Katniss Everdeen Character Analysis Essay

March 22, 2012
English 801A&B
The Hunger Games The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins is a book about survival. Survival forces you to be courageous, enduring, and most of all do things you’ve never imagined. One of the main characters Katniss Everdeen is forced to change who she is and act like she’s in love in order to survive The Hunger Games. Katniss demonstrates her courageous characteristic when she sacrifices herself and takes her sister’s place in The Hunger Games. Her sister Prim is the closest thing she has ever felt to love, she loves her more than she loves herself. Other than her mother, Prim is all she has and she doesn’t take her family for granted. Therefore when she hears Effie Trinket read her baby sister’s name on the piece of paper pulled from out of the thousand candidates, she freezes in her place. She had the urge to break down in line and cry her eyes out, but that’s not who she is, or who she portrays; she is strong. Her protective instincts take over
and she screams, acting before thinking about her decision thoroughly, and doesn’t regret it afterwards because she loves her sister unconditionally “I protect Prim in every way I can, but I’m powerless against the reaping” (Collins 15). Katniss isn’t a normal teenage girl, although she may dream of it, reality hits her every time her imagination runs wild. She can’t afford delicious meals for her family or expensive clothing. She has to work hard for everything in life; nothing has ever come easy for her. So as she’s being dragged into The Hunger Games she notices an entirely different world. A world with sweet, edible food nicely set on the table and fancy clothing. Unfortunately she’s unable to fully enjoy it because she’ll only have it for a limited amount of time. In order to survive The Hunger Games, Katniss is forced to expand out of her comfort zone and play as a doll being dressed up and pampered to impress the judges. In the mist of all the glitz and glamour the attention quickly goes to her head and she begins to actually enjoy it “The pounding music, the cheers, the admiration work their way into my blood, and I can’t suppress my excitement” (Collins 70). More than enjoy it, she even begins to love it “As I gain confidence, I actually blow a few kisses to the crowd” (Collins 70). Although The Hunger Games is clearly about survival it’s also about entertaining and impressing the judges as well as the public. Haymitch, Katniss’s mentor is strict about his rules, therefore in order to survive The Hunger Games she is forced to act like she’s madly in love with her “teammate” and competitor Peeta Mellark “Every minute! It’s not open for discussion! You agreed to do as I said! You will be together, you will appear amiable to each other” (Collins 92)
Katniss instantly hated the idea of being friendly with Peeta, because she’s never relied on anyone else and nor has she had too, she’s independent. It’s a competition and in her eyes it made her look weak as if she actually needed him to survive the game. She had her theory that Peeta was up to something, like he was planning on killing her. It was the exact opposite of his plan. This is where Katniss’s weakness shows. She is completely oblivious to what’s right in front of her because she’s always thinking about a million other things such as protecting her family, putting food on the table, keeping clothes on their back, and now refraining from being killed in The Hunger Games. Because of her selfless characteristic, she’s unable to notice Peeta is kind to her only because he’s been madly in love with her, not because he’s plotting. Her devotion to keep the promise she made to her sister will continue to prevent her from seeing the truth. The games have begun; the contestants are killing to survive, and they’re each dying one by one from different districts. Katniss finds herself doing one of the things she does best, climbing trees to keep safe from prey, but suddenly gets attacked by tracker jackers and soon blanks out. She later wakes up in a cave with one of her surviving competitors, Rue. Rue was always her favorite because she reminded her of her sister Prim and because she was one of the clever out of the group. In order to survive The Hunger Games, Katniss concocted a plan of her own and decided to team up with Rue. At the time it seemed like a good idea, and this decision didn’t make her weak, it made her smart. The idea was to outsmart the others, and survival requires making smart and tactic decisions “You know, they’re not the only ones who can form alliances,” I say. For a moment, no response. Then one of Rue’s eyes edges around the trunk. “You want me for an ally?” “Why not? You saved me with those tracker jackers. You’re smart enough to still be alive. And I can’t seem to shake you anyway,” (Collins 288). She knew Haymitch would be somewhere swearing at the television screen for teaming up with anyone but her pretend lover Peeta, but Katniss had to do what was best for her and her chances at surviving “You weren’t joking about wanting me for an ally?” she asks. “No, I meant it,” I say. I can almost hear Haymitch groaning as I team up with this wispy child. But I want her. Because she’s a survivor, and I trust her, and why not admit it? She reminds me of Prim. Later on Katniss finds her pretend lover Peeta and he’s wounded pretty bad, as she uses the first aid kit, he starts to doubt his survival skills. He’s confident he won’t survive but Katniss won’t let him say it, let alone think it. In order to survive The Hunger Games and the only way to shut him up is with a kiss, which is what he’s been dying for. After all, they’re supposed to be in love and the public would love it “No Peeta I don’t want to discuss it,” I say, placing my fingers on his lips to quiet him. “But I-” he insist. Impulsively, I lean forward and kiss him, stopping words. This is probably overdue anyway since he’s right; we are supposed to be madly in love” (Collins 268). There is a part of Katniss that cares deeply for Peeta, not because he’s officially her partner and his survival means her survival but because there’s a possibility she’s falling for him. Unfortunately we’re talking about Katniss, stubborn, independent, oblivious Katniss. She’d never admit she has feelings for him anyway, not aloud nor to herself. In order to survive The Hunger Games, Katniss had to change who she was, dress lady like, speak proper, and lie to the public.
In the mist of the competition she slowly lost herself, lost her edge she was born with and most of all her dignity. She fell under the Capitol’s spell with their bribes and became what they wanted her to be. While frantically searching for Peeta in the woods she remembered something he said during their private conversation “Only I keep wishing I could think of a way to…to show the Capitol they don’t own me. That I’m more than just a piece in their Games.” And for the first time I understand what he means. I want to do something, right here, right now, to shame them, to make them accountable, to show the Capitol that whatever they do or force us to do there is a part of every tribute they can’t own. That Rue was more than a piece in their Games. And so I am” (Collins 236, 237). Through all the hectic action, Katniss had found herself
again. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins is a book about survival, but also about strength, will power, and determination. Although everyone didn’t survive, each contestant in the game was determined to be the last one standing no matter what. They each had the strength to do things they’ve probably never done. They each had the will power to survive not only for themselves but for the safety of their families who are home awaiting their arrival. Survival takes courage and endurance.