I think Collins emphasizes that it is set in a dystopia, by everything being in mad shape. the government is controlling, a lot of the people are starving, kids are being sent to fight to the death, you name it, it's happening in this society.
A person making a humble plea to someone in power or authority.<span>synonyms:<span>petitioner, supplicant, pleader, beggar, applicant"they were not mere suppliants"</span></span>
