The Cruel Game
Dystopias are complex to read, but even more complex to write. It is easy to lean too far over the edge and lose the reader’s interest, while at the same time, the author of a dystopia must stretch the concept. One of the oldest techniques of maintaining the robustness of a plot throughout a long novel is the framework narrative. Tales of 1,001 Nights and The Canterbury Tales are the two most famous framework narratives. Each employs a storyteller as the main character, allowing the author to include many disparate elements without losing cohesion. The Bard Framework does not fit the tone of a dystopian novel, so dystopian authors turn toward the Masterplan Framework. The master plan is an intricate framework that is often initiated long before the events of the story.
The Hunger Games are centered on a long-standing contest used to subjugate the districts. The games are the Master Plan, instilling more than just the fear of death into the hearts of would-be rebels. The backstory of the games establishes a status quo in which mistakes will affect many generations, and the randomness of the selection process seeps into everyday life. The less money you earn, the more tribute tokens you must purchase in order to stay fed, increasing your chances of being “reaped”. Thus, work becomes much more important than thought, and growing relationships at a young age is passively discouraged, as any reliance is a liability. These aspects are all part of the plan, but the reader's understanding of it deepens once the game begins. It is revealed that multiple districts have “careers”: kids who were trained and intentionally entered the game (because of the benefits of victory). This is an intentional choice by the gamemasters, as it draws some attention away from the capital and turns district against district, fueling hate between the oppressed. The cornucopia is another aspect of the game that plays a greater role in oppressing the spectators, demonstrating the consequences of greed. Those who are not skilled fighters but still hope for an advantage from the horn of plenty are killed for trying to break the food chain. The sponsor system is designed to portray The Capital positively, as they are seen as the savior, driving away sickness and disease that both the tributes and the districts would lack the resources to handle if free of the dictators. Other little reminders of the horror of war are present in the game, including genetically modified animals that were originally bred for war, a demonstration of surpassing technological prowess that further terrifies the districts. The bulk of the novel centers on Katniss Everdeen grappling with the intentions of the gamemakers, ultimately learning what outcomes they fear and using their avoidance of those scenarios to guide their decisions toward the one that benefits her. (The master plan must have at least one person survive in order to show that life still remains in submission, which Katniss uses to force them into letting two people live, as that is preferable to none.)
(Red Rising is geared towards an adult audience as opposed to Hunger Games being for the teen audience. They are not at all comparable in terms of maturity, as Red Rising covers significantly more mature implications of oppression.) The most evident similarity between Red Rising and Hunger Games is that the division of work among different “colors” parallels the distinct tasks of the districts. This setup prevents any one district from gaining enough resources to fight back, as each only produces one of the resources necessary for rebellion. But the actual master plan —the driving force of the book —is almost the complete reverse of the games. In Hunger Games, the games are a way of causing pain to the lower classes, choking their population, and degrading the survivors. In Red Rising, the game is a form of masochism. The oppressor’s master plan is to torture their young in order to make them better oppressors, withholding that same pain from their “oppressed” in order that they are not provoked into strength. Thus, the main character is a red (the lowest class, similar to District Twelve, which is a mining district), secretly introduced into the game to be forged through pain into a leader capable of making hard choices. It creates a unique dynamic in which the main character is extremely ambitious, trying to learn all he can from the game and ensure his victory, whereas Katniss is just hoping to survive. Red Rising also makes much better use of symbolism. The main character's main attribute is his crazy grip strength. “If I am a sword, then my hands are the edge.” He clutches powerfully, managing to seize every morsel of opportunity. He also has a strong heart, strengthened by a poison that tested it and expanded his limits. That poison represents how a martyr strengthens the heart of an uprising, transforming not only mourning but all prior suffering into decisive action. These are excellent examples of how physical attributes can shape a book's tonal totality. In Darrow’s case, it suggests that he is not a revolutionary, but he is the revolution, the one-man army.
The Chase Verdict is that The Hunger Games is the go-to lighter, less contemplative dystopian novel, and that Red Rising flourishes when read after The Hunger Games, as the contrast creates a dynamic greater than either alone can produce.