Lady Appreciation Post: Katniss Everdeen
(Shush, we'll pretend I've gone back in time and it's still Saturday.)
Thought long and hard about which Lady I wanted to do this week. Eventually decided I was overdue to show some love to the protagonist of one of my favorite book series. So let's dive right in and get to her then!
Um, MAJOR SPOILERS, just so you know. Starting right with the quote. So don't read it if you don't want plot points spoiled.
"My name is Katniss Everdeen. I am seventeen years old. My home is District 12. There is no District 12.
I am the Mockingjay. I brought down the Capitol. President Snow hates me. He killed my sister.
Now I will kill him. And then the Hunger Games will be over...." --Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
(Fanart credit "The Girl who was on Fire" by kara-lija)
Katniss Everdeen's life is full of tragedy. Born in the poorest of the Districts, Katniss is forced to grow up very quickly when her father is lost in a mining accident and her mother sinks into despair and depression. Katniss becomes the breadwinner of the family, teaches herself to use a bow and arrows and set traps, and goes hunting illegally in the woods beyond her District in order to hunt and catch and gather enough food to keep her mother and little sister fed for one more day.
(Fanart credit: "Katniss" by CPattern)
Right off the bat, I already love Katniss for how unconventional she is. She's a complete inversion of the Manly Men Can Hunt trope, an Action Girl, tough and resilient and not quite fully in touch with her feelings. (In contrast to her main love interest Peeta, who is a soft-spoken sweet sensitive baker boy who plays the Damsel in Distress often.) She's a survivor. She's emotionally stunted. She's not particularly concerned with personal hygiene. She's grit and nails. Dirt and splinters. And the narrative neither condemns her for these tomboyish, "masculine" attributes, nor particularly draws attention to them. Katniss just... is that way. Which is quite refreshing to see in such a popular series.
Look at that badass.
(Fanart credit "Hunger Games: Katniss" by amandioka)
Not all of Katniss's hard-as-steel attributes are due to her personality however; it's fairly clear that Katniss suffers lingering PSTD from her father's death, and then later from her experiences in the Games. Katniss starts out cracked and only gets more broken over the course of the trilogy.
Katniss also has a surprisingly tender side, especially when it comes to people she loves and cares about. She's extremely protective, nurturing, compassionate, and has a very clear sense of justice. Above all things in the world, she loves her little sister Prim the most, and it's for Prim's sake that she volunteers for the Hunger Games. So that her little, helpless, innocent sister won't have to go.
(Fanart credit: "13.Misfortune-Katniss and Prim" by commoner-pocky)
During her first Hunger Games, Katniss befriends a young Tribute girl from District 11, named Rue, who reminds her of Prim. Katniss and Rue develop a very warm friendship and camaraderie before Rue's life is claimed by the Games. In a show of empathy and grief, and as a very effective middle finger to the oppressive Capitol and the Gamemakers, Katniss adorns Rue's body with flowers and gives District 12's three-fingered salute to her body and the cameras.
*sniffle!*
(Fanart credit: "8. Innocence- Katniss and Rue" by commoner-pocky)
Also during these same games, Katniss forges a strong bond with the District 12 boy tribute, Peeta Mellark, and selflessly risks her life to save him several times over the next two books. And he's not the only one. Whenever she can, Katniss tries to protect the oppressed, the downtrodden, the victimized. She even manages to see past her prejudices against the Career tributes of the richer Districts, and the people of the Capitol itself, and see where the real evil lies. Katniss's sense of justice leads her to frequently-inadvertently-pull acts of defiance against the Capitol. And it's through these that Katniss becomes the symbol of the Rebellion, the accidental figurehead and inspiration for the Districts.
(Fanart credit: "The Hunger Games: a rebellion" by arianaglori)
Katniss is a girl thrust into the center of a war, shoved into a public figurehead role that's ill-suited for her. She resists at first, bristles at being controled by both the Rebels and the Capitol, being just a pawn in the chess games they play against each other, but eventually she comes to grips with the destiny that's been chosen for her. She doesn't always succeed at being the Moackingjay, since she's terrible at speeches and doesn't know how to lead or inspire people (on purpose at any rate), but she tries valiantly anyway.
Which pretty much sums up her whole character actually. She tries her best. She doesn't always succeed, and everything doesn't always go as planned, but she carries on, gets right back up again, and keeps going. She keeps fighting. And most importantly, she survives. Everything the story throws at her, Katniss manages to plow through, dodge by the skin of her teeth, and live to hunt another day.
(Fanart credit: "Hunger Games: Katniss Everdeen" by Loleia)
In the end, the stress and pressure of being the Mockingjay, and the sheer amount of crap she goes through, takes its toll and breaks Katniss down. She becomes, well, kind of a wreck towards the end. But somehow, even from this lowest of lows and uttermost despair, she still bounces back. She recovers, and while she'll always be damaged by her experiences and will never be the same again, she still heals. She manages to find a modicum of happiness for herself, for her own future, unburdened by the controling powers of the world around her. She starts a new life, in quiet and peace, and eventually feels safe enough to bring children into the world.
I love Katniss because she's so atypical. She's not particularly brave or passionate, but she can get pretty riled up with the right triggers. She's conflicted and unsure of herself. She's deeply flawed. She has an initial callous disregard for most people who are not those she likes and cares about, but eventually comes to realize that all people's lives are precious, and that you can't committ atrocities for the sake of keeping or achieving peace. She realizes the inherrent uglieness of war. She's a sixteen/seventeen year old girl forced to grow up way too fast and put through way too much than could reasonably be demanded of her, and she buckles and protests here and there but ultimately winds up doing what needs to be done.
(Fanart credit: "Katniss's Mockingjay uniform" by kara-lija)
And she gets many, many awesome moments over the course of the trilogy.
In book one, she shoots an arrow at the Gamemakers when they wouldn't pay attention to her skills demonstration. She blows up a heaping stack of supplies the Career tributes are hoarding. And she is the one who pulls out the nightlock berries in defiance of the Capitol, to deprive them of their single victor and force the Gamemakers to let both her and Peeta win.
All Katniss's idea.
(Fanart credit: "Berries" by Fish-Box)
In book two, she hangs a dummy and scrawls the former Gamemaker's name across it-a chilling reminder to the Gamemakers that they too are pawns in the Capitol's Games and can be discarded at will. She fights like a seasoned Career at the Cornucopia and beyond. And she figures out her alliance's secret plan at precisely the right moment, aims her arrow with its metal cable attached for the chink in the force field that sends volts of electricity to overload the barrier, breaking it down and allowing the Rebels to retrieve her from the arena.
(Fanart credit: "Katniss" by love-button)
And in book three, she takes down several hovercraft with her arrows. She inspires the rebellion. She gets the people of District 2 to lay down their arms and join forces with the Rebels. She leads her small intrepid rag-tag team into the very heart of the Capitol on a mission to assasinate President Snow. And it's a little ambiguous but I think she also feigns going along with President Coin (of District 13) and her plan to have a last symbolic Hunger Games, in order to take her down. Coin, as it turns out, is just as bad as President Snow, and ordered an attack on Capitol children that also claimed the life of Katniss's sister Prim. Katniss learns this from Snow, keeps her head down when pressed by Coin for her yes vote (knowing the woman won't tolerate Katniss's defiance), and this places her in the exact right position to take Coin out before she can proceed with this horrible plan. Katniss aims her last arrow up into the balconey and kills Coin instead of executing Snow.
She's kind of like a phoenix, actually. She takes the fall for this action, basically committing social suicide and combusting, going down in a burst of flames, but then being reborn anew from the ashes, into a much softer person. This was Katniss's last great act: making sure no one outside the voting comittee ever knew that another Hunger Games was being planned. So that it would never come to pass. Katniss's tale ends rather like Batman's in The Dark Knight. The innocent takes the fall, thereby sparing the public from greater horror. Katniss goes home in peace, though, and settles her roots in there. Her journey is complete, and she's earned a little bit of quiet and comfort and joy.
Here's to you, Girl on Fire. You shine brighter than the stars.
(Fanart credit: "Fanart - Radiant as the Sun" by fictograph)
Thought long and hard about which Lady I wanted to do this week. Eventually decided I was overdue to show some love to the protagonist of one of my favorite book series. So let's dive right in and get to her then!
Um, MAJOR SPOILERS, just so you know. Starting right with the quote. So don't read it if you don't want plot points spoiled.
"My name is Katniss Everdeen. I am seventeen years old. My home is District 12. There is no District 12.
I am the Mockingjay. I brought down the Capitol. President Snow hates me. He killed my sister.
Now I will kill him. And then the Hunger Games will be over...." --Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
(Fanart credit "The Girl who was on Fire" by kara-lija)
Katniss Everdeen's life is full of tragedy. Born in the poorest of the Districts, Katniss is forced to grow up very quickly when her father is lost in a mining accident and her mother sinks into despair and depression. Katniss becomes the breadwinner of the family, teaches herself to use a bow and arrows and set traps, and goes hunting illegally in the woods beyond her District in order to hunt and catch and gather enough food to keep her mother and little sister fed for one more day.
(Fanart credit: "Katniss" by CPattern)
Right off the bat, I already love Katniss for how unconventional she is. She's a complete inversion of the Manly Men Can Hunt trope, an Action Girl, tough and resilient and not quite fully in touch with her feelings. (In contrast to her main love interest Peeta, who is a soft-spoken sweet sensitive baker boy who plays the Damsel in Distress often.) She's a survivor. She's emotionally stunted. She's not particularly concerned with personal hygiene. She's grit and nails. Dirt and splinters. And the narrative neither condemns her for these tomboyish, "masculine" attributes, nor particularly draws attention to them. Katniss just... is that way. Which is quite refreshing to see in such a popular series.
Look at that badass.
(Fanart credit "Hunger Games: Katniss" by amandioka)
Not all of Katniss's hard-as-steel attributes are due to her personality however; it's fairly clear that Katniss suffers lingering PSTD from her father's death, and then later from her experiences in the Games. Katniss starts out cracked and only gets more broken over the course of the trilogy.
Katniss also has a surprisingly tender side, especially when it comes to people she loves and cares about. She's extremely protective, nurturing, compassionate, and has a very clear sense of justice. Above all things in the world, she loves her little sister Prim the most, and it's for Prim's sake that she volunteers for the Hunger Games. So that her little, helpless, innocent sister won't have to go.
(Fanart credit: "13.Misfortune-Katniss and Prim" by commoner-pocky)
During her first Hunger Games, Katniss befriends a young Tribute girl from District 11, named Rue, who reminds her of Prim. Katniss and Rue develop a very warm friendship and camaraderie before Rue's life is claimed by the Games. In a show of empathy and grief, and as a very effective middle finger to the oppressive Capitol and the Gamemakers, Katniss adorns Rue's body with flowers and gives District 12's three-fingered salute to her body and the cameras.
*sniffle!*
(Fanart credit: "8. Innocence- Katniss and Rue" by commoner-pocky)
Also during these same games, Katniss forges a strong bond with the District 12 boy tribute, Peeta Mellark, and selflessly risks her life to save him several times over the next two books. And he's not the only one. Whenever she can, Katniss tries to protect the oppressed, the downtrodden, the victimized. She even manages to see past her prejudices against the Career tributes of the richer Districts, and the people of the Capitol itself, and see where the real evil lies. Katniss's sense of justice leads her to frequently-inadvertently-pull acts of defiance against the Capitol. And it's through these that Katniss becomes the symbol of the Rebellion, the accidental figurehead and inspiration for the Districts.
(Fanart credit: "The Hunger Games: a rebellion" by arianaglori)
Katniss is a girl thrust into the center of a war, shoved into a public figurehead role that's ill-suited for her. She resists at first, bristles at being controled by both the Rebels and the Capitol, being just a pawn in the chess games they play against each other, but eventually she comes to grips with the destiny that's been chosen for her. She doesn't always succeed at being the Moackingjay, since she's terrible at speeches and doesn't know how to lead or inspire people (on purpose at any rate), but she tries valiantly anyway.
Which pretty much sums up her whole character actually. She tries her best. She doesn't always succeed, and everything doesn't always go as planned, but she carries on, gets right back up again, and keeps going. She keeps fighting. And most importantly, she survives. Everything the story throws at her, Katniss manages to plow through, dodge by the skin of her teeth, and live to hunt another day.
(Fanart credit: "Hunger Games: Katniss Everdeen" by Loleia)
In the end, the stress and pressure of being the Mockingjay, and the sheer amount of crap she goes through, takes its toll and breaks Katniss down. She becomes, well, kind of a wreck towards the end. But somehow, even from this lowest of lows and uttermost despair, she still bounces back. She recovers, and while she'll always be damaged by her experiences and will never be the same again, she still heals. She manages to find a modicum of happiness for herself, for her own future, unburdened by the controling powers of the world around her. She starts a new life, in quiet and peace, and eventually feels safe enough to bring children into the world.
I love Katniss because she's so atypical. She's not particularly brave or passionate, but she can get pretty riled up with the right triggers. She's conflicted and unsure of herself. She's deeply flawed. She has an initial callous disregard for most people who are not those she likes and cares about, but eventually comes to realize that all people's lives are precious, and that you can't committ atrocities for the sake of keeping or achieving peace. She realizes the inherrent uglieness of war. She's a sixteen/seventeen year old girl forced to grow up way too fast and put through way too much than could reasonably be demanded of her, and she buckles and protests here and there but ultimately winds up doing what needs to be done.
(Fanart credit: "Katniss's Mockingjay uniform" by kara-lija)
And she gets many, many awesome moments over the course of the trilogy.
In book one, she shoots an arrow at the Gamemakers when they wouldn't pay attention to her skills demonstration. She blows up a heaping stack of supplies the Career tributes are hoarding. And she is the one who pulls out the nightlock berries in defiance of the Capitol, to deprive them of their single victor and force the Gamemakers to let both her and Peeta win.
All Katniss's idea.
(Fanart credit: "Berries" by Fish-Box)
In book two, she hangs a dummy and scrawls the former Gamemaker's name across it-a chilling reminder to the Gamemakers that they too are pawns in the Capitol's Games and can be discarded at will. She fights like a seasoned Career at the Cornucopia and beyond. And she figures out her alliance's secret plan at precisely the right moment, aims her arrow with its metal cable attached for the chink in the force field that sends volts of electricity to overload the barrier, breaking it down and allowing the Rebels to retrieve her from the arena.
(Fanart credit: "Katniss" by love-button)
And in book three, she takes down several hovercraft with her arrows. She inspires the rebellion. She gets the people of District 2 to lay down their arms and join forces with the Rebels. She leads her small intrepid rag-tag team into the very heart of the Capitol on a mission to assasinate President Snow. And it's a little ambiguous but I think she also feigns going along with President Coin (of District 13) and her plan to have a last symbolic Hunger Games, in order to take her down. Coin, as it turns out, is just as bad as President Snow, and ordered an attack on Capitol children that also claimed the life of Katniss's sister Prim. Katniss learns this from Snow, keeps her head down when pressed by Coin for her yes vote (knowing the woman won't tolerate Katniss's defiance), and this places her in the exact right position to take Coin out before she can proceed with this horrible plan. Katniss aims her last arrow up into the balconey and kills Coin instead of executing Snow.
She's kind of like a phoenix, actually. She takes the fall for this action, basically committing social suicide and combusting, going down in a burst of flames, but then being reborn anew from the ashes, into a much softer person. This was Katniss's last great act: making sure no one outside the voting comittee ever knew that another Hunger Games was being planned. So that it would never come to pass. Katniss's tale ends rather like Batman's in The Dark Knight. The innocent takes the fall, thereby sparing the public from greater horror. Katniss goes home in peace, though, and settles her roots in there. Her journey is complete, and she's earned a little bit of quiet and comfort and joy.
Here's to you, Girl on Fire. You shine brighter than the stars.
(Fanart credit: "Fanart - Radiant as the Sun" by fictograph)