Cameras in \"The Hunger Games\" the Story

¶ … Cameras in "The Hunger Games"

The story of the book The Hunger Games is one set in a post-apocalyptic North American mess that has become a single city in the Rockies ruling over twelve districts. Originally it was thirteen, but one if these was, supposedly, completely destroyed in an uprising that has happened almost a quarter century ago. The twelve remaining districts provide products so that the central city, Panem, can survive, and the rulers in Panem make certain that there is no more dissension from the people in the districts. One of the main features in the books is that everyone is on camera much of the time. The central government controls the people by knowing what is happening at all times, and modifying their action by this knowledge. It is a tale straight out of George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four in which the totalitarian government controls the people by use of goon squads and electronic media. This research paper discusses the how the cameras are used in their real form and as a metaphor in the book, and how parallels can be drawn to their use in the present society.

The main character of the book, the one from whose perspective the narrative is drawn, is Katniss. She gives a first-person recounting of the events that happen to her as she is forced to participate in the Hunger Games which were designed to demonstrate the ultimate power that Panem has over the districts. She is constantly faced with the cameras that follow her everywhere after she is chosen to participate in the games, and she gives an interesting perspective as to what they remind her of and how they are used. When her district is gathered for the ceremony in which tributes are chosen she sees "The camera crews, perched like buzzards on rooftops, only add to the effect." She eludes to the fact that these are not birds of prey, but of death. They are wanting to record and profit from the death sentence of two teenagers as they are called to their, most likely, doom. In another scene she sees that "The station is swarming with reporters with their insect-like cameras trained directly on my face. But I've had a lot of practice at wiping my face clean of emptions and I do this now." She is able to manipulate the reaction she gives the insects that pester her just as they are poised to manipulate her throughout her journey. So, to begin with, she sees the cameras and their crews as buzzards and insects, both allusions to their role in the death of the participants.

The question then becomes, who truly controls the cameras. The answer to this question is whoever has the power at the time. In one scene, when the tributes have just made a triumphal entrance onto the main stage she says that "The cameras are right on the Gamemakers, who are chuckling and nodding." The Gamemakers are the people who design and produce the game. They have some power, but they are really pawns just like everyone else. Katniss realizes that she also has the power to manipulate. In one scene when she is within the game zone she uses the cameras to her advantage. She says, "So as I slide out of the foliage and into the dawn light, I pause a second, giving the cameras time to lock on me. Then I cock my had slightly to the side and give a knowing smile." This is an attempt to win her sponsors who can provide her with things she needs while she is in the game zone. Another time she shows the futility of the games by allowing the cameras to show a young girl, killed in the games (Rue), draped in flowers as a tribute to her.

Finally she shows the true power of the media when she says "Condensing several weeks into three hours is quite a feat, especially when you consider how many cameras were going at once. Whoever puts together the highlights has to figure out what sort of story to tell." The crews are working to take all of the footage from the games and condense it so it can be shown to the national audience in one sitting. But, her last words in this quote are a message for people today. The people behind the camera are the ones who decide what story to tell. The footage is the truth, but it can be cut and manipulated until it tells a story that is far from the truth of what took place. In true American society, this is what often happens to footage of events that someone needs to manipulate for some gain.