Character Name:
Katniss Everdeen
Book or Series They Appear In:
The Hunger Games Series
The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, Mockingjay
Author/Creator:
Suzanne Collins
Played By:
Jennifer Lawrence
Who They Are:
Katniss Everdeen is the main character of the incredibly popular, standout novel series, The Hunger Games. She is a sixteen year old girl from the futuristic United States, called Panem, where the country is divided into Districts. She lives in the poorest: District 12, in charge of coal. She illegally hunts for food and trades on the black market in order to ensure the survival of her family. When she is reaped into the Hunger Games, a tournament that pits children from all districts against each other in a race against their own death, she finds unlikely allies and realizes the Games are more than just what they seem. When her controversial win in the Games (there are two winners!) strikes a note of rebellion in the country, she soon becomes the symbol, the Mockingjay. She’s quiet, sometimes thought of as mean, but cares deeply about the people around her.
Why I Am Crushing On Them:
Part of it does have to do with the character that Jennifer Lawrence has brought to life. Katniss really isn’t supposed be this super likable character. She’s mean, standoffish, not easily able to trust someone or open up to someone, and you really fall in love with her as a character because you’re in her head, and you see her side of the story. If we were in Peeta’s head, say, we would maybe like her a bit less.
Or maybe not, Peeta loves Katniss.
But Jennifer Lawrence captures everything that is Katniss but gives her a humanity, a likability that I think the book sometimes lacks. She captures Katniss’ uncertainty, her toughness but also her care and love for the people around her. And Jennifer Lawrence is absolutely beautiful and I enjoy every moment that she is on a screen. She works amazingly as a brunette, and even though she wasn’t what I had originally pictured as Katniss, I can’t imagine anyone else playing her.
But I think there is a fierceness to Katniss that attracts everyone to her. She doesn’t always realize it but she’s so full of genuineness and life. There is never anything fake about her, and when she has to do that during The Hunger Games, she absolutely hates it. She’s no bullshit. Katniss will tell you how she feels, and she will do what she pleases, how she pleases, and while that pisses a lot of people, I think it also attracts people to her, as well. She has the kind of attitude that I think a lot more people wish that they had.
I think the thing that really makes Katniss an attractive and awesome character is that she envelopes all the sides of a strong female character. She is physical strong, able to wield a bow and arrow, hunt and trap for survival and she is survival smart. She is also just a smart girl in general. She is clever and intelligent and has a knack for strategy. She does stupid things too, though, which makes her human, especially since she is a teenager. She is also beautiful, though she doesn’t always know it, and she feels very much for her family, her friends and others. She loves Gale and Peeta, in different ways, and it makes her incredibly likable and human. She has her perfections and her flaws.
Notable Quotes:
“As long as you can find yourself, you’ll never starve.”
“But I feel as if I did know Rue, and she’ll always be with me. Everything beautiful brings her to mind. I see her in the yellow flowers that grow in the Meadow by my house. I see her in the Mockingjays that sing in the trees. But most of all, I see her in my sister, Prim.”
“Great. Now I have to go back and tell Haymitch I want an eighty-year-old and Nuts and Volts for my allies. He’ll love that.”
“You will hold yourself and your government responsible for their safety, or you’ll find yourself another Mockingjay!”
“You can torture us and bomb us and burn our districts to the ground, but do you see that? Fire is catching! Fire is catching, and if we burn, you burn with is!”
* * * * *
This makes me want to try to read the book again. I started it once and felt like the author was very condescending in her storytelling. I hate it when artists treat their audiences like they’re stupid. I used to argue about this issue constantly with other people at uni with me :P But you’re so passionate about it! I’ll add it back to the “To Read” list.