Like Sleeping Beauty But Nocturnal

"Does it really matter if your cage is solid gold when you aren’t allowed to leave it? A cage is a cage, no matter how gilded."

I’m not going to stick with economic terms for much of this ask and if that’s what you are searching for, please let me know and I can give a better assessment regarding e.g. market or demand economy. Panem clearly displays aspects of both, but I don’t think that’s going to be very helpful because most systems are somewhat mixed while not at all being the same, and in the end it doesn’t matter much for an in-depth analysis.

We know there is some kind of movement of goods from the Districts toward the Capitol. The Districts, here, are those who provide to the Capitol. Even the Capitol people remark on this dependency when Octavia complains to Katniss about the lack of seafood in Catching Fire:

“Why couldn't you get shrimp? Is it out of season?” I ask. “Oh, Katniss, we haven't been able to get any seafood for weeks!” says Octavia. “You know, because the weather's been so bad in District Four.”

While that makes the Capitol a very powerful entity as they receive resources from a District and likely redistribute them to other Districts, making them dependent on the Capitol, the Capitol is, in turn, dependent on the Districts for receiving those goods to be consumed by their own citizens as well. Who exactly owns the production remains uncertain in the trilogy; but we know from tbosas that private citizens - such as the Plinths or the Snows - can own production plants. Personally, I doubt that District citizens remain in such powerful positions as owning whole companies, but we see ownership of production in District 12 with the bakery or the butcher. Anyhow, back to the Capitol. I don't think it is off to assume that the large production plants are owned by Capitol people. Even if I'm no fan of tbosas, we see that those large owners became part of the Capitol (Plinth).

So, the movement of goods is not per se free between the Districts, but it appears to be rather free in the Capitol. We know that when Octavia plans a large party which requires resources. We also know it because fashion is rapidly evolving as evidenced by

Apparently my mockingjay pin has spawned a new fashion sensation, because several people come up to show me their accessories. My bird has been replicated on belt buckles, embroidered into silk lapels, even tattooed in intimate places. Everyone wants to wear the winner's token.

And it seems a key point in the indoctrination of the Capitol citizens; consumerism as a key of keeping the Capitol distracted requires goods to flow within the market. Their fashion as well as their entertainment is fast-paced.

They are not used to want, so any little disruption in supply makes an impact on them.

As someone who has lived in a country whose history briefly dabbled in a command / government regulated economy, waiting times for products were highly common. Bananas were a big celebration and waiting times for a car were immense as the government, central regulator of the produced goods, could not keep up with demand. Hence, it’s highly likely that companies - not the government - within the Capitol are responsible for e.g. the production of the mockingjay pin replicas.

A little interesting side note is that it is reasonable to assume that the Capitol had a decent black market. Plutarch asks Katniss about the hob in Mockingjay, and the way he phrases the question (stress on the “EVEN Twelve”) suggests that more places than 12 have a black market. Plutarch, a Capitol native, is likely not referring to the economy of District Eight here:

"Or at least there'd be the option of a little side action," says Plutarch. "I mean, even Twelve had a black market, right?"

Moving to income and assets, what I (personally) think the fandom overlooks a bit too often is the fact that the Capitol isn’t all rich. The most prominent characters we meet are obviously the representatives of how we view the Capitol: Caesar, Effie, Seneca, Plutarch, Cinna, and Snow are likely to come to mind first. Four of those six have heritage that reaches back to the Dark Days (even if it pains my heart to include Caesar in there). We have a few hints to a class system in the trilogy, and surely in tbosas, too, but i really don’t care about the prequel:

"My brother worked down here after he became an Avox," says Castor. Of course. Who else would they get to maintain these dank, evil-smelling passages mined with pods? "Took five years before we were able to buy his way up to ground level. Didn't see the sun once."

This is a quote from Castor who talked about having to get his brother out. I want to point to the fact that it took them five years to do so (and also the hint either at families being able to buy back their “traitors” and/or a slavery system where you can purchase avoces (tbosas). it’s likely both). Either way, it’s five years to get the money together. Five. Years.

For instance, join the Peacekeepers and your debts are forgiven. Many people are swamped in debt in the Capitol, but not all of them are fit for military duty.

This quote was made by Plutarch in Mockingjay, is most peculiar perhaps as the idea of swimming in debt is not only commonplace in many countries in our current world (squ/ d game being based on s. K / rea’s debt problem), but within the world it quite much makes sense, no? We have a system that is based on distraction through consumption and it appears quite so fast-paced that - to keep up - not just a few but MANY people go into debt. Even if movie =/= books, the Capitol people we see are all well-dressed (for their society) and yet many of them are likely in debt.

There are a few poky stores--one that buys used goods, another that sells fake jewelry. [...] "Wait until you see the prices! Believe me, it's half what you pay on the avenues!"

This scene happens in Mockingjay before Katniss and Co. enter Tigris’ shop. Not only is there a market to buy used clothes - hence people who cannot afford new clothes - but another one that sells fake jewellery. Meaning, there’s a market for giving off the impression that you are better off than you actually are. Lastly, obviously the very interesting hint at there being expensive shops (on the avenues? oh? I do love some hints at the Capitol’s urban design). The Capitol is clearly a city where rich and poor people live, and they certainly don’t share the same shopping street(s).

I also briefly want to dive into nepotism here, which has been alluded to in tbosas. I mentioned that four of the six characters above have family ties, and it is likely negatively affecting a wealth gap between those who have those family ties and those who do not. The two whose names are not mentioned - Effie Trinket and Cinna who doesn’t even have a surname - work for the least favoured District with the fewest winners (?) in the history of the Hunger Games. Climbing up the ladder seems really quite difficult.

The government itself doesn’t appear interested in changing the current system much. I doubt Snow minds a class system all too much - he has proven to think that way - but it obviously further divides the Capitol and climbing up or falling down the ladder can happen both in the favour of Snow. In short, I assume he has quite a hand in who receives economic favours and who does not, but that’s mostly a continuation of his character in tbosas than pure canon.

The propo team is quite interesting as it’s safe to assume they are not as well off as the other (likely older) Capitol characters we have met. Because of them, we know that there is a policy area which, to me, appears somewhat government-regulated, namely housing:

Messalla proves most valuable because he lived in a near replica of this apartment and knows where people would be most likely to stash food. Like how there's a storage space concealed by a mirrored panel in the bedroom, or how easy it is to pop out the ventilation screen in the hallway.

It's why no one ever wants the center unit. Workmen coming and going whenever and no second bath. But the rent's considerably cheaper."

This is interesting because it can hint at several reasons as to why they are all the same. The image that immediately is evoked for me is Soviet-style apartments, because the phrase itself has a similar image of copy+paste living places. (I have quite my own thoughts on the urban design of the Capitol, but this would be too much in this ask). But obviously those can also come up if there is a rapid need for housing. Assuming the Capitol is quite small, I wouldn't even be surprised if housing is an issue. So much so that workers going through your apartment is okay because the rent is cheap.

Anyhow, I want to end this post with an insight I've had while collecting the citations. Most of us remember this semi-famous line of thought Katniss had when the prep team spoke about the party one of them planned and, had Katniss been born in the capitol, if those were her main problems as well. However, I had forgotten the tension during the apartment scene while Messalla explains the living situation and Leeg, Gale, and Finnick all appear rightfully resentful at such easy struggles.

Well, first thing I had to do was look up on wikia to see which characters only had first names so I guess that tells you plenty about how many first-name-only characters I focus on. Whops! And as per usual, it’s going to be Capitol characters.

Let's start with Cressida, Pollux and Co. Along with Messalla's comments on the apartments, I headcanon all of them to have originated from middle class with Cressida being the most well off and Pollux and Castor's family having experienced a fall from grace with Pollux becoming an avox. This, treachery, being one of the main reasons why families will fall down the social ladders.

In addition, I picture them to have met in the Capitol before they left to 13. As they are a film crew, and as the only show we truly know being Caesar's, I have headcanoned them as having met as part of Caesar's crew. My personal views here are that Caesar usually keeps a similar crew between the Hunger Games show and his (my HC) own "Late Night" show, hence them having grown acquainted with different types of live television. Those are valuable skills they obtained before fleeing to 13 (maybe when freeing Pollux?).

This connection of them with Caesar fits neatly into the throwaway line that "Cressida and Pollux have been sent out into the districts to cover the wreckage of the war". Meaning, Caesar is the one interviewing people to document what is missing and while Cressida directs and Pollux handles the camera work. I think it would be a fitting fate to Caesar, alas, he has a surname so I shall not elaborate.

There's some loose thoughts I have about Cinna's joining to the rebel cause. Why and when he chose District 12 and when exactly he was aiding the rebellion has remained a mystery to us, but I imagine those two as being related. I do not think it is any coincidence that Cinna suddenly was District 12's stylist. I think much of his motivation, as he himself admits, was based on having volunteered. He might have known exactly what he was doing and for what purpose.

There are some ideas about him potentially having known Tigris, and while this generally appeals to me for the fact that we know Tigris was in contact with Cinna, I think this might have been more the connection between an already fallen Tigris who took on an apprentice in her craft when she already owned her secondhand shop. Eventually, Tigris might have introduced Cinna to Plutarch.

While I theorise that he saw Peeta winning that whole thing on that very night, meeting him again & again in front of a camera was seeing a genius bounce off of another genius to watching a kid deteriorate in front of his eyes.

I think more than once before the war began, Caesar must have seen something in Peeta that resembled himself. There was this kid with so much talent and charisma that he could have given Caesar a run for it had he been born in the Capitol.

While we learn that they used to do that pre-war, the radicalisation in the Capitol's belief of their own superiority calls for a separation in their daily lives from the District citizens. De-humanising the District people through physical separation, propaganda can shape the image of what their daily lives must look like. No longer are they dependent on being faced with reality ever so often; or the Capitol having to frequently assure that their own citizens are not seeing the plight of the Districts.

De-facto, the artificial domes of past Games are likely what have replaced any previous vacation spots. They are fast to travel to with a diverse landscape. While Katniss cites them as spots to re-enact the Games, they might also be re-used as relaxation spots. Capitol people knowingly going skiing in the mountains where Titus died, getting the kids to play by the water where tributes drowned in Annie's games, or going camping in between Rue's final moments. It's a perfidious ignorance and a complicity in their own actions.

Sunrise on the Reaping will begin with the morning of the reaping for the 50th Games (a.k.a. The Second Quarter Quell), which, as we know, are the Games that Haymitch competed in. Obviously these games have particular significance because of Haymitch’s perceived act of rebellion in utilizing the force field to win the games in a last act of survival. Such relates more literally and directly to the themes of propaganda and misinformation which Suzanne sets out to explore within this book. More specifically, there is a lot of room to explore the ways in which people in the Districts and the Capitol perceived this, but also to explore the ways in which the Capitol went about framing this to the public and the propaganda which most likely ensued following this act. Even, then, the Quell is such a specific and unique event that the propaganda that goes into these Games in particular is also fascinating as they are meant to further emphasize and reiterate the Capitol’s framing of why the Games exist in the first place: a reminder of what happens when you defy the Capitol (I say framing because TBOSAS showed us how Snow and Gaul perceived the existence of the Games).

However, there’s also a particular metaphorical interpretation of the choice of Haymitch’s Games as well.

First off, thank you for the support on that essay of a post. I feel exceptionally passionate about reproductive literacy and power of choice to control your life and body. So thank you for your support there.

Secondly..this is an interesting question.

I think if you were to ask tribute in the academy, and then in the immediate years after the games, most would say yes. No brainer. Not necessarily because they'd be good at parenting, or want to raise kids, but because especially in 1 and 2 it's about glory and pride. think for them at first they'd be like "well we need to pass on the glory, continue the legacy of greatness." I often joke that if you pair up victors, but especially carers, you hit the genetic lottery in terms of the games. That's survival of the fittest, literal principles of genetic diversity and population health. So at least in training, and in the first few years, most would be like yeah. Obviously. We owe it to the future of the district to continue the line of champions, to carry on the glory.

However. Notably from what we hear in Mockingjay and Catching Fires very few victors have kids, and If i'm not mistaken we don't know of any careers who do. Only one victor in the quell is a parent, a woman from district 8 who is pulled off of her three children as she goes back into the games.

We could say it's because the careers don't have the affection or capability to parent. Theres no requirement in Panem though, to bc good parents.

I believe that even the careers, the best victors there were, learn quickly it is not worth it.

They are sex trafficked, and their families are threatened if they don't comply. Why would they add someone else to threaten?

We also know the relatives of Victors are reaped at a higher frequency than is statistically likely. Maybe, even knowing their own successes, they don't want to watch and possibly lose their own kids to this fate.

Finnick Odair ends up a parent, but even that decision is not until he's literally in a war. He would rather have a child in an active war zone than as a victor living in the lap of the capitol elite. That feels intentional on the part of Suzanne Collins. That being said, that could have been an accident, but one that was conveniently timed to not overlap with Finnick being abused.

What we see in CF and Mockingjay, even Cashmere, Gloss, Enobaria, and Brutus are not having a "yay more Hunger Games" moment. Cashmere is described with Johanna and Finnick as problem victors. Enobaria is noticeably excited to join hands in the act of defiance.

Even the careers are no longer disillusioned by the capitol and the life after the games.

I think in a world without the games, in a world post rebellion, if there had been any careers left they might have. There's no more glory raising a future victor, but like Katniss, they might have seen it as safe enough to have their own children. They wouldn't be a pawn to be exploited, or to be weaponized to get their parents to comply. They'd just be kids. Maybe for ex careers, that would have been good enough.

I have this idea that The Mockingjay was a symbol of the rebellion and was likely used in the Capitol to denote undercover operatives long before Katniss came onto the scene. What we know: 1.) Mockingjays are an unintended byproduct of the Capitol through the mating of their lab created muttation, the Jabberjay, and the local Mockingbird. 2.) The Mockingjays mimic sounds and vocalizations (not words, but cadence and song, yes.) 3.) After Katniss is reaped, Madge Undersee gives Katniss a gold Mockingjay pin. We later find that this pin belonged to Maysilee Donner, Madge's aunt who was a fallen tribute in the 2nd Quarter Quell and a district partner and games ally to Haymitch Abernathy. 4.) Recycled background footage of the ruins of District 13 included a shot of a Mockingjay in the corner of the screen. 5.) After the war, Plutarch was appointed to Secretary of Communications. Meaning that he is in charge of televised programming. 6.) The rebellion/mentors used bread as a form of communication during the Quarter Quell. The District bread representing the day and the number of loaves representing the hours. 7.) Bonnie and Twill showed Katniss a wafer/cracker with the Mockingjay symbol stamped into it. Speculations I have made considering the above: 1. & 2.) The rebels used the mockingjay to send coded messages to each other through song. Songs like "The Hanging Tree" being a call to arms, a warning, or an echolocation tactic. Rue mentions using the mockingjays to signal to the workers that their shift is over. Peeta remembers hearing Mr. Everdeen sing to the mockingjays. Mrs. Everdeen was absolutely furious when she learned that Mr. Everdeen had been singing this song in front of their daughters. All of this leads me to believe that the mockingjays were co-opted by the rebellion to communicate with each other where they otherwise would have been unable to. There is plenty of evidence in human history of music being used as a code. So none of this seems unlikely. 3.) Madge, likely knowing SOME of the history of the mockingjay given her father's status as Mayor gives this pin as a sign to Haymitch. She's cashing in her chips for Katniss in the hopes that this message gets to whoever it needs to in order to help her. Madge places a HUGE importance on Katniss wearing the pin right away. Even going as far as pinning it to Katniss' dress herself. This makes me believe that The Mockingjay symbol didn't become important because of Katniss. It was ALREADY important, and Madge was COUNTING on that. Later we learn that Rue specifically trusted Katniss because of the pin. I wonder if in District 11 especially, the Mockingjay is connoted with trust, safety, freedom, and hope. This could be an interpretation passed down from the First Rebellion and the Dark Days that has loosely made it's way into Rue's generation as just a generic symbol of "good" 4. & 5.) During the Victor rescue mission of Peeta, Johanna, and Annie, we learn from Haymitch that undercover operatives within the Capitol will likely have their covers blown as a result. This tells me that there are likely significantly more people in the Capitol that were part of the Resistance than we are aware of. I believe that there were likely already people undercover within the airwaves that Plutarch eventually took over. I do not think that the continued use of the District 13 footage with the mockingjay was an accident or an error. I believe it was completely intentional and was a message to the right audience that District 13, and the Rebellion, was still active, if laying low. It is no coincidence that both Bonnie and Twill, and Lavinia and the boy she was with, were all likely heading to District 13. That was the intended purpose of the footage. A sign to all possible refugees that District 13 wasn't as "gone" as it was made out to be.

@curiousnonny

I think the answer, in part, lies in this exchange from Mockingjay. Peeta has told Katniss he remembers the bread:

"We were outside at the end of the day. I tried to catch your eye. You looked away. And then...for some reason, I think you picked a dandelion." I nod. He does remember. I have never spoken that moment aloud. "I must have loved you a lot." "You did." My voice catches and I pretend to cough. "And did you love me?" he asks. I keep my eyes on the tiled floor. "Everyone says I did. That's why Snow had you tortured. To break me."

Peeta pretty consistently shows that he engages in his relationship with Katniss with her consent to the degree that is possible at the time. The Games complicate this dynamic, of course, and so her consent comes through being compelled to respond to his declaration and the audience's expectations, but at the same time, she is attracted to Peeta and likes him/his company. For things in their control, however, we have Peeta saying things like "Remember, we're supposed to be madly in love, so it's all right to kiss me anytime you feel like it" and asking her if being friends in CF would work for her. Katniss describes their sleeping arrangement as "let[ting] him into my bed," and on the rooftop when Peeta wants to freeze the moment he says, "if you'll allow it." After the QQ interview, one of the couple times he doesn't seek her consent first, he asks her if he has anything to apologize for. Even here above, he's looking for what she feels. There's a lot going on in his mind and if she said yes who knows if he would have believed her, but it's another example of Peeta searching to know Katniss.

So what was Peeta waiting for all of those years? Katniss's consent, or at least an invitation.

He says he tried to catch her eye. He probably saw this as a moment they might connect. She might give him a smile or hold his gaze, and he would know it was okay to approach her, to say something. But instead, she looks away. Her focus is on a dandelion, not him. He has no idea what's really going on in her head, so he takes this as her way of saying "I'm not interested in talking to you."

In the prequel, volunteering is not yet a common practice. The tenth Hunger Games lack the entertainment quality the trilogy has, where we possibly get the first parade (TBOSAS, 9), a first version of stylists (TBOSAS, 11), and a sponsor system (TBOSAS, 7) with many more changes to come in the epilogue. Many have theorised that Quarter Quells did not yet exist and would later be invented by Snow and his mentor.

The First Quarter Quell remains a mystery to us outside of its premise. We learn that “as a reminder to the rebels that their children were dying because of their choice to initiate violence, every district was made to hold an election and vote on the tributes who would represent it.” (CF, 12).

Due to its voting for a tribute, it could be possible that the First Quarter Quell popularised volunteering in some Districts.

The initial task for the First Quarter Quell indicates punishment: It wants to remind the rebels that their children are not safe, thus targeting those within the District communities who had fought against their oppressors. The election is meant to sow distrust among each other: fear that one’s neighbours will vote for one’s child. The Capitol wants to prevent another uprising by separating community.

However, some Districts might have defied this concept: They could have talked amongst each other who would be the likeliest to survive the arena, and possibly had children volunteer to be elected. This concept would have offered safety for everyone else, and those who volunteered to be voted for would likely have been seen as brave protecting those who might have had to go into the arena instead.

This tactic could have gained popularity in the Career Districts—District 1, 2, and 4—and could have been brought up the year after the First Quarter Quell:

If tributes had been seen as heroic protectors of the community, why not apply this system for the years after the First Quarter Quell? Why not have the strongest volunteer?

Through this, a culture could have developed: Different Career Districts would likely develop at different speeds and into different directions. District 2 might have developed this concept faster and moved more into the general bravery of the tributes, whereas District 4 might have taken longer and moved into the aspect of protecting the community more.

The First Quarter Quell as the starting moment for professionalised volunteering marks it as an interesting moment in history. It would line up with the other two known Quarter Quells, which both defied the Capitol in unexpected ways: Haymitch’s abuse of the forcefield as a weapon, and Katniss’ destruction of the arena are both ways that left the Quarter Quells with long-lasting effects against the Capitol.