Return to Video

The Hunger Games & Katniss Part 1: The Novel

  • Not Synced
    It should come as no surprise that I'm always on the look out for dynamic, engaging, and strong female characters in pop culture
  • Not Synced
    and the latest fictional female representation that has everyone talking is Katniss Everdeen,
  • Not Synced
    the dynamic protagonist of the Hunger Games novels written by Suzanne Collins.
  • Not Synced
    For those unfamiliar with the trilogy, the novels are set in a future dystopian North America,
  • Not Synced
    in a country called Panem.
  • Not Synced
    The title of the book is a reference to an annual event organized by the oppressive government
  • Not Synced
    in which 24 children are selected at random to participate in a televised death match.
  • Not Synced
    In the Hunger Games, as they’re called, the children are forced to brutally murder one another until only one is left standing.
  • Not Synced
    For the purposes of this video, I’m going to set aside the fact that some of the analogies Collins is trying to draw
  • Not Synced
    reality TV, professional sports, and war begin to fall apart when scrutinized closely.
  • Not Synced
    I appreciate her attempt to critically comment on social issues,
  • Not Synced
    I just don’t buy that parents would passively give up their children to be slaughtered on national TV without a serious fight.
  • Not Synced
    The death match as spectacle theme is really only believable if the players have been dehumanized or othered by society,
  • Not Synced
    either as convicts or slaves for example, it doesn’t work when it’s just randomly selected children from the general population.
  • Not Synced
    That said, in this video I’m going to focus mainly on the portrayal of Katniss’ character in the first book and the movie adaptation.
  • Not Synced
    I thought the first The Hunger Games novel, published in 2008 was a captivating, engaging and riveting read
  • Not Synced
    and really I enjoyed being immersed in the science fiction world that Collins creates.
  • Not Synced
    If you haven’t read the book or seen the movie yet [point] fair warning.
  • Not Synced
    The story follows Katniss, a 16 year old from a poor, coal mining community in district 12.
  • Not Synced
    She struggles to provide for her family in the absence of her father and later to survive the brutality of the Hunger Games.
  • Not Synced
    She is a tough, no-nonsense, responsible, young woman
  • Not Synced
    who uses her smarts to support her family in an oppressive, and seemingly hopeless situation.
  • Not Synced
    Katniss is not reduced to her gender,
  • Not Synced
    meaning her behaviours and actions aren’t attributed to her being a woman, she is not sexualized and she is not objectified in the book.
  • Not Synced
    Her real world concerns and priorities of family and survival are put in sharp contrast
  • Not Synced
    to the superficial values imposed on her by the Capitol government as she is being groomed for the Hunger Games media spectacle.
  • Not Synced
    These preparation scenes provide a critique of the beauty industry and also of the decadence of the wealthy
  • Not Synced
    in contrast to poor and working class districts who can barely afford enough food to feed their families.
  • Not Synced
    Katniss demonstrates empathy and compassion for those around her including her friends, family,
  • Not Synced
    and those oppressed and underprivileged in Panem.
  • Not Synced
    Later in the arena she also builds a trusting and supportive relationship with Rue, the young tribute from district 11.
  • Not Synced
    Later, when Rue is tragically killed, Katniss treats her death with honor and respect.
  • Not Synced
    The romance elements of the first book were only slightly grating,
  • Not Synced
    much of it was Katniss’ uncertainty about Peeta’s feelings for her
  • Not Synced
    and her confusion about whether he was being genuine or just acting.
  • Not Synced
    . It was clear Collins was setting up a love triangle between Peeta, Katniss and Gale ala Edward, Bella and Jacob.
  • Not Synced
    This is nothing new in novels targeted at girls and women and I could look past the cliché of it
  • Not Synced
    since it wasn't central to the plot in the first book.
  • Not Synced
    Katniss' naivety when it came to dating and relationships make sense given her age and her difficult economic, social and family life,
  • Not Synced
    , her naivety and confusion is an understandable part of her character's growth,
  • Not Synced
    but only in the first part of the trilogy, unfortunately the love triangle takes a much more prominent role in books 2 and 3.
  • Not Synced
    There’s been some understandable criticism of the rather extreme levels of violence in the novel,
  • Not Synced
    especially considering it’s marketed to young adults.
  • Not Synced
    I think this is a fair point however the way Katniss perceives and uses violence makes her somewhat unique.
  • Not Synced
    Especially in comparison to other so called “strong female characters”
  • Not Synced
    whose strength often stems from their ability and willingness to use violence.
  • Not Synced
    Although, Katniss does possess the hunting and tracking skills to survive in the harsh terrain of the arena,
  • Not Synced
    she remains troubled and disturbed at the idea of personally murdering another human
  • Not Synced
    being even within the context of the death match.
  • Not Synced
    Admirably she can’t bring herself to wish death on her opponents or even her enemies.
  • Not Synced
    Knowing full well that if they remain alive she can never return home.
  • Not Synced
    These moments illustrate that Katniss hasn’t become completely desensitized to violence and suffering
  • Not Synced
    even though she’s forced to participate in a horrifically violent system.
  • Not Synced
    That said, I do wish Collins was more consistent in writing Katniss’ responses to death.
  • Not Synced
    When Rue is killed the event is written as deeply traumatic and emotional for Katniss.
  • Not Synced
    Katniss is not made to run off seeking revenge and is instead allowed to mourn in a really human way.
  • Not Synced
    We follow along as she struggles through the process of grief.
  • Not Synced
    She appropriately feels shock, pain, guilt and temporary depression.
  • Not Synced
    To Collins’ credit, she writes this emotional process as a testament to Katniss’ strength as opposed to a weakness.
  • Not Synced
    Yet when Foxface is accidently yet tragically killed via poisonous berries, Katniss doesn’t even bat an eye.
  • Not Synced
    She shows no emotional reaction whatsoever despite the fact that this young tribute from district 5, hasn’t hurt anyone during the games.
  • Not Synced
    Although, Katniss doesn’t have a personal relationship with Foxface, her death
  • Not Synced
    should still be represented as tragic and upsetting.
  • Not Synced
    It should go without saying that in reality, violence is traumatic and it has very real and lasting consequences for everybody involved.
  • Not Synced
    So I’m not arguing for stories to be completely free of violence,
  • Not Synced
    but I am arguing for violence to be portrayed consistently and to reflect its emotional and physical repercussions.
  • Not Synced
    In a media culture that sensationalizes and glamorizes violence, it’s refreshing to see a character like Katniss,
  • Not Synced
    react to violence in a more honest and genuine way, at least most of the time.
  • Not Synced
    I appreciate that Collins doesn’t have Katniss emerge from the arena unscathed.
  • Not Synced
    She experiences serious physical and emotional consequences and by the end of the games,
  • Not Synced
    her sense of safety and trust have been shattered.
  • Not Synced
    When the game makers announce that there can only be one victor after all Peeta throws his knife away in protest
  • Not Synced
    and Katniss’ automatically assumes that he’s about to attack her, so she loads her bow and aims an arrow at his heart.
  • Not Synced
    Later when the Capitol doctors are operating on Peeta, Katniss has a panic attack, and believes for a moment she’s back in the arena.
  • Not Synced
    She imagines the medical staff as a pack of muttations attacking her friend.
  • Not Synced
    These examples are evidence of the delusion and paranoia that Katniss understandably suffers
  • Not Synced
    as a result of the extreme trauma she experienced during the Hunger Games.
  • Not Synced
    These scenes help to separate her from many of the so called strong female characters in popular culture who just replicate
  • Not Synced
    the stoic, unemotional, unaffected, macho archetype where somehow they
  • Not Synced
    go through extreme violence and trauma with no visible effect at all.
  • Not Synced
    So it's refreshing that Katniss is allowed to go through a period of post traumatic stress
  • Not Synced
    and that the emotional experience ultimately works to make her a stronger character, rather than a weaker one.
  • Not Synced
    Some people have been asking is Katniss then a feminist character?
  • Not Synced
    Because of her compassion, empathy, cunning, resourcefulness and intelligence,
  • Not Synced
    I think she embodies many feminist values, at least over the course of the first book.
  • Not Synced
    In my next video I'll talk about the movie in comparison to the book,
  • Not Synced
    especially in relation to its portrayal of gender and also violence.
  • Not Synced
    Whenever a novel is turned into a film, there are going to be some major differences,
  • Not Synced
    and I'll discuss which of those changes were successful and which were not.
  • Not Synced
    So be sure to check it out.
  • Not Synced
    The Hunger Games fan art I used in this video was made by these amazing illustrators.
  • Not Synced
    If you liked this video and want to see more in depth analysis of female characters in popular culture
  • Not Synced
    please support me and my work by donating today.
  • Not Synced
    You can visit feministfrequency.com/donate
Title:
The Hunger Games & Katniss Part 1: The Novel
Description:

Warning: SPOILERS for the first Hunger Games novel

The Hunger Game is one of the most popular young adult novel series' rivaling Harry Potter and Twilight. As the first of its film adaptations was just released in March 2012, readers and audiences have been pleasantly surprised at this fresh, dynamic, young female protagonist. In this video I'll explore Katniss' character in the first novel as it relates to gender and portrayals of violence. Be sure to stay turned for Part 2 where I compare the book to the movie.

To Donation to FemFreq please visit: http://www.feministfrequency.com/donate

For more information, links and a full transcript visit http://www.FeministFrequency.com

COMMENT POLICY: Moderated comments will remain open for 2-4 weeks, after that all comments will be closed on YouTube.
more » « less
Video Language:
English
Team:
Feminist Frequency
Duration:
07:27
Emma Luna edited English subtitles for The Hunger Games & Katniss Part 1: The Novel
Emma Luna added a translation

English subtitles

Revisions Compare revisions

Our website uses cookies for analysis purposes.