I think one thing we as hunger games fans frequently forget is that the people in The Capitol are also oppressed by Panems government. Of course we would, because our POV character is a teenage girl from the poorest district.
Donāt get me wrong, they absolutely have privileges people in the districts donāt, like the Romans did in real life compared to the rest of the empire.
But hereās the thing about Rome: roughly 25-40 percent of the population didnāt have jobs. A large chunk of those people were also in debt. They were poor, hungry, reliant on the ancient equivalent of food stamps to stay alive.
So how was that population managed? The Colosseum. At its peak that arena could hold up to 50,000 people. It could flood itself to reenact navel battles, lift animals from beneath the arena so they appeared out of nowhere, and of course it had the gladiators.
Does that sound familiar?
The arena was a control device to keep an unstable population united by bloodshed as entertainment. People could let out their frustrations on the competitors in the arena. Even Romansā who considered the games barbaric were seduced by the prospect. Remind you of anything?
The arena(s) in Panem were a similar mind control device. Panem is ruled by the Capitol, yes, but only the most elite of the elite. The majority of Capitol citizens are being just as puppeteeredātheir clothes are just a little nicer.
For 75 years this method worked. It kept the poor of Rome, the Capitol distracted, it gave them scapegoats. Bread and Circuses. Then, the Second Rebellion happened and not only did they lose the circus, they lost the bread.
Now thereās nothing to distract the Capitol people from the reality. Sure, Snow can use propaganda for a while, until Coin uses the ace up her sleeve and takes Capitol aircraft to bomb their own children. Then whatever scant loyalty they had left is gone. No more bread. No more circuses.
The Citizens of the Capitol have privilege, but thatās like comparing a New Yorker living on food stamps to an Appalachian living in a shack without electricity. One is seemingly fairing better than the other, but they are both trapped in the cycle.
The Capitol is Rome. And Rome was no paradise. Though it certainly wants you to think of it that way.
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