THE CASTLE -
THE CAPITOL
A dystopian futuristic government that actually returns to the darker days of the past with its tyrannically oppressive power and rule.
In the world of The Hunger Games, The Capitol are the ones who hold all the power. They are a repressive, controlling, tyrannical government. They are so powerful that they hold a ruthless tournament that forces the population to murder one another just to demonstrate and remind everyone of their total power and control. Castle by Halsey is a powerful song that almost seems like it was written directly about Katniss's experiences with the Capitol. Whilst the Capitol are called The Capitol, they are very Castlelike in nature as they are regressive and monarchical. They are entirely repressive in their nature and strive to make everyone feel powerless. Also like a Castle, the lucky few exist in extreme wealth and comfort within the Capitol whilst all the rest generally suffer in poverty and repression.
Looking back on my reading of The Hunger Games trilogy as an adolescent a point from Trites comes to mind, "characters created by adult writers test the limits of their power within the context of multiple institutions for the benefit of adolescent readers who supposedly gain some benefit from experiencing this dynamic vicariously" (Trites 54). I am now able to recognize the fact that Katniss's own rebellion and power struggle is written in a way that affects adolescents and affected me upon reading it. As Trites argues in this quote, these adolescent characters are written by adults for the benefit of contributing something to the the minds of adolescent readers. In the case of Katniss and The Hunger Games books, the relatability of her character and the way in which she does claim power and rebel was inspirational to me as an adolescent. This institution of power, the Capitol, is the most repressive and central one of these novels. As the song lyrics above further illuminate, Katniss is set on a path that puts her directly against the Capitol and Snow and yet she must continue on "straight for the castle" and persevere no matter what as she is a beacon of hope and possibility, a "queen" of freedom for the people.
In another instance Trites notes, "how pervasive authority and control are in teaching adolescent readers to accept power/repression relationships as inevitable" which I found to be a really interesting point as it really is essentially impossible to exist without dealing with power and repression (Trites 55). In every adolescent text I can think of that I have read, power and repression are at all of the novels very core. These are two massive struggles that exist in actual life and thus them being reflected upon and dealt with in novels makes perfect sense. In the case of The Hunger Games novels, young me learned from these and other similar novels to not accept everything as it is and to always question everything. I recognized the flawed systems on display in this novel and learned that things are not always as they seem and one must always be aware and accepting of the fact that sometimes you cannot trust what you think you can. Katniss's rebellion and power instilled in me a massive sense of free will, power, and knowledge that has always kept me questioning and thinking about things. I find myself to have always been looking at things in a different way because of novels like these that I read when I was an adolescent that opened my eyes and allowed me to have a mind of my own rather than a mind like those raised in the Capitol, that is, a mind that is a clouded, brainwashed, fantasy. Thus, overall, Katniss's struggle, rebellion, and ultimate ability to overcome this institution of power have stuck with me long after my initial reading and will always remain with me as it is so powerful.
The Capitol may be the focus of the evil and repression in this novel, but President Snow is at its core. And even though the rebels are trying to push him out and put an end to the Games, they are oblivious to the fact that Snow's replacement, President Coin, is just as bad as he is. As an adolescent, I fell for Coin's trickery. I thought she would be a great new President. When I got to the part where Katniss shot her I was utterly confused. Upon rereading, I kind of got it, but it was not until I read it when I was older that I realized the truth, that Coin is just like Snow. And now as a scholar it is very clear to me that these two represent an institution of power as they both will do anything for power and strive to maintain total power and control.
