Katniss Everdeen
Encyclopedia
Katniss Everdeen is the main character of Suzanne Collins
's The Hunger Games
trilogy. Her name comes from an edible plant called katniss
. Jennifer Lawrence
is set to portray Katniss in the upcoming movie The Hunger Games, directed by Gary Ross
.
Katniss and her family come from District 12, a coal-mining district in Appalachia that is the poorest and least populated district in the fictional autocratic nation of Panem. In the course of the first book, The Hunger Games, Katniss volunteers to replace her sister, Primrose Everdeen, after she is called forth during Reaping Day, a in which, annually, one male and one female teenage tribute are called forth from each district to fight to the death in an arena in what are known as the the Hunger Games. Katniss, alongside fellow District 12 tribute Peeta Mellark
, compete in the Games together. She uses her knowledge of hunting and archery to survive, and the two become the victors after defying the Capitol's attempt to force one to kill the other. Throughout the next two novels, Catching Fire
and Mockingjay
, Katniss becomes the symbol of a rebellion by the twelve districts against the Capitol's oppression, and ultimately decides the final balance of power in Panem in killing the aspiring president of District 13, the vanguard of the rebellion, for attempting to impose state of oppression unto the defeated Capitol itself.
and the Minotaur
, in which seven boys and seven girls from Athens are sent every nine years against their will to be devoured by the Minotaur, a cycle that doesn't stop until Theseus kills the Minotaur. Collins, who heard the story when she was eight years old, was unsettled by its ruthlessness and cruelty. Collins said, "In her own way, Katniss is a futuristic Theseus." Collins also characterized the novels with the fearful sensations she experienced when her father was fighting in the Vietnam War
.
In the novels, Katniss is extensively knowledgeable in foraging, wildlife, hunting, and survival techniques. Collins knew some of this background from her father, who grew up in the Great Depression
and was forced to hunt to augment an extremely low food supply, although Collins saw her father bring home food from the wild during her own childhood as well. In addition, Collins researched the subject using a large stack of wilderness survival guidebooks.
Katniss and the other tributes are, in their time before participating in their Hunger Games, compelled to compete for the hearts of sponsors who donate money that can be used to buy vital supplies for them when they are in the arena. The concept of how the audiences carry nearly as much force as actual characters is based on how, in reality television and in the Roman games, the audience can both "respond with great enthusiasm or play a role in your elimination," as Collins said.
, which is a tuber plant usually found in water. The root of this plant can be eaten, as Katniss does in the book. Her father once said: "As long as you can find yourself, you'll never starve." This name also means "belonging to an arrow" in Latin, which may have a connection with Katniss's skill with a bow and arrow. The plant also shares its name with a constellation in the Zodiac
called Sagittarius
, or "The Archer", which may also reference Katniss' skills in archery.
Katniss collects a variety of nicknames in the course of the trilogy. In the Games, each tribute works with a stylist who dictates how the tribute presents him or herself. Katniss' stylist, Cinna, who becomes her close friend, coined her nickname, "The Girl on Fire," after he designed dresses and clothes for Katniss that made her look like she was on fire. Additionally, having misheard her name the first time she told it to him, Katniss' friend Gale calls her 'Catnip'. To Haymitch Abernathy, Katniss' mentor in the games, her name is 'Sweetheart'. (MMB)
When Katniss appears before the gamemakers, she becomes infuriated at their inattentiveness and shoots an arrow at a pig they are eating. When they are given scores for their training exhibition, Katniss is surprised to get an 11 out of 12, the highest score. During a public interview before the Games, Peeta claims to be desperately in love with Katniss, but she doesn't believe he's telling the truth. However, despite her anger at Peeta at what she feels to be a game strategy on his part, she decides to play along as a strategy to get sympathy from potential sponsors, who provide gifts to tributes in the arena and can be crucial to a tribute's survival.
Katniss proves an able player and is able to interpret the gifts she receives as signals about how to successfully negotiate the Games. Halfway through the Games a new rule is introduced: if both tributes from one district are the last two left alive, they can both be co-victors. Katniss immediately searches for and finds a seriously injured Peeta, and the two work together to become the last tributes alive, while at the same time carrying on a passionate romance for the cameras. After their final competitor, Cato, is killed, the new rule is declared invalid. Either Katniss or Peeta must die in order for the other to leave the arena, with Peeta attempting to force Katniss to kill him. Because the Capitol must have a winner from the games to exhibit, Katniss suggests that they both eat poisonous Nightlock berries, and therefore die together. After placing berries in their mouth, they are hastily interrupted and both allowed to live. But since Katniss Everdeen has humiliated the Capitol and its rules, she becomes a political target and inadvertently inspires a rebellion in the districts.
Peeta is heartbroken and believes that Katniss was only acting as if she loved him in the arena, but Katniss herself is unsure of her feelings towards both Peeta and her friend Gale. She feels that Peeta is a caring, open, and virtuous boy whom she ultimately doesn't deserve, so she is slow to acknowledge her romantic feelings for him. Peeta also comes from a wealthier background and never faced death by starvation or poverty, leading to a growing rift between them. Gale comes from a similar background and, like Katniss, has felt the pressure to provide for his family from a young age, and shares an unusual willingness to enter the woods to hunt. Gale is strong, independent, and willing to make any sacrifice to protect his loved ones, though Katniss feels that he may endanger himself by not hiding his hatred of the Capitol well enough. Katniss knows that Gale loves her, but is confused about her feelings for Peeta and has always thought of Gale as a friend, unsure whether she has romantic feelings for one, both, or neither of them.
In order to save her family and friend, Katniss agrees to follow the Capitol's agenda. Peeta does the same when he realizes what is at stake. Peeta even proposes to her, and she accepts, but even at that point President Snow conveys to her that her actions are insufficient. Katniss comes to realize that the rebellion in the districts is not within her power to suppress, making it impossible for her to satisfy President Snow's demands. Katniss is also confused as to the nature of her feelings for both Gale and Peeta, both of which are complicated by her fears for the future and her unwillingness to have children who could themselves be subjected to the Hunger Games. When the Quarter Quell—a special Games that takes place every 25 years and has a special set of rules—is announced, it is proclaimed that all of the current year's tributes will be selected from the pool of previous Games victors. District 12 has only three living victors: Katniss, Peeta, and Haymitch Abernathy, who won the 50th Games and successfully mentored Katniss the year before. As Katniss is the only living female victor in District 12, she is the only possible female tribute, and Peeta volunteers to take Haymitch's place when Haymitch is selected. Katniss and Peeta return to the arena, working closely to survive and forming alliances and close friendships in the process.
Katniss is taken from the arena and discovers that the tributes of many districts had coordinated an escape plan and used a stolen hovercraft to fly to District 13, which was not destroyed as the Capitol had claimed. However, during the escape, Peeta is captured by the Capitol and afterwards, Gale informs Katniss that District 12 was bombed and destroyed but that her family is safe.
Katniss agrees to be the symbolic leader of their rebellion: "the Mockingjay", the face of the rebels. She discovers that Cinna has been killed, but the rest of her prep team survived in District 13's captivity; they prep Katniss for the cameras when she agrees to start doing propaganda pieces for the rebels. Katniss becomes increasingly emotionally strained by the horrors she is witnessing—wholesale slaughter, the destruction of the only home she has ever known, with 90% of the citizens of District 12 dead, many friends killed due to their association with her, and Peeta being beat on live T.V. After a rescue mission in which a team from 13 brings Peeta back, she finds out his memories have been distorted by tracker jacker venom, a mind-control torture referred to as "hijacking". He now hates and wants to kill Katniss, believing she is a muttation created by the Capitol. Katniss becomes even more determined to kill Snow.
She, along with a group of sharpshooters that include Gale, Peeta, and Finnick Odair (from the Quarter Quell in the previous book), sneak into the Capitol at the cost of several of their own lives, planning to kill Snow. As they get close to the presidential mansion, an array of bombs are dropped from a Hovercraft, with only some exploding, and killing the refugee Capitol children on whom they were dropped. Rebel medics, including Prim, rush to help the children, but as they arrive, the rest of the bombs explode. Prim is killed in front of Katniss, while Katniss's body is severely burned. Although she makes a remarkable physical recovery, Katniss temporarily loses the ability to speak, horrified by the death of her sister.
Meanwhile, President Snow is arrested, found guilty of his crimes against the people of Panem, and sentenced to death. Per Katniss' request, she is designated his executioner. Before the execution, Snow tells Katniss that the bombs weren't his but the rebels' way of gaining sympathy in the Capitol for their cause, making it look like the work of Snow. Although she initially refuses to believe Snow, Katniss realizes that the attack method was identical to a trap Gale and fellow Quarter Quell tribute Beetee had designed. Eventually, Katniss comes suspect that Coin bombed the children in order to trick the Capitol citizens into thinking that the government had killed their children, therefore winning the loyalty of the Capitol's citizens.
Furthermore, Coin has decided that the Hunger Games will continue, but this time only children from the Capitol. However, she seeks the approval of the surviving victors before making these games official, and Katniss votes yes as a means of avenging Prim's death. Just before Snow's execution, Katniss realizes that Snow was telling her the truth and impulsively turns and kills Coin instead. She is arrested and placed in solitary confinement, where she attempts to commit suicide by starving herself. However, she is ultimately released on the grounds that she wasn't mentally well at the time of the assassination and is required to return to District 12. Katniss goes back to her home in Victor's Village (a house victors get when they win the Games in their District) and is put under care.
Driven into a deep depression, Katniss refuses to leave her house until Peeta returns to District 12 to plant primroses outside, in memory of her sister. Katniss begins to regain her mental health, and she and Peeta deal with their feelings by creating a book composed of information about their deceased friends and family (eventually Haymitch joins them in this project). Gale has a job in District 2 and her Mother is working in District 4 as medical personnel. Katniss realizes that she is no longer in love with Gale, feeling his desire for revenge against his enemies too closely parallels her own personality. She ultimately falls in love with Peeta. In the epilogue, more than 20 years later, she speaks as an adult. After 15 years of asking, Katniss agreed to have children with Peeta. They have two children, a boy and a girl. The Hunger Games are a thing of the past and are merely something taught in school to her children, who one day will learn of their parents' role.
, which was destroyed in a global war. Panem is run by an all-powerful city called the Capitol, located in Colorado, which is surrounded by 12 districts, each having a specific purpose in supplying something to the Capitol. The story starts in District 12, Katniss's home, the coal-mining district. District 12 the poorest of the districts, and Katniss lives with her mother and sister in the poorest part of town, the Seam.
Katniss's father, a coal miner, was killed in a mine explosion when Katniss was 11. Upon her husband's death, Katniss's mother went into a deep depression and was unable to care for her children. On the brink of starvation, Katniss wandered into the richer part of town, hoping to steal some scraps from the garbage bins of rich merchants. The baker's son, Peeta, whom she did not know, took a beating from his mother for intentionally burning some bread, knowing that he would be told to throw them out. He was told to give the two loaves of bread to the pig, but instead gave them to Katniss. Katniss took them home to her family, who had not eaten in days. The bread gave them hope and kept them motivated, leaving Katniss feeling resentfully indebted to Peeta.
A few days after the incident with the bread, Katniss decided to go into the woods surrounding her district to hunt illegally and gather plants to eat, which was how her father had gotten most of the family's food before he died. There she met a boy named Gale Hawthorne
. Together, they provide for both their families and develop a strong friendship.
Katniss's mother slowly surfaces from her depression and is able to return to her job as an apothecary, and Katniss makes an effort to forgive her. However, despite her mending relationship with her mother and strong friendship with Gale, Katniss remains adamant that Prim, her younger sister, is "the only person she's certain she loves".
, Katniss struggles to understand Panem political issues as she has had very little education or experience of politics. She also gradually realizes that there are more important things than survival and decides she is willing to die for Peeta and the rebellion.
Katniss also owns her father's game bag, two bows, a hunting jacket, her parents' wedding photo and a silver parachute from the Seventy-fifth Games.
said she was a "cool kid" with a "lame name," before adding, "once I got over [her] name...I got to like her a lot." Francisca Goldsmith said, "Although Katniss may be skilled with a bow and arrow and adept at analyzing her opponents’ next moves, she has much to learn about personal sentiments, especially her own." Publishers Weekly
says, "It's a credit to Collins's skill at characterization that Katniss, like a new Theseus, is cold, calculating and still likable." The Cleveland Plain Dealer stated in a review for Catching Fire that "Katniss in a pensive mood seems out of step with the kick-butt assassin," before adding that her loyalty and kindheartedness were enjoyed. John Green, in the New York Times, called Katniss a "memorably complex and fascinating heroine". Also in The New York Times, Katie Roiphe said that Katniss in Mockingjay was "a great character without being exactly likable. [She] is bossy, moody, bratty, demanding, prickly", and commented that this is what makes many recent literature heroines likable. Entertainment Weekly
compared Katniss to Bella Swan
from the Twilight Saga and said that "unlike Twilight's passive, angsty Bella, Katniss is a self-possessed young woman who demonstrates equal parts compassion and fearlessness."
and Kaya Scodelario
expressed interest in the film and received scripts in October 2010, while Oscar-nominated actress Hailee Steinfeld
met with director Gary Ross.
Chloe Moretz
, Malese Jow
and Jodelle Ferland
publicly expressed interest in playing Katniss. Lionsgate confirmed in March 2011 that about 30 actresses either met with them or read for the role, including Jennifer Lawrence
, Abigail Breslin
, Emma Roberts
, Saoirse Ronan
, Emily Browning
, and Shailene Woodley
, as well as Steinfeld, Moretz, Fonesca, and Scodelario. On March 16, 2011 it was announced that Jennifer Lawrence of Winter's Bone
landed the coveted role of Katniss Everdeen. Lawrence is 20, a bit older than the character. However, author Suzanne Collins said that the actress who plays Katniss has to have "a certain maturity and power" and said she would rather the actress be older than younger. Collins states that Lawrence was the "only one who truly captured the character I wrote in the book" and that she had "every essential quality necessary to play Katniss."
Suzanne Collins
Suzanne Collins is an American television writer and novelist.-Early life:Suzanne Collins is the daughter of an Air Force officer. She graduated from the Alabama School of Fine Arts and earned her M.F.A. from New York University in Dramatic Writing....
's The Hunger Games
The Hunger Games trilogy
The Hunger Games trilogy is a young-adult adventure science fiction series written by Suzanne Collins. The trilogy consists of The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay....
trilogy. Her name comes from an edible plant called katniss
Sagittaria
Sagittaria is a genus of about 30 species of aquatic plants whose members go by a variety of common names, including arrowhead, duck potato, iz-ze-kn, katniss, kuwai , swan potato, tule potato, and wapato...
. Jennifer Lawrence
Jennifer Lawrence
Jennifer Shrader Lawrence is an American film and television actress. She has had lead roles in TBS's The Bill Engvall Show and in the independent films The Burning Plain and Winter's Bone, for which she received critical acclaim and a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress...
is set to portray Katniss in the upcoming movie The Hunger Games, directed by Gary Ross
Gary Ross
Gary Ross is an American writer, director, and actor. He is best known for directing Pleasantville and Seabiscuit, both of which featured Tobey Maguire in the lead role...
.
Katniss and her family come from District 12, a coal-mining district in Appalachia that is the poorest and least populated district in the fictional autocratic nation of Panem. In the course of the first book, The Hunger Games, Katniss volunteers to replace her sister, Primrose Everdeen, after she is called forth during Reaping Day, a in which, annually, one male and one female teenage tribute are called forth from each district to fight to the death in an arena in what are known as the the Hunger Games. Katniss, alongside fellow District 12 tribute Peeta Mellark
Peeta Mellark
Peeta Mellark is one of the protagonists of The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins...
, compete in the Games together. She uses her knowledge of hunting and archery to survive, and the two become the victors after defying the Capitol's attempt to force one to kill the other. Throughout the next two novels, Catching Fire
Catching Fire (2009 novel)
Catching Fire is the second book in The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins. As the sequel to the 2008 bestseller The Hunger Games, it continues the story of Katniss Everdeen and the fictional, futuristic nation of Panem...
and Mockingjay
Mockingjay
Mockingjay is a 2010 young adult dystopian novel by American author Suzanne Collins. It is the third installment of The Hunger Games trilogy, following 2008's The Hunger Games and 2009's Catching Fire, and continues the story of Katniss Everdeen, who agrees to lead the rebellion against the rulers...
, Katniss becomes the symbol of a rebellion by the twelve districts against the Capitol's oppression, and ultimately decides the final balance of power in Panem in killing the aspiring president of District 13, the vanguard of the rebellion, for attempting to impose state of oppression unto the defeated Capitol itself.
Origins
The idea for the trilogy was based in part on the myth of TheseusTheseus
For other uses, see Theseus Theseus was the mythical founder-king of Athens, son of Aethra, and fathered by Aegeus and Poseidon, both of whom Aethra had slept with in one night. Theseus was a founder-hero, like Perseus, Cadmus, or Heracles, all of whom battled and overcame foes that were...
and the Minotaur
Minotaur
In Greek mythology, the Minotaur , as the Greeks imagined him, was a creature with the head of a bull on the body of a man or, as described by Roman poet Ovid, "part man and part bull"...
, in which seven boys and seven girls from Athens are sent every nine years against their will to be devoured by the Minotaur, a cycle that doesn't stop until Theseus kills the Minotaur. Collins, who heard the story when she was eight years old, was unsettled by its ruthlessness and cruelty. Collins said, "In her own way, Katniss is a futuristic Theseus." Collins also characterized the novels with the fearful sensations she experienced when her father was fighting in the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
.
In the novels, Katniss is extensively knowledgeable in foraging, wildlife, hunting, and survival techniques. Collins knew some of this background from her father, who grew up in the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
and was forced to hunt to augment an extremely low food supply, although Collins saw her father bring home food from the wild during her own childhood as well. In addition, Collins researched the subject using a large stack of wilderness survival guidebooks.
Katniss and the other tributes are, in their time before participating in their Hunger Games, compelled to compete for the hearts of sponsors who donate money that can be used to buy vital supplies for them when they are in the arena. The concept of how the audiences carry nearly as much force as actual characters is based on how, in reality television and in the Roman games, the audience can both "respond with great enthusiasm or play a role in your elimination," as Collins said.
Names
Katniss' name comes from a plant that is more commonly known as SagittariaSagittaria
Sagittaria is a genus of about 30 species of aquatic plants whose members go by a variety of common names, including arrowhead, duck potato, iz-ze-kn, katniss, kuwai , swan potato, tule potato, and wapato...
, which is a tuber plant usually found in water. The root of this plant can be eaten, as Katniss does in the book. Her father once said: "As long as you can find yourself, you'll never starve." This name also means "belonging to an arrow" in Latin, which may have a connection with Katniss's skill with a bow and arrow. The plant also shares its name with a constellation in the Zodiac
Zodiac
In astronomy, the zodiac is a circle of twelve 30° divisions of celestial longitude which are centred upon the ecliptic: the apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year...
called Sagittarius
Sagittarius (constellation)
Sagittarius is a constellation of the zodiac, the one containing the galactic center. Its name is Latin for the archer, and its symbol is , a stylized arrow. Sagittarius is commonly represented as a centaur drawing a bow...
, or "The Archer", which may also reference Katniss' skills in archery.
Katniss collects a variety of nicknames in the course of the trilogy. In the Games, each tribute works with a stylist who dictates how the tribute presents him or herself. Katniss' stylist, Cinna, who becomes her close friend, coined her nickname, "The Girl on Fire," after he designed dresses and clothes for Katniss that made her look like she was on fire. Additionally, having misheard her name the first time she told it to him, Katniss' friend Gale calls her 'Catnip'. To Haymitch Abernathy, Katniss' mentor in the games, her name is 'Sweetheart'. (MMB)
The Hunger Games
In District 12's Reaping, Katniss's 12-year old sister, Prim, is drawn as the female tribute. Aware that her sister lacks her survival skills, Katniss volunteers to take her place in the Games. The male tribute chosen from District 12, Peeta Mellark, is also Katniss' age. Katniss is uncomfortable in Peeta's presence due to her feelings of indebtedness to him, combined with the certain knowledge that for her to live, Peeta must die. The two tributes are taken for training and public exposure to the Capitol, where they are coached by Haymitch Abernathy, the only living winner from District 12 and a notorious alcoholic. They are also accompanied by Effie Trinket, the district's liaison to the Capitol. As part of their strategy, Katniss and Peeta act as a team, which is unusual due to all tributes' knowledge that in the end they must kill each other to survive.When Katniss appears before the gamemakers, she becomes infuriated at their inattentiveness and shoots an arrow at a pig they are eating. When they are given scores for their training exhibition, Katniss is surprised to get an 11 out of 12, the highest score. During a public interview before the Games, Peeta claims to be desperately in love with Katniss, but she doesn't believe he's telling the truth. However, despite her anger at Peeta at what she feels to be a game strategy on his part, she decides to play along as a strategy to get sympathy from potential sponsors, who provide gifts to tributes in the arena and can be crucial to a tribute's survival.
Katniss proves an able player and is able to interpret the gifts she receives as signals about how to successfully negotiate the Games. Halfway through the Games a new rule is introduced: if both tributes from one district are the last two left alive, they can both be co-victors. Katniss immediately searches for and finds a seriously injured Peeta, and the two work together to become the last tributes alive, while at the same time carrying on a passionate romance for the cameras. After their final competitor, Cato, is killed, the new rule is declared invalid. Either Katniss or Peeta must die in order for the other to leave the arena, with Peeta attempting to force Katniss to kill him. Because the Capitol must have a winner from the games to exhibit, Katniss suggests that they both eat poisonous Nightlock berries, and therefore die together. After placing berries in their mouth, they are hastily interrupted and both allowed to live. But since Katniss Everdeen has humiliated the Capitol and its rules, she becomes a political target and inadvertently inspires a rebellion in the districts.
Peeta is heartbroken and believes that Katniss was only acting as if she loved him in the arena, but Katniss herself is unsure of her feelings towards both Peeta and her friend Gale. She feels that Peeta is a caring, open, and virtuous boy whom she ultimately doesn't deserve, so she is slow to acknowledge her romantic feelings for him. Peeta also comes from a wealthier background and never faced death by starvation or poverty, leading to a growing rift between them. Gale comes from a similar background and, like Katniss, has felt the pressure to provide for his family from a young age, and shares an unusual willingness to enter the woods to hunt. Gale is strong, independent, and willing to make any sacrifice to protect his loved ones, though Katniss feels that he may endanger himself by not hiding his hatred of the Capitol well enough. Katniss knows that Gale loves her, but is confused about her feelings for Peeta and has always thought of Gale as a friend, unsure whether she has romantic feelings for one, both, or neither of them.
Catching Fire
Katniss and Peeta go on the Victory Tour, which is a visit to each district by the winners, strategically placed between each Hunger Games. Katniss becomes aware that uprisings are erupting across several districts. In addition, the nation's leader, President Snow, is forcing Katniss to convince the nation that she is really in love with Peeta and that her suicide pact was an act of love rather than defiance, in order to quell dissent. Gale has been presented to the nation as her cousin, but President Snow implies his knowledge that Katniss has feelings for him and threatens to have him killed to gain leverage over Katniss.In order to save her family and friend, Katniss agrees to follow the Capitol's agenda. Peeta does the same when he realizes what is at stake. Peeta even proposes to her, and she accepts, but even at that point President Snow conveys to her that her actions are insufficient. Katniss comes to realize that the rebellion in the districts is not within her power to suppress, making it impossible for her to satisfy President Snow's demands. Katniss is also confused as to the nature of her feelings for both Gale and Peeta, both of which are complicated by her fears for the future and her unwillingness to have children who could themselves be subjected to the Hunger Games. When the Quarter Quell—a special Games that takes place every 25 years and has a special set of rules—is announced, it is proclaimed that all of the current year's tributes will be selected from the pool of previous Games victors. District 12 has only three living victors: Katniss, Peeta, and Haymitch Abernathy, who won the 50th Games and successfully mentored Katniss the year before. As Katniss is the only living female victor in District 12, she is the only possible female tribute, and Peeta volunteers to take Haymitch's place when Haymitch is selected. Katniss and Peeta return to the arena, working closely to survive and forming alliances and close friendships in the process.
Katniss is taken from the arena and discovers that the tributes of many districts had coordinated an escape plan and used a stolen hovercraft to fly to District 13, which was not destroyed as the Capitol had claimed. However, during the escape, Peeta is captured by the Capitol and afterwards, Gale informs Katniss that District 12 was bombed and destroyed but that her family is safe.
Mockingjay
In Mockingjay, Katniss visits the subterranean civilization of District 13 and meets with the people and their leader, President Alma Coin, after being taken to see the remains of District 12. A love triangle between Katniss, Peeta, and Gale slowly unfolds, forcing Katniss to decide whom she really wants to be with—a situation complicated by the fact that Peeta is currently being tortured in the Capitol while Gale is at Katniss's side.Katniss agrees to be the symbolic leader of their rebellion: "the Mockingjay", the face of the rebels. She discovers that Cinna has been killed, but the rest of her prep team survived in District 13's captivity; they prep Katniss for the cameras when she agrees to start doing propaganda pieces for the rebels. Katniss becomes increasingly emotionally strained by the horrors she is witnessing—wholesale slaughter, the destruction of the only home she has ever known, with 90% of the citizens of District 12 dead, many friends killed due to their association with her, and Peeta being beat on live T.V. After a rescue mission in which a team from 13 brings Peeta back, she finds out his memories have been distorted by tracker jacker venom, a mind-control torture referred to as "hijacking". He now hates and wants to kill Katniss, believing she is a muttation created by the Capitol. Katniss becomes even more determined to kill Snow.
She, along with a group of sharpshooters that include Gale, Peeta, and Finnick Odair (from the Quarter Quell in the previous book), sneak into the Capitol at the cost of several of their own lives, planning to kill Snow. As they get close to the presidential mansion, an array of bombs are dropped from a Hovercraft, with only some exploding, and killing the refugee Capitol children on whom they were dropped. Rebel medics, including Prim, rush to help the children, but as they arrive, the rest of the bombs explode. Prim is killed in front of Katniss, while Katniss's body is severely burned. Although she makes a remarkable physical recovery, Katniss temporarily loses the ability to speak, horrified by the death of her sister.
Meanwhile, President Snow is arrested, found guilty of his crimes against the people of Panem, and sentenced to death. Per Katniss' request, she is designated his executioner. Before the execution, Snow tells Katniss that the bombs weren't his but the rebels' way of gaining sympathy in the Capitol for their cause, making it look like the work of Snow. Although she initially refuses to believe Snow, Katniss realizes that the attack method was identical to a trap Gale and fellow Quarter Quell tribute Beetee had designed. Eventually, Katniss comes suspect that Coin bombed the children in order to trick the Capitol citizens into thinking that the government had killed their children, therefore winning the loyalty of the Capitol's citizens.
Furthermore, Coin has decided that the Hunger Games will continue, but this time only children from the Capitol. However, she seeks the approval of the surviving victors before making these games official, and Katniss votes yes as a means of avenging Prim's death. Just before Snow's execution, Katniss realizes that Snow was telling her the truth and impulsively turns and kills Coin instead. She is arrested and placed in solitary confinement, where she attempts to commit suicide by starving herself. However, she is ultimately released on the grounds that she wasn't mentally well at the time of the assassination and is required to return to District 12. Katniss goes back to her home in Victor's Village (a house victors get when they win the Games in their District) and is put under care.
Driven into a deep depression, Katniss refuses to leave her house until Peeta returns to District 12 to plant primroses outside, in memory of her sister. Katniss begins to regain her mental health, and she and Peeta deal with their feelings by creating a book composed of information about their deceased friends and family (eventually Haymitch joins them in this project). Gale has a job in District 2 and her Mother is working in District 4 as medical personnel. Katniss realizes that she is no longer in love with Gale, feeling his desire for revenge against his enemies too closely parallels her own personality. She ultimately falls in love with Peeta. In the epilogue, more than 20 years later, she speaks as an adult. After 15 years of asking, Katniss agreed to have children with Peeta. They have two children, a boy and a girl. The Hunger Games are a thing of the past and are merely something taught in school to her children, who one day will learn of their parents' role.
Background
Katniss and her family live in the futuristic nation of Panem, located on the continent once known as North AmericaNorth America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
, which was destroyed in a global war. Panem is run by an all-powerful city called the Capitol, located in Colorado, which is surrounded by 12 districts, each having a specific purpose in supplying something to the Capitol. The story starts in District 12, Katniss's home, the coal-mining district. District 12 the poorest of the districts, and Katniss lives with her mother and sister in the poorest part of town, the Seam.
Katniss's father, a coal miner, was killed in a mine explosion when Katniss was 11. Upon her husband's death, Katniss's mother went into a deep depression and was unable to care for her children. On the brink of starvation, Katniss wandered into the richer part of town, hoping to steal some scraps from the garbage bins of rich merchants. The baker's son, Peeta, whom she did not know, took a beating from his mother for intentionally burning some bread, knowing that he would be told to throw them out. He was told to give the two loaves of bread to the pig, but instead gave them to Katniss. Katniss took them home to her family, who had not eaten in days. The bread gave them hope and kept them motivated, leaving Katniss feeling resentfully indebted to Peeta.
A few days after the incident with the bread, Katniss decided to go into the woods surrounding her district to hunt illegally and gather plants to eat, which was how her father had gotten most of the family's food before he died. There she met a boy named Gale Hawthorne
Gale Hawthorne
Gale Hawthorne is one of the main characters of Suzanne Collins's The Hunger Games trilogy.-Character background:Gale is two years older than the main protagonist, Katniss Everdeen. His father was killed in the mine explosion that also killed Katniss's father, leaving his mother, Hazelle, a widow...
. Together, they provide for both their families and develop a strong friendship.
Katniss's mother slowly surfaces from her depression and is able to return to her job as an apothecary, and Katniss makes an effort to forgive her. However, despite her mending relationship with her mother and strong friendship with Gale, Katniss remains adamant that Prim, her younger sister, is "the only person she's certain she loves".
Appearance
Katniss is 16 years old in The Hunger Games and 17 in Catching Fire and Mockingjay, and is described as having long, straight black hair, usually in a braid down her back; gray eyes; and olive skin. These traits are common in the Seam, which is where the lower class miners of District 12 live. She is small in stature and light for her age, being one of the smallest tributes in her games, but due to her outdoor life, she is strong for her size. She also may have a Southern accent (when Suzanne Collins reads Mockingjay's first chapter, she talks in a Southern accent when Katniss is talking or narrating), possibly because her home district, Twelve, is located in modern-day Appalachia. Katniss is not very image-conscious, to the consternation of Venia, one of her stylists. In the first book, her hearing in one ear is destroyed because of an explosion caused in the arena, but it is fixed in the Capitol in the end, as are all of her other major and more minor injuries including the erasing of any scars. Before entering the arena the first time, Katniss had many minor scrapes and cuts, and her outward appearance was very much imperfect. However, after she won, they were repaired by the Capitol doctors. Most notable about her appearance and demeanor, however, was the image she unconsciously projected, as noted by her co-tribute, televised boyfriend and eventual husband Peeta.Personality
Collins has described Katniss as being 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 preserve her own life and the life of her family. She has shown she will protect those she loves, no matter the cost to herself, as shown when she volunteers for the Games to save her little sister Prim, when she shields Gale to keep him from being whipped, even when it means a lash for herself, and when she stoically decides during her second Games to die to save Peeta. Because the majority of her time before the Games was spent keeping herself and her family alive, she does not understand many social cues and is often ignorant of other people's emotions, such as when she doesn't recognize Gale's hints at his growing affection for her. She has no experience with romance or love other than that of her family, and doesn't believe she wants it. She plans never to be married nor have children that would grow up subject to the reaping. In Catching FireCatching Fire (2009 novel)
Catching Fire is the second book in The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins. As the sequel to the 2008 bestseller The Hunger Games, it continues the story of Katniss Everdeen and the fictional, futuristic nation of Panem...
, Katniss struggles to understand Panem political issues as she has had very little education or experience of politics. She also gradually realizes that there are more important things than survival and decides she is willing to die for Peeta and the rebellion.
Skills
Katniss is a highly skilled archer, hunter, and trapper, having learned these from her father and Gale, honed to keep her family from starving. She uses her archery and her daring to score an 11 (out of a possible 12) during the pre-games judging. She has been well educated on edible, medicinal, and poisonous plant life of District 12. Additionally, she has a singing voice that is so beautiful birds stay quiet to listen, also from her father, although she has been reluctant to sing since his death. Katniss is a skilled tree-climber, which has benefited her in hunting and the Games. She is usually very logical except for times when her emotions get in the way. Peeta mentions that she has an effect on people around her, the image she projects.Possessions
Katniss has a gold pin depicting a mockingjay, which was given to her by her friend, Madge Undersee. After she wins the Games, it becomes a symbol of rebellion for the Districts against the Capitol, and a symbol of Katniss herself, as her actions were never meant to exist. However, many ignorant Capitol citizens still use it as a symbol of fashion, a remembrance of Katniss's exciting Games. Katniss also receives from Peeta a pearl along with a gold locket engraved with a mockingjay, containing a picture of her mother, her sister Prim, and Gale during the Quarter Quell in Catching Fire. She is later seen throughout Mockingjay keeping the pearl close to her as a prized possession. In Mockingjay Katniss receives a bow and arrows from Beetee. They have mechanical properties, and can be voice activated.Katniss also owns her father's game bag, two bows, a hunting jacket, her parents' wedding photo and a silver parachute from the Seventy-fifth Games.
Critical reception
Katniss has received mainly positive reviews. In a review for The Hunger Games, Stephen KingStephen King
Stephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...
said she was a "cool kid" with a "lame name," before adding, "once I got over [her] name...I got to like her a lot." Francisca Goldsmith said, "Although Katniss may be skilled with a bow and arrow and adept at analyzing her opponents’ next moves, she has much to learn about personal sentiments, especially her own." Publishers Weekly
Publishers Weekly
Publishers Weekly, aka PW, is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers and literary agents...
says, "It's a credit to Collins's skill at characterization that Katniss, like a new Theseus, is cold, calculating and still likable." The Cleveland Plain Dealer stated in a review for Catching Fire that "Katniss in a pensive mood seems out of step with the kick-butt assassin," before adding that her loyalty and kindheartedness were enjoyed. John Green, in the New York Times, called Katniss a "memorably complex and fascinating heroine". Also in The New York Times, Katie Roiphe said that Katniss in Mockingjay was "a great character without being exactly likable. [She] is bossy, moody, bratty, demanding, prickly", and commented that this is what makes many recent literature heroines likable. Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
compared Katniss to Bella Swan
Bella Swan
Isabella Marie "Bella" Swan is the fictional protagonist of the Twilight series, written by Stephenie Meyer. The Twilight series, consisting of the novels Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn, is primarily narrated from Bella's point of view...
from the Twilight Saga and said that "unlike Twilight's passive, angsty Bella, Katniss is a self-possessed young woman who demonstrates equal parts compassion and fearlessness."
Film adaptation
Actresses Lyndsy FonsecaLyndsy Fonseca
Lyndsy Marie Fonseca is an American actress known for playing Colleen Carlton on the CBS daytime soap opera The Young and The Restless, Dylan Mayfair on the ABC series Desperate Housewives, and Ted Mosby's daughter on How I Met Your Mother. She also played Katie Deauxma in the 2010 superhero film...
and Kaya Scodelario
Kaya Scodelario
Kaya Rose Scodelario is a British actress and model. She is best known for her role as Effy Stonem in the E4 drama Skins.-Skins :...
expressed interest in the film and received scripts in October 2010, while Oscar-nominated actress Hailee Steinfeld
Hailee Steinfeld
Hailee Steinfeld is an American actress. She rose to fame for her portrayal as Mattie Ross in the 2010 film True Grit, for which she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress and a BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role.-Early life:Steinfeld was born in Tarzana, Los...
met with director Gary Ross.
Chloe Moretz
Chloe Moretz
Chloë Grace Moretz is an American actress, known for her role as Hit-Girl in the 2010 superhero film Kick-Ass. She also appeared in The Amityville Horror, Days of Summer, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Hugo, and portrayed Abby, the child vampire, in Let Me In.-Personal life:Moretz was born in Atlanta,...
, Malese Jow
Malese Jow
Malese Jow is an American actress, singer and songwriter. She is best known for playing Geena Fabiano, a girl interested in fashion and designing her own clothes on the Nickelodeon television teen sitcom Unfabulous, and Anna, a teenage vampire on The CW television teen drama The Vampire...
and Jodelle Ferland
Jodelle Ferland
Jodelle Micah Ferland is a Canadian actress, best known for her portrayal of Sharon and Alessa in the 2006 horror film Silent Hill, Mary Jensen in the 2004 miniseries Kingdom Hospital and her portrayal of Bree Tanner in the The Twilight Saga: Eclipse.-Life and career:Ferland was born in Nanaimo,...
publicly expressed interest in playing Katniss. Lionsgate confirmed in March 2011 that about 30 actresses either met with them or read for the role, including Jennifer Lawrence
Jennifer Lawrence
Jennifer Shrader Lawrence is an American film and television actress. She has had lead roles in TBS's The Bill Engvall Show and in the independent films The Burning Plain and Winter's Bone, for which she received critical acclaim and a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress...
, Abigail Breslin
Abigail Breslin
Abigail Kathleen Breslin is an American teen actress. She is one of the youngest actresses ever to be nominated for an Academy Award....
, Emma Roberts
Emma Roberts
Emma Rose Roberts is an American actress, model and singer. She is the daughter of actor Eric Roberts and niece of Julia Roberts. Roberts became known for her role as Addie Singer in the Nickelodeon television series Unfabulous. She released her debut album, which also served as the show's...
, Saoirse Ronan
Saoirse Ronan
Saoirse Una Ronan is an Irish film actress. She began her career as a child and came to international prominence in 2007 after co-starring in the film Atonement, which gained her nominations for a BAFTA, a Golden Globe and an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.Ronan has since appeared in...
, Emily Browning
Emily Browning
Emily Jane Browning is an Australian film actress and fashion model, known for her roles as Violet Baudelaire in Brad Silberling's 2004 film Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, as Anna Ivers in the 2009 film The Uninvited, as Babydoll in Zack Snyder's 2011 action thriller Sucker...
, and Shailene Woodley
Shailene Woodley
Shailene Diann Woodley is an American actress. Woodley is known for portraying Amy Juergens in the ABC Family series, The Secret Life of the American Teenager, and for co-starring with George Clooney in the 2011 drama film The Descendants.-Early life:Woodley was born in Simi Valley, California...
, as well as Steinfeld, Moretz, Fonesca, and Scodelario. On March 16, 2011 it was announced that Jennifer Lawrence of Winter's Bone
Winter's Bone
Winter's Bone is a 2010 American independent drama film, an adaptation of Daniel Woodrell's 2006 novel of the same name. The film was written and directed by Debra Granik and stars Jennifer Lawrence...
landed the coveted role of Katniss Everdeen. Lawrence is 20, a bit older than the character. However, author Suzanne Collins said that the actress who plays Katniss has to have "a certain maturity and power" and said she would rather the actress be older than younger. Collins states that Lawrence was the "only one who truly captured the character I wrote in the book" and that she had "every essential quality necessary to play Katniss."
External links
- Katniss Everdeen on The Hunger Games Wiki.