I chose to do the research paper on the novel Battle Royale as opposed to the movie (which I have not seen). Apparently this book inspired The Hunger Games or something (more stuff I haven't seen). It takes place in the Republic of Greater East Asia, a fictional place located just east of China. It is led by a Dictator, and has such rules as torture or death for any who speak ill of or oppose the government in any way. The government holds something called "The Program" in which a junior high class anywhere in the province is chosen randomly by computer, and placed in an island that was evacuated so they would be the only ones there. Automated collars are put on their necks to explode if they try to escape. They are each given day packs that have food, a map, a compass, and a completely random weapon (anything from guns to bow guns to blow darts to knives, one poor soul got stuck with a table fork). They are instructed to kill each other until only one survivor remains, or they will all be killed.
This is obviously a dystopia because the people are in fear of the government. If someone so much as speaks out, they are killed or worse. The students are taken against their and their parents' will, and forced to kill each other. I'm half way through the book, and so far they say it's for military research, but there seems to be no specific reason for the program. It isn't for a reality show, or for rich people's entertainment, just "military research".
As for the lens, since there is so much about the government and how the people can't protest or do anything about it, I'll do Marxism. I've done research, but with there being a movie out, it is proving really difficult to find scholarly sources, or even secondary sources that aren't movie reviews.
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