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Emmanuel Badillo
Professor Rebecca Lawson
English 114B
17 April 2014
Word Count: 1,687
Government Control: Power
Government control can make living in society more organized but it also has its
disadvantages in which government can become too powerful. In The Hunger Games trilogy,
the capitol is the prime example of a totalitarian government that has complete authority over the
people of Panam. Since they have access to the countrys wealth they can dictate what takes
place within the districts. The trilogy isnt the only place where we see government control
existent in society. It is easily seen through regimes like in Nazi Germany and the situation in
North Korea that still exists today. In those respective countries the state had the power to make
decisions for its citizens and that limited its people from ruling themselves. Government control
in The Hunger Games trilogy is similar to those of other repressive regimes in which they have
full authority over everything and everyone.
The Capitol demonstrated its acts of control over the people through the hunger games.
The participants of the Hunger games are chosen at a very young age. According to the rule once
a child turns 12; their name is put in the reaping until they are 18. The more times they have their
name in the bowl it can be used in exchange for extra food. Once a year, the reaping selects one
boy and one girl from the drawing. When the child turns 18, their name is removed from the
drawing. The following quote by Katniss will explain the capitols authority thorough rules,
Taking the kids from our districts, forcing them to kill one another while we watch this is the
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Capitols way of reminding us how totally we are at their mercy. Look how we take your
children and sacrifice them and theres nothing you can do. If you lift a finger, we will destroy
every last one of you (pg 18). According to Katinss she goes to say that the leaders of the
capitol use the hunger games as an excuse to show their repressive rule over the nation. The
Capitol needed to make sure that power was not given to the districts as that might need to
greater unity and give rise to revolts against the rule of the Capitol. Without the Hunger Games
the capitol would not be able to rule the nation with totalitarian principles. This goes to show that
the districts have no say against the central government and people being killed is a form of
televised entertainment. The hunger games are a type of systematic rule similar to regimes of the
past that made living life harder. When you have the government so controlling it can lead to
people wanting change and wanting it to be organized in a democratic where there is an equal
distribution of power. Sometimes government can have a lot of power but people within the
state can start taking control into their own hands.
District 12 experienced the authority of the capitol but there was a power shift from the
capitol to the people within the district. The next quote is an example of how Katniss becomes a
leader that the citizens that district 12 look up to, The something unexpected happens. At least, I
dont expect it because I dont think of District 12 as a place that cares about me. But a shift has
occurred since I stepped up to take Prims place, and now it seems I have become someone
precious (pg 24). Its clear that the government has brute force on their side, but the people of
District 12 show that they have their own kind of power. Their three-finger gesture makes
Katniss feel special, loved and human. The capitols fear of complete control was starting to be
nonexistent in District 12 as Katniss is seen as a hero who has complete support of the
population. She was the one who the ability to stand up to government and eventually does when
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she leads a rebel force to overthrow the capitol. Repressive rule can force people into a mentality
where power is shifted into their favor and away from their processors. As a result new
guidelines will be set into place in order to prevent the state from acquiring too much supremacy.
Just like in the todays democratic government in the U.S, there is a system of check and
balances that prevents no branch of government from gaining too much influence and the
population has more freedom than that of the capitols regime. Sometimes there are instances
that you have to keep states or provinces from banding together to rebel against the central
administration in command.
The capitol made sure that the districts hated each other and kept the mentality of
complete separation. They enforced that through limited interactions among each state and used
threats so that no one would break the rules. Max Despain, a critical essay writer describes the
way the capitol uses isolation to prevent districts from becoming unified into one. In his essays
he says, The capitol government has written the perfect recipe for revolution by producing an
us vs them mentality between itself and the districts. Although the capitol practices important
forms of isolation (including fencing put for-bidden areas) to prevent the districts from
developing group solidarity and joining forces, the people realize that the capitol lives in luxury
and leisure denied to the outsiders. (Despain) According to Max Despain the capitol is more of
a selfish corporation that cares more about its profit more than its workers. Complete isolation is
definitely a form of government control because these higher institutions fear of revolutions and
losing their power. Throughout human history there are always been real life examples of
authoritarian governments with complete rule over its population.
Nazi Germany was a period that government controlled everything in Germany. It was a
dictatorship run by Adolf Hitler who laid down the foundations of the Nazi State. His ruled his
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people with authoritarian principles and imposed racism among everyone in Germany. To
enforce his rules of the Third Reich, Hitler used the Schutzstaffel (SS guard) that were in charge
to punish those who opposed the Nazi regime. There was a certain point where the Nazi party
was the only political party left in Germany since it became outlawed by the government.
German life was based on the Fhrer principle that dictated the party, economy, and family had
to be obeyed by no question. This enlisted fear in the population because the consequences of not
following this philosophy could mean life or death. The Nazi Regime ruled with fear as means of
power and made satisfying the regime a priority to its people. The Hunger Games trilogy, ruled
similarly with the capitol forcing nominating young kids at a very young age to fight each other.
Most couldnt resist because people could get sanctioned through food shortages, not enough
water and overall made life much more difficult to live. Fighting was a common theme in the
trilogy as it was their escape to improve their living conditions. This is what the capitol wanted
because they would rather have a population that fought each other rather than a unified
population. For the Nazis, people were brainwashed by their rulers with Nazi propaganda that
they were fighting for a better Germany but at the expense of conquering Europe. This won a lot
of people to join the cause and fight for Hitler during World War Two. Nazi Germany and the
Capitol had similar tactics by using fear and punishment as means to prevent anyone from
escaping the wrath of the respective governments. North Korea is a modern example of a
socialist society where the central administration has tremendous power and control.
North Korea has a highly centralized communist state government. Their way of rule
included brainwashing the inhabitants to praise Kim Jong-II. He is the current president of North
Korea and is the head of the Korean Workers Party. Globally North Korea is considered to be
the most secretive society due to its lack of relations with the rest of the world and only has big
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global power like Russia and China. The way of life in this society is often described as
unbearable and short lived. For example in the capitol city of Pyongyang, individuals are on a
strict schedule that starts early in the morning and ends late during the day. In regards to culture
a lot of women wear a lot of make up because due to a poor diet their skin isnt as healthy. For
men long hair is prohibited and must be kept short. Out of the many problems is the lack of
electricity that makes working and getting through the day much more difficult. The businesses
cant be open longer and thus the local districts loose economic revenue. A side of media like
television, radio and cellular networks were strictly monitored by the North Korean government.
District 13 is a similar case where the capitol was controlling and basically treated them like
prisoners. People lived in the worst of conditions because they were mal nourished and could
only get food if they participated in the hunger games. Without the sufficient resources to make
their own food in large quantities you have a large unhealthy population. As we later find out
Katniss leads a revolution that overthrew the authoritarian rule in place while liberating Palem.
President Snow is taken out due to majority vote and a new government is put into place. The
capitol and North Korea rule the same way with control and power.
Government control can sometimes be seen as a powerful cooperation that rules its
workers who have no way of standing up to them as they might risk losing their job or in reality
their lives. The capitol ruled like in Nazi Germany and North Korea where the central
government had the complete authority. Unfortunately for the population they had no choice but
to follow the rules because their human rights, freedoms have been stripped away. Government
control should if there is a balance where power is equally distributed and run like a democracy.

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Annotated Biography
Suzanne, Collins. The Hunger Games. New York, New York: Scholastic, 2008. Print.
Of Bread, Blood, and the Hunger Games: Critical Essays on the Suzanne Collins Trilogy.
Jefferson: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 2012.
This critical essay written by Max Despain discusses how the capitol keeps the districts
separate and preventing them from becoming unified to rebel against the government.
Control over the districts included limiting food, and punishing those who rebel by
making them fight each other. I found this source using the CSUN library webpage and
looked for an essay in the Of Bread, blood, and the Hunger Games book. It is written by
many writers that shared what they thought on the book. I plan to use this article by
comparing mentioning how isolation among the districts is a way of government control.
Museum. German: Establishment of the Nazi Dictatorship. Holocaust Encyclopedia. June 10,
2013. Web.
The online article talks about how the Nazi Regime ruled Germany under the principle of
Adolf Hitler. He imposed that government be the center of everything and had the SS
guard to enforce the rules. I found this article by typing in the Google search box the
government control in Nazi Germany. This information is coming from an Encyclopedia
and its backed by real facts. This online source will help me compare government
control in The Hunger Games trilogy to those of modern history. I can also mention how
Hitler brainwashed his people into thinking that being white meant that you were inferior
to all other races and use that as a form of government control.


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Not available. North Korea: Government. Global Edge. January 31, 2014. Web.
North Korea was communist government that controlled everyone and everything. From
to media, labor camps, public executions, life was hard in that country. I found this article
by using Google and typing in how the government of North Korea operates. The website
it was found on has information on all countries of the world and at the bottom you can
see sources to back up where those facts are coming from. This article can further help
my point my pointing out that the government can become too powerful and is similar to
the lives of those who live in district 13.
Paul French. A day in the life of Pyongyang how North Korea's capital goes to work. The
Guardian. May 2, 2014. Web.
The life of North Korea can be summarized by the amount of work they do for the
regime. Most work long shifts and receive little benefits like for example adequate diet
and healthy working conditions. This article was found with the Google search engine
and I typed in the life of North Koreans in Pyongyang. The guardian is a known site that
has many online articles on global issues. With the information in this article I can further
expand on how daily North Koreans live with the limited resources they have and
elaborate the role the government has in enforcing their repressive ideology to the
population.