Government Control - Catching Fire - Literary Essay

  In Catching Fire, by Suzanne Collins, government control is one of the central themes of the book and the series. Katniss and must return to the arena when they are once again reaped to compete. The ideas of rebellion grow stronger, but with the rebellion come tighter government control than ever. The government showcases their control and ruling in many ways and it is used to strike fear and destroy hope in the citizens of Panem.

       First off, the main way the government attempts to strike fear into the people of Panem is the yearly Hunger Games, where 2 random children are selected to compete against each other to the death until one is the victor. The reason this works is because the games showcase the power the government has and what they are able to do if anyone were to get out of line. The capital is able to create poisonous gas that kills within minutes and grows and moves on its own uncontrollably, as seen in the book while Katniss, Peeta Finnick and Mags are in the games and the are infected and poisoned by the gas. The Hunger Games are also used to exhibit the fact that the government shows no leniency to those that do no harm, therefore there will be no mercy to those who do wrong and attempt to rebel.

         In addition to the Hunger Games, the peacekeepers are also used as a way to suppress hope and control the people of the districts to make sure they are too scared to defy the rules. The peacekeepers will also attack a citizen for the smallest reasons but they are all punished the same. The peacekeepers will often publicly whip people who disobey the rules to scare people into behaving and doing the write things. The peacekeepers are chosen by the government and are told by the government what to do in case of any situations and how to make people scared into doing the right things. However, in some districts the peacekeepers aren't able to really scare people into doing the right things, like when Katniss gives her speech to district 11 and an old man salutes her but because of this he is murdered by the rulings of the government. This is only done to make an example, to keep other people in line.

         Lastly, the government is merciless and will go to extremes to make an example or even if they feel the slightest threat. Firstly, president Snow changes the original quarter quell rule to the new one stating "the tributes will be reaped from the existing pool of victors". He (head of the government does this to show the people that even though hope is stronger than fear they (the government) can make sure with all the abundance of their power that any shred of hope that lurks within the districts is eradicated in one way or another and this was his gameplan. However, the government's (sort of) endgame move was to bomb district 12, again to display this aura of complete control and mercilessness for the weaker and wrong doers.

         The Capitol government is able to use the immense power it has to scare the residents of the districts into behaving. The weapons most used by the government are psychological ones that have to do with replacing hope with fear and making sure that the people are too scared to ever do what they want or step out of line.

         The government continues its reign into mockingjay, but targets Katniss directly using Peeta as a weapon.