#the hunger games breakdwon

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Katniss, Oh Katniss.

Katniss Everdeen is such an iconic heroine. She sparked so many young girls to pick up archery as a sport. However, there are two different Katniss that exist - the book Katniss and the Movie Katniss. In this post, we will be talking about Book Katniss today.

Katniss is our narrator in the books. It is the first point of view, we get her thoughts and everything through her eyes. Katniss is an incredibly blunt narrator - she tells things exactly how she views them with her opinions mixed in. She definitely suffers from C-PTSD (Complex PTSD) from growing up in Panem.

Names are important in "The Hunger Games". Most of the characters have Roman names, like Plutarch and Cinna, and others have plants. Katniss reveals that she is named after the water plant Sagittaria, otherwise known as "Katniss" or "Arrowheads". The plants grow these potato-like tubers that are edible. Her father taught her that "As long as you can find yourself, you'll never starve" (Collins, 52). From what we get from her name, Katniss is a born survivor and has a connection with her main weapon - arrows.

Second, we can look at her at Katniss' appearance. This is established on page 8 as Katniss describes her friend, Gale. "He could be my brother. Straight black hair, olive skin, we even have the same gray eyes. But we're not related, at least not closely. Most of the families who work the mines remember one another this way." (Collins, 8). Katniss reveals in the same breath that her mother and Prim do not look like her with their light hair and blue eyes. This is because Katniss's mother is from the merchant class.

While there are no official maps of Panama, Katniss ensures we know exactly where District Twelve is. She said, "District 12 was in a place called Appalachia. Even hundreds of years ago, they mined coal here, which is why our miners have to dig so deep.” (Collins, pg 41). Appalachia is a region of the USA that is set in the Appalachian mountains, it makes up "423 counties across 13 states and spans 206,000 square miles" (Appalachian Regional Commission). Most people argue that District Twelve is either in West Virginia or eastern Kentucky on details about the weather and fauna and flora but Collins left the details muddled.

While this is complete headcanon ("ideas held by fans of series that are not explicitly supported by sanctioned text or other media" Merriam-Webster Dictionary), a lot of readers take the location of District 12 and Katniss's description to believe that she is indigenous or a part of the Melungeon people, a marginalized mixed-race Appalachian community. Regardless of whether you believe in this headcanon or not, Katniss's olive skin and grey eyes are an important distinction in her community that she is from the Seam, the poorest part of District 12.

Katniss in the first book is a rough and traumatized young girl. I feel like a lot of people focus on her bitterness at the world. Katniss doesn't trust anything at face value even if she's not in a stressful situation. She wants her family to be safe and well-fed, no matter what it costs her personally. Poaching is a high offense in District 12 after all and she has been going in the woods since she was 11 to feed her family. What most people forget about Katniss is that she is King. She loves her sister, Prim, more than life itself and she tries again and again to make sure she can have some semblance of a childhood then when she meets Rue in the arena, she cannot help but ally her - mostly because she reminds her of Prim.

"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." (Collins,

In later books, Katniss allows the circle of people she cares about to grow. In "Catching Fire", she comes across two women named Bonnie and Twill, on the run from District Eight to the supposed District Thirteen. Despite the fact it might get her in deep trouble because of the Capitol watching her, Katniss helps them.

"First I give them all the food in my pack, grain and dried beans mostly, but there's enough to hold them for a while if they're careful. Then I take Twill out in the woods and try to explain the basics of hunting. She's got a weapon that if necessary can convert solar energy into deadly rays of power, so that could last indefinitely. When she manages to kill her first squirrel, the poor thing is mostly a charred mess because it took a direct hit to the body. But I show her how to skin and clean it. With some practice, she'll figure it out. I cut a new crutch for Bonnie. Back at the house, I peel off an extra layer of socks for the girl, telling her to stuff them in the toes of her boots to walk, then wear them on her feet at night. Finally I teach them how to build a proper fire." (Collins, pg 68).

Katniss is a fascinating character to study because of her complexities. This is barely scratching the surface of her character. In the next post, I'll be examining the Movie Version of Katniss and how she differs from the Book Katniss. See you then.

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Peeta Mallark, The Best Boy

Peeta Mallark really is the best character in the entire series. No, I'm serious - Katniss told me herself. Peeta takes a while to get into the story. I mean a while as in the first twenty-five pages but between meeting Gale and Prim and everyone at the Hob and Madge, Peeta takes a while! His first moment on the page is him being reaped right after Katniss' sister, Prim. Katniss's first thought? "Oh, No." (Collins, 25).

Peeta's description comes shortly after this, "Medium height, stocky build, ashy blond hair that falls in waves over his forehead. The shock of the moment is registering on his face, you can see his struggle to remain emotionless, but his blue eyes show the alarm I've seen so often in prey." (Collins, 25-26). Peeta is from the merchant class of District Twelve, his father owns the Baker. It's also revealed that he has two brothers but nether volunteers.

Katniss quickly reveals why she had such a reaction to Peeta's reaping, Right after her father died when the money had dried up, Katniss's entire family was on the brink of survival. Katniss was 11 years old in the pouring rain, going from house to house trying to sell baby clothes. She ended up going through the bins but she found nothing. The bakery's wife yells at her when she sees her and Katniss backs off. The scene goes as follows. "The realization that I'd have nothing to take home finally suck in. My knees buckled and I slid down the tree trunk to its roots. I was too much. I was too sick and weak and tired, oh, so tired. Let them call the Peaccekeeprs and take us to the community home, I thought. Or better yet, let me die right here in the rain.

There was a clatter in the bakery and I heard the woman screaming again and the sound of a blow, and I vaguely wondered what was going on. Feet sloshed toward me through the mud and I thought, It's here. She's coming to drive me away with a stick. But it wasn't here. It was the boy. In his arms, he carried two large loaves of bread that must have fallen into the fire because the crusts were scorched black.

His mother was yelling, "Feed it to the pig, you stupid creature! Why not? No one decent will buy burnt bread!"

He began to tear off chunks from the burned parts and toss them in the trough, and the front bell runa dn the mother disappeared to help a customer.

The boy never even glanced my way, but I was watching him. Because of the bread, because of that read weal that stood out on his cheekbones. What had she hit him with? My parents never hit us. I couldn't even imagine it. The boy took one look back at the bakery as if checking that the coast was clear, then his attention back on the pig, he threw a loaf of bread in my direction. The second quickly followed, and he sloshed back to the bakery, closing the kitchen door tightly behind him.

I stared at the loaves in disbelief. They were fine, perfect really, except for the burned areas. Did he mean for me to have them? He must have. Because they were at my feet. Before anyone could witness what had happened I shoved the loaves up my shirt, wrapped the hunting jacket tightly about me, and walked swiftly away." (Collins, 38 - 39).

Katniss tells us in the next passage that the loaves get them to the start of spring where Dandelions start to bloom and Katniss realizes she can figure out how to feed her family. She considers this to be a debt to Peeta, the boy with the bread.

It's a recurring thought of hers in the arena that she constantly has another thing to owe Peeta and that she is never going to be able to repay this debt and finally be able to be okay if she has to kill him. Plot twist, she never really is okay with the idea of killing Peeta, even when the two victor thing is revoked. Then she hates the idea of him killing himself and that's when she brings up the berries.

Peeta might be considered to be "one of Katniss' love interests" but Peeta is so much better than that. Peeta is more than half the reason Katniss survived the first game because if Katniss is the head, logical and survival-driven, then Peeta is the heart of their team, the charmer and emotional know-it-all - skills Katniss struggles with.

For most of the book, Katniss has no idea what Peeta's deal is. She has this recurring thought that he is constantly trying to trick her or even backstab her in one way or another but she's always wrong. It's kind of amusing to watch on your second reread.

In the next post, I'll talk examine the myth, the man the legend himself - Haymitch.

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I Like the Movies, I promise. Just not Right Now.

And this is when we move into a different category of Katniss. The Jennifer Lawerence Katniss. You know her, pale skin and black hair. Look at my profile picture. There she is. I'm going to start this with a disclaimer. I like the movies but I like the book Katniss a lot better.

In theory, the movie Katniss Everdeen should be the same as the book, right? Wrong. The two most glaring issues are tied to her appearance. This isn't Jennifer Lawerence's fault and she did the best she could but that doesn't mean I can't criticize the casting directors for these decisions.

Starting off with the big one - Jennifer Lawerence is white. She is as pale as milk and book Katniss is not. It was mentioned in the previous post but Katniss has olive skin, straight black hair, and grey eyes.

The perfection of this was that "Katniss was someone that everyone could relate to, regardless of race. Whether Caucasian or Hispanic or Indian or biracial, this was a character to whom people could relate. With dark hair, olive skin, and gray eyes, Katniss fit the appearance of various different people." (Schueler). But no. The casting director went with a white woman. Apparently, the criteria for the audition were "should be Caucasian, between ages 15 and 20, who could portray someone ‘underfed but strong,’ and ‘naturally pretty underneath her tomboyishness.". Absolutely tragic.

The second thing is her age. Jennifer Lawerence was twenty-two when the first film was made. Katniss is supposed to be a sixteen-year-old girl. Have you seen a 16-year-old? They don't look 22. That made Katniss look older than she should have been. Katniss is a child, that's one reason why There's a post here that shows pictures of Jennifer Lawerence and Josh Hutcherson when they were the ages of their characters - it was so jarring how you knew on sight they were kids. This made that lose some oompf.

Another main issue with The Hunger Games movies is that we lose Katniss's narration. In the entire book trilogy, we are with Katniss as she navigates her life and the rebellion. This is stripped in the movie, for reasonable reasons - voice narration is difficult to pull off in film. According to the CMD (Creative Media Design), the main issue with voice-over narration is "many see with a voice-over narration in films is it defeats the purpose of storytelling through imagery, and even the characters’ own dialogue. Some will even say narration is only used to move along an otherwise stagnant story or one that’s poorly directed." (The Editors of CMD). Regardless, Katniss's voice was cut from the story which is a real shame! There are a lot of details that Katniss gives us in her narration. Without Katniss telling us things, we the viewers have to be explained things that Katniss already knows which makes Katniss appear a little dumb even if it was just for the viewers.

Another thing the movies leave out is the physical damage Katniss endures in the arena. When she causes the explosion to destroy the Cornucopia, Katniss was so close that she ended up blowing up her left eardrum and going deaf. "Gradually, subtly, the ringing in my right ear diminishes until it's gone entirely. I find myself pawing at my left ear periodically, trying to clean away whatever deadens its ability to collect sounds. If there's an improvement, it's left undetectable...The more time that passes, the less hopeful I am that this is an injury that will heal." (Collins, 228-229). Later this injury is fixed by the Capital through corrective surgeries. But regardless - they erase her temporary disability. Would it be so hard to add commentary from Ceasar Flickerman to say "Ooohh I think she might have lost hearing in her left ear!" after observing her turn her head constantly to the left?

One last note is when Rue dies in the film, Katniss comforts her by saying she will be alright. But Katniss thinks to herself in the book that there is no point in saying this since Rue is not a fool - "There's no point in comforting words, in telling her she'll be all right. She's not fool." (Collins, 233.). This was done to soften Katniss's character but this is just something she wouldn't do. It's out of her character.

I like these movies, I promise. They're incredibly well done and I think they do a good job adapting "The Hunger Games" but at the same time, I think they could do better because these two Katniss are vastly different from each other. There is so much of Katniss's was lost when she was transferred to the silver screen and that's so frustrating to me.