Hunger
Games tells the story of Panem (a country established in North America after
the near extinction of human race) and how the wealthy and advanced Capitol
takes control of the twelve poorer districts by an inhumane method known as the
Hunger Games. It is an annual event where each district is forced to send a boy
and a girl to participate a game wherein they need to kill the others to be
declared as a victor.
With
these things said, Catching Fire, the second book in the Hunger Games trilogy
of Suzanne Collins, is considered a science fiction for it gives the readers her
own prediction of our future. She illustrates the next age as an era where only
few people are left. She also assumes that people will be able to generate
future machineries capable of performing mass killings such as modern air craft,
high calibre bows that can shoot down an air plane, and mutts (mutations) which
are made in laboratories. There is also a force field that can prevent the
participants from escaping the arena and toss back everything you throw at it.
Following the trend of events we have – people being killed by super storms and
wars of different countries – Collins’s prophecy has actually a relatively high
chance of becoming true. Nevertheless, it is still uncertain if our world will
suffer exactly the same fate of Panem.
Whether
it is a commentary film about the past, present or future of human society, it
is clearly a story set in the distant future where humans have already the
strength of the gods because of their own arsenal of high-tech weapons. However, it also incorporates the basic livelihood
of early civilizations up to present third world countries. These are farming,
fishing, and mining. Moreover, if you analyze the book and movie, one will be
able to tell that its main theme has actually a touch of the past. Clearly, “Hunger
games” is actually a modern type of gladiator fights.
Going
back to the fictional world of Suzanne Collins and how science, particularly
technology, affected their society. It was clear that through science, people
can create machines that will help them in their daily activities by maximizing
physical effort and saving time such as wheels and levers. With the Capitol’s
advance knowledge in physics, mathematics, and other sciences, they were able
to survive the catastrophic incident that nearly finished the entire human
race. In this sense, technology was able to be a decisive tool that kept humans
alive. Without it, the survivors would not be able to regroup and establish a durable
shelter that would save them from harmful chemicals and radiation.
Unfortunately, it is also because of this technology that made the world
unbalanced. The disaster that caused massive killings before the story could be
because of a misuse of modern artillery. Finally, the new form of technology of
the Capitol eliminated the concept of humanity. Technology failed its purpose.
2013-10197
Al Francis Masallo
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