Panem, the fictional world of The Hunger Games, is loosely based around America. The fact that the story is set in the future makes it a dystopian tale—and something of a warning to present day America.
While Panem has some distinctly American qualities, however, it also shares many qualities with ancient Rome. The Capitol is a place of wealth and decadence, where elite classes will sometimes have feasts and make themselves vomit to enjoy more food. This is a practice entrenched in ancient Roman lore, where elites would keep “vomitoriums” in the home. (Recently, the validity of vomitoriums in Ancient Rome has been thrown into doubt, but the parallel remains.)
There is also the wealth of Roman names in The Hunger Games series: Cinna, President Coriolanus Snow, Cato, Seneca Crane, Caesar Flickerman, and Claudius Templesmith, to name a few. The parallelism between Panem and Rome is entirely purposeful, because...
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ancient Rome was a very modern society that also watched human beings kill each other for entertainment.
Suzanne Collins claims to have had the idea for The Hunger Games while channel surfing between game shows and news coverage on the war in the Middle East, and she realized that both programs were being presented in the same way. She rooted Panem in ancient Roman motifs to give her setting historical validity, but also as a reflection and warning to modern day America.
The setting is the source of conflict, and it therefore drives all of the action in The Hunger Games.
The government maintains control over its twelve districts by keeping them poor, isolated, and fearful. There is even social stratification within District 12, and those in the Seam (where Katniss's family lives) find themselves in the most danger of being chosen for the Hunger Games. Katniss describes the way this conflict affects her in District 12:
You can see why someone like Madge, who has never been at risk of needing a tessera, can set him off. The chance of her name being drawn is very slim compare to those of us who live in the Seam. Not impossible, but slim. And even though the rules were set up by the Capitol, not the districts, certainly not Madge's family, it's hard not to resent those who don't have to sign up for the tesserae. (chapter 1)
Therefore, the Capitol ensures that the citizens within each district are resentful of each other and thereby less likely to align against the power of the government in any attempt to overthrow it.
The setting also serves to pit each district against all others in the Hunger Games, thereby preventing them from ever forming alliances with each other. Some districts (like 1 and 2) are wealthier than others, and those districts generally win the Games, reinforcing the idea that those with money are also the ones with power.
The isolation of each district with no means such as technology to communicate with each other also drives the conflict by ensuring there is a lack of communication between districts. Therefore, the districts generally only have the information that the Capitol provides to them regarding the welfare of the other districts.
Of course, the setting in the actual Hunger Games is controlled by game makers, technicians who unleash tracker jackers and fire at will in order to force competitors into combat and ramp up "entertainment" value by killing off players one by one. This gruesome game is a highly controlled environment designed to eliminate all contestants but one; this person becomes the winner and is supposed to live a life of ease for his or her remaining years.
This dystopian setting which seems to be a futuristic version of America serves as a point of reflection in the role and reach of government.
What is the importance of setting in The Hunger Games?
The setting for this story is important, because it makes the world that everything takes place in somewhat believable to readers. The author has created a dystopian world of the future in which teenagers are made to fight to the death for entertainment purposes. It's reminiscent of the movie The Running Man, which also takes place in the future. This somewhat science fiction setting is necessary, because it far removes the reader from the current world. The basic premise is so unbelievable that it only works in a future science fiction world. The setting is also necessary in order to set up the incredibly overdone standard hero set up. A standard heroic journey introduces the hero in an non-heroic, mundane fashion. Katniss is from one of the poorest districts, and she's been reduced to breaking the law in order to feed herself and her family. Setting Katniss in this initial setting allows for her story arch to follow a classic underdog path complete with help from "odd" and "mystical" helpers like Cinna and Haymitch.
The setting inThe Hunger Gamesplays a pivotal role in revealing the differences between the Capitol and the Districts, as well as
Collins uses the setting to differentiate between the conspicuous consumption found in the Capitol and the 'have-nots' of the Districts. The setting of the Capitol is decadent and larger than life, where "although evening is fallin, the "City Circle is brigher than a summer's day" (124).
Katniss feels over-whelmed by the luxury of her quarters, where everything is "plush" and "have so many automatic gadgets that [she's] sure [she] won't have tim to press all the buttons" (75).
The Capitol represents a life of leisure and consumerism. Standing in stark opposition, the Districts reflect hardship and sacrifice, where citizens barter for necessities in "an abandoned warehouse that once held coal" and the local soup seller finds "wild dog" a welcome ingredient, because "once it's in the soup, [she'll] call it beef" (11). The Districts focus merely on trying to survive from moment to moment with families who:
"will pull their shutters, lock their doors, and try to figure out how they will survive the painful weeks to come" (10).
Collin's use of setting reveals important details and characterization between the Districts and the Capitol.