The Hunger Games and Philosophy: A Critique of Pure Treason

Can entertainment be dangerous? Do ordinary moral rules apply in the arena? Can philosophy help Katniss decide between Gale and Peeta? Could muttations someday become a reality? Can the world of the Hunger Games shine a light into the dark corners of our own world? Katniss Everdeen is "the girl who was on fire," but she is also the girl who makes us think, dream, question authority, and rebel. The postapocalyptic world of Panem′s twelve districts is a divided society on the brink of war and struggling to survive, while the Capitol lives in the lap of luxury and pure contentment. At every turn in the Hunger Games trilogy, Katniss, Peeta, Gale, and their many allies wrestle with harrowing choices and ethical dilemmas that push them to the brink. This thoughtful guide draws on the work of Plato, Aristotle, Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Immanuel Kant, Charles Darwin, and other engaging philosophical thinkers to take you deeper into the story. It gives you new insights into the Hunger Games series and its key characters, plot lines, and themes, including war, authenticity, social class, personal identity, altruism, gender, art, fashion, and moral choice. To learn more about the Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture series, visit www.andphilosophy.com

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 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 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 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 I NDEX : “A List in My Head of Every Act of Goodness I’ve Seen Someone Do” 297

George A. Dunn is a lecturer at the University of Indianapolis and the Ningbo Institute of Technology, Zhejiang University, China. He edited True Blood and Philosophy and contributed to Twilight and Philosophy , Alice in Wonderland and Philosophy, and Mad Men and Philosophy. Nicolas Michaud is an instructor of philosophy at the University of North Florida and has contributed to Twilight and Philosophy , Final Fantasy and Philosophy, 30 Rock and Philosophy , and Green Lantern and Philosophy . William Irwin is a professor of philosophy at King′s College. He originated the philosophy and popular culture genre of books as coeditor of the bestselling The Simpsons and Philosophy and has overseen recent titles, including House and Philosophy , Alice in Wonderland and Philosophy , and Mad Men and Philosophy.