Katniss Everdeen Character Analysis
Lucia Corvalan
English W131
A.I Stephanie Luke
3/25/2013
The Monstrous “Monster”
In The Hunger Games, an unsuccessful revolution against an immoral ruler leads to the development of a game where 24 young men and women fight to the death until only one remains. The main character, Katniss Everdeen, takes her sister’s place to compete in this winner-takes-all game. Katniss is portrayed as the under-dog who will ultimately prevail throughout the movie. With the use of camera angles, music and dialogue, Katniss is given superiority over the other competitors. This superiority establishes, as seen through the essay Monster Culture (Seven Theses) by Jeffery Cohen, that Katniss is a rebellious monster who threatens The Capitol’s way of life. Although Cohen focuses on the negative aspects of monsters, in the Hunger Games, Katniss’ monstrous inability to conform to expectations and social order can be viewed as a positive attribute that induces a necessary radical change.
The inhabitants of District Twelve believe that Katniss has a good chance of winning; she is smart, resourceful and an exemplary archer. Although she may have the elements necessary to win, she also needs the support of the sponsors, who during the competition are able to send her much needed supplies. Katniss’ coach, Haymitch …show more content…
Abernathy, claims that the only way to get sponsors is to be liked. Katniss soon discovers that in order to be liked she must conform to society’s expectations of a woman. Thus, Katniss uses a TV interview to establish herself as the expected image of a girl. She giggles and smiles to the audience and even twirls around in her dress. She tries to convince the sponsors that she is like every other girl, showing behaviors that would fit perfectly under “the beauty myth” as described by Naomi Wolf.
Wolf claims that girls want to be beautiful because that makes them desirable, and men want women who are desirable. In this case, Katniss needs to be desirable for the sponsors and when she is in public; she presents a “beauty myth” exterior. But, behind the camera, Katniss’ behavior lies outside her gender’s norms. For instance, she attacks her colleague Peeta for making her appear weak by confessing his love for her on camera. Once she is in the game, Katniss becomes ruthless, doing anything it takes to survive, as if only by both conforming to the norms in public and then rebelling against them within the game can she win.
Her inability and reluctance to conform during the game causes strong conflicts with The Capitol and so Katniss is used to show the boundaries that should not be crossed.
In the words of Cohen: “as the monster of prohibition exists to demarcate the bonds that hold together that system of relations we call culture to call horrid attention to the borders that cannot --must not-- be crossed. ” Women who dwell outside the norms, like Katniss, are “monstrous” to society. They are feared because “this refusal to participate in the classificatory "order of things" is true of monsters generally” (Cohen). Her behavior scares the Capitol, because it questions cultural
standards.
Once a member of society begins to question the boundaries and brazenly cross them, they become a monster. Katniss crosses these boundaries when she decides to go against the clear wishes of The Capitol. As the hunger game is coming to an end and the rules are changed, Katniss makes the decision to openly defy The Capitol. As she screams “No they don’t!” her open defiance, the sound of her bow and arrow are distinctly heard hitting the ground signifying her reluctance to fight. Her voice changes from calm to combative as she walks over to Peeta, and the sound of her steps and motions are heard over the background music enhancing her importance. As Katniss pulls out deadly berries for a suicide attempt, a close up shot of her hands entwined with Peeta’s is used to symbolize that they act together, as their hands are intertwined so are their actions. This willingness to die before following the rules makes her, again, a threat to The Capitol. Katniss’ defiance through the entire game has a domino effect on the people from the poor districts. Katniss, “the monster of prohibition polices the borders of the possible.” (Cohen). She stands between order and disorder; she shows the possibilities of what could be. Her actions concerning Rue’s death encourages people to cross the boundaries that society so viciously guards. As the people rebel against The Capitol, they themselves become monsters. In the words of Cohen: “to step outside this official geography is to risk attack by some monstrous border patrol or (worse) to become monstrous oneself.” (Cohen) “A monster arises at the gap where difference is perceived as dividing” (Cohen). Katniss arises from the gap between The Capitol and the districts. Although Katniss “offers an escape from [The Capitol’s] hermetic path” (Cohen), her “monstrosity” is not of any cruel purpose or malicious intention. While Katniss appears as a monster due to her open disdain for the rules, reluctance to obey gender expectations and inability to follow “the order of things”, she is also a hero for her disobedience to the injustice and inhumanity The Capitol creates. Katniss’ monstrous behavior threatens The Capitol’s way of life. By actively defying The Capitol’s wishes, she uses her monstrous exterior to bring forth necessary radical change. The rules change because of her actions, and people in the districts rebel against The Capitol because of her. Katniss’ disregard for the rules turns her into a monster, but her reasons allow for questioning the definition of a real monster. Where would society be without “monsters” such as Katniss, Martin Luther King Jr., The Suffragettes and Dred Scott. Those that were once called “monsters” may be the ones that close the “gaps that divide.”
Work Cited:
The Hunger Games. Dir. Gary Ross. LionsGate, 2012. DVD.
Jeffrey Jerome Cohen. “Monster Culture (Seven Theses)” Reading for Analytical Writing. Eds. Christine Farris, et al. 3rd ed. New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2011, 68-86. Print.
Naomi Wolf. “The Beauty Myth” Reading for Analytical Writing. Eds. Christine Farris, et al. 3rd ed. New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2011, 475-482. Print.
English W131
A.I Stephanie Luke
3/25/2013
The Monstrous “Monster”
In The Hunger Games, an unsuccessful revolution against an immoral ruler leads to the development of a game where 24 young men and women fight to the death until only one remains. The main character, Katniss Everdeen, takes her sister’s place to compete in this winner-takes-all game. Katniss is portrayed as the under-dog who will ultimately prevail throughout the movie. With the use of camera angles, music and dialogue, Katniss is given superiority over the other competitors. This superiority establishes, as seen through the essay Monster Culture (Seven Theses) by Jeffery Cohen, that Katniss is a rebellious monster who threatens The Capitol’s way of life. Although Cohen focuses on the negative aspects of monsters, in the Hunger Games, Katniss’ monstrous inability to conform to expectations and social order can be viewed as a positive attribute that induces a necessary radical change.
The inhabitants of District Twelve believe that Katniss has a good chance of winning; she is smart, resourceful and an exemplary archer. Although she may have the elements necessary to win, she also needs the support of the sponsors, who during the competition are able to send her much needed supplies. Katniss’ coach, Haymitch …show more content…
Abernathy, claims that the only way to get sponsors is to be liked. Katniss soon discovers that in order to be liked she must conform to society’s expectations of a woman. Thus, Katniss uses a TV interview to establish herself as the expected image of a girl. She giggles and smiles to the audience and even twirls around in her dress. She tries to convince the sponsors that she is like every other girl, showing behaviors that would fit perfectly under “the beauty myth” as described by Naomi Wolf.
Wolf claims that girls want to be beautiful because that makes them desirable, and men want women who are desirable. In this case, Katniss needs to be desirable for the sponsors and when she is in public; she presents a “beauty myth” exterior. But, behind the camera, Katniss’ behavior lies outside her gender’s norms. For instance, she attacks her colleague Peeta for making her appear weak by confessing his love for her on camera. Once she is in the game, Katniss becomes ruthless, doing anything it takes to survive, as if only by both conforming to the norms in public and then rebelling against them within the game can she win.
Her inability and reluctance to conform during the game causes strong conflicts with The Capitol and so Katniss is used to show the boundaries that should not be crossed.
In the words of Cohen: “as the monster of prohibition exists to demarcate the bonds that hold together that system of relations we call culture to call horrid attention to the borders that cannot --must not-- be crossed. ” Women who dwell outside the norms, like Katniss, are “monstrous” to society. They are feared because “this refusal to participate in the classificatory "order of things" is true of monsters generally” (Cohen). Her behavior scares the Capitol, because it questions cultural
standards.
Once a member of society begins to question the boundaries and brazenly cross them, they become a monster. Katniss crosses these boundaries when she decides to go against the clear wishes of The Capitol. As the hunger game is coming to an end and the rules are changed, Katniss makes the decision to openly defy The Capitol. As she screams “No they don’t!” her open defiance, the sound of her bow and arrow are distinctly heard hitting the ground signifying her reluctance to fight. Her voice changes from calm to combative as she walks over to Peeta, and the sound of her steps and motions are heard over the background music enhancing her importance. As Katniss pulls out deadly berries for a suicide attempt, a close up shot of her hands entwined with Peeta’s is used to symbolize that they act together, as their hands are intertwined so are their actions. This willingness to die before following the rules makes her, again, a threat to The Capitol. Katniss’ defiance through the entire game has a domino effect on the people from the poor districts. Katniss, “the monster of prohibition polices the borders of the possible.” (Cohen). She stands between order and disorder; she shows the possibilities of what could be. Her actions concerning Rue’s death encourages people to cross the boundaries that society so viciously guards. As the people rebel against The Capitol, they themselves become monsters. In the words of Cohen: “to step outside this official geography is to risk attack by some monstrous border patrol or (worse) to become monstrous oneself.” (Cohen) “A monster arises at the gap where difference is perceived as dividing” (Cohen). Katniss arises from the gap between The Capitol and the districts. Although Katniss “offers an escape from [The Capitol’s] hermetic path” (Cohen), her “monstrosity” is not of any cruel purpose or malicious intention. While Katniss appears as a monster due to her open disdain for the rules, reluctance to obey gender expectations and inability to follow “the order of things”, she is also a hero for her disobedience to the injustice and inhumanity The Capitol creates. Katniss’ monstrous behavior threatens The Capitol’s way of life. By actively defying The Capitol’s wishes, she uses her monstrous exterior to bring forth necessary radical change. The rules change because of her actions, and people in the districts rebel against The Capitol because of her. Katniss’ disregard for the rules turns her into a monster, but her reasons allow for questioning the definition of a real monster. Where would society be without “monsters” such as Katniss, Martin Luther King Jr., The Suffragettes and Dred Scott. Those that were once called “monsters” may be the ones that close the “gaps that divide.”
Work Cited:
The Hunger Games. Dir. Gary Ross. LionsGate, 2012. DVD.
Jeffrey Jerome Cohen. “Monster Culture (Seven Theses)” Reading for Analytical Writing. Eds. Christine Farris, et al. 3rd ed. New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2011, 68-86. Print.
Naomi Wolf. “The Beauty Myth” Reading for Analytical Writing. Eds. Christine Farris, et al. 3rd ed. New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2011, 475-482. Print.