Bardales 1

Melissa Bardales
English 113A
Professor Filbeck
December 12, 2014
Sacrifices of the World and the Hunger Games
The United States over the years has been the place where people from all across the world
come and pursue what is called the American Dream. The American Dream means coming to a
place in where there is a variety of opportunities leading the individual to success and achievement
through of the individuals hard work. In the film The Hunger Games, by Gary Ross we view the
dystopian country of Panem in which it is divided into 12 poor districts. Each year every district
must send a girl and a boy between the ages of 14 and 18 as tributes to the Capitol. In the Capitol
the Hunger Games is set as part of entertainment to the people, while Katniss Everdeen and Peeta
Mellark the tributes of District 12 are working hard and fighting their way with the rest of the
tributes, having only one district survive and making their district better. While Katniss and Peeta
struggled to survive and provide for their families, in the real world it closely mirrors the
experience of undocumented immigrants in the U.S. In both cases, government policy causes a
lack of resources that prevents the people from succeeding.
Over the years now the American Dream has been a subject that is not much heard about now a
days and there is still some people trying to achieve it. This year in Presidents Obama
immigration reform speech he stated that Americas immigration system is broken. He touches
on the fact that all those who are undocumented usually come at in early age having love for the
country and aspiring to the same dreams as those who are truly Americans. His goal is to fix this

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problem by making this situation accountable and having a nation of laws and a nation of
immigrants as one. He wants everyone to be equal but first he must provide these good people
with the same specialty Americans have, to be able to stay in this country. My Fellow Americans
we will always be a nation of immigrants, we were once immigrants ourselves he stated. The
comparison that this situation can accordingly engage with the Hunger Games is that the Capitol
might be a nation of all districts put together just like the U.S is a state of different type of people.
Those who think they are powerful because they live in the Capitol may still have family members
living in one of the 12 districts. Katniss and Peeta might not have the same rights as those who are
living in the Real world but there purpose of why they are contributing to their district is the same
as when an immigrant comes to the U.S to give their families a better tomorrow. Just as the two
candidates from District 12 suffer from not having enough food these American Dreamers also
suffer by having two to three jobs just to make sure they can feed their family.
For example, in my personal experiences I have had friends who come to the U.S for a better
future. Some of them have told me about them not being able to afford a single loaf of bread or
live in a place where they suffer from coldness and general public services making them live in an
unhealthy condition. They tell me about them getting food stamps and welfare from the
government in which some cases this is what helps them survive. Their main goal is to take out
their family from that tough situation by obtaining the dream act and continuing on to study in
college and obtain their degree for a better job in the future. In the movie the Government would
be the Capitol and Katniss and Peeta and the rest of the tributes would be symbolized as the
American Dreamers.
With the lack of resources still not available in some communities of the U.S it is very difficult
for the American dreamers to survive in this state. The Government provides some but not

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enough. Just in like the Hunger Games where you fight to make the district better, in real life the
American Dreamers fight for justice. They fight for their right to stay here and not get deported.
They want to let people know that they are here for something better and help their families out.
They are not here to take away territory but to make their territory better by working hard and
providing the best for their family. The American dreamers are not treated the same as those who
are legally born in the U.S they have limited opportunities. In the Hunger Games we see how the
Capitol controls the game day and night by giving the tributes challenges which in some cases it
leads them to death. This is similar to the border the government has between Mexico and the U.S.
When the American dreamers come between the borders they know it can be risky. The
government keeps it highly controlled day and night as well.
One of the messages the Hunger Games is trying to set for real life society is that although
most of us live in an urban city and have all and different kinds of resources given to us some of
the communities in the U.S dont. The people who live in that condition sometimes makes it
impossible to achieve their American dream. They sometimes work so hard for nothing because
without documents they cant really even obtain a job with a minimum wage. These people spend
most of their life fighting for a better tomorrow putting their life at risk. The Hunger Games also
makes us realize how the Capitol symbolizes our Government and how it makes it tough for those
undocumented to stay here.
In conclusion, the Hunger Games sends a valid message to the criticism of our society. It
provides us with a real world situation. It lets us know that although the U.S is a powerful state we
are still not taking care of what is going on with the minority groups. Not everyone is being treated
equal. These poor communities have to face some hard situations while some of us only take
advantage of what is given to us. The American dream is not being achieved because there isnt

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enough resources put out there in where they can seek for help. Most of the time the American
dreamers come to the U.S at a very young age not having the opportunity to keep having an
education because they go straight to getting a job and sending some money to their families back
in their country. In the Hunger Games Katniss and Peeta defeat the rest of the tributes and finally
take back that win to their district and that win in real life would be the American Dream.

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Works Cited

Samuel, Lawrence R. The American Dream: A bibliographic review. The Hedgehog

Review 15.2 (2013): 57+. General OneFile. Web. 25 Nov. 2014.

The White House. Its time to fix our broken immigration system. Web. 12 Dec.2014.

PBS. The American Dream. Web.