Everyone faces discrimination at some point, in these three books, there are major high points where it contains discrimination. In Farewell to Manzanar, there is racism towards Japanese people on the west coast of the United States. Then in The Hunger Games, there is poverty with the districts and the capital. Following that is Of Mice and Men, a book of two people, one of which who has a mental disability, both trying to find a steady job and a home to live in. In The Hunger Games, Farewell to Manzanar, and OfMice and Men, they use archetypes, characters, and setting to bring attention to the discrimination and poverty within the stories. In Farewell to Manzanar, there is discrimination towards citizens of the United States of America that are of Japanese descent.
It is shown by the Wakatsuki family being put into detention camps, separated from families. The family had to face many obstacles such as accusations being made against the father. Their father was being accused of being a spy during bombing of Pearl Harbor by the Japanese during World War III During these camps they are put into beaten down barracks which had been built several days before they were put into what are known as “Detention Camps” during World War II. The poverty in Farewell to Manzanar was dealing with when they were being taken away from their homes, It started with them losing their possessions in the process.
They were forced into the detention camps without any items from home except the Clothes on their back. The detention camps were divided into sixteen different barracks. Jeanne describes the barracks as “i . .Pine planking, covered with tar paper. They sat on concrete footing with about two feet of open space between the floorboards and the ground. Each barrack was divided into six units; 16 by 20 feet about the size of a living room, with one bare bulb hanging from the ceiling and oil stove for heat” (Wakatsuki). These barracks were put together only a few days before the Japanese arrival. The barracks were made of boards, and a tin like materialr Many riots would go on throughout the night, which had an impact on their sleep.
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While the Japanese citizens were being discriminated against, so were the people of Panemr In The Hunger Games there is discrimination between the twelve districts, and the Capital. The people that live within the Capital feel as if the people that live in the districts are inferior, they force them to play a game of survival pitting twenty-four people against each other for the Capital‘s entertainment. The people living in the districts are forced to treat the event as something to celebrate. The tributes have to dress up and perform to gain sponsors which may or may not aid them in a life-or-death situation within the game.
The poverty in The Hunger Games mainly revolves around district twelve because they seem to be the district who lacks nourishment. Many deaths in district twelve are due to starvation. People are forced to buy expensive goods which they cannot afford, or they risk their lives leaving the gates of district twelve to feed their families. The best way to earn money in district twelve was to work as a coal miner. Katniss describes the toll that being a coal miner takes on a person. She explains that, “Our part of District 12, nicknamed the Seam, is usually crawling with coal miners heading out to the morning shift at this hour, Men and women with hunched shoulders, swollen knuckles, many who have long since stopped trying to scrub the coal dust out of their broken nails, the lines of their sunken faces”.
While the discrimination in The Hunger Games is between lifestyles, the discrimination in OfMice and Men varies from skin color, gender, and disabilities. In Of Mice and Men, there is discrimination towards females, mentally handicapped, and people of color, In the story, a mentally disabled man is facing the difficulties of finding a job and home. He comes across a farm that shows further discrimination, dealing with a man of color, and a woman who is abused by her husband. The man of color is often referred to as a “negro” or “nigger” instead of his name, and it being out of text. The woman has no name, because she is considered insignificant in the story. She is known as a “tramp”, and ‘tarr” in the book due to her being flirtatious with other characters.
Lennie, a mentally handicapped man comes into the man of color’s room and asks why there is so much hatred towards him. He begins by questioning “‘Why ain’t you wanted?’ Lennie asked ‘Cause I‘m black. They play cards in there, but I can’t play because I’m black. They say I stink. The poverty in Of Mice and Men starts with Lennie and George moving from place to place and job to job, They eat food from cans, and try to harvest what they can to survive. Lennie is mentally disabled, and that leaves George to care for him, they come across a farm, they apply to a job there and end up getting accepted, only to find out there is criticism stirring up around the people.
Throughout all three of these stories, the overarching themes are discrimination and poverty. In each of the stories, discrimination impacts the protagonist’s life in a negative way. One person is thrown into a detention camp because of their background. Another is thrown into an arena to fight for her life. Another is looked down upon because of his skin color, and another‘s mental disability. poverty however goes between different class structures and ways of living. In all of the stories, people are forced to scrounge for food and supply themselves with what they‘re given. They’re all shoved around, and treated like they‘re at the bottom of the food chain.
References
- Death Penalty Information Center
- Amnesty International USA: Death Penalty
- ProCon.org: Death Penalty
- National Criminal Justice Reference Service: Death Penalty
- University of Chicago Press Journals: The Time Frame of Judicial Decision Making in Death Penalty Cases
- Iowa State Public Defender’s Office: DPIC Kansas Cost Study
