Preview

IN WHAT WAYS DOES KATNISS EVERDEEN CHALLENGE OR CONFIRM OUR UNDERSTANDING OF A TYPICAL HERO IN 'THE HUNGER GAMES'?

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1089 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
IN WHAT WAYS DOES KATNISS EVERDEEN CHALLENGE OR CONFIRM OUR UNDERSTANDING OF A TYPICAL HERO IN 'THE HUNGER GAMES'?
The question of whether Katniss Everdeen, of 'The Hunger Games,' confirms or challenges the idea of an archetypal hero is one debated worldwide. Throughout the novel, written by Suzanne Collins, Katniss demonstrates qualities and undertakes actions which are, without a doubt, heroic. However, whether or not this makes her a hero is dependent upon who you are asking; many characters in the novel would have very different ideas as to what a hero is. Also, although Katniss may come off as a hero many times in the book, she also challenges that title in countless instances with less-than-heroic actions and thoughts. So is Katniss Everdeen a hero? Through her actions, thoughts and personality, Katniss both confirms and challenges the idea of a typical hero.

Katniss confirms our understanding of a typical hero with her noble personality attributes and heroic actions. She exhibits moments of tolerance, endurance, selflessness and compassion; all of which are what makes up our overall perception of an archetypal hero. We see Katniss display these heroic attributes on reaping day, when Katniss's little sister Prim is chosen to be a tribute for District 12. In a selfless act of bravery, Katniss volunteers to take hr sisters place, hence saving her from certain death. In this one great deed, Katniss attains the ultimate 'heights of self-sacrifice reached by the most noble of heroes,' catapulting her to the realms of the true archetypal heroes; a title which she upholds for most of the duration of 'The Hunger Games.' In another instance, Katniss demonstrates saint-like levels of tolerance and kindness when she tends to Peeta whilst he is injured and unable to walk. He slows her down; he's a total burden yet Katniss nurses him back from the brink of death, risking her own life as she does it. To deny the incredible levels of heroism demonstrated by Katniss throughout the novel is nearly impossible to do; through most of her mannerisms and actions, Katniss fits perfectly into

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Katniss Everdeen: Summary

    • 672 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Katniss Everdeen was a sixteen year old girl that lived with her mother and her little sister Prim in District 12. Katniss’s family…

    • 672 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Katniss shows the Habit of Mind known as Taking Responsible Risks. First, she shows this characteristic by volunteering to be a tribute in the Hunger Games instead of her sister, knowing…

    • 425 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Katniss Everdeen Quotes

    • 1511 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Surviving the Hunger Games was difficult enough, but playing the game at a such challenging arena made that task that much harder. Being at that the Capitol, also meant that she alone could not provide for her family anymore. She would have to count on friends in District 12 to help her family out. “Gale will get her the herbs she doesn’t grow herself,...He’ll also bring them game-he and I made a pact about this a year or so ago…”(35). Being the head of the household, and then being ripped away for the family had a devastating effect on Katniss’s family. Being at the capital also meant that that she was always under surveillance, and everything she did was being watched. Every part was her life was under the control of the capitol, and there wasn’t a way that Katniss could fight back. Being a Hunger Games tribute at the Capitol, meant that she had the do countless interviews and win over as many fans that she could. Pretending to be somebody that she isn’t is one obstacle that she will have a hard time…

    • 1511 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Katniss Bio

    • 896 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Katniss is an independent survivalist, lethal, but good at thinking outside the box. Katniss's past hardships (her father's death, mother's depression, and near starvation) have made her a survivor, and she will endure hardship and hard work to…

    • 896 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the fictional novel, The Hunger Games, written by Suzanne Collins, a girl named Katniss has to fight for her life in the 74th annual Hunger Games. The book focused on Katniss volunteering to be in the Hunger Games and her journey to the arena. Also, it focused on her battling to win with her partner Peeta after a rule change allowing both to win. The three topics addressed in the exciting book are characterization, conflict, and themes.…

    • 720 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    For Katniss, survival has become more than just hiding out and avoiding the Careers; she recognizes that truly to survive, she must play the Game to win. Now in the Catching Fire book, “A mockingjay is a creature the Capitol never intended to exist. They had not counted on the highly controlled jabberjay having the brains to adapt to the wild, to pass on its genetic code, to thrive in a new form. They had not anticipated its will to live.” (Katniss 92) Katniss is talking about the mockingjay, the iconic symbol of the rebellion, but she may as well be talking about herself. The spirit of resistance and rebellion is alive in Katniss, though she doesn’t yet realize it. She survived her first Hunger Games despite being from the poorest District with, historically, the least-prepared tributes. Like the mockingjay, no one expected her to survive, but she was able to adapt to survival. The tributes themselves are symbols of a war fought 75 years ago, and their deaths serve as a reminder of the power the Capitol wields. However, the Capitol underestimated Katniss’s own will to live, as well as her defiance. Katniss is more than a symbol she is a human being. She has grown up under the Capitol’s rules, and now they are forced to contend with…

    • 563 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In The Hunger Games, Katniss is always careful to never show signs of weakness because she is the main caretaker for her family. She is conscious of the fact that she must never surrender to her fears, as this could bring more hardship on her family. This serves her well in the games, where any show of vulnerability could get her killed. The interesting thing about her keeping up this appearance of strength is that it seems to fuel her natural instincts and actually helps to make her tougher. The tougher the obstacles that she faces, the more hopeful and purposeful she becomes. This aura of hopefulness is obviously sensed by others around her, as when the character of Cinna says to her, "I want the audience to recognize you when you 're in the arena." "Katniss, the girl who was on fire" (Hunger…

    • 1040 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Throughout The Hunger Games series, there is a huge shift in the main character Katniss Everdeen. In the first Hunger Games movie, it introduces Katniss, who grew up in district twelve, the poorest district out of all thirteen. She lived in a place where finding a piece of bread on the ground was like winning the lottery. Once Katniss started to train for the games, people started seeing how talented she is with a bow and arrow, and she started to understand that she has some power over others. By the end of the first movie, Katniss is really starting to understand that she has power, considering the fact that she had won the game. In the second movie, Katniss has been named victor, and starts making her victory tour. As she makes her way around…

    • 605 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    She is characterzed by being a caring person who encourage ones around her to keep going no matter what. Im always there for people who ask for my help, and im also a caring person. The motivation that Katniss showed through her actions is away that I am when helping others, or in a bad situation. Not once in the movie did I see her give up on anything, even if she had gotten hurt really bad. She stuck to what she had to do or either what she was going to do in order to get things back to how they were. Even when it came to helping another team player, she didn’t see it as a threat which showed how caring she…

    • 781 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Katniss Everdeen Thesis

    • 561 Words
    • 3 Pages

    What a makes a person who they are is not what clothes they wear or the car they drive. A person’s true identity lies within their mind, the way they think and how they chose to act upon those thoughts. Katniss Everdeen the brave young woman that fights for her sister in the book, The Hunger Games, is much like our first lady, Michelle Obama. Michelle fights by her husband day in and day out for this country for the good of the people. Katniss strives tooth and nail in the hunger games to save her dystopian society and her younger sister.…

    • 561 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Essay On Heros Journey

    • 576 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In every hero's journey that I read in the past the heroes has to be a male there is never a female hero, Joseph Campbell talked a little bit about the heroine, which is a female hero, and most people don't relays that women also can be heroes, the thing that caught my attention in Katniss the main hero in the hunger game movie series is that she was a great example of a hero not because it was the only hero journey move that we watched in this class that included a female hero. in the hanger game even though the hero was a girl but she was a great example of a hero she was a hero by the sense of the word, she wasn't only a great fighter in front of a strong males she also volunteered for her little sister that got chosen in the first place in an act of heroic self-sacrifice, one of the main roles of the game is that it…

    • 576 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Katniss Adversity

    • 540 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Her mother falls into a heavy depression, and she is forced to take care of her six year old sister. . Katniss and her sister are starving, but she learns archery, and hunting in the woods in order to feed her family. Through the hardships of losing emotional contact with her mother, losing her father, and her family being on the brink of starvation, Katniss learns to be caring, yet tries to hide emotions from the ones closest to her. Katniss' mother falling into depression teaches her how to take care of her her little sister, Prim. This illustrates that any hardship can be a tremendous opportunity to learn from. Due to a tragic accident, one can acquire skills as an effect of it. For example, Katniss becomes capable of being responsible for more than just herself, and caring for others. Furthermore, due to heavy oppression from the Capitol, which is the government of Panem, Katniss learns the concept of justice. Katniss developed the skill of rebelling, and rallying others, and she becomes the face of rebellion for the districts of Panem. Katniss becomes a true inspiration for many people, and if Katniss hadn't felt the affects of oppression from the Capitol so personally because of her rebellious act in the 74th Hunger Games, Katniss learns to fight for her family, fight for her life, and fight for what is…

    • 540 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    There are various definitions for what someone must do in order to be considered a hero. The classic definitions normally involve individuals who have fought in a war or have put themselves in physical danger. In the Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen portrays this by putting herself in known danger. However, the definition should also include those individuals who have done a courageous act, which the rest of us could not normally do in fear of rejection of family, peers, or community. Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, and Frederick Douglass all lived brave lives by fighting for their rights. Although traditionally the term “heroism” has been applied to those who have braved physical danger, people who speak out for their rights and have courage doing so should also be considered heroes.…

    • 446 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hero Essay (Odyssey)

    • 1196 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Some say a hero is defined as somebody who does something dangerous to help somebody else. Others would disagree and state that a hero is a large, muscular being who flys around in flamboyant spandex costumes. What is a hero to you? Over time there have been many epic heroes. Theses heroes show traits of strength, courage, nobility, a thirst for glory, confidence in authority, and intellect. Both Odysseus from The Odyssey and Katnis from The Hunger games are alike in their heroic qualities, but show minor differences as well.…

    • 1196 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hunger Games Essay

    • 572 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Katniss knows how to survive and survival is the key factor to winning the hunger games. From the beginning you know that Katniss can hunt and this helps win the hunger games but survival is not just hunting its being smarter than your prey and knowing how to outwit your opponents. When Katniss was dropped into the Hunger Games arena she was one of the best hunters which gave her an advantage because some of the other contestants could not hunt at all. Before the Katniss was chosen to be in the Hunger games she also had to survive by collecting her own herbs and meat to feed her family and in rough times she would be starving and spent some time…

    • 572 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics