PLOT POINT 1:

Katniss Everdeen Hook

 

WARNING: Spoilers Below

Katniss Everdeen

Character Arc Avatars-10.png
 

Opening Scene(s) Refresher: The Hunger Games opens with Katniss waking and preparing to go hunt. She meets her friend Gale outside of the District boundaries and talks with him about the upcoming day’s events (The Reaping) and what it would be like to escape. Then they hunt and trade their goods in town.

But how does her introduction accomplish the 8 important elements? Click on each of them below to find out!

Want

Katniss wants to protect her family.

Normal World

District 12 is Katniss's Normal World. Here, people are hungry, downtrodden, and hopeless. Her Normal World includes hunting and trading.

  • What makes this unique to Sophie? Katniss is unique in her ability to hunt, forage, and trade. She is responsible and spirited. Her Normal World importantly highlights Katniss's unique skills,in addition to her traits, and setting (dystopian America).

Ghost

Katniss's Ghost is the death of her father and the subsequent responsibility for her family that was placed upon her.

Internal Conflict

Katniss experiences a lot of Internal Conflict from our first introduction to her. She feels responsible to take care of her family and is stressed about their current state, as well as the Reaping set to take place that day. She has to overcome any nerves about the risk of being caught hunting, and she deals with a mix of emotions when it comes to Gale - both in terms of her personal relationship with him and with his proposal to leave District 12.

External Conflict

The External Conflict is fairly subtle, but definitely still present. Tension is in the air everywhere at the prospect of the Reaping, and Katniss also faces External Conflict in the form of her illegal hunting and trading.

  • How does this introduce the Ghost? Katniss only has the External Conflict from her illegal hunting and trading because of her Ghost. When her father died, the responsibility to keep her family alive fell to Katniss.

Character Traits

  1. Protective - RELATABLE - Katniss protects her family in a myriad of ways. We all have people we care about who we want to protect.

  2. Self-Sacrificing - ADMIRABLE - Katniss stepped up for her family. She is willing to give up her own comfort and risk her freedom for them.

  3. Industrious - LIKABLE - Laziness is off-putting. Katniss's work in the forest and the market show she is knowledgeable, bold, and hard-working. These circumstances also highlight her spirit - the strength that will eventually grow to lead a revolution.

Theme

The Theme is: standing up to oppression. In the Hook, we meet the main oppression found within this story and see the way Katniss is currently reacting to it. This shows the gap she has to close before her Character Arc is complete.

Stakes

Katniss wants to protect her family. The opening scene threatens this because we see how hard it is for her to keep them alive through her actions, interactions, and the setting.