Hunger Games

The Hunger Games

In the fictional novel The Hunger Games, Selected teenagers are forced to fight for their lives in an arena when an entire nation watches on. Leaders from the capitol who are in power use this tactic to dehumanized the people from the other districts. The concept of dehumanization has applied to various religions, races, and nationalities throughout history. Jews have been persecuted throughout history. They were first enslaved during biblical times then during the Second World War they were sent to death camps. Dehumanization allows powerful people to make tough decisions in a more distant, cold, and rational manner (252 Haslam). In The Hunger Games the leaders from the capitol showed dehumanization on a grand scale by assigning very little value to human life. There are two types of dehumanization. The first type involves denying human attributes to another person. The second type is an everyday social phenomenon that centers on indifference or apathy (252 Haslam). The people in power take advantage of the victim this concept continues to be document in literature and the media.

Dehumanization is not always about hatred. Often it is more about an indifference or apathy (70 Waytz). In some ways people may not be seen as victims, but as a means to an end. The people in the capitol that were in charge used the other districts as their main means of resources. Not only did they use the districts for resources, but also for entertainment. "Look how we take your children and sacrifice them and there is nothing you can do" (19 Collins). This demonstrates that dehumanized individuals are treated as though they have no capacity for reasoning or conscious awareness. The rulers of the capitol throw the citizens lack of control in their face and do not care about how it affects individual families. The game players were there to entertain the people of the capitol and to remind the districts of their vulnerability. This is similar to the situation of the Jews in Night. They produced goods and services for the Nazi's. Their gold crowns were removed form their teeth so the gold could be used by the Nazi's during the war (52 Wiesel). Toward the end of The Hunger Games, the stylist team prepared the winner Katniss for her appearance on the stage. The team was more focused on what they were doing at the time when the winner was declared than the suffering and dying happening in the arena. "I swear I nearly fainted" (354 Collins). Everything is about them not the dying boys and girls in the arena. The citizens of the capitol were so egocentric they did not have any empathy for what the tributes were going through. Whether you are a tribute or a Jew in a concentration camp you are merely a pawn to be moved in a game.When someone is dehumanized, the concepts of deserving basic needs and fair treatment do not apply (347 Opotow). In many instances the victims are actually seen as inferior or evil (417 Opotow). In The Hunger Games the tributes are denied appropriate food, water, and shelter. "Sixty seconds to take in the ring of tributes all equal distance from the cornucopia a giant golden horn shaped like a corn with a curved tail...spilling over with things that will give us life here in the arena" (148 Collins). The game keepers were going to make them fight