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Katniss becomes a pro at playing the game of celebrity, and at playing the audiences and sponsors of the Hunger Games. But she will also learn that the
distinctions between what is real and what is not can sometimes blur.
4.3.1 Katniss’s struggle in facing her life
In the novel, Katniss as the main character has become head of her family since her father died at mine explosion years earlier. After Katniss’s father died, her
mother sank into a depression, leaving Katniss to take care of the family despite her young age. Katniss realized that, without her hunting, her family would not have
enough to eat, a serious problem in District 12, where starvation is common. As a result of these conditions, Katniss has grown into a tough, unsentimental, and
practical girl. Ironically, the hardships she faced as a result of her impoverished bring up the advantage once she’s in the arena. The skills and qualities she developed to
cope with the everyday challenges of being poor, including her ability to hunt, her toughness, and her resourcefulness, turn out to be what keep her alive through the
Games. “At eleven years old, with Prim just seven, I took over as head of the
family. There was no choice. I bought our food at the market and cooked it as best I could and tried to keep Prim and myself looking
presentable. Because of it had become known that my mother could no longer care for us, the district would have taken us away from
her and placed us in the community home.”2:27
From the quotes above, we can see the struggle of the young girl to keep her family alive represent the struggle of the main character for her life by analyzing the
novel and also she is more responsible than her mother. She is more mature than her
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age. Since the death of her father in a tragic coal mining accident, Katniss has taken the role of her familys head of household. While Katnisss mother was unable to cope
with the loss and falling into a deep depression, Katniss stays focus and takesa charge. She becomes the chief cook and bottle washer, bringing home the food and
income that would save the family from starvation. Katniss describes the process as follows:
“It was slow-going at first, but I was determined to feed us. I stole eggs from nests, caught fish in nets, sometimes managed to shoot a
squirrel or rabbit for stew, and gathered the various plants that sprung up beneath my feet. Plants are tricky. Many are edible, but
one false mouthful and youre dead. I checked and double-checked the plants I harvested with my fathers pictures. I kept us
alive.”4.19
Katniss is the stalwart rock of her family. Hunting, foraging, and providing for her mother and sister Prim are at the very core of her identity.
“I reach her just as she is about to mount the steps. With one sweep of my arm, I push her behind me. “I volunteer” I gasp. “I volunteer
as a tribute”2:2
At the outset of Chapter 2, just after Prim has been selected in the reaping, Katniss volunteers to serve as the female tribute for District 12 in the Hunger Games.
This event sets the rest of the plot in motion, and for the remainder of the book we watch Katniss struggling to survive the Games. Katniss becomes a volunteer to save
Prim, her little sister. Despite the odds being in her favor, Prim is selected by the lottery system that decides which children become tributes. Because she is just
twelve years old, and because she is a sensitive, nurturing person who has difficulty with any kind of suffering or violence, she is almost certain to die in the Games.
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Katniss, meanwhile, is four years older and very protective of Prim, and so without hesitation she volunteers to take her sister’s place. Moreover, she has some years of
hunting experience and therefore killing and is far less sensitive than her sister, making her more likely to survive the ordeal of the Games.
Katniss’s volunteering is also notable because, as Katniss explains, volunteers in her district are basically unheard of. Tributes from poor districts, such as Katniss’s
District 12, rarely win the Games because their poverty puts them at a different disadvantage. They are often malnourished compared to the children from the
wealthier districts, making them weaker and less able to endure prolonged exertion and difficult conditions. Additionally, some children in the wealthy districts actually
train their whole lives to take part in the Hunger Games. Volunteers in these districts are common because winning the Games is a great honor for them. But because the
tributes from the poor areas are vastly more likely to be killed, it is exceedingly rare that someone volunteers, even apparently to take the place of a sibling. Katniss’s
gesture instantly earns the respect of her district and makes her popular among the tributes in the Hunger Games.
“Be honest. Be honest. I swallow hard. “She asked me to try really hard to win.” The audience is frozen, hanging on my every word.
“and what did you say?” prompts Caesar gently. But instead of warmth, I feel an icy rigidity take over my body. My muscles tense
as they do before kill. When I speak, my voice seems to have dropped an octave. “I swore I would.”9:16
Throughout the novel, Katniss and her team use her external appearance,
including what she says and how she behaves to control how other people perceive her. At the reaping ceremony, for instance, she won’t allow herself to cry in front of
the cameras because she does not want to give the impression of being weak and
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therefore become an easy target. In the novel the writer found that Katniss hides her tears during the Games for a reason, to attract the sponsors. She does not want to look
weak and miserable so the sponsor can look at her as the tough one and valuable to bet.
4.3.2 Katniss’s struggle in facing the games
