Team Katniss

"Wow" was basically all that I said when I was finished reading this critical essay. This essay basically sums up just about every single idea, thought, and question that had ever gone through my head while reading this trilogy-twice. There were so many ideas, so much detail, and all of her thoughts put on the paper that it was as if she was talking to you. And let me tell you- she made some mighty fine points. Just so you know; this critical essay hardly had anything to do with the love triangle. I was baffled; I’m team Katniss to now!

There was actually more than one interesting idea.

1.)    “Clearly, this pre-reaping Katniss identifies as a loner, never getting too close to other people, never expecting too much of them so that she is never disappointed.

Katniss, schools her face to be devoid of emotion, refusing to let the rest of the world see her tears, and this reluctance to give the Games’ viewers anything real continues throughout the series.”

My thoughts exactly! I feel that Katniss never had the intention of being outgoing and all out there because she doesn’t want to be known. I can also relate this part to her emotional feelings because not only does she not want the Games’ viewer to know how she really feels, but she also wants to steer clear of any of these feelings because she thinks that getting too close to other people always ends up hurting her.

2.)    “Katniss isn’t the kind of hero that were used to seeing in fiction”

I never really thought about that. After I read this:

“Katniss never gets to sacrifice herself. She survives- and that leaves her doing the hardest thing in the world: living in it once so many of the ones that she loves are gone.”

This got me thinking that’s so true. She never really got to have the heroic ending. She wasn’t even the typical heroin. I think that’s what makes her distinct from every other character in every other book. Katniss goes through obstacles that no author would probably dare to write, and has an ending that leaves all of the reader’s kind of going...um…what just happened…

3.)    “Katniss has strikingly little self-awareness.

You can get a better sense of Katniss’ character by looking at The Cat Who Refuses To Die.”

I never even paid attention for a second to the cat! When I was reading this paragraph, my mouth dropped open. The comparisons were endless. They both were just about exactly the same thing. I loved it. This made me think that Suzanne Collins had way more intentional parts in the story that I thought. This also made me respect the author of Team Katniss as well for finding this. I was truly amazed. It was something that I was completely oblivious of and didn’t even think twice about. That explain just about how many ways you can take an idea or character!  

4.)    “She expects better of those who know her best.

Like Haymitch.”

I thought about this idea as well. I had no idea why Katniss did get all worked up on Haymitch’s comments. There was also this part in the book where I finally did understand why. It was the part on page 259, when Peeta tells Katniss that she was always Haymitch’s favorite, and that they were exactly alike. This also brings up the idea of the cat, and how there were so many similarities between all of these characters.

Reading this critical essay made me think about many different ideas that I never had thought about before. I am now more open to reading, and I hope to catch a lot of the minor details and dwell on them to see the hidden meanings or to better understand the story. Some part of this essay was hard to understand, but as I read on, I did get what the author was trying to say. It did benefit my reading, a lot. I feel as if I can relate to this author because I want to learn how to make my writing sound more sophisticated, yet like me at the same time. I am hoping that this reading experience will help me improve on my future responses, and will use this as a reference and mentor text. I am truly amazed and grateful that I have come across this critical essay.