Common Themes in The Hunger Games and Hitler Youth
Two of the summer reading books, The Hunger Games and Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler’s Shadows, share common themes. The themes of rebellion, resistance, morality, government censorship, and oppression will be explored in this essay.
In The Hunger Games, rebellion and resistance were the most dominant themes. The way that the Districts rebelled against the Capitol is strikingly similar to some of the people who tried to resist Hitler’s reign as chancellor during World War II. This is a very important theme because rebellion is what caused the Capitol to create the Hunger Games. The Hunger Games were created as a punishment for the rebellion of the Districts against the Capitol. Without rebellion, there would have been no Games for the tributes to compete in.
There were also several times in The Hunger Games when Katniss rebelled and tried to resist the Capitol’s control. Early in the book, Katniss went outside the government’s fence to hunt. When Katniss was showing off her skills to the sponsors, she rebelled against them when they didn’t pay any attention to her. She shot the apple in the pig’s mouth as an act of rebellion. Also, when Rue died, Katniss covered Rue’s body in flowers. She knew this would make the Capitol angry. Also, at the end of the Games, after Katniss learned that she and Peeta couldn’t both win, she threatened suicide by eating the berries. This act of defiance showed how Katniss didn’t want the Capitol to control her. She was rebelling against their rules by showing that she controlled the outcome.
In Hitler Youth: Growing Up In Hitler’s Shadows, kids rebelled against their parents and joined the Hitler Youth. Other forms of resistance played big parts in this book. Some parents resisted Nazi rule by speaking out, for example, but suffered a consequence if caught.