The Hunger Games is a book and movie series full of philosophical ideas. One of the main ideas though is Machiavelli's rules for being a leader. Machiavelli says that the ideal leader is both feared and loved but if you can only be one you should be feared. I believe that President Snow fits this description to a tee. Obviously the people in the outlying districts fear Snow because of the insanely rough lives they lead with little to no help from him or the capitol and the constant shaming they receive for the revolt so many years ago. And the fact that every year he takes 2 children from amongst them and basically has them murdered in front of the whole country. But Snow gets the people in the Capitol to love and revere him which they demonstrate by going absolutely insane when he takes the podium at the start of The Hunger Games. He lets them live these lavish lifestyles and provides them with these Games they love every year. The games in that way serves as a double effect by causing fear in the districts but love in the Capitol. Snow really is the perfect leader because he is feared mostly and everybody knows he is powerful but there is still some love there by who Snow deems to be the more important people in the country. However, being the perfect leader by Machiavelli's standards did not stop the people from eventually revolting. Snow may have been the perfect leader in Machiavelli's eyes but over time the fear turned into a smoldering hatred waiting to be sparked which is exactly what Katniss Everdeen did.
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| President Snow greeting the people |
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| Beginning of the revolts in District 11 |
