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Panem
The Hunger Games takes place in a fictional, post-apocalyptic country called Panem. After suffering drought, storms, rising seas, and other disasters, what was previously known as North America was replaced by Panem, comprised of a Capitol and thirteen districts. The country’s wealth and influence are concentrated in the Capitol, with the surrounding districts providing its resources. Eventually, the districts rebelled against the Capitol, but were defeated and forced to participate in the Hunger Games as punishment.
District 12
Katniss lives in District 12, widely considered to be the poorest district and one of the least likely to produce a victor. Their economy revolves around coal mining; many of its residents work dangerous jobs in the mines, and their streets are covered with coal dust. Katniss and her family reside in the poorest section of District 12, the Seam, and she frequents District 12’s black market, the Hob, to sell game that she hunts illegally outside the boundary line. District 12 is characterized as a tired, dusty town, one largely devoid of hope for a better life. Its poverty serves as a stark contrast to the opulence of the Capitol.
The Capitol
After she volunteers as tribute in place of her sister Prim, Katniss is taken to the Capitol, where she is shocked to discover just how wealthy its citizens are. They enjoy lives of luxury, separated completely from the struggles of the districts. Their technology far surpasses that of District 12, their clothing is so ostentatious and expensive that it strikes Katniss as ridiculous, and there is as much food as they could want.
In fact, the abundance of food highlights the starvation that exists in many of the districts, and the extent to which it is a key tool the Capitol uses to exert control. While Capitol citizens enjoy food in excess and often purge before feasts to be able to eat more, the districts must fight (literally) to survive, often increasing their odds of being selected for the Hunger Games in exchange for portions of food.
The Capitol is both the name of the city, and its totalitarian government. The regime maintains its authority by subjugating the districts, keeping them hungry, desperate, and powerless and using the annual Hunger Games to remind them just how powerless they are.
The Arena
The arena changes every year, meticulously designed by the Gamemakers; in The Hunger Games, it is a large, outdoor space made up mostly of forest, with a stream and a lake. In the very center is the Cornucopia, around which the tributes are situated at the start. The Cornucopia provides weapons, food, and other tools and gear for any tribute brave enough to stick around once the Games begin.
Throughout her time in the arena, Katniss must contend with not just her fellow tributes but with the environment. As a resourceful survivalist who previously spent much of her time in the woods in District 12, Katniss adapts to the many challenges inherent in the terrain, climbing trees to sleep without fear of being ambushed and hunting for food once she acquires a bow and arrow. Oftentimes, however, she will find stability only to encounter a new challenge created by the Gamemakers; for instance, she narrowly avoids succumbing to dehydration by locating a stream, and the Gamemakers create a wall of fire that sends her scrambling. That they are in complete control and can influence the Games whenever they choose highlights the inequity of the Games and the world of Panem as a whole.
