District 11 | The Hunger Games

District 11 is one of the poorer districts, right after District 12 in the nation of Panem. Their industry is agriculture; orchards, fields of wheat, and cotton surround the district. Almost everything they grow goes to the Capitol, despite their starvation; if any citizen of District 11 is caught eating any of the crops, they are to be whipped in public. Its inhabitants are described as having dark brown skin as described in the physical traits of Rue, Thresh, and Chaff.

Jobs

Some Jobs in District 11 include:

• Sorter
• Irrigator
• Farmhand
• Harvester
• Gardener

Government and Security

The Capitol’s control over District 11 is total, due to the importance of food production and its regional government is known for being harsh and cruel. For example, in Catching Fire, when Peeta and Katniss visited District 11 in their Victory Tour, they witnessed an old man being executed by Peacekeepers for whistling Rue’s four note tune. Two more gunshots were heard afterwards, suggesting that the Peacekeeper’s then turned on the crowd.

The fence surrounding the district is thirty feet high and topped with razor wire, with metal ground plates to prevent anyone digging beneath and guard towers evenly spaced along it. It is always turned on so the citizens cannot escape, unlike district 12, where their fence is almost never turned on.

Rue mentioned that a boy named Martin was once killed for trying to keep a pair of night vision goggles in order to play with them, even though he was harmless and only “acted like a three-year old”. If any worker stole crops, they were publicly whipped, a common occurrence that the Mayor was described as strict on. In general, the Capitol tried to keep a tighter grip on District 11 because of it being the main food supplier, and as such was vital to the Capitol’s existence.

Location

According to Suzanne Collins, District 11 is near Atlanta, Georgia. It appears to be south of District 12, because its weather was comfortably warm while snow was falling in 12. This warm weather would lengthen District 11’s growing season and provide an ideal climate for growing food.

Relation to The Games

District 11 tributes are usually underfed and unprepared for the games, and generally place low. However, some have occupational skills that are useful in the arena, such as Rue, who could leap between trees. Others, like Thresh, have strength because of physical labor, and the ability of both to recognize edible plants.

During the 74th Games (in the film), after Rue’s death was shown, a riot was started in District 11.

Tributes

Rue – Placed 7th

Thresh – Placed 4th/5th

Chaff – Placed 9th at the 75th Hunger Games, but won years before

Seeder – Died during Bloodbath at the 75th Hunger games, but won years before

Usually, tributes from District 11 die early, making Rue and Thresh real exceptions when they both reached the final eight, Thresh reaching the final five. Chaff and Seeder, as victors in their respective Games, were selected in the reaping to participate in the 75th Hunger Games, the third Quarter Quell, and Chaff placed 8th.

Every known tribute of District 11 died at the hands of a Career, with the possible exception of Seeder. However, in the movie, Thresh died from the wolf muttations set on them by the Gamemakers, though it was presumed he and Cato were fighting and the mutts were set on half way through.

Way of Life

District 11 specializes in agriculture, growing wheat and managing orchards. The signature bread from this district is a dark, crescent-shaped roll dotted with seeds. There are many tracker jacker nests in District 11, causing workers to keep medical leaves on hand. In the orchards small children are sent to high branches to pick the highest fruits. They have long hours: from sunrise to sunset, the people work the fields to send food off to the Capitol. During the harvest they often work until well after dark, using torchlight and night vision goggles. District 11 is many times larger than District 12. The citizens of District 11 live in small shacks.The people of this district are described as having “dark hair and dark skin”.

Due to this, they may be of African American, Latin American, Native American, or South Asian decent. However, due to the location of District 11 being confirmed by Suzanne Collins as “the Deep South” it is likely that they are mostly African American, or of Latin American decent.

Trivia

• District 11 is possibly the biggest District which is not a surprise because they would need a big space for farm/garden, also it is shown they travel through a lot on the train to the square.

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