Laurel Utterback Blog Post 1

    A topic that I have found particularly interesting over the context of the course this far is the idea of the many different types of power. I never really stopped to think about the power that we face in our everyday lives that comes from the government, social system, and just peers in general. I was immediately able to connect these very real situations of power to The Hunger Games in order to identify what I deem to be the strongest, or most dangerous, types of power.

    The governments of North America have collapsed and a war emerges between the Capitol and the rest of the country. North America is no longer what it once was; now called Panem, the Capitol uses structural power to cast their citizen's identities: Panem is split into twelve districts, and each year, it is expected that one girl and one boy - called tributes - from each district compete in the Hunger Games, a "game" which ends in only one survivor. The Capitol implemented this routine to reinforce the power that it holds on the 12 districts due to its uprising after winning the war.

    Although it is mandatory for two tributes to compete, discursive power is used during the ceremony in which the tributes are chosen. Katniss, the main character from district 12, immediately volunteers herself as tribute after her younger sister was chosen to compete. The norm in the ceremony is that when younger children are selected, family members will volunteer to take their place. Unfortunately, in the poor world of district 12, not all citizens are lucky enough to even have family members around, and it's unlikely that a stranger will volunteer their life for someone they don't know. 

    Few people actually have power once the games begin, as the ultimate goal is to become the lone survivor. Soft power is a common theme in the Hunger Games, as tributes can become sponsored by people outside of the arena. These sponsors can donate resources to their tributes while in the arena, usually consisting of medicine, food, and serums. Another situation in which we see soft power is the use of allies while in the arena. Tributes make pacts with one another, although there can ultimately only be one winner. The persuasion used in order to both stay alive and work as a team is very coercive; the protection and strategy that comes with using an ally or allies outweighs the issues that will come later on.

    The Hunger Games is a story of Marxist power: the illustration of class struggle can be identified on a first-hand basis. Those from poorer districts, such as district 12, do not have the training experience that those in wealthier districts are given. Because of the structural inequality, these tributes oftentimes do not get sponsors, and they die very early in the arena. Mayor Undersee presents the rules of the game by saying "Look how we take your children and sacrifice them and there's nothing you can do...if you lift a finger, we will destroy every last one of you...just like we did in [the war]." This is a prime example of complete domination through power.

    Although structural, specifically Marxist, and productive power are the most powerful as they define their actors and set limitations, one important type of power that often gets overlooked is institutional power. The "rules of the game," both as stated in the Hunger Game series and our most recent lecture, definitely favor a certain group of people in the arena. The wealthier, more popular tributes with the most experience are given the best sponsors and best resources from those sponsors. Although resources such as food can be hunted in the arena, the influence that they have on their tribute's well-being ultimately becomes a game changer, especially towards the beginning and end of the games.

    

Sources: https://ijels.com/upload_document/issue_files/21%20IJELS-AUG-2017-13-The%20Concept%20of%20Power%20in%20Suzzane.pdf