Perseverance In The Hunger Games, By Suzanne Collins

While reading the novel, “The Hunger Games”, written by Suzanne Collins, one could see without difficulty that a running theme flows through the writing. This theme being perseverance, the one thing that had allowed Katniss Everdeen, the main character that a reader follows during the events presented in the narrative, to live on and be crowned victor with her teammate, Peeta, a young man who ventures into the Hunger Games with Katniss. The theme of perseverance appears frequently as it is tied to every trait and skill of Katniss which includes the idea that she is persistent, caring, and resourceful when it comes to surviving in severe conditions similar to the Games. Every thought she has and every action that she performs drives her to

persist through the sorrow that comes with participating in such a relentless game which then makes the theme of the overall novel quite clear to the reader that notices those details.
In the dystopian novel, “The Hunger Games”, written by author, Suzanne Collins, a clear trait of Katniss Everdeen is shown.

This trait being perseverance which appears in the novel more times than once. At one point in the narrative, Katniss is dehydrated and on the verge of death, but she realises that the solution to her particular problem would be to find water no matter how difficult it may be to fulfill that task. The text states, “I grit my teeth and pull myself to my feet...The sun’s beating down, even more searing than the first two days. I feel like an old piece of leather, drying and cracking in the heat. Every step is an effort, but I refuse to stop.”(pg. 169). The quote given shows the exact amount of immense agony that Katniss is experiencing and how ardous of a task it is to move forward. Yet, Katniss does not give up once and decides to continue as getting to the thing she needs most requires her own tenacity and motivation. During the duration of the novel, the Capitol manipulates the games to set up a fire attack against the remaining tributes which forces Katniss to maneuver and think quickly to persevere through the brutal attack. The text states, on page 175, “Every sense I have goes into overdrive as the need for to survive takes over. There’s no time to judge if a move is the correct one.

When there’s a hiss, I act or die”. This quote relates to the previously mentioned theme of perseverance as Katniss thinks quickly and acts even faster to ensure that she makes it out of that impediment with herself intact. Katniss knows for a fact that she lives in a remnant of a once great civilization and she wants to survive to prove that she will not comply to the wishes of corrupt leaders who want to punish the innocent for actions committed by those before them. She only gained both the trait and skill of perseverance over time and it shines the brightest during the Games as it’s the only time that she is given a chance to build a foundation of hope for those involuntarily watching the sadistic massacre of children. To restate, Katniss shows the clear trait of persistence which is what she as well as others need to survive within such a broken society like the one presented throughout the entirety of The Hunger Games.
In addition, another character trait of Katniss Everdeen appears to be her caring nature as there are multiple times where she with help another even though it is the exact opposite of what the Capitol wants her to do during the Games.

After the Games have begun, Katniss makes an alliance with a young tribute named Rue because she had helped her escape from a group of Careers, tributes who have been trained for the Games ever since they were born, earlier in the narrative. As an alliance, they create a plan to explode the remaining food supply of the Careers, but Rue is caught and a spear pierces through her chest, killing her shortly after. It is Katniss that witnesses this and the following event precedes in the quote given. The author says, “A few steps into the woods grows a bank of wildflowers. Perhaps they are really weeds of some sort, but they have blossoms in beautiful shades of violet and yellow and white. I gather up an armful and come back to Rue’s side. Slowly, one stem at a time, I decorate her body in flowers. Covering the ugly wound. Wreathing her face. Weaving her hair with bright colors.” (pg. 237). This quote shows the caring side of Katniss as she chooses to honor Rue and revolt against the insidious Capitol, the ones who were to be held responsible for the torment inflicted on all tributes involved, to show her sorrow for those who were forced to watch young Rue die. This action and character trait ties into the theme of persistence because Katniss is

devastated by the terrible sight of Rue’s corpse, but she soon moves on and even decides that she has to win the Hunger Games to avenge Rue. Further along in the narrative, Katniss finds Peeta to rank victorious with him after the rules of the Games change to allow two winners instead of one as long as they are from the same district, but when she finds Peeta, he is in an abhorrent state. It is at this point that the following quote takes place. The text states, “I want to run away. Disappear into the woods like the day they brought the burn victim to our house. Go and hunt while my mother and Prim attend to what I have neither nor the courage to face. But there’s no one here but me. I try to capture the calm demeanor my mother assumes when handling particularly bad cases.”(pg.256). Yet again, this quote shows how caring Katniss is towards others as she chooses to help Peeta even though the sight of his grotesque wounds makes her sick. It is known that Katniss loathes the sight of gnarly wounds as she outright says it scares her, but she helps anyway because she cares and she does not want to be the reason for the death of a loved one. Moreover, the persistence of Katniss’ plan to rebel by showing compassion towards the ones that she is supposed to murder upsets the Capitol greatly, but like always, she does it anyways to prove that she will never be inferior to the higher ranking leaders. In conclusion, it is only because of Katniss’ caring personality that both her and Peeta make it out alive with what seems like the world at their feet, ready to support them for as long as they remain relevant.
Furthermore, throughout the writing of “The Hunger Games”, Katniss shows the much needed skill in the Games of being resourceful, using what’s only around her to devise a carefully considered plan that has a great chance of succeeding with only a few unfavorable outcomes, none resulting in Katniss’ death of course, only the ones of others. In the novel, there is a point where Katniss is faced with the task of escaping the tributes as they lay under her camp in a tall tree. While Katniss is trying to figure out solution to that problem, Rue points out a nest full of poisonous insects and the event following proceeds in the ensuing quote. The text states,” The nest may be the sole option I have left. If I can drop it down on them, I may be able to escape.” (pg.186). This quote shows the resourcefulness of Katniss because in order for her to escape her predicament, she has to come up with a cunning scheme to get out of it which is exactly what she does. This skill of hers also ties into the main theme mentioned before as without the resourcefulness that she possesses, she would have never of been able to persevere through the harsh obstacles that are presented throughout the Hunger Games. As mentioned before, Rue and Katniss plan to destroy the remaining food supply of what is left of the alliance formed by the Careers. Katniss makes it to the sight of the food supply and she sees that she must figure out a way to destroy without killing herself in the progress. The authors writes, “Besides, what I’d really need is to throw about thirty rocks in there at once, setting off a big chain reaction, demolishing the whole lot...I know what to do. I move into range and give myself three arrows to get the job done.” (pg. 218). The quote given displays how Katniss thinks and how it is not too difficult for her to create a plan quickly under the pressure that surrounds her at that given moment. This translates to the running theme as her skill to create such plans and routines is what gets her through the Games with her lungs still gulping for air. To conclude, Katniss’ resourcefulness is the final factor that gets her and Peeta the winning spot of the Hunger Games while allowing her to understand what it means to persevere through what seems like the greatest torture that Earth could ever provide.
In conclusion, The Hunger Games uses the idea that persistence can allow for any person to escape a rigid situation and applies that to Katniss and her experiences. Her traits of persistence, care, and resourcefulness create a character that chooses to move on and persevere to prove her superiority over another in any given situation. A reader could even look up to her as she displays the fantasy that all will be well and bright as long as you choose to make it bright. Throughout Katniss’ experience, there was always a light at the end of a dim tunnel that had said that everything would be well if she had decided to chase for what she wanted most which was to go home, or at least it had always appeared to be that way.