The Hunger Games

èWhat is a dystopian world?

èWhy is this backdrop appealing to authors and film makers?

èWhy is the backdrop appealing to readers and movie-goers?

What are some other examples of well-known dystopian literature and film?

The Time Machine H.G. Wells

Animal Farm by George Orwell

Nineteen Eighty-Four

Brave New World Aldous Huxley

Blade Runner

Divergent

The Lottery

Logan’s Run

Soylent Green

Planet of the Apes

Harrison Bergeron

Mad Max films

Kafka stories

èWhy the name “Hunger Games”?

èWhat messages is the government sending to the people by having the power to enforce participation in the Games?

èWhat messages is the government sending to itself by having the power to enforce participation in the Games?

èWhat messages are the citizens sending the government by participating in the Games?

èWhat messages are the citizens sending to themselves by participating in the Games?

èWhat effect(s) does being able to run the Games have on those closely allied with the government?

èWhat effects does required participation in the Hunger Games have on the people? What emotions do the Games evoke?

èWhat is Katniss’s greatest struggle?

“To prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet” Cannot be genuine

“There will be time, there will be time to prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet” The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock

èRousseau vs lots of others including Lord of the Flies

èWhat is our default nature? Basically good? Basically savage?

èReality Television and Quantum Mechanics question:

èHow does the fact that the tributes are always on camera affect their behavior from the time they are chosen? Does it make it easier or harder for them to accept their fate? How are the “career tributes” different from the others?

Discussion Guide Link

è “It’s all a big show. It’s all how you’re perceived”?

èBefore the Games start, Peeta tells Katniss, “. . . I want to die as myself . . . I don’t want them to change me in there. Turn me into some kind of monster that I’m not.” What does this tell you about Peeta? What does he fear more than death?

èWhat is the role of the sponsors? What does it say about what the society and/or government values? Popularity equals increased aid.

èWhat kind of people would devise this spectacle for the entertainment of their populace? Can you see parallels between these Games and other related events and cultures in the history of the world?