Katniss Everdeen, and Character Strength from Unexpected Sources

[puella_nerdii]

The promised essay for womenlovefest. Some of this is taken from comments I made at Mark Reads; a lot of it is new. HUGE GIANT SPOILERS for Mockingjay, so be warned.

Katniss Everdeen, and Character Strength from Unexpected Sources
by PuelKatniss Everdeen is not the easiest character to like. She's distrustful, judgmental, and prickly; she reacts to kindness

Comments

[angerfish]

This is so great.

[puella_nerdii]

Thank you! ♥ Piecing it together took time -- I have so many Thoughts On Katniss and there was a whole bunch of me just talking about Mockingjay and not about her specifically that I ended up taking out -- but I'm glad it worked.

[fragilesymphony]

I feel like I could pull out quotes of this, but I'd end up pulling the whole damn thing. This is fantastic, and you hit pretty much every point about why I love her. And why I find mockingjay...realistically hopefully, does that make sense? It upsets me at the turn of every page, but I feel like it ends with a "and then we move on anyway" which is honestly admirable.

And I think one of my biggest pet peeves is this idea that living her life quietly in 12 at the end was some sort of disappointment-- that she should have been some sort of revolutionary continuing to fight, when giving into the politics of it makes zero sense with Katniss' character. I agree so much about the dandelion passage-- heavy handed, yes, but I think the concept is beautiful and appropriate and as hopeful as it can get.

[puella_nerdii]

It does make a lot of sense, and honestly, that's what made the ending so powerful for me. I read the books during a really horrible depressive episode, and reading Mockingjay was kind of an affirmation that no, there isn't some kind of magical cure that will fix everything (which happens distressingly often in fiction), but you can get better, and the little steps on that journey are important and hard-won even if they don't seem very significant at first.

*nod* I feel like Katniss-the-revolutionary-leader was so much a role scripted for her that renouncing it and deciding to live out her days in peace and rebuild was one of the strongest actions she could've taken.

[aimmyarrowshigh]

I'm going to quote this comment as my comment:

And I think one of my biggest pet peeves is this idea that living her life quietly in 12 at the end was some sort of disappointment-- that she should have been some sort of revolutionary continuing to fight, when giving into the politics of it makes zero sense with Katniss' character. I agree so much about the dandelion passage-- heavy handed, yes, but I think the concept is beautiful and appropriate and as hopeful as it can get.

I agree. I've always been glad that Katniss got to live quietly and safely in her home as the end, because that's what she wanted all along -- to be able to live quietly, and safely, in a place that felt like (and really got to be) home.

[carcharias1130]

1) I loved all of this, and will be reccing it to all my friends I know who have read the books.

2) One point you made that really hit me, and I've always thought it but never put it into words: the idea that a revolution story should ultimately be about rebuilding. That the rebuilding part, the picking yourself up off the ground after being driven to your knees days on end, the dragging your ass out of bed every morning after, the supreme effort that goes into making things work after your reality has been torn asunder, that is the real contest, the ultimate testament to human will. And that's what Mockingbird is about. Politics is not a part of it, has no place here (which is what I saw symbolized in her murder of Coin) in this new life Katniss has to build for herself and with Peeta

[puella_nerdii]

♥

The hardest part of any war is the rebuilding, I think; I wouldn't call destruction easy, because obviously it's painful for anyone caught up in its wake, but getting caught up in a seemingly neverending cycle of retaliation is a trap a lot of people fall into. And I like that Katniss, over the course of the books, sees that trap for what it is, and opts out of it. THG is definitely a revolution story, and Katniss's anger and defiance are an important part of that, but you're right, it's ultimately not about revenge.

I have all the feelings, too. Honestly, writing this essay made me realize just how much THG caters to the narrative devices and elements I love.

[sunni_sideup]

I could marry this post. Just. All of it.

It kills me when people say Katniss annoys them as a character because she is weak or because she leads Peeta and Gale on or whatever. That just misses the entire point to me, which is that Katniss always does things her way, regardless of the expectations others put on her--whether it's the other characters or the readers who somehow think she can singlehandedly save the world. Katniss is real, and probably one of the most complex female protagonists we've had in a while. It's so frustrating that people want to pigeonhole her into an idea of what it means to be a strong female.

[puella_nerdii]

*nodnod* The "strong female character" thing is a dangerous trap -- I think there can be a push for "strong female characters" not to show emotion, or to spend all their time fighting and showing off their combat prowess, but that does a disservice to a lot of Katniss's real strengths. You're completely right about the expectations that a lot of characters -- and a lot of readers -- put on her, and I love that at the end of the trilogy, she essentially says "fuck you all, I'm not going to be a part of your system."

[koft2009]

I agree and wrote only one part of my commentary on these books so far; the books are not about a love triangle, or cool fights...they are about a damaged girl. She is the product of war, pain, oppression and is a survivor which is what makes her who she becomes. Peeta teaches her to feel by loving her, and Gale, well leaving her behind in the end enabled him to save himself. Peeta and Gale were different but each gave her strength and gifts that no one else had given her. True love, trusting yourself, loyalty, and most importantly the ability to see herself as a real, and amazing person who could learn to see beyond the self loathing, and fear of the pain of losing someone as she did her father, and love and Fight.

But the scenes of her screaming and banging her head on the hospital table, and attacking Haymitch are painful, and I believe beyond the understanding of Tweens. How she attacked her mother after Gale was nearly whipped to death, and how she does consistently sacrifice herself or try to, for those she loves, are all

[koft2009]

Sorry just wanted to clarify she was lying next to Finnick and they were scarred...I spelt it wrong!

[ever_neutral]

Wow, this post is fucking amazing. You did this girl justice.

In all three books, Katniss manages to directly attack not her immediate enemies, but the very structure that's oppressing her.

YES. Perfectly put.

[puella_nerdii]

Thank you; I really wanted to capture why I love Katniss in this, because she's one of my favorite YA heroines, and I know opinions of her can be, well, divided.