In the novel The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, the main character Katniss goes through a lot of changes and developments throughout the book. The novel acts as a coming of age story for Katniss as the readers get to see how she changes from living in District 12 to entering the game. At the beginning of the book Katniss lives the same routine of caring for her family and hunting for food. She is described as very independent, protective, and the bread winner for her family. At the age of 16, Katniss had to mature and take over for her family after her father died. She also has never seen the Capitol as an enemy until she enters the games. In the Seam, Katniss lives to survive and understands the injustice between the Districts and the Capitol. She doesn’t fully understand the inequality until she enters the Capitol and the games. She is amazed by the luxury that the Capitol has compared to the poverty in the surrounding districts. “My quarters are larger than our entire house back home…but also have so many automatic gadgets that I’m sure I won’t have time to press all the buttons'' (Collins, 75). Katniss learns that the true enemy is the Capitol and how much they pit the districts against each other.
Throughout the book Katniss is seen as independent and goes into the games by herself. She slowly makes alliances with Rue and Peeta. Katniss learns the only way to survive the games is if she opens herself up and becomes dependent on others. Another aspect that Katniss learns through her time in the games is everything the Capitol does is for entertainment. She has to abandon her sour people skills and become a likable character for the audience. After Rue's death she finally understands how much the Capitol has taken from her and her family. “... to show the Capitol that whatever they do or force us to do there is a part of every tribute they can’t own” (237). The only way she can show rebellion is giving Rue a proper burial. Katniss, like most heroines in dystopian novels, has to mature at a very young age and fight for survival. The character growth between the beginning of the games and the end is very significant. Katniss has created a relationship with Peeta and experiences many emotions new to her. Katnisse’s main goal is to get them out of the arena alive. She becomes more trusting in Peeta and they must rely on each other to survive. The Hunger Games acts as a coming of age story for Katniss because she goes through many character developments when entering the Capitol. She fully understands how the games and the tributes are all pawns in the Capitol. She also learns how to act and sway the audience for her own needs. Lastly she creates relationships she never would have even thought about back home in District 12.
Katniss has certainly had the most character development out of anyone in the story. It is so interesting to see her change and grow as her responsibilities increase dramatically. Inequality and injustice are a very important pieces to bring up regarding the Hunger Games story. The Capitol is filled with luxury goods, when Katniss's district is fighting just for the bare essentials. It only makes sense then for the Capitol to facilitate the games and be responsible for even more damage.
ReplyDeleteA huge moment in Katniss's life is the time Rue passes away. The Capitol attempted to take Primrose too. The pain is just never-ending. However, Katniss has a perseverant attitude about her. She stays strong and smart during the games and her training, leading her to good results. Katniss learns what is right and wrong in the games, and who she can possibly trust. She makes an alliance with Peeta because the games are too daunting to face alone. The Hunger Games certainly is a coming-of-age story, but could be argued as a cautionary tale as well. This novel is considered dystopian because of the "far-off" nature of the games, but I would go further to argue fighting to the death for entertainment is closer than we think. The portion of entertainment here is very interesting. Katniss is not fighting for money, she just wanted to keep her family safe. The Capitol insists on these games purely for a twisted sense of entertainment, forgetting the fact that the District member are real people. Katniss is a really impressive character considering the trouble she was put through during The Hunger Games.