The Nation in The Hunger Games: Fact or Fiction?

Throughout both the Hunger Games books and films, Suzanne Collins has depicted a future dystopian world full of poverty, inequality and segregation. The story depicts a 16 year old girl who is forced to fight to the death in an arena full of other young district members aged between 12 and 18. The Hunger Games are an annual event which is mass‐televised to both the Capitol; who provide the funding, and also to the individual districts; as an attempt to punish the communities for a previous uprising. Although the world presented sounds ruthless and wholly divergent to modern day, there are many similarities between the two, with the depiction of poverty and capitalism being significant in the comparison. Within the story, the land is separated into enclosed districts which differ in terms of economic wealth, with the wealthier areas being closer to the Capitol, and the destitute areas which are high in unemployment and lacking resources, further away. This representation of the segregation of class in society is prevalent in the UK in 2013, with poverty‐stricken areas lacking in health care, education, social capital, employment and other basic necessities that are readily available in affluent areas.