Think about going to school in a society that barely teaches kids to read at school. What if the government only told its people a mixed up version of the truth? In The Hunger Games, the country of Panem becomes like this. Panem is what used to be the United States of America. Panem and the United States have many similarities, but they also have many differences, including their governments, their class systems, and their media.
To begin with, Panem’s government has a whole different system than the United States. They have a dictator, whose name is Snow. Snow chooses what his citizens do, he chooses where they live, and he makes all Panem’s decisions. His people call him their “President.” He controls his government by force, killing them if they steal, trespass, or leave their district. He has troops of Peacekeepers who enforce his laws.
One difference is that Panem’s class system in their schools is very strict and the students don’t learn much of anything. The kids are supposed to go to school every day, but some of them don’t. The government controls what all of the kids learn. They only learn the basics of reading math, science, and writing. Most of what they learn in school, though, is Panem’s history. The government of Panem teaches the kids in the schools all about how the Capitol took over, and what their history and laws are, but they tell it in a biased way. Kids know nothing about any other district besides their own.
Another difference is Panem’s media. It is very controlled and violent. The government and the media collaborate to control what the residents see on TV and what they hear about. TV in Panem shows kids fighting until they die. Sometimes, there is a news flash, and all citizens must watch it.
Today, contemporary society is very different from Panem’s controlled one. Modern day society’s government is run by a president, President Obama. The United States has a democracy. The way that their government controls its citizens is by either getting sent to jail, for a set amount of time, based on what a judge thinks or they get a fine. There are police to enforce these laws. Unlike Panem, where people can be killed for commiting a small crime such as stealing, there is sometimes killing to punish somebody for committing a very terrible crime in the United States.
Like Panem, Modern Day Society’s class system is run by the government. All children must go to school in the US. The students learn math, science, reading, writing, geography or history, and a language. They also learn music, art, and other specials. The government encourages them to be smart, instead of preventing it. They also learn about other countries and the world around them, not just the US.
Lastly, the media in our society today is free to say and show anything in newspapers, on TV, in magazines, and on the radio. They have freedom of the press. Our media does not show fights to the death on TV just to make a point. There is never a time when TV is mandatory to watch in contemporary society. Instead, they show sports, news, and TV shows.
In summary, think about how our world might become if contemporary society’s media, government, and class systems became different. Contemporary society could evolve to become like Panem’s in the future. The government could control their citizens every move, the media could become very censored and no longer have the freedom of the press, and the kids in school could no longer learn very much except for their own country’s history.