The Hunger Games: What Happened to the Rest of the World?

Suzanne Collins’ story of The Hunger Games is extremely self-contained within the fictional country of Panem. Little context is given to place the characters temporally or geographically within the wider world. Instead, characters and plot developments are measured only against the history of Panem itself, marking time by years since the ‘Dark Days’ of the First Rebellion and distance by the locations of the Districts relative to the Capitol. Yet, with all the injustice and unrest that takes place in Panem, the complete absence of interference by outer society — or even acknowledgment of its presence — makes audiences wonder if any exists at all.

Throughout the original Hunger Games trilogy, Katniss and Gale display their penchant for sneaking into the woods beyond the bounds of District 12 and, presumably, all of Panem. Their lack of resources makes hunting there a necessity for survival, but they also savor the peace and freedom offered by their brief forays outside of civilization. They never come across any outsiders or evidence of people that live beyond Panem. Even with the eventual reveal of a healing District 13, it is clear that survivors of the destroyed district were left to their own devices, never discovered by the Capitol or anyone else. So, is anyone else out there? And if not, what happened to them?

What Happens to the Rest of the World in The Hunger Games?

It is extremely difficult to place present-day Panem in any particular time period. The districts, particularly the ones farther from the Capitol, live in extremely under-developed communities, while the Capitol experiences technology so advanced that it suggests a futuristic society. However, the districts’ resource-based livelihoods of things like mining, lumber, and fishing, and the Capitol’s dependence on their output, reveals that Panem has not evolved beyond the need for these familiar sources.

The luxury of Capitol life further indicates that Panem doesn’t suffer from a lack of resources. Rather, the problem lies in improper distribution of those resources. Katniss and Peeta, familiar with the starvation in the districts, are rightfully disgusted at the display of Capitol elites inducing vomiting for no other reason than to continue to eat. Panem exists not in a barren world, but in an unjust one, suggesting the possibility for societies beyond Panem.

That said, The Hunger Games does spend a good amount of time outside the confines of District 12 with no evidence of outside human presence. Both Katniss and Lucy Gray’s ventures into the forest paint a picture of nature untouched by human civilization, despite the decades between their escapades. Had other countries existed and been torn apart in events similar to Panem’s First and Second Rebellions, there would be evidence of this in the land. The thriving natural ecosystems evidenced in The Hunger Games would also feature rubble, dilapidated structures, or even bodies if humans were, in fact, present at any point in Panem’s history.

Is There Life Outside Panem?

At least in Panem’s immediate proximity, it seems that there is not and has never been significant human settlement. However, the discussion of the Covey in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes raises some interesting ideas about why this might be. Lucy Gray Baird is a member of the Covey, a traveling musical troupe that considers themselves nomads, rather than members of any district. Even when residing in a district for a period of time, Covey identity supersedes any loyalty to a particular area of Panem.

Despite being reaped as District 12’s female tribute for the 10th annual Hunger Games, Lucy Gray rejects being a resident of the district, merely replying, “If you say so,” to the Capitol’s assertion that 12 is her home. The Covey considers itself to be its own home to the extent that the group in fact remained neutral during the First Rebellion, supporting neither the Capitol nor the districts. Nonetheless, it appears that the Capitol, after its victory, rounded up the Covey and confined them to Panem’s borders. As Lucy Gray put it in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes:

Hm. So they keep me safe. And what do I give up for that? […] Can’t travel. Can’t perform without their say-so. […] Fight getting round up, and you get shot dead like my daddy. Try to keep your family together, and you get your head broken like my mama. What if I think that price is too high to pay? Maybe my freedom’s worth the risk.

After Coriolanus Snow’s exile to District 12 following the 10th Hunger Games, Lucy Gray and the rest of the Covey take him on a secret excursion in the woods with which it soon becomes clear they are very familiar. They are knowledgeable about the plants and wildlife and all the secret wonders the forest holds. While the Covey originated in Panem and now travels solely within its confines, the group has a history of exploring what lies beyond.

When Coriolanus, implicated in an uprising plot by fingerprints on a missing gun, resigns himself to escaping Panem with Lucy Gray, she leads him to a cabin that the Covey frequently used to shelter and gather resources. It’s unclear whether the Covey themselves built this cabin in years past, or simply stumbled upon it abandoned and found it useful. Either way, the Covey’s fate of being reined into the districts by the Capitol suggests the dark possibility that any nearby human settlements were forcefully absorbed into Panem. They may have been dragged in to work in the districts before having the opportunity to create a meaningful settlement of their own.

Life on other continents will likely remain a mystery, protected from Panem by an ocean. One can only hope that any other societies, if they’re out there, have found a more harmonious way to live.