Chapter Text
Reaping Dodgers. The size and terrain of some districts can tempt some citizens to try to dodge the Reaping. Early in the Hunger Games’ history, this was rampant until Coriolanus Snow and Volumnia Gaul co-wrote an amendment to the enacting laws of the Treaty of Treason, which passed the year of the 15th Games :
- Failure to appear for the Reaping contains penalties that extend beyond the missing child and their parents.
- Warrants are issued for the arrest of the child and all relatives by blood or marriage and all known “associates” (this can include school friends and entire classrooms) for detention and questioning.
- Upon being detained, all the arrestees are interrogated harshly (often violently) to learn who was involved in the attempted dodge.
- Those who fail to satisfy the investigators that they had no knowledge of the family’s action are deemed guilty. Adults are blacklisted from all but the most menial, low-paying work in the main cities, forcing the family to relocate there if they live outside them and be under constant surveillance.
- All children in the family along with the no-show receive 50 entries in the Reaping Ball at all future reapings. All siblings of the no-show child (even those born after the dodge) receive 100 entries in the Reaping Ball each year they are eligible. This is in addition to any tesserae entries.
Religious Persecution . The Capitol recognized quickly after the First Rebellion that the “old religions” with strong moral codes and opposition to slavery would constitute a threat to the regime, particularly the Hunger Games. Indeed, religious values played a major role in stoking the First Rebellion.
- As a result, all religious worship and practice was banned with the exception of the same loose, hedonistic version of the Greek and Roman pantheons practiced by the Capitol.
- All religious practice is deemed sedition and treated as such by Peacekeepers. It’s also one of the easier forms of “sedition” to discover, so Peacekeepers in nearly all districts target searches for it to impress their superiors.
- Discovery and punishment of any “seditious” activity carries with it substantial praise and reward for Peacekeepers, so there is incentive for doing so.
- Propaganda in both the districts and Capitol includes mockery of the old religious “primitive superstitions” to weaken family connections to their faith heritage.
- Punishment for religious sedition varies based on the zeal of the Peacekeepers and the history of the victim they catch.
- For example, lenient Peacekeepers in District 12, where there is little fear of uprising, may simply confiscate a religious text or object with a warning if the victim has no history of seditious or criminal activity.
- In the small homestead town of Dalles in District 7, a young Johanna Mason witnessed two Hindu women stripped naked and whipped for having henna art on their hands in observance of Diwali. When the same women and several families were again caught celebrating Diwali, they were brutally and publicly tortured, and most were executed. The torture included forcing the victims to desecrate their own religious objects.
- Some basic superstitions and traditions not necessarily tied to an “old religion” are allowed. Many district citizens practice various forms of herbology and rituals for luck or involving nature.
- For example, the Tree of Life (with its origins in Judaism) is a fixture in every community of District 7.
- Some secularized, formerly-religious observances are also permitted to take place, for example:
- A loose version of Christmas in Districts 6 and 7 that involves decoration with colors like red and green, use of evergreen trees or boughs, and exchanging gifts in December.
- A loose approximation of Halloween and Dia de los Muertos is celebrated in Districts 10 and 12.
- Agricultural districts in particular often celebrate the equinoxes and solstices.
- Despite the severe penalties, punishment alone rarely discourages lifelong practitioners of the old religions from doing so, although the propaganda against and mockery of the “old superstitions” has had some success in putting off younger generations.
- For example, Johanna Mason’s grandmother was a Jewish rabbi. Although she, her family, and their community of practitioners were never caught, thanks to elaborate schemes of hiding and disguising their traditions and materials, Johanna and roughly half of her siblings scoffed at the faith and took no interest in it as adults.
Propaganda and Education Censorship . The level of intensity of indoctrination by the Capitol of the districts varies depending on the district.
- Those districts with population centers close to Panem receive much more attention in propaganda and control over education: Districts 1, 2, and 5 receive the most.
- Districts whose industry is particularly vital to the Capitol also receive more attention: 2, 5, and 6 receive the most.
- The nature of the indoctrination differs. All of them see emphasis on how honored they should be for their value to the Capitol and how much the Capitol does for them. This is especially strong in Districts 1 and 2.
- In District 1, Capitol citizens are people to be greatly admired, trendsetters of fashion, the example by which everyone should measure themselves in appearance and behavior.
- In District 2, the Capitol and its citizens are portrayed as the pinnacle of the military command structure. Strict obedience to and recognition of the Capitol and its citizens is the object of Peacekeeper duty to protect and serve.
- In other districts, residents are taught varying combinations of awe, gratitude, and fear of the Capitol depending on how high the Capitol prioritizes the district’s output or worries about insurrection.
- For example, District 12 experiences very generic propaganda about the Capitol’s wealth and power and its importance as provider of the coal industry jobs. Due to its size and distance from the Capitol, there’s very little effort to stoke fear and a small Peacekeeping force.
- Districts 3 and 5 are bombarded with propaganda implying that the Capitol has provided them with all the knowledge and training needed for survival and the provide their jobs and education.
- In District 6, education focuses heavily on fear and awe of the Capitol’s size and power along with very heavy, harsh Peacekeeper presence, as District 6 constitutes a major threat should it ever rebel on a wide scale, due to its size and the necessity of District 6 support in the transportation industry.
Censorship/Absence of Local, District, and World Maps
- To prevent district citizens from attempting to flee or rebel, the Capitol severely limits access to maps on all scales.
- Local maps are permitted in those districts where local travel is allowed, but they are very rudimentary, identifying only areas where the public is permitted. This is to make it as difficult as possible for people to plan uprisings that attack any vital resources or targets nearby.
- District 6’s maps are limited to publicly-accessible buildings and color representations of the zones, with emphasis on being aware of the penalties of being in the wrong zone. Restrictions on zone access are treated as a matter of public safety rather than on the Capitol’s fear of the population. (For example, all rivers and bodies of water in District 6 are Zone 4: Authorized Personnel Only, and the reasoning given is an “epidemic” of tragic drownings.)
- Only Peacekeepers or very high-ranking district officials may ever see a detailed map of their entire district, for the same reason as above. In school, children will see a solid color map showing the shape of their district and then representing a vast, uninviting wilderness beyond its borders with details (often falsified) to discourage thoughts of trying to escape.
- Additionally, teachers are required to teach lessons emphasizing (and exaggerating) the hazards in the wilderness.
- No roads or train tracks or other means of travel are indicated on maps accessible to the public except for the ones within a district that the public is allowed to use.
- Detailed maps of districts, Panem, and the world are some of the rebel leaders’ most important and secret possessions throughout the districts. The rebels of District 4 in particular have taken full advantage of their wide lands and navigation skills to establish maps that they secretly circulate to other districts. They have also led secret missions to explore coastlines outside Panem in the hope of making foreign allies. So far, they have been unsuccessful.
Victors’ Villages and Architecture in General
- The Victors’ Villages were designed after the 10th Games with the intention that the houses would be the grandest in each district - but also to ensure that they would not even approach the grandeur of architecture for even the middle classes in the Capitol.
- The latter standard applies to all construction in districts. Comparison to the Capitol by anyone who has seen Capitol architecture carries a substantial risk to the building’s owner and designer.
- The district most likely to get away with it is District 1, whose designers, builders, and artisans use their businesses and even their homes as scaled-down showpieces of what might appeal to Capitol patrons. The more a building draws comparison to the Capitol in District 1, the smaller it should be. Guild masters and celebrities from District 1 may live in homes that greatly resemble the mansions of the Capitol but are a quarter of the size or less.
- The Victors’ Village homes are also cookie-cutter in their size and style, varying only by the individual changes in color and exterior decoration and landscaping made by the victor who moves in. All are two stories, 6 bedrooms, 8 bathrooms, and 5000 square feet and surrounded by lawns and/or gardens, which in turn are placed in a neighborhood around a central park with a pond or fountain.
- The Victors’ Villages often use styles and materials that are unpopular or at least unfashionable in the Capitol.
- For example, dramatic and heavy details and colors are popular in the Capitol while any easily-identifiable exterior material (brick, stone, wood, plaster) left in its natural colors is considered cheap-looking.
The following are images of each district’s Victor’s Village home model:
District 1:
Traditional, a little Victorian-style. District 1's Village is located in a scenic area of Salt Lake Town in former Utah. The gardens are manicured with wide lawns and heavily landscaped with cultivated flowers, trees, and shrubs. It's very important for the Victors' Village to be the most outstanding example of District 1's emphasis on aesthetic beauty and artistic detail. If the victor resident doesn't want to handle the planning and decorating of their own home and yard, they are expected to hire locals (often apprentices and journeymen from the appropriate Guilds) to take care of it.
District 2:
Spanish mission-style on the west side of Pike in former Colorado (on the site of what was once Colorado Springs), in the foothills, with views of the Nut and Pike's Peak.
District 3:
Modern "big white box" style just north of Lake City (on the ruins of Chicago) in former Illinois on the shores of Lake Michigan).
District 4:
Beach houses in Zone A on the mountainous north side of Sandeego (roughly where the modern Torrey Pines State Nature Reserve is located) in former California. Changed sea levels, erosion, and earthquakes have changed the coastline and created impressive cliffs and surf in that area, including a spot called Tour Cliff where the Victory Tour and other dignitaries are brought for a dramatic view of the ocean when visiting.
District 5:
Pueblo style with large courtyards but very small "yards" due to the rocky, desert environment. The Village is in the Admin Zone along the south rim of the Grand Canyon (on the site of modern-day Grand Canyon Village in former Arizona). The original village plan had traditional grass lawns fed by a special pipeline, but the residents were so resistant to the excess that they poisoned the grass until the landscapers from the Capitol gave up and let them place more desert-appropriate landscaping.
District 6:
Ranch style with a sprawling footprint painted white, in a contrast to the very compact living spaces in metal-clad buildings in the massive cities. The Village is on the north shore of Lake Superior just outside the town of Superior in former Minnesota (built northeast of the ruins of Duluth). None of the victors have bothered to change the exterior color, but the interiors are painted with whimsical patterns and bold colors by multiple victors while using drugs.
District 7:
Log cabin, a style that would appall the Capitol elite as "too unfinished". District 7's Village is in its largest city of Snake River Falls (located roughly at the site of Russ Freeman Park in present-day Idaho Falls). Anthias Delgado, victor of the 26th Games and District 7's first victor, started the tradition of planting berry brambles around his house, and all subsequent victors adopted it, ensuring there would be ripe berries to hand out at reaping time for children.
District 8:
English garden cottage style in dramatic contrast to the sterile urbanism of the cities. The Village is on an artificial island built in Bridge Bay (the inundated site of St. Louis, former Missouri) along with the Mayor's house and head Peacekeeper's house and the few wealthy residents of District 8, a private garden sanctuary for the elite and visiting dignitaries. As in many other districts, victors have added fruits and vegetables and other food plants to their gardens to distribute. However, in retaliation for uprisings before and after the 75th Games, Peacekeepers destroyed these portions of the gardens. (See Chapter 36 of Favors.)
District 9:
A solid, stone structure in contrast to the mostly-migrant lifestyle of the district. The Village is on the north side of Missouraplatt, District 9's only sizeable town on the ruins of Omaha, Nebraska (roughly on the site of Hummel Park) where there is still forest, while most of District 9 is planted with grain.
District 10
Traditional Mexican/California style, although the Village is located in former Texas in the town of Abilene.
District 11:
Farmhouse style with a wraparound porch. The Village is located on the east side of New Memphis (northeast of the original Memphis, Tennessee, which was inundated when the Mississippi River swelled and shifted course). The lawns are the largest of any Victors' Village and usually planted with food that the victors give away to their extended family and friends and the poor.
District 12:
Modern ranch with a small front porch and flower beds and garden space that can be as much or as little as residents want. District 12's Village is just west of the Town, in the center of the "C" shape formed by the Seam.