LUCK IS NOT ON OUR SIDE: THE HUNGER GAMES DISTOPIA AS A CRITIQUE TO WESTERN SOCIETY

This dissertation aims, from the point of view that literature is a possible tool for denouncing society problems (BOOKER, 1994a), to understand how The hunger games criticizes the contemporary world, and, in order to do that, it intends to investigate the similarities between the world of the novel and the historical context of its publication. The Hunger Games (COLLINS, 2008) alludes to common to the discussions on the control and ideological domination of capitalist society of the 21st century and to dystopian fiction. This work understands dystopia as fictions influenced by utopian texts in which the presented society is radically worse than the one of the author and that seek to alert the reader about problems of present. Based on the understanding that the dystopian themes change according to their time, it is important to understand: which  themes are usually present in dystopias and what changes occurred in their approach through time; how the novel discusses the motif of dystopic literature and how the it resignify the themes; finally a parallel between the novel and the western society of the beginning of the 21st century is made. The research used the studies of the post-Marxist philosopher Žižek and his modern Marxist influences to understand post-9/11 society. In order to understand the relations between literature and society, the theoretical studies on dystopias of Booker (1994a, 1994b), Gottlieb (2001) and Suvin (2015) were examined. Finally, the studies of Averill (2013), Barbosa (2017), Gresh (2012) and Olthouse (2013) were used to analyze the subjects discussed in the novel. It is noticed that The hunger games criticizes the spectacularization of the reality and the relations of power present in the society. In addition, the novel suggests a behavior based on care and solidarity for the neighbor as a possibility to overcome these problems.