23
the crucial determinant of social, economic and political inequality. According to Marx, there is always a dominant and a subordinate class, a ruling class and a subject
class. The former ruling class is the class which owns the means of production land and machinery and the latter subject class sells its labor to survive. The ruling class
survives its power from the ownership and control of the forces of production.
The relationship between these classes has always been exploitative in all phases of history with an exception of a simple primitive society. Marx believed that
primitive societies are non class societies. In such societies, there is simple equality and as such there is no stratification based on class. In Marxian view, the ruling class
exploits and oppressed the subordinate class. As a result, there is a basic conflict of interest between the two classes. This conflict between social classes has been
continuous since the dawn of history.
4.1.1 Types of social class found in novel
By learning about the differences of class, there are two classes found clearly in the novel. There’s the Capitol as the upper class and the Districts as the lower
class. In Panem, Panem is the name of the country that under the control of the Capitol, wealth is heavily concentrated in the hands of the rich, particularly those
people living in the Capitol and certain of the districts, and the result is a huge disparity between their lives and the lives of the poor. This disparity reveals itself in
numerous ways throughout the novel, but among the notable is food. In the poor districts, many of the residents do not even have enough to eat. Katniss notes that
24
starvation is common in District 12, and she has to hunt illegally in the woods beyond the district’s borders to feed her family. The novel suggests that most of the district’s
residents are not able and don’t know how to hunt, means that Katniss’s family have more chance to get the food than the other families. Furthermore, the most basic
foods are luxuries in the districts.Katniss later learns that Peeta’s family,who own a bakery and have more capacity to live the life well,can not afford most of the food
they bake. In contrast, when Katniss arrives in the Capitol, she is awed by the lavish feasts and elaborately prepared dishes. The food is abundant. Katniss tries hot
chocolate for the first time.
Perhaps the best example of the inequality between rich and poor can be seen in the tessera system and the way the tributes are selected for the Games. In theory,
the lottery by which tributes are chosen, called the reaping, is random and anyone can be picked. But in reality, the poor are much more likely than the rich to end up as
tributes. In exchange for extra rations of food and oil, called tesserae, those children eligible for the Hunger Games can enter their names into the reaping additional times.
Most of children from poor families have to take tesserae to survive, so the children of poor families have more entries in the reaping than children of wealthy families
who need no tesserae. They are more likely to be picked as a result. Moreover, the rich who become tributes tend to have an additional advantage, because they are
often trained to take part in the Games and volunteer to do so. These trained tributes, which Katniss refers to as Career Tributes, are generally bigger, stronger, and better
prepared for the tribulations of the Hunger Games than those poor tributes who selected by chance. They are consequently more likely to survive. For these rich
25
tributes, it is an honor to compete in the Games, while for the poor tributes it is essentially a death sentence.
“The cameras haven’t lied about its grandeur. If anything, they have not quite captured the magnificence of the glistening buildings
in a rainbow of hues that tower into the air, the shiny cars that roll down the wide paved streets, the oddly dressed people with bizarre
hair and painted faces who have never missed a meal.”4:59 From quotation above, after arriving in Capitol, she believed that what she
saw through her television was real. The rich people will never feel hungry and they have a beautiful life. She has to survive and find a meal in the wood to keep her
family alive. The visibility about the differences of class can be seen from the quotation above. She was so fascinated by their living and all of their things.
According to Karl’s theory, People in higher income classes make sure that their families have the best opportunity for a good life. In this case,the Capitolown the
production of the districts, that gives them a power to control the whole districts.
“What it must be like, I wonder, to live in a world where food appears at the press of a button? How would I spend the hours I
now commit to combing the woods for sustenance if it were so easy to come by? What do they do all day, these people in the Capitol,
besides decorating their bodies and waiting around for a new shipment of tributes to roll in and die for their
entertainment?”5:65
Katniss is wondering why the Capitol wants to force the children of the poor to kill each others. The conflict in her heart is about what she has to choose, fight just
for her life and survive for that or also fight for the life of the lower classes so the Capitol can not make the children of the poor become an entertainment while
killingeach others for them. From the beginning of the novel, Katnissis a strong, resourceful sixteen years
old who is more mature than her age. Katniss is the main provider in her family.Her
26
family member consists of her mother, her younger sister named Prim and herself. Katniss is fiercely protective to her younger sister, and she volunteers to take Prim’s
place in the Hunger Games to protect her. In fact, Katniss is more responsible than anyone else in her family’s life. Moreover, she is responsible for feeding her family.
She is hunting and foraging as her responsibly to feed her family.She got the hunting skills from her father before his death in a mine explosion years earlier. Based on her
talented skills, she has the big opportunity to win the game against the stronger opponent.
Upper Class: The Capitol. Speaking of which, the Capitol is a shining city of wealth and grandeur city
located where the Rockies used to be. The people of the Capitol are shallow, speak in a funny, affected accent and value surface appearances, plastic surgery, and
entertainment. Being one of the richest districts, they also view the Games as an entertainment in television. Katniss really despises the place.
Lower Class: District Twelve
District 12 is a very poor coal-mining district located in the region formerly known as Appalachia. Katniss and her family live in the poor section of District 12,
the Seam, where the coal-miners live and work. There is also the Hob, the black market. The district is surrounded by an electrified fence from woodlands.Stephen
King calls District 12 the Chicago Cubs of the postapocalypse world, means that they almost never win the Hunger Games. The poverty of District 12 is often
contrasted with the wealth of the Capitol.
27
4.2 Capitol’s power
