This past week the class has been reading Takaki’s Strangers from a Different Shore. After reading a good chunk of the book I have already found some similarities from the reading to the Hunger Games trilogy.
One of the first similarities I found was, in general, all the Asians were somewhat separated. They all worked in different areas or kept with their own race; for instance, Japanese usually kept with the Japanese, or Chinese kept with the Chinese for the most part. Also, they all had their own place of work. Most Chinese worked on the railroads or in the mines. The Japanese usually worked in the fields with the Pilipino/a and Koreans. In the Hunger Games there are different districts, a total of twelve, but they are all kept to be with their own district. They know of each other and can communicate, but very minimally. Each district is known for something; for instance, District 12 is known for the coal mines and District 7 is known for its lumber. Each district is responsible for gathering what they are known for and giving what is asked to the Capital. The Capital of course is the government that runs all twelve districts.
Secondly, I found that all the Asians expected to be taken care of and be rich in America. America was portrayed as a land of opportunity and better living; unfortunately, that is not how it worked out and they ended up being oppressed by the government. In The Hunger Games the government portrays themselves as the districts saviors and is giving them better living situations, but in reality the districts are suffering.
Next, riots were handled the same. In Takaki, he talks about how when riots broke out the government would cut off all their resources and make the Asians need them; or authorities or land owners would fight them or beat who ever acted out. In the Hunger Games, any sign of resistance or riots, action was taken very quickly. The Capital would cut off food supply or punish the individuals involved physically.
Also, not only in Takaki but in The Beautiful Country, a film we recently watched, Asians were given contracts, deals, or debts to pay off for them being brought here. In The Beautiful Country Binh is supposed to pay off , $5,227 in two years of slave work. In Strangers from a Different Shore many Asian men and women had to pay off their debts as well: for the men they paid it off in slave work and women had to pay their dues off in prostitution. For The Hunger Games people from the districts can “buy” food, water, or other resources from the Capital to give to their families or business in exchange for their service in the Capital or more name entries if who was asking was under 18 years old. For instance, Gale, Katniss’s good friend is given bread from the peace keepers (officers of the government) for his name to be entered 42 times in the next reaping.
Lastly, the JACP (Japanese American Curriculum Project) was a group of Japanese who wanted to go along with the government to gain America’s trust while other Japanese members did not want to do it or did not understand. So there was sort of a divide between the Japanese based on who wanted to trust the government and who wanted to stay tied to their own cultural ways. In The Hunger Games many districts trusted Katniss Everdeen to be one of them; however, in Catching Fire (Hunger Games second movie) she goes along with the Capital and converts to their way of how they depict she should be. This leads to the other districts to distrust her and causes a divide between the districts, even her own.
I find these similarities very interesting because what is being talked about in The Hunger Games has somewhat already happened. I wonder if anyone who is not taking this class or other cultural/history class knows that these events are similar to real life happenings. Anyhow, I am anxious to see what else I can compare to the Hunger Games with this class to better my understanding and knowledge of Asian/American Pop-Culture.
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