Presentation Type
Paper
Abstract
Forests are contested terrains in literature. The woods are a bucolic setting far removed from the hectic, bustling world of the city or the grueling challenges of industrial life. At the same time, however, the forest challenges us – in the woods, we must take stock of ourselves, overcome unfamiliar obstacles, and face our fears. The forested settings of the Hunger Games – both natural and manmade – force tributes to wrestle with the nature of human freedom. Drawing upon political theorists from Thomas Hobbes to Isaiah Berlin, my paper also explores how tributes face a choice between positive and negative liberty as they seek to survive in a deadly environment. Despite his impassioned defense of the sovereign’s absolute power, Hobbes argues that individuals may refuse to do certain things. For example, despite the sovereign’s power over the people, individuals retain a right to self-defense. In addition, persons ordered “to abstain from the use of food, air, medicine, or any other thing, without which he cannot live” have “the liberty to disobey.” This exercise of what Hobbes terms the “true liberty of subjects” is at the root of Katniss’s decision to disobey the Capitol’s prohibition against entering the thick woods surrounding District 12. Her actions illustrate the enduring tensions between individual liberty and obligation in Hobbes’s thought. In the dystopian setting of Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen grows up in the woods. The woods provide shelter, resources, and a supportive environment where she learns to climb, forage, hide, hunt, and track. These skills and the strength of character she develops in the forest transform her from a downtrodden teenager to a huntress. In choosing to enter the forest to fish, gather greens, and hunt for fowl, she controls her fate. Without the bounty of the forest, her family would starve. In the woods, Katniss also learns self-reliance and control. Although the Capitol forces her to enter the arena, she retains control over her own life.
Keywords
freedom forest Hunger Games Thomas Hobbes political theory
Included in
Appalachian Studies Commons, Children's and Young Adult Literature Commons, Political Theory Commons
Into the Woods: Freedom and the Forest in the Hunger Games
Forests are contested terrains in literature. The woods are a bucolic setting far removed from the hectic, bustling world of the city or the grueling challenges of industrial life. At the same time, however, the forest challenges us – in the woods, we must take stock of ourselves, overcome unfamiliar obstacles, and face our fears. The forested settings of the Hunger Games – both natural and manmade – force tributes to wrestle with the nature of human freedom. Drawing upon political theorists from Thomas Hobbes to Isaiah Berlin, my paper also explores how tributes face a choice between positive and negative liberty as they seek to survive in a deadly environment. Despite his impassioned defense of the sovereign’s absolute power, Hobbes argues that individuals may refuse to do certain things. For example, despite the sovereign’s power over the people, individuals retain a right to self-defense. In addition, persons ordered “to abstain from the use of food, air, medicine, or any other thing, without which he cannot live” have “the liberty to disobey.” This exercise of what Hobbes terms the “true liberty of subjects” is at the root of Katniss’s decision to disobey the Capitol’s prohibition against entering the thick woods surrounding District 12. Her actions illustrate the enduring tensions between individual liberty and obligation in Hobbes’s thought. In the dystopian setting of Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen grows up in the woods. The woods provide shelter, resources, and a supportive environment where she learns to climb, forage, hide, hunt, and track. These skills and the strength of character she develops in the forest transform her from a downtrodden teenager to a huntress. In choosing to enter the forest to fish, gather greens, and hunt for fowl, she controls her fate. Without the bounty of the forest, her family would starve. In the woods, Katniss also learns self-reliance and control. Although the Capitol forces her to enter the arena, she retains control over her own life.
Comments
This is an initial overview of my argument, which will be more fully developed in the coming months. This paper builds upon a previous paper presented in 2018 at the annual meeting of the Popular Culture Association of the South. In response to readers' comments, I'm thoroughly overhauling my initial draft to provide a more cohesive argument and a clearer presentation.