A Muse on a Heroine

[gothrockrulz]

A trend of thought seems to have emerged in The Hunger Games fandom. When people think Katniss Everdeen, they think of a strong, powerful heroine. Katniss has basically become the symbol of young girl without a single weakness.

Why do so many people assume Katniss Everdeen has no weakness? Where does Suzanne Collins states or implies in her Hunger Games trilogy that her heroine has no weakness?

Nowhere.



Why think of Katniss only as a cold, calculating girl with a lethal aim glaring down a bow and arrow? Sure, that's an iconic image, but Katniss is so much more than that. It's only one facet of her incredible personality. What do you think motivates her prowess for survival? Weakness, naturally.

Her weaknesses play a huge part in bringing out her strengths into sharp relief. She forces herself to be strong because she must--because she's too weak to risk losing what she loves most. Her country, her friends, and most of all, her family. Her little sister Primrose is probably the biggest driving force of the entire trilogy.

Is this weakness, tempered by love into strength, not the very essence of heroism?

Along with her emotional weaknesses, the personal flaws of Katniss mold her into a very complex, very gripping, very real character. She will linger, burned into our memories, long after we forget other supposedly popular characters from this time period in books.

If Katniss were infallible, if she were without weakness, would she spend almost every waking moment, and many of her dreaming moments, worrying for the safety of others? Would she cry herself to sleep so many nights, or force herself to go on when all her body wants was to roll over and die?

No. Katniss worries, despite the fact that she's one of the most dangerous teenage girls ever to surface in the Games, because she fears no strength of her own can overcome the sheer odds stacked steeply against her. One scared girl against the world and the cruel death sentences it sends after her, one after another.

The only thing that keeps Katniss going is not strength, which she is constantly exhausting, but weakness. All the people who she worries about are vulnerable in one way or another. They need her, and she needs to take care of them and know they'll remain safe. Mutual weakness.

Now for some closing metaphors. Think of the mockingjay as a bird soaring on high--but don't forget that it feels the fire singing its feathers all too keenly. Don't think the wings beat wind and flame merely for their own glory; realize they do so to keep the mockingjay from falling and dashing against the rocks.

Don't think the piercing, chilling birdsong floats through the air just to fill the silence.

The birdsong is shattering the silence, even though the mockingjay knows the noise will make it an easy target.

Comments

[rizbef.livejournal.com]

I think it's an issue of readers being unable to relate. When I first read HG, Katniss did appear to seem a bit like the 'strong powerful' archetype, and it did annoy me a bit. However, after rereading, I felt I better understood why she was that way. And it's like you said, she was trying not to look weak so she could survive. She grew up in a different world. She has to be that way, or she probably could never win. I love Prim, but her character would not have survived the Games, unless everyone died mysteriously right away >.>

Hope that made sense ^^;

[gothrockrulz.livejournal.com]

That made perfect sense! I think you may be right that people just don't fully understand her, since she is nothing like your typical teenage girl. (At least, not in the Western world.)

[rhoda-rants.livejournal.com]

I think people relate to/look up to Katniss because she's such a well-drawn character. That includes weakness and strength, both. She's believable, she cares about people other than herself, she does what she has to to survive, not because she has no weakness but because it's necessary--her family and her life depends on her getting through the Games.

I hadn't gotten the impression that people didn't think Katniss had any flaws whatsoever. I know she's very popular and her strength is a greater focal point (along with her love interest *insert eyeroll here*) than anything else, but she's certainly not without flaws.

Good essay. :)

[gothrockrulz.livejournal.com]

She's believable, she cares about people other than herself, she does what she has to to survive, not because she has no weakness but because it's necessary--her family and her life depends on her getting through the Games.

Agreed.

I've heard several people talk or write about Katniss as if there's little more to her than her lethal archery skills and cold, calculating will to survive--including a lady at church who's a published writer. That really rubbed me the wrong way, because she, of all people, should be able to appreciate all the facets of a heroine's personality.

Good essay. :)

Oh, thank you! It hadn't even hit me that this could count as an essay, because I've always been intimidated by them. (I'm so much more comfortable with the structure of a fictional narrative.) Guess I'm better at writing essays than I thought. :)

[rhoda-rants.livejournal.com]

To be honest, I haven' t heard it as a criticism before myself--just some fans get so into her badassness, they're missing the finer points of her character. Which is okay, I guess, but yeah--there's definitely more to her than that.

You're welcome! I tend to think of a certain flavor of blog post as an 'essay.' It's a little more in depth than a rant, a little more thought-out than a rave, a little more specified than a review. I like the idea of essay writing, as something other than a school assignment. Makes me feel all intellectual and stuff. :)

[gothrockrulz.livejournal.com]

I haven't heard it as criticism, either. It's as you said, they can't see past how awesome she is. It drives me nuts, though. Hence the rant. :)

I like the idea of essay writing, as something other than a school assignment. Makes me feel all intellectual and stuff. :)

That's a good way to put it. :D