Hunger Games, Animal Farm and liberty.

The books I have recently read have a common theme, liberty. The Hunger Games is about how one girl inspires a rebellion against a totalitarian state, the Capitol. Katniss is a strong character who has to deal with media attention, staying alive, keeping others alive and inspiring a rebellion. The plot of the Hunger Games trilogy is based around the fight for liberty. However, Katniss ends up becoming a tool to bring down President Snow and is given little liberty.

Animal Farm by George Orwell is about the animals rebelling against the human farmers and creating a farm run by pigs. Similar to the Hunger Games, the leaders of the rebellion become corrupted by power and become no better than the previous regime. The pigs become human, just like the Soviet Union became a totalitarian state. Orwell was a socialist, but he was against any state control that threatened human liberty.

Coin, leader of the rebellion became corrupted by power and saw Katniss as a threat to her ambition to become the next President of Panem. Power can even corrupt those who fight from liberty.

My interpretation of these two works of fiction do not completely address the issue of liberty and the methods to achieve it. Moreover, universal agreement of the definition of liberty needs addressing. Is liberty the freedom to do what we want or is it the freedom to live our lives whilst following the laws created by the politicians we vote for? If the latter, then the issue of constitutional reform becomes an issue. In the USA they have two elected houses and the President is also elected directly. The UK may need a similar system to become fully democratic.

Reading dystopian novels can help give answers because they create an image of a world in crisis. In times of crisis governments make tough unpopular decisions. I do intend to read Nineteen-Eighty-Four, because it deals with the issue of too many cameras watching our every move. CCTV cameras are supported by people who have nothing to hide, but there is a danger that increased surveillance could lead to a big invasion of our privacy. I will end the post here as the debate is endless.