The Capitol are the main antagonists of The Hunger Games franchise. The term is used to describe a technologically advanced, utopian city where the nation's most wealthy and powerful citizens reside, but is also the colloquial name for the ruling government of the nation of Panem. As a totalitarian dictatorship, it holds absolute political and economic dominance over the nation's twelve (previously thirteen) districts, enforcing its brutal rule through an army of Peacekeepers and imposing a centrally planned economy on all the districts.
History[]
The history of the nation of Panem is mostly unknown, although it is known that Panem exists in a post-apocalyptic world, ruled by a large group of wealthy elites residing in The Capitol.
The city is surrounded by the Rocky Mountains, which serve as a source of natural protection from outside invaders. During the First Rebellion, it is mentioned that the rebel forces attempted to scale the Rocky Mountains in an attempt to invade the Capitol. This proved to be a difficult undertaking, and mountains not only slowed down the rebel advance, but allowed the Capitol's Air Force to bomb them before they reached the other side. This loss presumably had a devastating impact on the rebel war effort and was most likely the catalyst for the war turning in favor of the Capitol.
Realizing that a rebel victory was unachievable, District 13 trained their nuclear missiles on the Capitol, threatening to destroy the city. Knowing that the Capitol possessed a secondary weapons stockpile in the west of the country, District 13 negotiated a peace treaty under threat of mutually assured destruction: By allowing District 13 to quietly secede from Panem and become an independent state, the citizens would withdraw all support for the rebels in the other districts and pretend to have been completely destroyed. Not wanting a nuclear war that could potentially wipe out the entire country, the Capitol reluctantly agreed to the terms.
Following this, the Capitol defeated the remaining rebel forces in the other twelve districts, and reestablished its iron grip on the country. As punishment for the failed rebellion, the Capitol instituted the Hunger Games, an annual event in which a young man and a young woman between the ages of 12-18 years from each district would be chosen to fight to the death in an arena, for the entertainment of the Capitol citizens and to punish the districts for their insurrection. Heavy restrictions were imposed on the districts, including the banning of travel by ordinary citizens.
Except for the Career Districts (1, 2, and 4), most of the districts live in abject poverty, especially the outlying ones such as District 11 and District 12.
Government and Political System[]
For most of its history, the Capitol held complete political and economic dominion over the nation of Panem, ruling its twelve (previously thirteen) administrative districts with an iron fist. The system of governance was decidedly a totalitarian dictatorship, bearing much similarity to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in the modern world. The Capitol imposed a centrally planned economy on all the districts, operating in a manner similar to that of Communist regimes. Mass surveillance was imposed on the districts, as well as a prohibition on traveling between the districts by regular citizens to prevent coordination.
The highest-ranking position of authority in the nation of Panem was the presidency. Although it is unknown how presidents come to power, the president possessed unlimited power throughout the nation of Panem, and was responsible for commanding the armed forces and organizing the annual Hunger Games. President Coriolanus Snow served as president throughout most of the trilogy, up until the overthrow of the Capitol in Mockingjay. He is mentioned to have been the president since at least the 50th Hunger Games, meaning that he maintained control of the country for at least twenty-five years. Previous presidents are mostly unknown, except for President Ravinstill, who was president during the 10th Hunger Games, and had led the nation through the First Rebellion.
Each district was headed by both a mayor and a Head Peacekeeper, the latter serving as the commander of the district's peacekeeping garrison. The two positions of authority serve to ensure that all production quotas are fulfilled. They serve no role as parliamentarian, senator, or congressman, and thus, the districts have no political representation. Thus, the brutal oppression, starvation, and suffering in the districts is either ignored or brutally enforced, and the Capitol uses it to keep the districts in line and in servitude.
The Capitol enforced its brutality and oppression through a large military force known as the Peacekeepers. The Peacekeepers serve as a militarized police force (a gendarmerie), land army, and air force. Most Peacekeepers are recruited from District 2, the Capitol's most favored district where its armed forces are headquartered.
Inhabitants[]
The Capitol people.
In contrast to the districts, residents of The Capitol live in extreme luxury, hedonism, and wealth, wearing the most expensive designer clothes as well as consuming the most elaborate meals. Their lives are far removed from the abject poverty and brutal oppression endured by the districts.
The Hunger Games is considered to be a prestigious sporting event. They show little sympathy nor sorrow towards the tributes and the nightmarish suffering they endure. However, they also enjoy sentimentality and melodrama, evidenced by their obsession over Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark. Many residents are also sponsors for tributes and pay money for packages of supplies that are then delivered to them in the arena. Despite their love of the Games, the Capitol citizens reacted negatively upon Peeta Mellark's announcement that Katniss Everdeen was pregnant during the Third Quarter Quell, with many of them demanding that the Games be stopped immediately after learning this.
Plutarch Heavensbee, a former high-ranking Capitol official who works as an underground leader for District 13 and the rebel forces, implies that most the people of the Capitol have traded their political/social aspirations in exchange of panem et circenses, or food and entertainment. Although the citizens of the Capitol are well-fed and mostly spared from the brutality and starvation endured by the citizens of the districts, they are still not exempt from the harsh laws governing dissent and rebellion. Capitol citizens who engage in such activities are brutally punished, as evidenced by Cinna, Katniss Everdeen's stylist, when he designed her wedding gown that transformed into a Mockingjay, earning the wrath of President Snow.
Fall[]
The Capitol
Despite their victory over the districts in the First Rebellion, and having maintained military and economic dominance over the nation for over seven decades, the continued oppression and humiliation only served to build up resentment and rebellion in the districts as time went on. However, open rebellion only begins to gain momentum following the controversial victory of Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark in the 74th Hunger Games, leading to riots and uprisings in various districts in the months thereafter, particularly in the outlying districts such as District 8 and District 11.
Following the destruction of the Hunger Games Arena during the Third Quarter Quell, full-scale rebellion erupts in nearly all of the districts, with Districts 8, 11, and 3 being the first ones to wrestle themselves from Capitol rule. After several months of warfare, the rebel forces, led and supported by District 13, succeed in overthrowing and defeating the Capitol, taking over all twelve districts and the city itself.
In the following weeks, Alma Coin declares herself to be the interim president of Panem and proceeds to consolidate power, planning for another Hunger Games using the children of the Capitol. Mass numbers of Capitol officials, including Peacekeepers, Gamemakers, military generals, and cabinet members were sentenced to public execution.
Katniss Everdeen, the mascot of the rebellion, was designated to publicly execute the deposed President Coriolanus Snow. However, during her final interaction with him, she learns that the bombing of the Capitol which killed mass numbers of children, including her own sister Primrose, was committed by none other than Coin, in an attempt to frame Snow. This prompts Everdeen to kill Coin at Snow's public execution, and Snow ends up lynched by a crowd of angry citizens desiring vengeance.
After this, an emergency election is organized, and Commander Paylor, the leader of the rebel forces in District 8, wins decisively. Under her administration, the Constitutional Republic was established, and the Hunger Games were permanently abolished.
Symbolism[]
The Capitol center.
Aside from the clear parallels that can be drawn to Ancient Rome (totalitarian and militaristic society with gladiator games), the Capitol and its actions are also a blatant attack on modern day culture. In particular, it is shown for the growing desensitization for the masses to violence, and how real-life violence is almost becoming as a source of entertainment as fictional violence. In a cruel twist therefore, the reader is in essence taking on the role of someone in the Capitol, as the reader too is watching children fight and kill each other for "entertainment".
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 Villains
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