The Hunger Games: Outside of Panem

Welcome back, Fanaticlas! I have some interesting theories for you today regarding Panem itself. Today we are going to look into theories about when Panem took place, and the world surrounding it on the outside. I'm also going to throw in an analogy theory that I quite honestly find to be quite true, considering the I have Military Veterans in my family. Let's get theorizing!

The Outside World

Beyond Panem is Perfectly Fine

This theory comes from basically calling out the Panem went into a(nother) Civil War. Considering that what we know of the map of Panem, it is quite clear that Panem used to be the grounds of the United States. There are theories that Panem is in a post-apocalyptic world, but others state that it was just the US that wound up in that state; the rest of the world is still completely intact.

The evidence of this is that in Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes it is mentioned that the Covey had been traveling North of District 12. While District 13 is more primarily what is considered New York, there is a small part of the borders of District 12 that runs to be what looks like just outside of what is Buffalo and runs to roughly Cleveland. Now, while that runs along a body of water, there is still a chance that the Covey had crossed that border which means there is a chance that they were performing in Canada.

Considering that District 13 no longer existed (supposedly) that would mean that they can't have been performing there despite saying they were "up North". This could then lead to the belief that the rest of the world is fine, and on the US (now Panem) is in the state that they are in. Divergent, The Handmaid's Tale, and even 1984 primarily take place in the US, but it seems the rest of the world is fine and it was primarily the country itself that fell into problems; think like the Great Depression but worse, basically.

Maybe the US fell into another Great Depression but it lasted generations until war broke out, and Panem was born; then from the reborn country, another war broke out after several MORE generations and the Hunger Games was born from that. It would actually make sense considering the technology you see that exists, but also the pre-technology, minimalist living from the Districts. A futuristic dystopia.

It's not unusual that many countries get left to themselves for one reason or another when in-fighting breaks out, as there's not a lot of countries that would want another World War. It's quite possible that the former US called for aide, and others chose to leave them be which caused a complete collapse and rebirth for the country.

Alternate Timelines/Realities

1984

Many of us born in the early to mid 90s and before will remember being made to read George Orwell's 1984 in high school. I've always been weird and love reading dystopia books, and 1984 was quite interesting; especially when reading it literally 20 years after the time it was written for, as I read it in 2004.

This theory compares the US and Oceania and the possibility that 1984 took place, and Panem was born from the unrest. We don't know a lot about Panem's history and how it was created, but we DO know that according to 1984, Oceania was created when the United States absorbed the British Empire meaning that the US did exist at one point prior to the events of the book.

In Oceania the citizens are not allowed to travel, isolation and xenophobia are encouraged and a part of everyday life, and there is no official capitol anymore. The way that this theory connects the two is this: natural disasters caused by man-made weapons brought about the shrinking of the country, sinking or completely destroying the land, causing Oceania to become even smaller. From even more wars caused by these weapons, the "country" of Oceania was destroyed, and Panem was reborn with the creation of the Capitol somewhere in the Rocky Mountains.

With the rebirth of Panem, though, some of the old traditions of "Big Brother" and Oceania stuck: no traveling outside your District, isolation and xenophobia continued but to the extent of contacting other Districts, and the Capitol controlled everything. However, the remnants of Big Brother were still around, and so technology was still allowed to grow and progress.

This caused some upset in the Districts for people who wanted a true government nostalgic of ancient history, so the Capitol began to use the term "President" as a way to give the Districts some semblance of what they wanted while keeping control. This led to the revolt and subsequent destruction of District 13 and the creation of the Hunger Games which is why there's not as much technology in most the Districts. The exception being District 3, where Technology is their main trade and created/improved upon, and District 13 after it went underground at the end of the "Dark Days".

The worst part is that some Districts even went backwards in technology, like 12 where Katniss states they only get a few hours of electricity every now and then until the second rebellion and Snow realized he needed to monitor the Districts much more closely, forcibly feeding them electricity for specific things like the fence.

Britian Won the War

While a very small theory with not much behind it, I still find this one intriguing. The theory starts by looking at the facts of US History; there were 13 colonies, and Panem had 13 Districts. This theory goes along that Britain won the actual war, and that instead of taking the colonies out, they actually spread them further apart and created the "Capitol" as far away from the area that made the least amount of money which is why 11 is the furthest South.

Then, to prevent anything from happening again, the create the hunger Games to install fear into the hearts and minds of the citizens. They use the term "President" for the person put in charge as more of a mockery to the survivors because that is how they had planned to run themselves after breaking off from Britain.

Now, while this theory is definitely missing some details, it's actually not a bad one. With some refining and double checking of certain facts, I think this could be a sound theory.

Panem is Post-Purge

I have never been a fan of The Purge series, but I know enough about it to find this theory quite thought-provoking. The Purge is primarily set in the not-so-distant future where it is legal to commit any and all crimes in a 12-hour period. The theory here is that after the country fell into the existence of The Purge, there were citizens who eventually ere sick of it and revolted against it.

From there, these areas were split into divisions which later became the Districts and the compromise was that instead of a 12-hour free-for-all, they would instead send two people from each District so that those who enjoyed the Purge would be able to get their murder-y kicks off, while instilling fear into those who revolted from revolting again by choosing children instead of adults for the Games.

While I may not be a Purge fan, this is actually a super intriguing theory that kind of makes sense.

A Military Analogy

How Veterans are Treated

While we are coming to an end of having Veterans who were in and survived the Vietnam War who are still alive, we have to admit that out of all Veterans they are treated the worst here on US Soil. However, Veterans overall are not treated the best in general. In 2023, roughly 35,000 out of 653,000 people in the US that were homeless were Veterans.

The theory that The Hunger Games is an analogy for how Veterans are treated is broken down between Catching Fire and MockingJay. While the theory I saw specifically states this is an analogy for the US, I wonder if there are other countries that are the same way and the "bias" of saying it's strictly for the US is based on how bad it is for Veterans here and because I (and others) focus on our own Military and not others.

Catching Fire: The theory runs that this is the book that shows how SOCIETY treats Veterans. When Soldiers first come home, even when they are first discharged, there are a lot of hero's welcomes and respect and "Thank you for your service!" Meanwhile, they hope that there is never a war again, or that these heroes don't even have to see it again; but then it does, and society is more than happy to send them right back out again with "I could never do what you do!" People fawn over the "Soldier Reunites with Family" videos, but in the same breath also call them fake or staged. It makes it seem like being a Soldier or Veteran is more of a Fashion Statement.

MockingJay: While CF is how society treats them, MJ is how the government and Politicians treat them. Katniss is moved from shot to shot, showing what has been happening for propaganda, expecting to be Coin's voice to the people of Panem. Coin makes promises to Katniss that she has little or no intention of keeping, so long as Katniss will continue to do what she asks. Meanwhile, Soldiers come home and after they are discharged, they have to fight tooth and nail to receive even basic care that they were promised they would be given for the rest of their lives for fighting in wars.

There was quite a bit to unload here, but it definitely makes you wonder what the Hunger Games' world outside of Panem really looks like. What are your thoughts about these theories? Come share your thoughts with our community! Until tomorrow, keep on theorizing!