Abstract
This thesis explores the relationship between The Hunger Games protagonist Katniss Everdeen and the two governments, one led by President Snow and the other led by President Coin, with which she interacts. In my first chapter, I argue that Presidents Snow and Coin both try to influence Katniss to follow their own agendas by dictating certain social conditions to her through laws, educational curricula, and state-sponsored industries. Each President carefully designs these conditions to support their own agendas rather than the agendas of the citizens they govern. I use Louis Althusser's theory of ideology and ideological state apparatuses and Michel Foucault's theory of discipline and punishment as frameworks within which to discuss the conditions which each President dictates to his or her citizens. In my second chapter, I argue that Katniss' most successful rebellions are the ones which reject the conditions that the Presidents try to impose on her and substitute Katniss' own conditions in their place. The path which Katniss follows in the series has been established by scholars studying other contemporary young adult novels, and this thesis seeks to situate Collins' The Hunger Games series within that growing field of research.
Advisor
Jacqueline Arnold
Committee Member
Kristi Cole
Date of Degree
2013
Language
english
Document Type
Thesis
Degree
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
English
College
Arts and Humanities
Recommended Citation
Geistfeld, B. J. (2013). Playing Games: Governmental Influence and Individual Assertion in Suzanne Collins' "The Hunger Games" Series [Master’s thesis, Minnesota State University, Mankato]. Cornerstone: A Collection of Scholarly and Creative Works for Minnesota State University, Mankato. https://cornerstone.lib.mnsu.edu/etds/107/
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