THE HUNGER GAMES AND PHILOSOPHY

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3 THE HUNGER GAMES AND PHILOSOPHY

4 The Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture Series Series Editor: William Irwin 24 and Philosophy Edited by Jennifer Hart Weed, Richard Davis, and Ronald Weed 30 Rock and Philosophy Edited by J. Jeremy Wisnewski Alice in Wonderland and Philosophy Edited by Richard Brian Davis Arrested Development and Philosophy Edited by Kristopher Phillips and J. Jeremy Wisnewski The Avengers and Philosophy Edited by Mark D. White Batman and Philosophy Edited by Mark D. White and Robert Arp Battlestar Galactica and Philosophy Edited by Jason T. Eberl The Big Bang Theory and Philosophy Edited by Dean Kowalski The Big Lebowski and Philosophy Edited by Peter S. Fosl The Daily Show and Philosophy Edited by Jason Holt Family Guy and Philosophy Edited by J. Jeremy Wisnewski Final Fantasy and Philosophy Edited by Jason P. Blahuta and Michel S. Beaulieu Game of Thrones and Philosophy Edited by Henry Jacoby The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and Philosophy Edited by Eric Bronson Green Lantern and Philosophy Edited by Jane Dryden and Mark D. White Heroes and Philosophy Edited by David Kyle Johnson House and Philosophy Edited by Henry Jacoby Iron Man and Philosophy Edited by Mark D. White Inception and Philosophy Edited by David Johnson Mad Men and Philosophy Edited by James South and Rod Carveth Metallica and Philosophy Edited by William Irwin The Office and Philosophy Edited by J. Jeremy Wisnewski South Park and Philosophy Edited by Robert Arp Spider-Man and Philosophy Edited by Jonathan Sanford Terminator and Philosophy Edited by Richard Brown and Kevin Decker True Blood and Philosophy Edited by George Dunn and Rebecca Housel Twilight and Philosophy Edited by Rebecca Housel and J. Jeremy Wisnewski The Ultimate Harry Potter and Philosophy Edited by Gregory Bassham The Ultimate Lost and Philosophy Edited by Sharon Kaye Watchmen and Philosophy Edited by Mark D. White X-Men and Philosophy Edited by Rebecca Housel and J. Jeremy Wisnewski

5 THE HUNGER GAMES AND PHILOSOPHY A CRITIQUE OF PURE TREASON Edited by George A. Dunn and Nicolas Michaud John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

6 This book is printed on acid-free paper. Copyright 2012 by John Wiley & Sons. All rights reserved Chapter opener design by Forty-five Degree Design LLC Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey Published simultaneously in Canada No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) , fax (978) , or on the web at Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, (201) , fax (201) , or online at Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and the author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a professional where appropriate. Neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages. For general information about our other products and services, please contact our Customer Care Department within the United States at (800) , outside the United States at (317) or fax (317) Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats and by print-on-demand. Some content that appears in standard print versions of this book may not be available in other formats. For more information about Wiley products, visit us at ISBN (paper : alk. paper); ISBN (ebk); ISBN (ebk); ISBN (ebk) Printed in the United States of America

7 CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: It s Like the Bread. How I Never Get Over Owing You for That. ix Introduction: Let The Hunger Games and Philosophy Begin! 1 PART ONE HAVING AN EYE FOR BEAUTY ISN T NECESSARILY A WEAKNESS : THE ART OF RESISTING THE CAPITOL 1. The Final Word on Entertainment : Mimetic and Monstrous Art in the Hunger Games 8 Brian McDonald 2. Somewhere between Hair Ribbons and Rainbows : How Even the Shortest Song Can Change the World 26 Anne Torkelson 3. I Will Be Your Mockingjay : The Power and Paradox of Metaphor in the Hunger Games Trilogy 41 Jill Olthouse v

8 vi CONTENTS PART TWO WE RE FICKLE, STUPID BEINGS : HUNGERING FOR MORALITY IN AN IMMORAL WORLD 4. The Odds Have Not Been Very Dependable of Late : Morality and Luck in the Hunger Games Trilogy 56 George A. Dunn 5. The Joy of Watching Others Suffer: Schadenfreude and the Hunger Games 75 Andrew Shaffer 6. So Here I Am in His Debt Again : Katniss, Gifts, and Invisible Strings 90 Jennifer Culver PART THREE I AM AS RADIANT AS THE SUN : THE NATURAL, THE UNNATURAL, AND NOT-SO-WEIRD SCIENCE 7. Competition and Kindness: The Darwinian World of the Hunger Games 104 Abigail Mann 8. No Mutt Is Good Really? Creating Interspecies Chimeras 121 Jason T. Eberl PART FOUR PEETA BAKES. I HUNT. : WHAT KATNISS CAN TEACH US ABOUT LOVE, CARING, AND GENDER 9. Why Katniss Chooses Peeta: Looking at Love through a Stoic Lens 134 Abigail E. Myers

9 CONTENTS vii 10. She Has No Idea. The Effect She Can Have. : Katniss and the Politics of Gender 145 Jessica Miller 11. Sometimes the World Is Hungry for People Who Care: Katniss and the Feminist Care Ethic 162 Lindsey Issow Averill PART FIVE AS LONG AS YOU CAN FIND YOURSELF, YOU LL NEVER STARVE : HOW TO BE YOURSELF WHEN IT S ALL A BIG SHOW 12. Why Does Katniss Fail at Everything She Fakes? Being versus Seeming to Be in the Hunger Games Trilogy 178 Dereck Coatney 13. Who Is Peeta Mellark? The Problem of Identity in Panem 193 Nicolas Michaud PART SIX HERE S SOME ADVICE. STAY ALIVE. : A TRIBUTE S GUIDE TO THE MORALITY AND LOGIC OF WARFARE 14. Safe to Do What? : Morality and the War of All against All in the Arena 206 Joseph J. Foy 15. Starting Fires Can Get You Burned: The Just-War Tradition and the Rebellion against the Capitol 222 Louis Melançon

10 viii CONTENTS 16. The Tribute s Dilemma: The Hunger Games and Game Theory 235 Andrew Zimmerman Jones PART SEVEN IT MUST BE VERY FRAGILE IF A HANDFUL OF BERRIES CAN BRING IT DOWN : THE POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY OF CORIOLANUS SNOW 17. Discipline and the Docile Body: Regulating Hungers in the Capitol 250 Christina Van Dyke 18. All of This Is Wrong : Why One of Rome s Greatest Thinkers Would Despise the Capitol 265 Adam Barkman 19. Class Is in Session: Power and Privilege in Panem 277 Chad William Timm CONTRIBUTORS: Our Resistance Squadron 291 INDEX: A List in My Head of Every Act of Goodness I ve Seen Someone Do 297

11 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS It s Like the Bread. How I Never Get Over Owing You for That. Just as Katniss Everdeen believed that she could never adequately repay her debt to Peeta for the gift of bread that gave her hope, we too feel an immense debt to the many people who helped us to create this book, starting with our contributing authors. It has been a joy to work with them all. Their philosophical insights into the Hunger Games trilogy have enriched our own appreciation of the harrowing but somehow still hopeful world that Suzanne Collins has crafted and we believe that the light they bring to their respective topics will do the same for you. Moreover, just as Katniss and Peeta Mellark benefited from the guidance of a skilled, dedicated, and experienced mentor, Haymitch Abernathy, we too have benefited immeasurably from the support that our more sober but no less able editors, Bill Irwin and Connie Santisteban, have provided us at every step along the way. To delve so deeply into the emotionally wrenching world of the Hunger Games trilogy has been a rewarding but challenging adventure. The love and patience of family and friends have been as vital to helping us navigate our way through our many trials as Katniss s alliances were to her in the arena. George would like to extend a special thanks to Dereck Coatney, Brian ix

12 x ACKNOWLEDGMENTS McDonald, and Ariadne Blayde for their help and support along the many stations of this process. Nick owes a deep debt of gratitude to Jessica Watkins and Powell Kreis, who both suffered with him through the many trials of the Hunger Games. And many thanks to you, our readers, for volunteering to join us in this exciting journey through the arena of the mind. Hope to see you in the Victory Tour on the other side!

13 INTRODUCTION Let The Hunger Games and Philosophy Begin! We love the Hunger Games trilogy for many reasons. It offers us a strong and resourceful heroine, Katniss Everdeen, whom we all can admire and aspire to be like; it constantly leaves us on tenterhooks with its blend of thrilling action and captivating romance; it gives us the opportunity to grow alongside the main characters as they come to understand themselves and their world more deeply; and it s packed with memorable scenes that touch our emotions and stay with us long after we ve put the books down. Who will ever forget Peeta Mellarks s declaration of love during his interview with Caesar Flickerman, Katniss s strewing of Rue s body with flowers in the arena, or the explosion outside President Snow s palace that upends our heroine s world and ours as well? These scenes and many others are revisited and reflected on at length in the pages of this book. Yes, there s much to love about the Hunger Games trilogy, but one of the biggest reasons we re so excited about this amazing series is that it s about something especially dear to those of us who produced this book: the quest for truth. The Hunger 1

14 2 THE HUNGER GAMES AND PHILOSOPHY Games trilogy tells the story of how an intrepid girl named Katniss peels away the layers of lies that swaddle her world and discovers the truth beneath its many deceptive facades. Falseness abounds in Panem and not just in the Capitol, where a prettifying cosmetic veneer can t really disguise the hideousness dwelling inside its residents. In a world of false appearances, Katniss is on fire with a philosopher s love of truth that impels her to question everyone and everything, reducing all of the subterfuges to cinders so that only the naked and often painful truth remains. If you love the Hunger Games trilogy as much as we do, perhaps that same fire burns in you. Our goal in this book is to explore as deeply as we can this fantastic, grotesque, and yet disturbingly familiar world that has gripped our imaginations as we ve journeyed with Katniss, standing by her side as she has fought, loved, and reflected on the meaning of the tumultuous events in her life. In the course of this journey, there s a good chance that you laughed when Peeta made gentle but insightful jokes, were outraged and repulsed by the cruel actions of President Snow, and cried or at least fought back tears, as Katniss often must do more than a few times. Although the story takes place in a postapocalyptic world that in many ways seems impossibly distant from our own, the hopes, fears, and desires that drive these characters are really no different from the passions that sway us all. And so these books speak deeply to us not just about the life of an imaginary and amazing girl, but also about ourselves and our own hardships and aspirations. That s where philosophy comes in. Reflecting on the Hunger Games trilogy can be a doorway that leads to thinking about our own lives. There s another famous doorway associated with thinking, near the birthplace of Western philosophy in ancient Greece. At the entrance to a temple dedicated to the god Apollo in the city of Delphi, someone had inscribed two sayings Know Thyself and Nothing in Excess that many ancient philosophers took to be pithy summaries of

15 INTRODUCTION 3 the wisdom we need to live well. Clearly, the residents of the Capitol have missed the boat when it comes to avoiding excess and they don t seem very self-aware, unlike Katniss, whose life has taught her the importance of self-control and who continually examines her motivations. It s her relentlessly skeptical spirit that propels her growth in wisdom. Katniss s hunger for answers is contagious. As we ponder the parallels between her world and ours, we too are beset by a swarm of questions that descend on us like a horde of tracker jackers bursting from their nest. How far, we wonder, is our own world from that of Katniss, Prim, Peeta, and Gale Hawthorne? Could our nation succumb to the same evils that ravage Panem? Perhaps we re already on our way there. Suzanne Collins tells us that contemporary reality TV supplied much of the inspiration for her saga, and as some of the chapters in this book point out, the similarities between our world and Collins s futuristic dystopia don t end there. Reading about the horrors that Katniss and her fellow tributes endure in the arena, we wonder how human beings can justify atrocities like the Hunger Games. And then we remember that not so long ago, powerful elites in the Western world sponsored their own Hunger Games in the Roman Colosseum, which was another inspiration for Collins s saga. The more we reflect on the world of the Hunger Games, the more questions rain down on us like the little silver parachutes that carry food and medicine to Katniss and Peeta in the arena for, like those lifesaving gifts that the tributes receive from their sponsors, good questions nourish and sustain us when we venture into the arena of thought. And so, fortified with questions, we persist in wonder: Why do we enjoy watching others suffer? Do ordinary rules of morality apply when we re fighting just to survive? Could we be controlled and manipulated as easily as the citizens of Panem? Are we already being controlled in insidious ways that escape our notice? Then, when questions like these get too

THE HOBBIT AND PHILOSOPHY

THE HOBBIT AND PHILOSOPHY The Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture Series Series Editor: William Irwin 24 and Philosophy Edited by Jennifer Hart Weed, Richard Davis, and Ronald Weed 30 Rock and Philosophy