The Evolution of the Literary Hero The sociological impacts on hero driven literature

Abstract

Abstract: The Hunger Games trilogy is a dystopian adventure tale told by a teenage girl living in future North America, now known as Panem. These young adult fiction novels, written by Suzanne Collins highlight several topical problems found within today’s society. Amongst others, it addresses media control and the power succeeding it, totalitarian governments and class differentiation. The aim of this essay is to investigate how the digital turn in our society, with the extensive use of the Internet, social medias and reality TV has affected the portrayal of the literary hero. Critical sources on media power, celebrity fame and politics are brought in to contrast and compare the dystopian society of Panem with contemporary Western culture, focusing on media and the portrayal of the self. Parallels will be drawn to comic book superheroes from the 1940´s and 1960´s, which will be representing the literary hero before the digital turn. This essay shows that the digitalisation of our society has created a new form of literary hero following changes in our culture.