How is Panem like Nazi Germany?

JULIE HUHN

How is Panem like Nazi Germany?

The situation in Panem is similar to that of Nazi Germany in that both countries consist of an elite group of people who inflict constant pain on those who are beneath them.  In Panem, the people of the Capitol are very rich, while the people in each of the twelve remaining districts are extremely poor.  The cause of their poverty?  The Capitol.  The people of the districts are treated very unfairly—to say the least—by the Capitol; the districts supply the resources the Capitol needs, and are paid very little for their hard labor.  Similarly, in Nazi Germany, the German military oppressed the Jewish community, placing boycotts on their businesses and segregating them from the rest of the society.  The Nazis even went so far as to place the Jews into concentration camps where they would work literally to death without even receiving the necessities of life.  In a way, the Capitol places people from the districts in a kind of concentration camp, too—the Hunger Games arena.  Instead of mass groups of people being placed in the arena, however, only twenty-four per year are placed here: two children from each district.  Just like in concentration camps, these kids who were chosen for the Hunger Games were put in the arena specifically to die in their line of work there—entertainment.  Their deaths were an important source of entertainment to the people of the Capitol, and were mandatory viewing for the people of the districts, meant to be a reminder of their rebellion.  Because the Nazis and the Capitol both oppressed and tortured their people, they are a lot more alike than you would think.

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