Because, well, I love The Hunger Games. Just FYI, there will probably be more HG posts in the future, but for now I just have this one. I was just on Tumblr, and I came across a post that says, "If Panem was real, by location, I'd live in District 12," then it had that GIF of Spongebob jellyfishing.
My first point is, why would you be happy about living in District 12? I mean, sure, that's where the protagonist is from, but that place sucks. They're in poverty. They never win the Hunger Games, with the exception of Haymitch, then Katniss and Peeta in the very last (successful) Games. Yes, it is better than living in District 11 or something, where the security is very strict, but still. I'd rather live in probably one of the first five or so districts, where the citizens aren't in poverty, and people volunteer to compete in the Hunger Games. If you don't want to, there's a good chance you won't have to, even if you're chosen. People can choose to become some of the careers, with a small chance of surviving, but it's their choice. You're not forced into it. I'd probably choose to live in District 4, because I like the ocean.
Second, after reading that, I decided to google a map of Panem. After reading the books, I had an idea in my mind of where each district (or, at least, ones with adequate information to estimate the location) and the Capitol were located. Looking at the map, I realized people don't have the same ideas! In my brain, Panem was kind of opposite than most of the maps I found.
This map, for example. The ones I wanted to use, were rather small so you couldn't see very well where all the Districts were, but this one will do. As you can see, the first districts and the Capitol are on the West Coast, while 11, 12, and 13 are on the East Coast. I imagined it the other way around, for a few reasons.
Now, keep this in mind, when I came up with my own (incomplete) map of Panem, I didn't imagine it with some places in the United States underwater. It was just... North America. Anyway, I imagined the Capitol on the East coast for two reasons. One: the current capital of the United States, Washington D. C., is on the East coast; two: when Katniss and Peeta were on the train on their way to the Capitol, it said that they were going through the region Appalachia when they were almost to the Capitol. It might just be me, but I assumed that Suzanne Collins got the name for this region from the Appalachian Mountains, which are in the East. You see that mountain range going through Districts 12 and 13? Yeah, that's them. How could they have been on the train on their way to the Capitol and Appalachia, when they're right next to it? That's what I thought.
Now, because the Capitol is on the East coast (in my mind, at least), then most of the first districts would be there too. I also specifically imagined District 4 would be in Florida, because, you know, beaches and stuff. If those districts are located there, then Districts 11, 12, and 13, would be on the West coast. Let me start with District 11.
District 11 is where they grow a lot of the fruit for Panem, so it would have to be somewhere where fruit can be grown. That is why I imagined it in California. Maybe not now, but there used to be orange groves all over the place in California. That's where Orange County got its name. I do know that they also grow strawberries here, and let's not forget the vineyards of Northern California. Therefore, it would make sense for District 11 to be located somewhere in California.
Now, District 12. Honestly, I don't know all that much about coal or mines or anything, but this needed to go along with the rest of my map. I imagined District 12 in Oregon or Washington state somewhere. I mean, it gets cold enough in those places as it does in 12 in the books. However, I don't know if there ever were or still are coal mines there, so that might throw off my entire theory.
After placing those districts, I was left with 13, which we know is far out of the way. I imagined District 13 to be somewhere around the Western side of Canada (because Panem is North America, and not just the United States). Now, I don't know much about Canadian geography, because I'm not from there, but it would make sense for District 13 to be located there. Don't you think?
This ended up being much longer than I had originally planned. If you read this entire thing, please let me know what you think of my theory (and provide evidence!) because I'd like to know if I'm completely wrong. If you have not read The Hunger Games, I highly recommend it. They are amazing books.
