The Hunger Games
Student’s Name
Institution
The Hunger Games
Sociology is the science that studies social relationships which occurs amongst people as well as institutions. It is an illuminating field that analyses and also explains matters which are essential in day to day life at personal level, the community as well as world level. Different books and movies have written and played respectively in sociology point of view in that they try to explain the way of life of the people in a particular community or a specific country. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins is an excellent example of a novel that is set in a social point of view explaining the way of life Katniss Everdeen who is the narrator reaping in District twelve. The novel describes how the family in the setting depends on Katniss Everdeen although she is a teenager aging sixteen years old. This paper will consider more on the analysis of the novel ‘’The Hunger Games’’ which is set on the social point of view highlighting the important sociological terms with their respective chapters as speculated in the course book.
Society location in chapter 1.
In the first three chapters of the novel The Hunger Games, the book introduces the main characters who are used in the novel with Katniss Everdeen who is the protagonist of the book in inclusion. The chapters explain the society in which Katniss lives where she is described to be living in a dystopia. Dystopia is defined as a fictional political state where the life of people was awful. This is a social location representing the location which Katniss who is the main character lived. Moreover, the book is set more specifically in North America countries hence the social location of the setting of the novel is given by the author.
Sociology in chapter 1.
The novel The Hunger Games explains the way of life of the people and also the interaction they have with each other and the government. The book in reveals that experience was terrible for the people who lived in district twelve which Katniss in the novel lived. Very few people who lived in this district had enough to eat as a result, very few people living in this district are malnourished and death due to starvation occurs commonly in this society. Sociology which is the study of the way of life of the people is portrayed in that the idea of the life of people with Katniss in inclusion is described where they are defined to live in poverty. Additionally, the novel explains that the only industry that existed in district twelve was coal mining where the Katniss depicts men and women who went to mine coal as to have hunched shoulders and swollen knuckles revealing how hard the job was. This is sociology as the way of life of people living in district twelve was (Collins, 2013).
Social interaction in chapter 1.
The novel explains the interactions which took place between Katniss and her family members. Katniss is revealed to have interacted with her father who is a role model to her. The death of her father was painful to her where she has not forgotten him. Katniss was forced to take responsibility for looking after the family was the hunted animals using the hunting and foraging skills she had learned from her father. This clearly shows that before the death of Katniss’s father, social interaction had occurred between them. It is due to the social interaction which took place between Katniss and the father that she was able to learn hunting and foraging skills which she is using to feed her family members.
Positivism in chapter 1.
In the novel, Katniss is described as a very productive person to the society in the setting where her character is revealed by the language she used. Katniss in the novel forces herself not to cry knowing that everything which she does was being televised. If Katniss cried in most of her activities which she did would be taken as a sign of weakness. Her tears would be a tribute which people would take as a sign of her been a week in the society she was the target of the tributes. This reveals positivism which Katniss had towards the community despite the challenges she went through in mind that the community looked down upon her in that if she cried, Katniss and the society at large would be viewed as weak.
Culture in chapter 2.
Katniss is revealed to have been brought up in a poor background where food was scarce. Additionally, the people who lived in district twelve were in subject poverty where many of them were malnourished, and many of them died due to hunger. Katniss father before his death hunted animals which he used to feed his family. After his death, Katniss took over the work of hunting using the skills she had learned from her father. Furthermore, Katniss gathered roots which she used to feed her family which felt satisfied after consuming them. This clearly shows the culture of the community in the setting of the story where the people living in district twelve involved themselves in hunting and gathering as their cultural activity of getting food.
Symbolic culture in chapter 2.
Many people living in district twelve were poor and lacked food to eat. It is described that most significant percentage of people in the area were malnourished due to lack of food. Moreover, many people in this society died as a result of hunger. For the people in this community to get food, they involved themselves in hunting and gathering as their cultural way of getting food. Katniss, for example, hunted animals and also gathered roots which she used to feed her family. Hunting and gathering being depicted as the only source of getting food are a symbolic culture to symbolize how the community living is district twelve were poor.
Material culture in chapter 2.
Before the death of Katniss father, he had written a book which was kept by her mother. The book had outlined the plants which were edible hence avoiding consuming plants which were poisonous. Additionally, the book had described the plants which could be used to heal in case of sickness. Katniss did hunting and gathering as the only way of keeping her family members alive using the instructions from the book. Material culture is portrayed by some plant material having the power to heal and also used as the food. Katniss used the plant material to heal her family members and even to feed them with skills she learned from her father.
Class conflict in chapter 1.
In the novel, the Avoxes are revealed as criminals which performed criminal acts in the state. Katniss recognizes the offenders in the country where she mainly conflicted with them. The government of the other hand dealt ruthlessly with the criminals where they would cut out their tongues. The government also silenced the offenders by making them slaves as well as symbolically silencing them. This reveals the class conflict that took place between the government of Panem and the offenders.
Taking the role of the other in chapter 3.
The family of Katniss is revealed to have lived in subject poverty with food as the primary challenge. As a result, Katniss father involved himself in hunting and gathering as the only way he would keep his family alive. However, Katniss father died when she was young hence Katniss was left with the responsibility of taking care of her family despite her tender age. She involved herself in hunting and fathering just like her father did to keep her family alive using the skills she learned from her father (Canar, 2008). This clearly shows that Katniss took the role of the father in providing food to the family.
Mass media in chapter 3.
In the novel, Katniss is revealed to have been brought up in the subject to poverty. It became worse for her when her father died, and she was left to feed her family where hunting and gathering was the only way at her tender age. Katniss carried out many tasks on behalf of her family with hunting and gathering in inclusion. She carried out the duties without carrying despite the many challenges she went through, and she knew that she was televised in the media as crying would symbolize weakness. The act of showing how Katniss was bold in the television reveals the occurrence of mass media in the novel.
Superego in chapter 3.
Katniss in the novel involves many activities in favor of her family. She is engaged in hunting and gathering after the death of her father as a way of keeping her family alive. She additionally involves herself in other games where she won and was given gifts by sponsors. She did the tasks boldly been the only breadwinner in the family despite her tender age where she is revealed to restrict herself from crying as this would dictate weakness in her. The act of Katniss involving herself in hunting and gathering, as well as winning games for the betterment of her family, reveals how superego she is (Seeley & Berridge, 2015).
Social inequality in chapter 3.
It is clear that the society which Katniss lived was divided between the rich and the poor. Katniss family was a low-income family who lacked food and other basic needs. Additionally, the poor required food while the rich were having surplus where they fed high-class diet while the poor depended on hunted animals and gathered roots. The rich were well fed looking healthy and robust while the poor were poorly fed hence they were a week and malnourished. This clearly shows precisely the existence of social inequality in the society of the setting of the novel (Walling, 2010).
According to the sociological paper undertaken, I have gained the knowledge of different social, economic practices of various communities as well as cultural practices of diverse populations. The assignment has enhanced my understanding of the communities that exist and sharpened my memory. Additionally, the task has improved my reading and reading skills. As from the task, I can now apply the knowledge learned from the assignment in my personal life as they would add value in my life.
Reference
Collins, S. (2013). The Hunger Games Complete Trilogy. Scholastic UK.
Canar, A. (2008). The Hunger Games.
Seeley, R. J., & Berridge, K. C. (2015). The hunger games. Cell, 160(5), 805-806.
Walling, A. (2010). The Hunger Games. Voices From the Middle, 17(3), 54.
