Suffering as Mass Entertainment

In The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins highlights the theme of suffering as a form of mass entertainment. In this book, the characters who take part in the Hunger Games are forced to fight to the death, while the citizens of the Capitol sit back and watch for their own entertainment. When Katniss is in the arena, she picks up on the fact that the Gamermakers will do anything to keep the attention of the Capitol, even if it means causing more violence and suffering. For example, when Katniss sees a wall of fire coming her way, she says, "This was no tribute's campfire gone out of control, no accidental occurrence. The flames that bear down on me have an unnatural light, a uniformity that marks them as human-made, machine-made, Gamemaker-made. Things have been too quiet today. No deaths, perhaps no fights at all. The audience is getting bored, claiming that these games are verging on dullness. This is the one thing the Games must not do" (Collins 173). This quote emphasizes the fact that the Capitol wants to see more than just children and young adults competing to survive. Katniss knows when things are too quiet in the arena, that it won't remain that way for very long. When nobody dies or fights, the Capitol quickly loses interest. In order to draw their attention back to the Hunger Games, the Gamemakers will construct abnormal things, such as a wall of fire. They do not think of the humanity of the tributes, and they do not consider the difficulties that the tributes are already facing. Instead, the Gamemakers are more focused on providing the Capitol with the best entertainment as possible. In their eyes, the more violent the games are, the better. No matter what the tributes do, they cannot alter what the Gamemakers have in store for the overall plot of the Hunger Games.

Another example of how suffering is a form of mass entertainment is at the end of the games when Cato falls off of the Cornucopia into the pack of mutts. He dies a slow painful death, and Katniss and Peeta are traumatized by this, even though he is technically their enemy. This horrific scene goes on for hours. Katniss asks Peeta, "Why don't they just kill him?" (Collins 339). To this, Peeta simply says, "You know why" (Collins 339). Katniss then admits to herself that she does know why. This is because the end of the Hunger Games is near in this moment, and Cato's suffering is one last source of entertainment for the audience. The Gamemakers want to extend this entertainment for as long as possible. This part in the book truly shows the brutal nature of the games and how there is no boundary between immorality and morality.

Violence and suffering are the Capitol's preferred form of entertainment, which shows their lack of regard for human life. Some districts are richer than others, but in the arena, each tribute is treated the same. They're forced to fight for their lives, and the little mercy they receive is from sponsors (if they have any). The Capitol takes pleasure in the pain they see. Obviously, there is nothing like this on television or other media outlets today, but I thought of a connection between the Hunger Games and things I've seen on social media. Often times, I see "embarrassing" videos on Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat of people falling or memes making fun of people. A lot of things like this on social media are mean-spirited. Some people find humor and entertainment in all of this. In a way, these people are finding entertainment in the misfortune/failure of another person. This is similar to how the Capitol views the Hunger Games. It's a given that this is nothing compared to the horror of the games, but I just found this an interesting comparison. I read this book years ago, and I reread it again for this class. Initially, I thought of the Hunger Games as just a way for the government to assert their control over Panem. But after reading and analyzing the text in more depth, I realize that the suffering of the games is also to provide entertainment for the Capitol.