Katniss happens to be in the lower of the two classifications and is considered poor. In fact, the entire district is known to be extremely poor. The people from her district are essential for their contribution to basic life needs, such as coal. The inequality can be shown in terms of food and electricity. These are two basic life needs that the wealthy have and the poor do not. Katniss expresses the easy access to food that the Capitol has when she says, "Days of hunting and gathering for this one meal and even then it would be a poor substitution for the Capitol version. What must it be like, I wonder, to live in a world where food appears at the press of a button?" (60). The abundance of accessible food in the Capitol compared to that in District 12 shows the inequality among this society. According to (feedingamerica.org), 48.1 million Americans lived in food insecure households in 2014. This uncovers one way of how todays society is already converting to the society in the hunger games. Another inequality can be revealed by the essential opportunity to electricity. Katniss explains, "The Capitol twinkles like a vast field of fireflies. Electricity in District 12 comes and goes, usually we only have it a few hours a day. Often the evenings are spent in candlelight. The only time you can count on it is when they're airing the Games or some important government message on television that it's mandatory to watch. But here there would be no shortage. Ever" (75). This "luxury" of electricity given to some, but not others, is also present in todays society. In the world today, "1 in 7 live without power" (Reuters). This shows the extreme gap between those who are fortunate enough to receive constant electricity and those who are not. Social inequality is a unfortunate part of society both in the United States and the hunger games where the upperclass thrives while the lower class strives.
