Divergent
Examining the Characteristics of Katniss Everdeen in Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games In typical examples of literature, women are generally presented as dependent and weak, requiring the assistance of men to save them. However, in The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins presents a female protagonist who breaks the stereotype of these women; Katniss Everdeen is an independent, logical, yet doubtful character. To begin with, Katniss is independent. Ever since her father died and her mother went through depression, Katniss has relied on herself to provide her family with food and money to survive. Although her friend Gale begins to help her hunt for food, she never once asks for help from anyone. This implies that Katniss does not need anyone in order to get things done. Furthermore, in the text Katniss thinks, “Peeta is planning how to kill you, I remind myself. He is luring you in to make you easy prey. The more likeable he is, the more deadly he is” (Collins 72). This shows how independent Katniss is because although Peeta presents himself as a likeable person, Katniss does not want to believe him. She is used to being alone, and not trusting people which makes it tough for her to trust Peeta. Moreover, Katniss is logical. An example of this is when she explains, “His rages seem pointless to me, although I never say so. It’s not that I don’t agree with him [...] But what good is yelling about the Capitol in the middle of the woods? It doesn’t change anything” (Collins 14). Although Katniss does not believe the Capitol is fair, she has enough sense to know that yelling about them when no one can hear will not make things different. She does not try to end Gale’s outburst, because she understands that he needs to vent his frustration. Also, further along in the text Katniss says, “For a few moments, we say nothing. Then I start telling them all the things they must remember to do, now that I will not be there to do them for them” (Collins 34). This shows Katniss’