Katniss

The “Hunger Games” is this year’s IT series. And while there has been countless reviews on the first book and movie, I have decided to take a look at the character of Katniss Everdeen.

I was intrigued with her even before reading the novels because just the mention of her name drew strong reactions online. I couldn’t help but wonder, what about this character made people like or hate her so strongly?

As a disclaimer, I actually enjoyed quite a bit the second and third books in the series, which I know a lot of people didn’t. What I found interesting was the portrayal of a distopian society and the ability of the media to manipulate. The books reminded me a lot of the ‘V for Vendetta’ graphic novel, the notion of government control and I can see how many of these concepts are prevalent in contemporary US life and culture.

And yet, Katniss is what I am here to write about. She intrigues me because she meant to be presented to the reader as a hero, the face of a revolution, while I read her as something very different—the face of a hero, the life and actions of anything but. As an avid reader, when I think of a typical hero what comes to mind is someone who is more then likely reluctant to take part in their role, but eventually accepts the eventuality. They are flawed, but over-come any major difficulties and flaws in their character either become assets or are over-come. In the end, a majority of them still ride into the sunset, usually with someone they love. She’s the anti-hero, selfish, yet a survivor, hard, awkward, and extremely flawed. Katniss is different, and for me, this is refreshing.

SPOILER ALERT!

When posting this question to facebook “What do you think of the character of Katniss Everdeen?”

Dave responded with this: “She’s kinda boring, she only is useful when she is shooting arrows and gathering food. Everyone else tells her what to think, what to do and how to act. Plus she ends up marrying a guy she doesn’t really love.”

Tina also responds “Remember how she takes care of her family when her inept mother cannot? Or the part where she volunteers? Or the part where she *finally* gets the attention of the gaming council? Or the part where she protects a dying Rue? Or who it is that makes the decision to save Peeta? Certainly wasn’t Haymitch or any of the other revolutionaries.”

This is why I love having well read, smart friends. A lot of Katniss’ perceived character flaws I see as being an emotionally scarred 16 year old. When her mother shut down after the death of her father she stepped up in a “do or die” situation. She learned to feel less emotion because her mother felt too much. She sees emotion as a weakness. I feel if it had just been her that she had to worry about then she would have indeed died, but instead there was Prim (her mother seems like an after thought). This idea of the feeling is responsibility keeping her alive is threaded through out the novels. First she had to stay alive for Prim at the Games because she thought her mother go catatonic again. Then she has to stay alive for Peeta, and then eventually, for the revolutionaries. She simply does what no one else can do, not out of a sense of greatness, but out of necessity. She hunts because food is needed for trade and for consumption. She volunteers as tribute because otherwise Prim would be killed. She initially shows affection for Peeta because it will keep her alive. Katniss becomes the Mockingjay because she feels responsible for all of the people who have already died because of her actions. Very little of these actions is done out of anything other then a sense of duty, at least initially.

 

It is obvious that Katniss is skilled. Writers love creating characters that are intellectual, capable, but also curmudgeons, sullen, and in this case emotionally stunted. I also think it is very important to remember that Katniss is only 16. As an adult I have a tendency to read all characters as being my age (imagine how awkward this was with Harry Potter, ha ha) and I feel that this is where the readers make a mistake, that we must remember our maturity and mental capabilities during our teenage years. The instances when Katniss hides in closets, climb tress, or any of her reactions with Rue (serving as a loving sister figure) should serve to remind us that 16 is very young, even though the Games and her life force her to act more maturely.

If anything, Katniss is stunted emotionally and nothing shows it more then her relationship with Gale and Peeta. Tina points out “The real audience for this book is NOT adults who have the ability to make their own decisions but rather teenagers who often feel as conflicted as Katniss herself does.”

 

You can’t talk about Katniss without discussing her relationships with both Gale and Peeta. For me, it was clear that while Gale and Peeta were clearly in touch with their emotions, Katniss was not. She does not understand romantic love because general love is on short supply initially. Yes, she loves Prim but I think some of that is slightly distorted by a the feelings of responsibility. This is the love that Katniss knows, and she shows it by taking care of people. She provides for everyone. Gale, her Mother, Prim, Peeta, Haymitch, the people in the Hob. Katniss is a survivor and a provider. I think part of the reason we have trouble connecting with her and this triangle is that she doesn’t fulfill a stereotypical female template because her actions are more traditionally considered that of a male role. I do think that Gale gets it right in the third book when he tells Peeta that Katniss will love whichever one of them that she can’t live without. Simple, and completely correct. And selfish. Yet another reminder that she is 17 at this point. While both boys (men?) are completely giving, almost over-compensating for her emotional short comings, she chooses the person she can’t live without, and doesn’t fully understand her actions. Dave mentions that he doesn’t understand why she marries someone she doesn’t really love (Peeta). To answer this I simply answer, you just have to change your definition of love. Historically people have married for money, power, financial support, that the notion of romantic love is a fairly new one. It is clear that she is eventually sexually attracted to Peeta (which is a bit baffling to her) but first she loves him because she feels responsible, and to a dgree beholden to him because of the bread. I also think her love for him is because he holds her, physically and emotionally through out the first and second books. He shows the first physical, non-sexual affection that she has had since her father died, and that is when she is responsive. Eventually, after Peeta is taken, returns and tries to kill her does she realize what she had before. How many of us can raise our hands with a similar realization from a past relationship? When Peeta becomes as damaged as she is can she start to open up, there is a kinship. He is no longer so perfect (making her, by comparison, so imperfect in a view of herself) and together they can be flawed.

 

And let’s not forget about Gale. Gale is family and she loves him much like she loves Prim. Ironically, when his inventions and ideals kill Prim by association is when she realizes that he has changed beyond what she can handle (with her limitations), and we see the lead up to this through the book. I think a lot of Gale’s actions are in response to her actions, his hurt and anger at the relationship with Peeta. By the time he really declares his affection Katniss is irrevocably changed by the Games and is unsure how to relate to Gale anymore, and trying to recapture old memories turns out to just be stale. Gale loved who she was, I don’t think he could have really handled who she became.

And the last major aspect of Katniss that I want to talk about in this post is the Katniss/Mockingjay presented in the media, initially by the Capital for the games and eventually for the rebels. Initially this manipulation starts with decorating each tribute with elements from their respective districts, which is meant to inspire “team loyalty” and this is illustrated through out the books. It was brilliant to liken murder to sporting events, or at least it would have been brilliant if it had worked, but the districts were too poor and starving to be over-come by the illusion presented. Where you have career tributes, in the lower numbered districts, where they are well fed and life isn’t as hard you see where this manipulation works. Participating individuals such as the make up teams see being chosen as Tribute as an honor, and rarely see dissent, except for with Cinna. They make Katniss into “The Girl who was on Fire”, they create the illusion of power, beauty, and a united front with Peeta. Cinna and Haymitch correctly understands that portraying the teens as young, beautiful, and in love makes them a fan favorite and eventually would cause President Snow to show leniency when it comes down to just the tributes from District 12. Clearly Katniss is uncomfortable with all of this. She doesn’t know how to be feminine or in love. The media image of Katniss comes purely, initially, from Peeta, Cinna, and Haymitch, something that she acknowledges. She’s doesn’t know how to be what they want her to be. This continues on after the games when President Snow threatens her to be that other girl or else people will die because of her, and yet they will die regardless. In moments where Katniss, herself, without manipulation is truly a revolutionary icon that everyone wants her to be. This happens with the death of Rue, when Peeta is sick, with the berries at the end….when she is free to just be herself. It isn’t that Katniss isn’t caring, she is just is unsure how to embrace emotion, especially when forced. There is very little difference in the portrayal of Katniss whether controlled by President Snow or President Coin. She is still costumed, given a script, told to act a certain way with repercussions if she does not, and in the case of District 13, drugged when disobedient. Both sides want a Joan of Arc type leader, and when in reality they exploit a broken, unstable young woman. They are disappointed that the idea of Katniss is a figment of media imagination. Ironically we learn that a Mockingjay is an experiment, and is just the kind of bird who echos what others sing, so in actuality Katniss is a Mockingjay almost the whole time.  The only moment, in my opinion, when Katniss truly embodies their idea of a Mockingjay is after a conversation of bringing back the Games just one more time (to punish the Capital) and at Snow’s execution that instead of killing Snow she shoots and kills President Coin. As an alternative to choosing the lesser of two evils, she completes the Revolution of the Districts. For a brief moment she wasn’t an echo of an icon, she was the icon.

Katniss is the anti-hero. She’s a protagonist whose role is less active then many in literature. Sometimes she is literally shoved along, awkward, unwilling, unstable, unlikable. The idea of her and the media portrayal is very relevant within today’s society and I think is dealt with in a scary but extremely effective way (also highlighted in ‘V for Vendetta). For me, a lot of this book was about government control and conspiracy, and emphasized the dynamic between what we see and what we should believe. Katniss is tragic figure, even at the end when she has to be cajoled to have children due to paralyzing fear. The ending is uncomfortable to the reader because we’re used to our heroes riding out into the sunset and achieving everything they could have wanted, and in reality we still don’t know what Katniss REALLY wants and it leaves the audience hanging. There is no way to romanticize her. I think the ambiguity is essential and that any other ending would have been selling out. When going through events like shown within the story, you don’t get magically better and live as if none of it happened. You just do your best to live.