Cultural Geography Final
Sydney Stevens
Why was The Hunger Games shown in class?
Ms. Van chose to show the Hunger Games at the end of this course because it encompasses all the enduring understandings we have learned in an interesting way. It accurately shows how people come in contact with each other, and the dangers of the wrong people in places of power.
How does The Hunger Games relate to Cultural Geography?
The Hunger Games has similar themes to each of the four units of Cultural Geography. Because of the position of the districts in regards to their geographical location, each district has a different climate. This is why each certain district produces a different product. This relates to unit one of Cultural Geography, where the Enduring Understanding was; Geography and globalization influence where, how and why people live where they do. Globalization also plays a role in The Hunger Games, because each district is tasked with creating a different resource for the capital. Unit two's Enduring Understanding say that; Human's migrate, create cultural mosaics and balance the forces of cooperation and conflict between different peoples. Due to the shadowy past of the revolt, each district is forced to offer up a male and female between the ages of 12 and 18 for The Hunger Games. The Hunger Games are a punishment for the people revolting against the government, and it creates a fear of the Capital. The governing body of Panem use fear tactics to keep the districts in line, while keeping the people within the capital ignorant and happy to deter them from uprising. In unit 3, the Enduring Understanding was that; Exploitation and competition over natural resources and interactions between major belief systems may create conflict. In The Hunger Games, each district is in charge of a specific resource. Because each district creates or processes something vital for living, they all have a little power. They are all codependent on one another, so if one were to be destroyed, then the others would suffer from the loss of whatever resource they made. For unit 4, the Enduring Understanding states that; People are part of groups that gain and lose power over time, creating differing individual rights and varying degrees of freedom. At the beginning of the movie, the Capital has all the power. When Katniss and Peeta defeat the rules of The Hunger Games and force the Capital to allow two victors, the people begin to realize that the Capital might not be as all-powerful as they had previously thought. When Katniss escapes after the second Hunger Games she is forced in to, the people begin to fully revolt.
What connections can be made between the Hunger Games and the real world?
The dictator-like government of Panem can relate to many real-life governments. One government widely known for using fear tactics like the ones President Snow used is Nazi Germany. Although Hitler cause much more death than The Hunger Games, the basis of the tactic is the same. It also shows that fear tactics only work for a small amount of time, because eventually someone will stand up to the government and the fear will go away.
What events relate to The Hunger Games?
The Hunger Games relates to many governing bodies where the leader becomes a dictator. Because the person in power has no one opposing them, they are free to do whatever they please, including commit murder, without consequences. Events like massive genocides usually have no immediate consequences because their is not a police force capable enough to control the murders. A big example of this is the Rwandan genocide. By using propaganda, which is often used in the Hunger Games such as in President Snow's video all the districts are shown prior to the reaping, convinces normal people to murder their neighbors and friends. Anything that can inspire fear can be used to control things, and that is exactly what The Hunger Games and the Rwandan genocide did.
What similarities are there between my life and The Hunger Games?
The Hunger Games can relate to school life. Although life at school is less deadly, it has rigid rules like those of Panem. Punishments are also used to set as warnings for other students who might try to act out. During school days, you cannot leave school grounds without permission, much like a citizen of Panem cannot leave their district without permission from the government. School has rules the if broken result in harsh punishment, where as if rules are broken in Panem, the rule breakers are usually killed. Although school rules are less violent than Panem's rules, they still use punishment and fear tactics to get students to behave.
How does The Hunger Games relate to other activities?
The Hunger Games has some similarities to life in the theater business. It is a cutthroat business that is often extremely unfair. There are many actors and actresses who get jobs merely because they are favored by the hiring personnel. Districts one and two are favored by the Capital, so their kids get trained to go into the Hunger Games, and have a much greater chance of survival. This upper hand benefits the favorites, but makes things much harder for all the other districts to have a survivor. Though the entertainment involves less dying, each job could mean the difference between being able to cover rent or not.