilogy?
“met gala” by NoondayNews is licensed under CC BY 2.0