Coriolanus Snow finds out about Hobbes

If you’ve read Suzanne Collins’ masterpiece (yes), you know that the Hunger Games are these annual events in which children from the 12 districts of Panem fight to the death for the entertainment of the Capitol. Charming, is it not? 

The Games were established as part of the Treaty of Treason after the First Rebellion, or "The Dark Days," to punish the districts for rebelling against the Capitol - honestly, why did they even do that? It's not like they were enslaved… Yes, they did have to work to exhaustion to provide for the people of the Capitol, who, themselves, worked to exhaustion to follow the latest trend in fashion and eat and drink and gossip (so tiring, I know…).

Anyways, the Hunger Games are called that way because the rebels cut the provision of food the Capitol was relying on, so as payback, they thought, “Let's use their children to teach them a lesson”. And what a lesson it has been! Imagine being a district teenager and knowing that every 4th of July, your name might be picked in the reaping along with the name of another kid, probably one of your classmates or their siblings. Imagine knowing that you'll eventually have to kill that other kid you know, or they will kill you. A lot more stressful than writing your Bachelor's thesis, if you ask me.

But why did the Capitol decide to use children for the Games? They were either babies or not even born when the rebellion happened. Maybe because it is the harshest punishment they came up with, one that would prevent another movement of protestation with certainty? As in "see-what-we-can-do-don't-start-again" type of thing. Might be. In reality, the Capitol's explanation lies in Hobbesian thought and the famous "homo homini lupus est." 

In the prequel Ballad of Songbird and Snakes, Coriolanus Snow (beautiful name for a beautiful soul), future president of Panem, has to write an essay about the aim of the Games. He first thinks about what I wrote above, a terrible, but necessary punishment to keep the rebellion at bay. Despite acknowledging that the Games are a bit cruel, he believes that the districts deserve this. They started the war that scarred him for life. The war that killed both his parents, leaving him poor and miserable. The war that showed him that people will do anything if they are desperate enough, like his neighbour, who resorted to cannibalism to feed his starving family. In short, the chaos of the Dark Days exposed the worst of the human race to Coriolanus. 

The human race is a strange thing. Highly intelligent creatures, yet capable of the most terrible atrocities. Here comes Hobbes, English philosopher of the 16th century, who defended that humans are naturally solitary, poor, nasty, and brutal. They strive for their own survival and peace, and cannot differentiate what is right from what is wrong, making them very competitive, selfish, and potentially lethal to one another. To counter this unflattering state of nature, humans need an absolute power that makes the laws and keeps them in awe. They need a powerful sovereign to whom they give away their individual freedom for protection. This is the social contract that has been established to keep men out of their brutish essence. The head controls the body, and everyone is happy. 

Back to Suzanne Collins’ universe, the head does control the body, but the body is not really protected by the head, is it? The body is thrown into an arena to fight or die, re-enacting the state of nature. That is the meaning of the Games, showing human beings for who they truly are, or for who they could truly be if the order established was to be challenged. That is why they chose the children. Even the most innocent and vulnerable creatures will murder each other if it means ensuring their survival. 

Coriolanus witnesses his own state of nature when he retrieves Sejanus from the arena and, overwhelmed by his need to survive, kills a tribute. He realizes how easily it is for civilization to disappear. He, an Academy student from a noble family (it does not get more civilized than that), murdered a child. That’s probably when he becomes the Snow we know from the Hunger Games series and his obsession with control. Without control, chaos is certain, and chaos is to be avoided. The Games act as a stark reminder of that. They are “humanity undressed,” as Dr Gaul would say. They highlight how essential it is to have a strong head. 

Spoiler alert, Mr. Snow, in 64 years, you’ll meet a young woman who will show you (and the entire Capitol) that there is more to human nature than blood-thirsty animals. 

 “The show is not over until the mockingjay sings.”