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Feminist approach to the hunger games
Gender distinctions within The Hunger Games
Feminist approach to the hunger games
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Femininity as a Strategy for Survival: A Gender Critique of The Hunger Games
Suzanne Collins’s novel The Hunger Games features a strong female protagonist that frequently defies gender norms and blurs the lines between femininity and masculinity. Katniss Everdeen, the heroine of the story, is initially depicted in what many would consider a more masculine role. She hunts, cares little about her physical appearance, and becomes the protector and provider for her family. However, when she volunteers as a tribute for the Hunger Games, her survival demands that she learn to embrace both feminine and masculine traits. To gain support from the Capitol and have a chance at winning the Games, Katniss must not only present herself as a fierce killer but also as a beautiful, romantic, and vulnerable girl. Likewise, A gender critique of The Hunger Games reveals that Katniss’s expression of femininity and masculinity is not based on
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In dress, action and personality Katniss is largely devoid of feminine traits. In an article that discusses the portrayal of female protagonists in popular young adult fiction, the author, Lykke Guanio-Uluru points out that “it is only her ‘long dark braid’ that initially links Katniss Everdeen to traditional femininity in The Hunger Games’ opening pages” (Guanio-Uluru). At the beginning of the book Katniss is described as wearing practical and worn clothing, she is seen hunting, and is generally illustrated as being blunt or emotionally reserved. In addition to these masculine characteristics, within the first few pages of the book, Katniss is further distanced from femininity by presenting herself in an unmaternal manner. By decisively stating “I never want to have kids” she candidly rejects the idea of motherhood to her close friend and hunting partner Gale, and therefore rejects a role that would highlight nurturing and traditionally feminine characteristics (Collins
Yamato, Jen. Burning Questions.“The Hunger Games and Real World Parallels: “Can kids all become Katniss Everdeen”. Movie Line. March 13, 2012. Web. May 04, 2012
As an impoverished resident of District 12, the priorities that have shaped Katniss’ identity are those of survival. Whether is it in hunting the fields with her trusty bow and arrow, or trading her catch at the illegal hub, Katniss’ society has enabled her to hold many attributes and attitudes that would traditionally be considered as masculine. Her characteristic plait is done so for functional rather than fashionable purposes; she is a surrogate father over her sister Prim since his death in the coal mines; she is the main provider for her family; and her ‘romantic attachment’ to Gale has developed through his respect for stubborn and resilient nature rather that her looks or dependence upon
As human beings, we thrive to find the meaning of our existence and also the truth. In the books and movies, The Hunger Games trilogy, the very heroic character Katniss Everdeen is on a quest to find truth. As she peels back the layers of lies that swaddle her world, she finds truth within herself and everything around her. To reflect on the novels and films, we must look at the principles of axiology and also examine the plot, characters and how they react to each situation; for reflecting on “the girl on fire” we must study the grounds of epistemology with her own identity. The whole story starts off with the day of the reaping when Prim, Katniss’ sister is selected to enter the Hunger Games, a game created by the government at the time to keep the society scared. One boy and one girl between the ages of 12 and 18 from each district are selected by an annual lottery to participate in the Hunger Games, an event in which the participants must fight to the death in an outdoor arena controlled by the Capitol, until only one individual remains.
It has often been said that there is nothing new under the sun. In this vein, authors across all literary genres often borrow themes and plot from the stories of long ago. Many of those authors choose to borrow from the rich mythology of the ancient Greeks. Suzanne Collins has been asked on numerous occasions where the idea for The Hunger Games originated. She readily admits that the characters and plot come from Greek mythology and more specifically, from Theseus and the Minotaur (Margolis 30). One familiar with both both stories can easily recognize the identical framework upon which each of these stories are built. Both Theseus and Katniss Everdeen, Collins’ heroine, volunteer to go into battle for their respective homelands, they both fight beasts of strange origin, and they are both brave in battle and emerge victorious, but it is the uniqueness of the characters that makes each story appropriate for the time period and audience to which it belongs. Collins modernizes the classic hero of Theseus by changing his gender, his motivations and altering his selfish personality, and by doing these things she creates a heroine that better resonates with today's audience of young adults.
In “The Lottery,” Mrs. Hutchinson says, “`It isn’t fair,’ she said. A stone hit her on the side of the head” (Jackson 7). Mrs. Hutchinson does not even try to get away, she only stands there and lets the townspeople kill her. She does not try to stand up to her society at all and she shows how she does not even try to change her fate. She only stands still and does not try to get away. Though these stories both have a female protagonist, The Hunger Games has a protagonist who stands up to her society in time to save herself. In The Hunger Games, the main character, Katniss, is one of the two participants still alive at the end of The Hunger Games. She and her fellow district mate, Peeta Mellark, are both still alive. The government says only one of them may win. Katniss convinces Peeta to eat deadly berries. They are just about to eat the berries when they are both declared the winners. Katnisss is reacting to the rule change. She is showing how she is not going to stand by and let the government control her. Katniss shows people should stand up for what they believe in and to not give into their society and to not be controlled. Both of the stories have a female protagonist differing how and when they stand up for themselves.
Over the past few years, there has been various books, films, and even songs about influential, heroic, women throughout the world. Some of the most recent heroic female figures include the fictional character “Hermione Granger” from the novel Harry Potter by J. K Rowling. Another strong female figure includes “Katniss Everdeen” from the novel The Hunger Games by Suzzane Collins. The two heroic women certainly share their differences. Hermoine was described as a bookworm who could be a tad bossy at times. Katniss was athletically inclined, however, lacked certain communication skills with people. Although Hermoine and Katniss have their distinct differences,
In our Society when you don't follow the rules, you become an outcast to the rest of the society. Suzanne Collins’ novel series, The Hunger Games criticizes our society and its demands for people of specific genders to act in certain ways and become certain things. Stereotypes concerning gender are prevalent in our society and all over the world. However, The Hunger Games gives a very refreshing tone of “mockery” to these stereotypes. Katniss Everdeen isn’t your typical 16 year old girl, and neither is Peeta Mellark a typical 16 year old boy, especially when they are fighting everyday just to survive. The Hunger Games is a work of social commentary, used to convince us that there can’t and shouldn’t be any defined “roles” based on gender. A mixture of “stereo-typical” gender roles within a person and their actions is what people need just to survive in our world that is changing every day.
In Roxane Gay’s book Bad Feminist (2014), she writes an essay, “What We Hunger For”, about the difference between strength and surviving, and the importance of strong female characters. She argues that surviving something doesn’t mean you are strong; life throws unendurable circumstances as people all of the time, and people manage to overcome them and survive, but that doesn’t make them strong. Gay uses Katniss in The Hunger Games trilogy as an example of a relatable, strong female character. Gay describes her as a “heroine with issues” (p. 146). Also in the essay, Gay refers to Meghan Cox Gurdon’s article in the Wall Street Journal about how Young Adult fiction is too dark for its intended audience. Gay argues against it, stating that
In both books they share some traits, even though they may not look anything alike they are. both of these novels are dystopian novels and many characters share similarity’s.
In the following essay I will seek to establish the construction of feminine gender roles in ‘Game of Thrones’, the HBO television adaptation of George R. R. Martin’s series of novels ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’, which is played out in the fictional kingdom of Westeros. Consequently I will analyse these feminine gender roles from a materialistic viewpoint and discuss how a number of characters, principally female (since we will see how patriarchy is the favoured practice in Westeros), both conform to and reject preconceived ideas of gender performance and representation. To begin with it is necessary to establish an understanding of what ‘gender’ is. “Gender is the range of physical, biological, mental and behavioral characteristics pertaining to, and differentiating between, masculinity and femininity. Depending on the context, the term may refer to biological sex (i.e. the state of being male, female or intersex), sex-based social structures (including gender roles and other social roles), or gender identity” (Urdy 1994). Martin himself acknowledges De Beauvoir’s (1973) suggestion that gender is unnatural, ‘a social construction’, “I regard men and women as all human- yes there are differences, but many of those differences are created by the culture that we live in, whether it is the medieval culture of Westeros, or 21st century western culture” (Salter 2013). The characters portrayed and developed in ‘Game of Thrones’ are no different in that they too are subject to the culture that has been created around them and the experiences by which they progress “as De Beauvoir puts it, consciousness exists one’s body, which, in the context of ...
The novel Anthem by Ayn Rand and the movie The Hunger Games directed by Francis Lawrence and Gary Ross are popular among teens because they can relate to them by the high expectations put upon them. In a dystopian novel or movie, there is a dystopian protagonist. A dystopian protagonist is someone who often feels trapped, struggles to escape, questions existing systems, believes or feels as if something is wrong in the place they live in, and then helps the audience realize the effects of dystopian worlds. These are both good examples because it takes us on a walk through the protagonist's life and only then do we see what dystopian really is.
Katniss Everdeen, the protagonist in the novel, is shown as a dominant character. Katniss is in charge of her family and is the “woman of the house”. She defies the customary gender norms that state that a male would be the “man of the house”. Katniss hunts food for the family and “as soon as [she’s] in the trees, [she] retrieves a bow and sheath of arrows from a hollow log” (Collins, 9). Although Katniss’ father took care of the family, in the beginning, Katniss has been in charge ever since his death. This illustrates how easily gender roles can be reversed. Collins establishes a theory that a female can provide for the family as much as a man can. This proves that gender roles are not as absolute as society makes them
In order for us to deal with how a consideration of femininity can effect our understanding of a literary text, we must also be able to grasp the notion of `feminism' and `Feminist Literary Theory'. A dictionary definition of `feminism' is: `the advocacy of women's rights on the grounds of the equality of the sexes.' Although this leans towards feminism in the historical sense of the word, it still provides the grounds, or foundations, from which feminist literary theories were created. Feminists argue against the stereotyping and social construction of female norms, seeing them as created by men in order to establish their own sense of power. It is thought that while males suggest that gender is sex and not actually a construct, the female role will become much more passive, stereotyped and controlled.
This section to some extent even explores the gender role issues. Being a girl, she wasn’t expected to be physically strong, and to some extent this invited separation as well. “I looked at the other girls' arms and knew I was a different animal.()” There is also a descriptive juxtaposition of her arm and arms of other girls’, and while she acknowledges the contrast there isn’t any shame. When talking about other girls’ arms. She writes,”I couldn't admire them, nor could I despise them with any passion. Does the moose despise the antelope? ”. Later on she also pokes fun at arbitrary standard of beauty. She talks about how her body type initially evoked questions related to vagueness of her gender itself, but later the question transformed into advice. “Women train to look like me, and now and then come up to ask for tips. What do you do to look this way, they
For young gals everywhere, literary heroines have become symbols of inspiration, opportunity, and courage in a time where, in spite of how far society has progressed, girls are still undervalued. The characters who exhibit traits of capable leaders are those who these young women admire. It is characters like Hermione Granger from Harry Potter who influence girls is the zenith of exemplary characters in the literary universe.