Katniss Everdeen: The Ambiguous Heroine

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Katniss Everdeen: The Ambiguous Heroine
To the naked eye, Suzanne Collins’s Hunger Games may seem like a feminist novel. The fiercely independent Katniss is the quintessential literary heroine, who is self-sufficient and can hold her own. However, a closer look at the narrative can reveal that Katniss is not much of a radical feminist icon at all. The unnecessary portrayal of Katniss as a predominantly unfeminine female raises many red flags regarding the feminist nature of this novel. The novel implies that in order for a female to be successful in the Hunger Games, Katniss has to take on anti-feminine qualities. When it comes to feminism, role reversal is an ineffective literary strategy because it does not challenge our values on gender, it only gives us a male hero with a female name.
Throughout the entire novel, Katniss is characterized through stereotypically masculine qualities. She is the head of her family: providing food, safety, and comfort. Crafted by her father, she’s a skilled hunter, archer, trapper, and gatherer. On page 5 of the novel, she reveals that, in regards to hunting, “Her father knew and he taught me some before he was …show more content…

This is clearly seen on page 135 when Katniss says, “He made me look weak!” to Haymitch. He then explains that what he did was make her desirable. Society portrays women to be very in touch with their emotions, therefore Katniss equates being raw and emotional with being weak. Why does she have to be cold, emotionless, and unfeeling in order to be the victor of the Hunger Games? These qualities do not equate with weakness simply because they are stereotypically feminine straits. In fact, this “admittance of love” allows her to draw power from her feminine character and they are vital in her growth as a character. Katniss and Peeta use their love-struck storyline to empower them throughout the

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