The Capitol and the Districts
I would advise you to watch the short clip before continuing to read.
~ After watching the short clip, one can see that President Snow has a very strategic way of staying in power. He intentionally gives people a little bit of hope. He does this by making the Hunger Games have a winner; not everyone gets murdered and one person gets out to live a very "happy" life. This can be connected back the theory Nicolo Miachiavelli's discusses in The Prince. He thinks that in order to stay in power, one must give the good things to the people in little doses. Snow's "good thing" is hope; he only gives away a little at a time, but it is always there. President Snow stays in power because he is feared. People in the Capitol fear Snow without even realizing. This happens because they do not want to end up in a poor district or the Hunger Games like every one else. They are all very accustomed to the life that they live, and enjoy living in luxury. The people in the districts know that they live in fear, but are aware of the fact that there is not anything that they can do about it. When looking back at the "Love versus feared question" from The Prince, Machiavelli says that in order to stay in power, it is better to be feared instead of loved. This is because one can not control if people love you, but one can control if they fear you. Although this is an affective way to stay in power, it is not the only way. Upon reading an article from the Washington Post called "Two Ways to Stay in Power" by Michael Maccoby, one can see that he does not agree with Machiavelli. He states: "Now, in this age of information, as autocratic rulers are being challenged by people who have lived in fear, we should welcome movements to overthrow those who rule by terror, but support those who will lead a gradual transition to a democratic society". He believes that people who rule through terror should be over thrown; it is not morally correct. If one were to continue to read the Hunger Games series, it would eventually be obvious that the current system of Government in the Capitol gets over thrown. The structure of power in the Hunger Games is very simple. Snow is in power. He controls what everyone does and can manipulate anyone into doing what he wants. Under Snow there are people like the Game Maker who hold some power, but never as much as President Snow. Under them are the people of the Capitol, then the districts. The district with the least amount of money of power is the district Katniss is from, 12. |
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