Katniss Everdeen Character Development in The Hunger Games Essay Example

The opposite of love is not hate, it’s indifference - Elie Wiesel. And throughout history, indifference is shown time and time again. Through real people, and fictional people in stories, this lesson of treating people better is proven. In the dystopian based book the Hunger Games, written by Susan Collins in 2008, features the main character Katniss Everdeen. Katniss grows from being selfish and indifferent to a stronger person with more depth of character. 

Before the games, Katniss is not angry at the Capitol, the government of Panem. She doesn’t believe she can do anything about it and she is stuck in the life she is in. When I was younger I would say things about the Capitol but then I learned it only would lead to more troubles so I kept my mouth shut (Collins 6). Katniss does not want to fight, she just wants to keep her head down. Katniss also doesn’t want to have any romance with anyone because she does not want children. She knows that if she has children there is nothing she can do to save them from the atrocious Hunger Games. “I know I’ll never marry, never risk bringing a child into the world. Because if one thing being a victor doesn’t guarantee it’s your children's safety.” (Collins 311). Katniss is scared to love anyone because that risks the safety of her family, the one thing she cares about. She’s only focused on her family because she knows she can help them. I can’t leave my sister, Prim, or my mother because we cannot live without each other (Collins 9).

Katniss does what she can control to help the few people she loves. So when Prim’s name is called for the Hunger Games, Katniss steps up and sacrifices herself for her sake. 

That situates Katniss right into the lion’s den, right where she thought she would never be. The people in the games influence Katniss heavily to the point where her ideas shift. Rue, the tribute from District 11 changes Katniss’s point of view on the Capitol. Her death takes a heavily toll on Katniss, and she sees it as a murder. “It’s the Capitol I hate, for doing this to all of us.” (Collins 236). Katniss is beginning to want to make a change, she wants to do something but she doesn’t know how. She just knows she is furious at the Capitol for what they do. Peeta also greatly influences Katniss throughout the games. Peeta and Katniss begin to love each other for the sake of survival. As time goes on, Katniss wonders if she may be truly in love, which is something that she never thought she would do. Finally, the nightlock berries Katniss tries to use influences her extremely for her future. They demonstrate that Katniss has found a way to get back at the Capitol. “ The whole thing would blow up in the Gamemakers' faces. They'd have failed the Capitol.” (Collins 344). This furthermore shows Katniss’s change as difficult situations arise. She is now willing to fight back against the Capitol, fight for something more than herself. Although, this leads to her questioning her thoughts after she wins the games. 

Once she is the victor, and back at the Capitol, she begins to be even more angry with the Capitol. This is because they are angry with her about the berry stunt, because they firmly believe that her stunt was an act of rebellion. “Word is the Capitol’s furious about you showing them up in the arena.” (Collins 356). This further solidifies the point that not only is the Capitol unjust, but Katniss has done something about it. Earlier, she believed there was nothing she could do. Also, she starts to struggle with her real feelings. She begins to examine her relationship with Peeta and their future together, if there is a future at all. They have won the games, they no longer need to generate love scenarios to survive. The closer we get to home, the more confused I get (Collins 372). Katniss begins to truly think about a possible true romance and how it will affect her. Finally, she now openly accepts the fact that the Capitol is the real enemy and all of Panem is facing injustice. She can now, by personal experience, know how unjust the games are and how unfairly the Capitol controls the districts. “The Hunger Games are their weapon and you are not supposed to be able to defeat it.” (Collins 358). Katniss now wants to help other people and not just herself, she begins seeing the bigger picture. Katniss has changed drastically from beginning to end, through tough situations. 

Coupled with life or death situations and extreme physiological obstacles, Katniss starts to care about more people, not just herself. Rue’s death, and the romance created by Peeta flipped the coin on Katniss’s identity. They turned the girl that once always kept her head down, to something that cared extremely for other people’s well being. Even though Katniss is a fictional character, she fights for the injustice of people more than herself. She does things that go against the social norm, to do what she believes is right like anyone else can do. Just like Elie Wiesel fought against the dehumanization of millions of people, Katniss fights for millions of people in the unjust world that is called Panem.