The Hunger Games Character Analysis

The protagonist of the novel and its narrator, Katniss Everdeen is a strong, resourceful sixteen-year-old who is far more mature than her age would suggest. Katniss is the main provider in her family, which consists of Katniss, her mother, and her younger sister, Prim. Katniss is fiercely protective of her younger sister, and she volunteers to take Prim’s place in the Hunger Games to protect her. In fact, Katniss is more responsible than anyone else for her family’s wellbeing. Notably, she is responsible for feeding her family, which she does by hunting and foraging, skills she learned from her father before his death in a mine explosion years earlier. Hunting, however, is illegal and punishable by death. Katniss does it anyway, indicating a rebellious streak in her. Moreover, what she catches or collects that her family doesn’t need to eat, she sells in the district’s black market, again implying a disregard for rules.

This disregard, however, developed out of necessity rather than an inherent defiance. 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 wouldn’t 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 upbringing wind up working to her 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 keeps her alive through the Games.

During the weeks over which the Games occur, Katniss’s character does not fundamentally change. What changes are her circumstances, and most of the novel watches her dealing with the situations she encounters. She does not begin to seek attention once she becomes a celebrity and begins doing television interviews. Rather, she always tries to figure out how to get through the interviews so she can go back to her life. The Hunger Games similarly do not turn her into an unfeeling killer, and the only times she kills she does so out of necessity, and to some degree in Cato’s case, pity. That her sense of compassion remains intact is clear through the way she treats Rue. Furthermore, before the Games, she has little interest in boys and is instead focused on her responsibilities, and though she develops feelings for Peeta and becomes aware of feelings for Gale during the Games, romance remains a peripheral interest for her at the end of the novel. This lack of change, however, can be seen as a victory for Katniss. She maintains her sense of identity and integrity, just as Peeta at one point says he would like to, despite the horrible ordeals she faces in the Games.

The male tribute from District 12, Peeta is in love with Katniss and becomes her main ally and romantic interest during the Games. Peeta is best characterized by his love for Katniss and willingness to sacrifice himself for her. Katniss’s first memory of him, for instance, is from an incident years before the Games in which Peeta willingly risked a beating to help her. Katniss was starving and searching for food behind Peeta’s family’s bakery, and Peeta apparently burned two loaves of bread deliberately so the bakery couldn’t use them, then gave those loaves to Katniss. Peeta’s mother hit him for burning the bread, and Katniss believes Peeta must have known he would be punished for it. During the Games, he is similarly selfless when he saves Katniss after she comes back to retrieve the bow but finds herself suddenly stunned by the tracker jacker stings. To allow Katniss to escape, Peeta fights Cato, the most deadly of the other tributes, and suffers a serious injury as a result.

Though we have a limited perspective on Peeta since we only seen him through Katniss’s eyes, he comes across as thoughtful, artistic, and genuinely kind. We learn that he’s a gifted visual artist, capable of creating beautiful designs in frosting for the cakes at his family’s bakery and mimicking patterns of light and shade when he camouflages himself. When Haymitch falls in his own vomit, it is Peeta who volunteers to clean him up. Katniss wonders what his motive is in volunteering for this task, then realizes that Peeta is just being nice. In one particularly memorable scene before the Games occur, Peeta confesses to Katniss that his only hope for the Games is to retain his identity and not to be made into a monster by his circumstances. The incident reveals Peeta to be a good and introspective person who prides his dignity and decency perhaps above all else. (It is never answered whether he would sacrifice that for Katniss as well.)

The Character I have chosen to study from Suzanne’s Collins novel “The Hunger Games” is Cato, a strong young character who is willing to do anything to succeed. Cato is a talented, ruthless, and skillful machine. He is from district two and was trained to kill in a special academy. I feel like Cato had the right mind to win. Cato has various traits, some positive and some negative. His positive traits are that he is strong, athletic, ruthless, and athletic. His only negative trait is his anger. Cato isn’t a 100 percent bad. He may seem bad because he is ruthless but if we look at it from his point of view he was trying to live.

Cato’s core quest is challenging. His biggest conflict during the novel is killing Katniss. It’s like every time he gets close to killing he has another obstacle in his way. He is fearless during the novel, he shows no weakness. His quest is to win the Hunger Games. During his quest the obstacles seem to change sizes. Even though he has many challenges he is willing to do anything to win. The cost of him not winning is death and dishonour to his district.

Cato is a hostile character and treats people how he wants. There are times in the novel when he shows hostility towards some people and times when he is relaxed and calm towards people. The tributes know whether he likes them or not so they know what to expect when he is around them. There are times during the novel when he doesn’t show if he likes or doesn’t likes somebody. When he Killed the boy who was supposed to guard the supplies but didn’t and the supplies got destroyed. Cato easily killed the boy with no thought. Cato is a character who is very predictable on his attitude. He is the type of person that you feel a certain vibe from.

Cato loves his knife like a fat kid in a free candy store. In the beginning of the novel, Cato was ready to fight because he believed that another tribute stole the knife he was using. During the novel he is unpredictable with the weapons he’ll use to kill. During the novel his actions and reactions are very unpredictable. His actions during the novel are out of anger and greed. He plans to win and acts out of rage. His reactions are out of vengeance and anger. There is a time during the novel when he tries to attack another tribute because got a higher score then him and also the highest score out of all the tributes.

Cato’s character arc is at the end of the book when it his him, Katniss, and Peeta. Cato knows he is going to die during this moment and seems to be ok with that. This is the only the time he shows any type of weakness. Over the course of the book, Cato was strong and confident but he cracked under pressure when he became out numbered.

As District 12’s only surviving winner of the Hunger Games, Haymitch acts as Katniss’s and Peeta’s coach throughout the Games. Though he is drunk most, in fact nearly all, of the time, he proves a cunning advisor to the young tributes. It is never made explicit in the novel, but it appears to be Haymitch who devises the strategy of playing up the romance between Katniss and Peeta, a move that ultimately allows both of them to survive the Games even though traditionally only one winner has been allowed. Haymitch also finds a way of communicating with Katniss during the Games through the gifts he sends her, essentially coaching her on how she should behave to get more sponsors. Albeit in a very limited way, he also acts as somewhat of a father figure to Katniss, who lost her father years earlier. While Haymitch is often indelicate and manipulative, frequently using Peeta and his feelings for Katniss to get the results he wants, he is undeniably effective. When Katniss and Peeta wonder how he won the Hunger Games, Peeta suspects he must have outsmarted the other tributes.

Rue is the tiny, twelve-year-old tribute from District 11, the agricultural district. She can fly from tree to tree and is a wonder with mockingjay bird calls. Despite her size, she scores a surprisingly high "7" during her training sessions (8.34). Her name, also, means "regret" or "sorrow" (source), which is a bit of foreshadowing as to what her fate will be in the Hunger Games.

Rue reminds Katniss very much of her sister, Prim. Katniss acts as the primary protector of Rue once the two become allies. In this sense, she continues the role that she formerly played with her sister, Prim. Katniss and Rue share food, supplies, and stories about their lives. Katniss learns that Rue is the oldest child in her family and she loves music. Rue becomes human to Katniss and not simply a competitor. Their brief friendship during the Games allows us to see Katniss as a nurturing character, even in the midst of all the fierce competition.

After Rue's death, Katniss honors Rue's body by covering her with flowers (Chapter 18). (See our section on "Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory: Rue's Flowers.") This act is that defies the Capitol and challenges the idea that Rue's death was just entertainment for a viewing audience at home. Rue was human and she made a great sacrifice in giving her life during the Games. Ultimately, Rue's death inspires Katniss to fight all the more against the Capitol – and win the Games any way she can.

Gale is Katniss's hunting partner and closest friend from District 12. As Katniss tells us, he's "good-looking, he's strong enough to handle the work in the mines, and he can hunt". The two characters have a good deal in common, from their backgrounds, to their family situations, to their shared harsh opinions on Panem's government. There's also some romantic tension simmering beneath the surface, but for now it has yet to come to a full boil.

Katniss's relationship with Gale is often contrasted with the friendly or romantic playacting she performs with Peeta: I can't help comparing what I have with Gale to what I'm pretending to have with Peeta. How I never question Gale's motives while I do nothing but doubt the latter's. It's not a fair comparison really. Gale and I were thrown together by a mutual need to survive. Peeta and I know the other's survival means our own death. How do you sidestep that?

References to Gale's character remind the reader that Katniss isactually capable of authentic emotion: friendship, love, and all of that good stuff – and not only emotion, but actual genuine happiness. She refers to Gale as "the only person with whom I can be myself" and most of her happiest memories, she tells us, involve him. "Gale says I never smile except in the woods," she says. Of course, in the woods, she's always with Gale.

Though Katniss hasn't allowed her feelings for Gale to fully develop, it's clear that they are present. Gale mentions the subject of running away together, but Katniss sees this as something that, given their duties to each of their families, is impossible. "The idea is so preposterous," she says. So she doesn't stop to wonder whether it is a lack of feelings, or simply circumstances, that keeps them apart.

Gale is mostly absent in the novel and appears mainly in Katniss's many flashbacks or her interior monologue. He sometimes serves as a reminder of home or the unwanted voice of conscience

Coriolanus Snow is a native of the Capitol and is the tyrannical and ruthless President of Panem. Although carrying the title of President, it is unknown if he was elected to the position democratically. Snow possesses total power in Panem's government and has proven to be a cruel and manipulative dictator, ruling over the Capitol and its contained districts. He also works on the annual Hunger Games and heads the military responsible for oppressing the districts. He has no qualms about using intimidation in pursuit of his agenda, such as when he threatened to kill Katniss Everdeen, Gale Hawthorne, Peeta Mellark, and their families. Two weeks after Haymitch Abernathy won the 50th Hunger Games, Snow murdered Haymitch's mother, younger brother, and girlfriend as punishment for the force field stunt because it made the Capitol look foolish. It is revealed by Finnick Odair that he poisoned his allies, as he believes that they would become future foes, but he had to drink the poison as well so that he wouldn't attract suspicion. Even though he took antidotes, the poison caused permanent sores inside his mouth that never healed. This is the reason he always wears a genetically engineered rose, to cover the scent of blood stained on his breath.

Clove is the District 2 female in the 74th Hunger Games. Clove was a member of the career pack. She scored a 10 in her individual training, very common of a career tribute. In the initial bloodbath, she was the first tribute who came close to killing Katniss. She killed the District 9 male, who was about to kill Katniss, and then threw a knife at Katniss, who blocked it with her backpack. She then chased Katniss away into the forest. Clove took part in the hunt for Katniss during the games, along with the career tributes and Peeta. Once they found Katniss, they chased her up a tree and trapped her by sleeping on the ground beneath her. She then survived the attack of the tracker jackers, caused by Katniss. She and the careers were then weakened even more by Katniss when she destroyed their supplies. Clove and Katniss then came into contact at the feast, where Clove attacked her with a knife, pinned her down and taunted her about the death of Rue. She was then attacked by Thresh, who had witnessed the whole fight. Her death is slightly different between the book and the film. In the book she has her head smashed with a rock by Thresh, cracking her skull, but in the film she is violently slammed against the cornucopia. She finished 6th overall.

Prim is Katniss's twelve-year-old sister, of whom she is fiercely protective. As Katniss says, "I protect Prim in every way I can, but I'm powerless against the reaping". This turns out to be not entirely true. Prim was originally chosen as District 12's tribute during the annual reapings, but Katniss made the ultimate sacrifice for her family and volunteered to take her sister's place.

Prim serves as a contrast to her big sister. She is a more conventionally feminine character, for starters. Unlike the tough, no-nonsense Katniss, Prim is quite sweet, cooks, and loves animals (including Buttercup, the family cat). As Katniss says, "People deal with me, but they are genuinely fond of Prim".

Prim, we should note, is also a nurturing, skilled healer. For example, she owns a sweet little goat named Lady, a formerly wounded animal Katniss rescued from being butchered many years ago (Chapter 20). When Katniss brought the hurt goat home, Prim was able to bring it back from the edge of death by "grinding up herbs and coaxing brews down the animal's throat".

Katniss thinks she could never possess Prim's healing powers, but she does manage to bring Peeta back from the edge of death by doing much the same that Prim did with Lady. Maybe the two sisters aren't quite as different as Katniss thinks.

Glimmer was born in the luxurious District 1, one of the wealthier districts, that produces Career tributes. She presumably spent most of her life training for the games and due to this, she most likely volunteered for the 74th Hunger Games. During the Tribute Parade, Glimmer, along with her district partner Marvel, were spray painted silver and wore tunics. However, in the film, they were dressed in fuchsia outfits covered in shiny sequins and feathers, representing their district's main export, luxury goods. Glimmer's tribute token was the only one known in the history of the Hunger Games to be confiscated. The gemstone of the ring she brought, when twisted, revealed a poisoned spike. She didn't get arrested because nobody could prove she had knowledge of the ring being a weapon, but her token was confiscated nonetheless. Glimmer was not to be underestimated. Being one of the Career Tributes, she had a good chance of survival and was ready to fight. During her private session with the Gamemakers, Glimmer most likely showed the Gamemakers her archery skills (in the book, however, Katniss said that "it is immediately evident that she is incompetent with a bow").

Caesar Flickerman is the host for the Hunger Games. He is famous for turning any conversation around for the positive, and is known to change the colour of his lips, hair, and eyelids for each Hunger Games. He always wears a midnight blue suit with small lightbulbs decorating it. He has been doing interviews for over 35 years, and according to Katniss he remained virtually the same.

In the 73rd Hunger Games, his colour was crimson and he looked like he was bleeding. Katniss says that his look in the 74th Hunger Games looked much better. He is shown to help tributes in each district with their interviews. In that year, his hair, lips and eyelids were dyed powder blue. While Caesar interviews Rue, they discuss her chances of winning, because the odds are against her. Rue says that she is fast and if they can't catch her they can't kill her and to not count her out, to which Caesar replies "I wouldn't in a million years."

While interviewing Katniss, he helps her because she doesn't do well in front of cameras. For example, when he asks Katniss what she liked the most since she came to the Capitol, she answers, "The lamb stew." He remarks that he can eat it by buckets and makes a horrified face when he asks the crowd if it shows. The crowd reassures him that it doesn't.

When he interviewed Peeta, the two of them were described as a good team, feeding off of each other and bantering easily. It was to Caesar in this interview that Peeta first revealed his love for Katniss- shocking everyone, including her. The interview was said to have gone down amazingly with the audience. After the Games were over and they had an interview with Katniss and Peeta, he mainly conversed with Peeta since Katniss is not very talented when it comes to speaking for the cameras and televised interviews.

Effie Trinket is the pink-haired prim and proper escort for the District 12 tributes. She's a Hunger Games administrator, and her character represents the wealth and power of the government. She's also, of course, a rather silly woman who places a good deal of emphasis on etiquette and propriety. In this sense, she is a comic, rather than a threatening, character. She is a token of the Capitol's frivolity and excesses.

As Effie hails from the Capitol, she views the Hunger Games merely as a competition – and a source of career advancement – rather than as a brutal death sentence. As such, she's excited to have tributes who might actually win this year. While Katniss finds Effie rather irritating, she does have a kind of grudging respect for what she does, as Effie does do her part to round up sponsors and rein in Haymitch the best she can.