Dana Rafferty and Leah Hoogerhyde
Mrs. Oehrlein
Honors English II
October 24, 2011
The Capitol
vs.
Big Brother and
the Party
Hunger Games
•
•
Capitol maintains
absolute power for the
purpose of securing its
own wealth and
prosperity
Capitol not interested in
mind control
“Gale's voice is in my head. His
ravings against the Capitol no longer
pointless, no longer to be ignored.”
“Days of hunting and gathering for
this one meal would be a poor
substitution for the capitol version.”
1984
• The Party seeks absolute
power
•Seeks power not only over
humans, but the laws of the
universe
•Is not interested in
prosperity or wealth, only
power
“We are not interested in the good of
others; we are interested solely in
power. Not wealth or luxury or long
life or happiness: only power, pure
power.”
Hunger Games
•
The Capitol is a
totalitarian
government headed
by a dictator,
President Snow
“Whatever words they use, the
real message is clear. ‘Look how
we take your children and
sacrifice them and there’s nothing
you can do. If you lift a finger, we
will destroy every last one of you.
Just as we did in District
Thirteen.’”
1984
• The Party is also
totalitarian, but has no single
ruler
•The Party is controlled by
many inner Party members
•Big Brother- not real,
portrayed as a single dictator
to represent the collective of
Inner Party members
“At all times the Party is in
possession of absolute truth, and
clearly the absolute can never
have been different from what it
is now.”
Hunger Games
•
•
For the Capitol,
power is a means,
not an end.
Power does not
mean taking
individuality from its
people
“’ I don’t want them to change me
in there. Turn me into some kind
of monster that I’m not.’”
1984
• Power is the Party’s end, its
ultimate goal
• Power over actions is not absolute,
absolute power must also be over the
mind
• Individual thought must be
squelched in each and every person
to achieve power
• The achievement of absolute power
is worth every sacrifice necessary
“’If you want a picture of the future,
imagine a boot stamping on a human
face-forever.’”
Hunger Games
•
The Capitol uses the
Hunger Games as a
fear invoking tool, its
purpose to quell any
potential rebellion
“This is the Capitol’s way of
reminding us how totally we are
at their mercy. How little chance
we would stand of surviving
another rebellion. “
1984
•omnipresent telescreens=
tool
•frequent demonstrations of
the Party’s absolute power
• Successful rebellion is so
unlikely it is not considered a
threat
“Day by day and almost minute by
minute the past was brought up to date.
In this way every prediction made by
the Party could be shown by
documentary evidence to have been
correct; nor was any item of news, or any
expression of opinion, which conflicted
with the needs of the moment, ever
allowed to remain on record. “
Panem
vs.
Oceania
Social Hierarchy, Celebration, Isolation
The Capitol has the
most power and
wealth which
decrease in order
to District 12
“ Taking the kids from
our districts , forcing
them to kill one another
while we watch- this is
the Capitol’s way of
reminding us how totally
we are at their mercy.”
The Hunger Games
The Inner Party is
most powerful, than
the Outer Party,
then the Proles
“At the apex of the Pyramid
comes Big Brother…Below
Big Brother comes the Inner
Party…Below the Inner
Party comes the Outer
Party…Below that come the
dumb masses whom we
habitually refer to as ‘the
proles’”
1984
The Reaping and
the Hunger Games
are made to seem
like a celebration
“To make it humiliating as well as
well as torturous, the Capitol
requires us to treat the Hunger
Games as a festivity, a sporting
event pitting every district against
the others.”
The Hunger Games
Hate Week is treated
more like a celebration
by the people even
though it is negative
“On the sixth day of Hate
Week, after the processions, the
speeches, the shouting, the
singing, the banners, the
posters, the films, the
waxworks, the rolling of drums
and squealing of trumpets, the
tramp of marching feet…”
1984
The people of
Panam live in
isolation from
district to district
“I wonder if the Gamemakers
are blocking out our
conversation, because even
though the information seems
harmless, they don’t want
people in different districts to
know about one another.”
The Hunger Games
The people of
Oceania live in
complete isolation
from each other
“We have cut the links
between child and parent,
and between man and man,
and between man and
woman. No one dares trust
a wife or a child or a friend
any longer.”
1984
Katniss
vs.
Winston
(Winston
from movie)
Morals, defiance, values, knowledge
In the face of death
Katniss does not
lose value of
human life
“I killed a boy whose
name I don’t even
know. Somewhere his
family is weeping for
him.”
The Hunger Games
When facing his
fears Winston
sacrifices the person
that he loves
“’You don’t give a
damn what they
suffer. All you care
about is yourself.’”
1984
Katniss understands
that they government
has absolute control
over her life, especially
when she is in the
Hunger Games
“Somewhere, in a cool and
spotless room, a Gamemaker
sits at a set of controls, fingers
on the triggers that could end
my life in a second.”
The Hunger Games
Winston is naïve to
think that he has a
way around the
indomitable
government
“You were the dead; theirs
were the future. But you
could share in that future if
you kept alive the mind as
they kept alive the body,
and passed on the secret
doctrine that two plus two
make four.”
1984
Katniss tries to show
the government she
still has
individuality
“I want to do something, right here,
right now, to shame them, to make
them accountable, to show the
Capitol that whatever they do or
force us to do there is a part of every
tribute they can’t own. That Rue was
more than a piece in their Games.
And so am I.”
The Hunger Games
Winston tries to
fight against the
government even
though the efforts
are useless
“DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER
was written all over it, in letters
almost big enough to be legible
across the room. It was an
inconceivably stupid thing to have
done. But, he realized, even in his
panic he had not wanted to
smudge the creamy paper by
shutting the book while the ink
was wet.”
1984
Katniss is ready to
sacrifice her life for
her sister’s
“I reach her just as she
is about to mount the
steps. With one sweep
of my arm, I push her
behind me. ‘I
volunteer!’ I gasp.”
The Hunger Games
Winston is greedy
towards his family
and believes he is
more important
“Then with a sudden swift
spring he had snatched the
piece of chocolate out of his
sister’s hand and was
fleeing for the door…He
stopped, but he did not
come back.”
1984
Suzanne Collins
vs.
George Orwell
Hunger Games
•
•
Katniss stays strong
and does not lose
herself
Katniss gives a
message of hope and
of the strength of
human will
1984
•
•
“ I spread out my fingers, and the dark
berries glisten in the sun. I give Peeta’s
hand one last squeeze as a signal, as a
good-bye, and we begin counting.”
Winston ultimately
losses his individuality
and his identity to the
Party
Winston is meant to
convey a warning that
human will cannot hold
out against a totalitarian
regime
“ But it was all right, everything
was all right, the struggle was
finished. He had won the victory
over himself. He loved Big
Brother.”
Hunger Games
•
•
If there is no rebellion,
the totalitarian
dictatorship only gets
stronger with the
passage of time
People under
totalitarian
government s must
act immediately
“ Then came the Dark Days , the
uprising of the districts against the
Capitol. Twelve were defeated, the
thirteenth obliterated.”
1984
•
•
Similarly, totalitarian
governments must
not be allowed to
seize power
Different in that once
totalitarian
government is in
power there is little
hope of going back
“’The whole climate of thought will
be different. In fact, there will be no
thought, as we understand it now.
Orthodoxy means not thinking-not
needing to think. Orthodoxy is
unconsciousness.’"
Hunger Games
1984
• Humans will lose their
• Humans have the
individuality if under
capacity to love and
sacrifice themselves for enough fear
• Humans will not resist
the people they love
• Humans are able to hold conformity if they believe
themselves to be in
onto individuality
danger
“ Because if he dies, I’ll
never go home, not really.
I’ll spend the rest of my life
in this arena, trying to think
my way out.”
“ Much had changed in him since the
first day in the Ministry of Love, But
this final, indispensable, healing
change had never happened, until this
moment.”
Major Differences
• Hunger
games= message of hope, human strength
•1984= warning, message of ultimate human
weakness
•Hunger Games= entertainment
• 1984= grim, not for enjoyment
Major Similarities
• Both are anti- totalitarianism
• Both have themes of love, power, and fear
•Both give warning to resist or rebel and sort of totalitarian
government