Katniss, Anti-Hero

Jennifer Lawrence
Portraying Katniss Everdeen

"The Hunger Games" trilogy of books written by Suzanne Collins, are excellent. I recently completed reading the series and can't stop thinking about the characters and plot! I recommend the books to all adults and mature teenagers. They are written well, be it at a high school level, with decent character development and an excellent overall plot with many page-turning twists and turns. The central messages from the series are: Freedom, lost innocence, animal instinct and post-tramadic stress.

There's no doubt that "The Hunger Games" books are a huge hit and have received much acclaim. There are some that voiced harsh criticism over the ending to the series. Can you really make everybody happy, though? I attribute the negative criticism to individuals with shallow views and an overwhelming need for a typical "Happy Ending". I'm talking about those that only look at the surface plot and do not attempt to gather any deeper meaning from the overall story. Everyone's entitled to their opinion and in my opinion, all views of art are correct.

I won't bore you with a complete review of the books. That's been done ad nauseum by every newspaper, magazine and the masses on Amazon.com. Instead of a boring review of the writing style, character development and plot, I want to delve into the character that causes the most indigestion for me, Katniss Everdeen. Hopefully this alleviates my indigestion.

There are heroes and there are anti-heroes. What's the difference? Here is my personal definition. A hero is someone that makes life better for one or many individuals around them. The romanticized hero of literature is a character that starts with seemingly limited world-changing traits, but is generally very likable and has lots of potential. Through the course of the tale, the hero meets their potential, overcomes their personal deficiencies and completes the hero's work while overcoming obstacles. The end result is the hero has saved the day, is a stronger person and is generally very happy.

An anti-hero is more similar to a hero than that of a villain. The anti-hero meets most of the character traits of a hero by the end of the story with some notable deficiencies that were not overcome. In Katniss's case, she is directly responsible for the ultimate liberation and happiness of nearly all around her. This could be viewed (Or perhaps filmed by Lion's Gate) as a happy, epic ending to the tale. The lengths that Collins takes to describe the shattered mental state of Katniss, shows that Collins wants to convey an important message about war and freedom. Particularly the paradox associated with a hero performing heroic yet traumatic actions for the betterment of all, at the cost of their own mental state.

Mark Hamill Portraying Luke Skywalker

I like to think of Luke Skywalker from the original "Star Wars" trilogy as an example of a typical hero. Luke is weak at first, but has much potential. His skills grow and he is able to make the right decisions on his own to better himself and everybody else around him. He avoids the path to the "Dark Side" and saves the day by eliminating all personal negative traits and doing what is best for everybody. The hero is celebrated and is forever happy at the end of the story, "The End". A happy ending is nice, but why always insist on one? There are many inspiring things learned by the typical hero story, but there are also lessons learned from the anti-hero.

Katniss... She's a tricky one. You can really delve deep into the complexities (Or not so complexities if you only look at her seemingly at-the-moment instinctive actions) of this character. Say what you want about the depth Collins uses to describe tertiary characters (Ahem, Mrs. Everdeen, we don't even know your first name!). Collins gives the reader a google chances to interpret Katniss. One thing is for certain, readers want Katniss to follow the typical hero arc. I wanted that to occur as well and that caused the most indigestion for me. Collins doesn't allow Katniss to become the typical hero for the sake of getting her point across about the emotional damage war can have on the individual. Collins demonstrates this by describing Katniss's broken mental state in heartbreaking detail throughout the story.

Katniss fits many of the typical "hero" traits by the end of the tale. Her decisions do lead to the betterment of all within the story's universe. She also effects nearly every character in a supremely positive manner, though she does not realize or choose to see her positive influence she has on others. She is non-congratulating of her self and always does the right thing at crucial plot points. Katniss is not a hero, but an anti-hero based on her deteriorated mental state and inability to overcome personal obstacles by the end of the story. It is sad to behold!

Is Katniss completely happy at the conclusion? No. Has Katniss overcome her personal struggles? No. In fact she has more deficiencies after the climax of the trilogy than she had on page one of book one. Can you blame Katniss for her fragile state at the end? Absolutely not!

Katniss becomes an anti-hero not because she is weak, but because of the crushing plot events of the story. Making Katniss fit into the typical hero arc who is overjoyed at the conclusion of the tale is not how reality typically works. The warrior that frees many, at times can suffer a huge emotional toll. Who wouldn't have a supremely negative outlook of the world after the events of the story had occurred to you? In fact, throughout the second and third books, Katniss demonstrates many of the traits of a person suffering with post-traumatic stress disorder. This is demonstrated by her unpredictable emotional state and her need to hide in small, confined areas after intense (or small!) amounts of stress. PTSD is a serious condition that can stay with somebody forever.

Jennifer Lawrence Portraying Katniss Everdeen

How does our anti-hero get to this point and why? The reality is nearly all of Katniss's closest loved ones are dead and she has barely reached a mature age to deal with this (Not that you could deal with it at an older age, either!). She grew up in an oppressive world where her general outlook is bleak. She does not begin the story with much optimism and the actions she takes throughout the story are difficult for anyone to handle. It gives the reader much hope to see others around her increase their optimistic view of the world, but Katniss is just unable to share their views. In fact, at nearly every opportunity, she chooses to see the negative side of situations. She is undoubtedly central to the plot through all of her difficulties and shows that one person can make all the difference by making the right instinctual decisions. How inspiring! She is the first domino to fall in the avalanche that becomes the rebellion and she plays an integral role throughout the story.

The amazing thing is, nearly everybody surrounding Katniss tends to show plenty of optimism. It's as if Katniss shoulders the negative thoughts of those around her. At the conclusion, the other main characters pick up the pieces of their lives and move on to what makes them most happy (Mrs. Everdeen continues helping the injured, Plutarch starts a music program and liberates state television, Gale helps build a new society, Peeta goes to Katniss). Katniss can not be truly happy because of all of the horrendous things she had to perform and experience to become the "hero" and liberate all. War was necessary to liberate the oppressed, but at a huge cost. This seems to always be the case when speaking of war...

The Symbol of the Rebellion, the Mockingjay

As I think more about Katniss's character development, I try to spot a trend. The fact that Katniss goes on to become the rebel's "Mockingjay" got me thinking about the essence of her character. What does Katniss really represent? The "Wild/Natural" mockingbird or the "Synthetic/Human-Produced" jabberjay?

The mockingjay is a hybrid of a gentically engineered bird and a wild bird. Katniss's key plot altering decisions seem to occur based solely on instinct and not through a logical conclusion that is pre-meditated. This leads me to believe that Collins is conveying a message of listening to one's instinct. If the people of Panem's Capital had listened to their suppressed instincts, they would have realized what a horrible state their country was in. Instead, they let fellow citizens be oppressed. They laughed at children murdering each other on national television while ignoring their conscience.

Katniss embraces her instincts. Cases in point: Katniss takes over as food supplier for her family when her father dies, Katniss volunteers her life for her sister at the reaping, Katniss does not avoid violence to protect herself in the arena, Katniss fires at the "chink in the armor", Katniss shoots Coin. These key plot points are never thought-through or debated by Katniss prior to these actions occurring.

Northern Mockingbird Landing

This leads me to believe that Katniss represents everything that is wild and natural. Nature runs it's course and is always ultimately right. Katniss represents a mockingbird and not a mockingjay or jabberjay. A mockingbird will protect it's family and it's self, a mockingbird will supply food for it's family, a mockingbird is wild and functions primarily on instinct. I view the inner struggle within Katniss as the wild opposing the synthetic. Katniss seems to be in-tune with her instinct and gives in to it, which fortunately for the characters in the story leads to excellent decisions. All of these actions take a hugely negative emotional toll on her human side.

Some say that Katniss is a poor decision maker. You can't deny that Katniss makes difficult yet correct "spur-of-the-moment" decisions. The cost of these decisions is that she slowly disintegrates into a state of depression, paranoia and morphling dependency (Which was forced upon her). Most horrible of all is the state of terror she feels from prior events, many she feels she directly caused. The multitude of negative actions she faced results in outbursts, suicidal thoughts and a persistant need to hide in small, safe and secure places. Her only saving point is her animalistic instinct to perform the right actions for everybody around her at crucial moments. It is her human emotions that bare the burden of her actions.

This anti-hero stuff can be distressing. It's not what we're used to! I guess I love distressing, though. Most people do not. Almost everybody wants to see a perfectly happy ending for a genuine hero. Collins writes in a simple manner where you could almost pretend the ending is perfectly happy if you removed some specific passages. I think you would be missing the point if you pretended that Katniss is completely happy in the end. She is unfortunately quite damaged. I have no doubt that Katniss would not have survived if Peeta did not arrive for her. She truly needed Peeta to survive.

We can learn a lot if you delve deep into Katniss's character. Violence and war are horrible. Government oppression is terrible. Entertainment of the masses at the cost of others is wrong, yet you can almost see the country of Panem easily coming into existance. I hope today's trashy reality shows never turn into shows featuring children killing children!

Pretty grim stuff when told from Katniss's point of view. This would be such a more triumphant and happy tale if told through the eyes of Peeta.

Katniss is only happy when set completely free in the wild. We see that throughout the book, but when the events of capital oppression, violence and death overcomes that only source of happiness, she becomes a shell of her former self, never to be retrieved ever again by the conclusion of the tale. This is a central moral that Collins unapologetically portrays with case after case of Katniss falling deeper into an emotional quagmire. Collins clearly shows that freedom is great and the individual cost of freedom is huge...

Katniss is a character that I would not want to spend my life with as Peeta decided (Or was destined!). I know that in a way Katniss is completely hopeless because of the multitude of horrible things that occurred, but a deep need arrises in me to want to just give her a big hug! It's not going to cure her and I think that's what disturbs people the most at the end of the book. Too many horrible things occurred to her in order to better the people of Panem. She is partially dead inside by the end, although Peeta does resurrect some version of happiness from her, which is something positive for the reader to desperately cling on to. The reader desperately wants Katniss to be happy in the end. You could say that Katniss died at the moment of volunteering as tribute for Prim. Mentally, she knew she had to say good bye to her friends, family and herself at that point early in the story. You can't accept death and easily recover. It's not a typical happy ending and shallowly, the masses simply shut their brains off and say "Me no like!".

Here's the positive side. All other characters in the story have a fresh start and have been liberated from starvation, war and oppression. Katniss has done her hero's work! With every generation, the country's children will lose the sorrow of their parents. The people are no longer oppressed! I love stories where oppression is overcome! Over time, the world will be a much better place to live in and there is hope for the future! That is a very optimistic, yet realistic view that gives me a warm, fuzzy feeling inside. All of these positive points come at the cost of Katniss...

Well, that's my take. My indigestion seems to have subsided slightly. Time to eat some cookies, pick up a new book and start getting more indigestion! I'll be back...

Oh, and the whole Katniss/Peeta/Gale love triangle. Katniss is too emotionally scarred to fully love, Peeta genuinely loves Katniss and Gale is too similar in demeanor and different in philosophy to be happy with Katniss and he knows it, thus he wisely stays away. Simple as that. Katniss in a way does choose Peeta, because that's the only way she can survive.

As a sidenote, I really wanted Katniss to end up with Gale at the end, because of their friendship. I guess I value friendship over the love at first-sight thing, but Peeta ended up being a high-note in a sad ending. As Haymitch said, "You could live a thousand lives and not deserve either of them!". I suppose we could all learn from that as we look at our lives. There are always things to be thankful for and always things to fight for. Katniss shows us that one person can make all the difference. Katniss also showed us that the cost of freedom can be enormous. Katniss paid the emotional price to free countless others. There are many great lessons learned from this tragic hero if you just look past the surface. Katniss is a great anti-hero. In my opinion, "Real"...