Thematic Implications Of The Medicine In The Hunger Games Trilogy

The Hunger Games Trilogy,Susan Collins’ masterpiece,has long been regarded as one of the great dystopian novels of our time.Because of the richness of its content and subject matter,many scholars study it from multiple perspectives,such as morality,gender,nature,political issues and etc.But,there are few critics paying attention to the medical contents of this trilogy.Medical contents occupy a considerable part in the trilogy which plays a pivotal role in revealing the thematic implications of this trilogy.There are numerous detailed descriptions of the characters’ bodies,diseases and drugs.In the trilogy,Panem manipulates and tortures common people’s bodies through medical means in order to maintain its political status and deter rebels.An analysis of the causes of physical and mental illness in various districts also reveals Panem’s brutal methods of governance.The number and variety of drugs’ unenven distribution not only show the Capitol’s ruthless exploitation and the unrestrained plunder of regional resources,but also show how the authorities fight political enemies and exploit people by abusing the high-tech medical technology.This paper will focus on the three main parts: body,illness and drugs to explore Panem’s hegemonism and capital exploitation through the concept of Foucault’s theory on micro power and Deborah Lupton’s theory on medicine and culture.Through analyzing the medical contents in this trilogy,it can be found that medical unequal phenomena is closely related to social,political and cultural oppression.The analysis of medical contents in the trilogy not only reveals how power in Panem penetrates into medical field to realize governmentality and exploitation,but also reflects the various types of inequality and oppression in the real world.