Katniss Everdeen, Role Model?
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does rebuild it with the virtues that he gradually teaches her. Did Katniss
initially want another hunger games? The narrative is ambiguous, but
given the dark side o f Katniss and the way she views relationships, it is
indeed possible. And for me, that makes me pause when holding her up
as a role model. I have two daughters, ages nine and eleven, and when
and if they decide they want to read The Hunger Games, I hope they
widerstand what is truly admirable in this character and what is not.
University o f Mary Hardin-Baylor
Brent Gibson
Notes
1. Janice Podsada, “ The Hunger Games Sparks Sales at Archery, Toy,
Book and Specialty Stores,” Hartford Courant (Hartford, CT), Apr.
15, 2012, via www.Baltimoresun.com. May 4, 2012.
2. Suzanne Collins, Mockingjay (New York: Scholastic, 2010), 368.
3. The title o f the thread seems to have slanted the debate on this site
toward an assumption o f ulterior motives, although there were
dissenting views.
4. Jennifer L. Miller, "Did Katniss really want the Hunger Games to
continue or did she have ulterior motives when she agreed?" Posted
on Sept. 10, 2010, Customer Discussions,
http://www.amazon.com/Mockingiav-The-Hunger-GamesBook/dp/0439023513/ref=sr 1 1?s=books&ie=UTF8&a id= 1336663
516& sr= l-l#
5. Robert Sherman, "Did Katniss really want the Hunger Games to
continue or did she have ulterior motives when she agreed?" Posted
on Oct. 19, 2011, Customer Discussions,
http://www.amazon.com/Mockingiav-The-Hunger-GamesBook/dp/0439023513/ref=sr 1 n s^ p o o k s& ie ^ T F S & q id ^ 1336663
516& sr= l-l#
6. See M ary Borsellino, “Your Heart Is a Weapon the Size o f Your
Fist: Love as a Political Act in The Hunger Games,” in The Girl Who
Was on Fire, ed. Leah Wilson (Dallas: Benbella Books, 2010), 37,
and Sarah Rees Brennan, “W hy So Hungry For The Hunger
Games?,” in The Girl Who Was on Fire, ed. Leah W ilson (Dallas:
Benbella Books, 2010), 6-7.
7. Jennifer Culver, ‘“ So He re I Am in His Debt A gain’: Katniss, Gifts,
and Invisible Strings,” in The Hunger Games and Philosophy: A
Critique o f Pure Treason, ed. George A. Dünn and Nicolas Michaud
(Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley, 2012), 94.