I feel like we are losing the plot to katniss everdeen, I understand the state the word is in right now and that the people want someone to look up to, and katniss everdeen is a good character for that. But we can't forget that katniss everdeen never wanted to fight she wanted to survive and make sure the people that she loved survived with her. That's why she volunteered for prim, that's why she became the mockingjay, to make sure that peeta was safe in case the rebels found him, that they wouldn't kill him, that's why she did what she did with the nigthlock, not because she wanted to defy the capitol, but because she wanted to survive, and to make sure peeta survived with her. There is even a point in mocking jay where people are discussing what actions katniss made that touched them and made them like her. And none of those actions where made with the principle of defying the capitol or make people see her as a martyr of revolution, it was just katniss being herself and caring for others, it was just katniss showing raw emotions, like when she covered rue with flowers, she did that of course to show that rue wasn't just an other tribute she was a person that was cared for, loved, that didn't deserve the fate she got, to show that rue wasn't just an ally that she would quickly move on from, but a person she would truly remember forever, that rue wasn't just a tribute for the entertainment of the capitol but a real person. Yes in that case she did defy the capitol but not because she wanted to be a revolutionary but because she wanted to pay tribute to someone she cared for. When she drugged peeta to try and save him knowing fully well she might not come back, but that the wish of him surviving was big enough for her to do it. Katniss everdeen never wanted to be the simbol of revolution, she wanted to survive and to make sure the people she loved survived with her, and we know this for the very first page when she tried to drown buttercup, only stopping because of Prim, Katniss wants to survive, and she doesn't want her loved ones to suffer. Of course she is more layered then this but I think people keep forgetting this aspect of her pretty often.
it just hits me out of nowhere sometimes how it all started with Prim and for Katniss it all ended with Prim. Katniss' depression after the war is forever buried somewhere at the back of my mind, truly all for nothing at all.
Ah yes ! The Hunger Games, that book where Swamp-potato Farm-with-wild-pigs goes to fight kids from other parts of her country Bread with her love interest baker Type-of-bread Honeybird to protect her sister Flower !
And I’m not forgetting when she makes a stop to Bread’s capital, Capital, and gets mentored by Big-From-The-Enclosure River and Well-spoken Jewelry, and gets dressed by Cinnamon. Oh and in the arena! When Swamp-potato teams up with Street, gets hunted down by Superhero-Company, Sparkle, Wise and Tree !Well, Street gets killed by Company, and Sprout avenges her by saying Swamp-potato buy it was good ! And in the end, when she saves both her’s and Type-of-bread’s life by threatening to kill themselves, and gets home to her friends Wind Tree and Pearl Look-under !
Ah i loved that book.
Hunger Games didn’t really eat holes in my brain the way that it did for some other people but god the opening lines. The opening lines. Katniss wakes up in bed and immediately, instinctively reaches beside her, only to find the bed empty and cold. Before we even know her name – before we know literally anything about her or this world or her place in that world – we know that she loves someone. We know that she is reaching for where Prim should be, sleeping safe and warm beside her, but Prim is not there. She is not there, and her half of the bed is cold and empty. People talk about characters being “doomed by the narrative” when most of the time the character was literally just a well-foreshadowed death, but Prim WAS doomed by the narrative. It’s the very first thing we learned. It’s the most key, integral, important piece of information we’re given about everything that is about to happen: Every single choice Katniss makes is to protect her little sister, and it isn’t enough. In the end, Prim still dies. Prim was dead before the story even started. Katniss, reaching. Prim’s side of the bed was cold and empty. There is no version of this story where Prim could have been saved. Katniss, reaching. The very first thing she does in the series. She wakes, and she reaches, but Prim is already gone. THAT is how you do Doomed By The Narrative. Edit: Also it is key that there was literally nothing Katniss could have done differently. If she had not acted to save Prim, Prim would not have survived the Hunger Games. But by acting to save Prim, Katniss accidentally kicked off an entire rebellion and ultimately massively increased the amount of danger Prim was actually in. The key is that this is irrelevant. If Katniss had done literally anything differently, Prim still would have died. If Katniss had faltered or changed course at any point, Prim still would have died. There was never a point where Katniss could have changed Prim’s fate. There’s no version of this story where Prim lives to see the end of it. She’s dead before the story begins. That’s doomed by the narrative.