Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games Trilogy and Social Criticism

This thesis looks at Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games trilogy (The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay) as social criticism. It explores, through the topics and elements in the trilogy, how the author is commenting on the society we live in today and how we might go about to make it better, and how to avoid such a situation in the first place. The thesis argues that in the Hunger Games trilogy can be found criticism of entertainment, science, and warfare. Extreme and brutal entertainment is a leading factor in the conflicts in the books, as are vanity and ruthless power demonstrations. The trilogy’s themes and messages are also seen in connection to genre and audience, both of which arguably restrain it and free it. Literary theory on the dystopia and on children’s and young adult literature are used as a background for the thesis and it also shown throughout the thesis how the trilogy can indeed be put within these categories. The thesis examines the influence that genre and audience might have on the action in, and the final outcome of the story. This is being done by comparing the Hunger Games trilogy to other works of fiction, which is similar to it, such as Nineteen Eighty-Four. The thesis concludes that Suzanne Collins, through the Hunger Games trilogy, is commenting on our society today, and that this is being done through the events in the books, the characters’ personalities and choices, and through the genre it is written in and the audience it is intended for. Although the thesis also concludes that Collins does not provide answers to everything, it also states that at the same time, Collins does open up the readers’ eyes to the challenges of the world