"Life is like drawing on a piece of paper. Without an eraser."

Monday, November 19, 2012

Character Development- Katniss Everdeen


Imagine yourself in the midst of what seems to be an endless battle, unknown yet the star. Weak yet strong. Scared yet confident. This is Katniss Everdeen, a 16 year old girl who volunteered as tribute for the 74th annual Hunger Games in place of her sister, Prim. After Katniss made the decision to volunteer as female tribute, her life went from difficult and boring in the Seam to hectic in the Capitol before the Games. She and Peeta, the other district 12 tribute, went through intense training along with the tributes from the other districts. This training, along with the actual Hunger Games, molded Katniss into a determined, courageous girl.
At the beginning of the trilogy, Katniss cared only for herself, her family, and friends. She doesn’t let anyone try and help her, to show that she can deal with anything and not look weak. But as the book progresses, she learns to respect human life and appreciate others, and not just people who are close to her. She starts to develop more feelings she never knew she had, like her love for Peeta. During the Hunger Games, when Rue is dying, Katniss sings for her, a song she learned from her father. This shows that she has developed a respect for all humans.
In the second book of the trilogy, Katniss is forced to enter the 75th Hunger Games, a Quarter Quell, which is a Hunger Games of previous victors. She and Peeta are both taken away by the hovercraft, in an attempt to save Peeta’s life. But on their way to the Victory Tour, President Snow tells Katniss that he is keeping an eye on her, and that he doesn’t want to see anymore “rebellious stunts” like in the previous Hunger Games, when Katniss and Peeta are the last two tributes so they attempt to commit suicide with nightlock berries. When they arrive in district 8 on the tour, Katniss discovers that the people are on the edge of rebellion. She decides her Mockingjay pin will become her symbol of rebellion, so she becomes known as the Mockingjay. This helps boost her confidence, to help her become stronger.
But while she and her team are making preparations for the rebellion in the third book, she learns that Snow has captured Peeta and injected some memory-distorting venom into his veins. This meant that all of Peeta’s memories about Katniss would become bad memories. When Katniss finds out that his recovery will be next to impossible, she turns into a cold, angry person. This shows how much she has developed true feelings for Peeta, and cares about him. Katniss’ new mission is to kill President Snow. She gets her wish after the rebellion, but also ends up killing President Coin in the process. This causes Katniss to completely lose it, as in thinking about committing suicide by not eating or drinking, and taking a lethal dose of medication. But slowly Peeta’s mind recovers almost completely, and Katniss returns to District 12 with him.
Katniss never truly changed her personality, just opened up her world to more than just a few close people. But interacting with many others helped her change from a girl who was only set on providing for and caring for her family, to a tough soldier who helped to ultimately save Panem from destruction. She met a lot of different, caring people who helped her open up to everyone else. Even though Katniss sometimes has trouble controlling her emotions, she has developed a lot from when we first met her at the start of the trilogy.

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