Katniss Everdeen as the Heroine in The Hunger Games

 1. Examine a film with a female protagonist that conforms to the heroine’s journey by reflecting on how either Maureen Murdock’s or Victoria Lynn Schmidt’s versions of that narrative archetype encourages us to understand the narrative. You can see Murdock’s and Schmidt’s versions here and here respectively. (Remember to use the Wikipedia entry for help understanding the steps in the heroine’s journey.)

The Hunger Games

Katniss Everdeen’s journey in The Hunger Games can be read as a Heroine’s Journey (Schmidtt), and with such interpretation, gives new insights into the underlying thematic structure. Starting in District 12, the poorest district, Katniss enjoys a relatively pleasant life hunting with Gabe, selling at the black market, and going through her lifestyle dynamic to provide for her mother and sister. By the standards of the dystopian District 12, this is a relatively “Perfect World,” whose Illusion is shortly shattered by the selection of Katniss’s sister for the Hunger Games, a bloody fight to the death. Indeed, Katniss’s efforts to ensure that her sister would not be selected provide this Illusion of safety in such a world–the supposed guarantee that her sister would not be subjected to the horrors of the Hunger Games. When she is selected, the effect of this safety shattering is clearly apparent: “There must have been some mistake. This can’t be happening. Prim was one slip of paper in thousands! Her chances of being chosen so remote that I’d not even bothered to worry about her.” 

With her split-second reaction to be to instinctively volunteer as tribute, Katniss is now on the way to her likely death. Despite her initial feeling of hopelessness, she quickly resolves to fight–undergoing her Awakening and her Preparation for the Journey. Interestingly, Schmidt tells us that “She finds the tools she thinks she needs but she’s still looking outside of herself,” which is definitely the case in this section. Her first major act of preparation/defiance against her fate is to make an impression on Haymitch, her mentor and the key person to her survival in the arena. By semi-attacking him, she explosively indicates her will to survive: “When he turns back to reach for the spirits, I drive my knife into the table between his hand and the bottle, barely missing his fingers…I realize that if I want Haymitch’s attention, this is my moment to make an impression. I yank the knife out of the table, get a grip on the blade, and then throw it into the wall…” 

After the major preparatory stage with the stylists, Capitol life, and the training center, Katniss Descends into the arena. There are various Eyes of the Storm in her time there, such as her alliance with Rue: “But I’m too exhausted to begin any detailed plan tonight. My wounds recovering, my mind still a bit foggy from the venom, and the warmth of Rue at my side, her head cradled on my shoulder, have given me a sense of security. I realize, for the first time, how very lonely I’ve been in the arena. How comforting the presence of another human being can be,” which of course ends abruptly with her Death at the hands of male District 1 tribute. The other main candidate, of course, is her alliance with Peeta Mellark, ensuing time spent together, and budding romance. That Eye of the Storm is shattered by the announcement of the reversal of the two-tribute rule–that one of them must succumb to Death at the hands of the other. 

Both of these Death events synergistically inspire an awakening in Katniss. Rue’s death leads to her first public act of defiance against the Capitol–covering Rue’s body in wildflowers, forcing the audience to confront the reality of the Games. This goes alongside her Support, in the form of Peeta (and, in the second book in a very similar situation, Haymitch--"Remember who the real enemy is," namely, the Capitol) and Gale, both of whom have defiance against the Capitol in different manners but nonetheless inspire the same response. Specifically, Katniss states: “Then I remember Peeta’s words on the roof. ‘Only I keep wishing I could think of a way to . . . to show the Capital they don’t own me. That I’m more than just a piece in their Games.’ And for the first time, I understand what he means,” and goes on to state that she “want[s] to do something, right here, right now, to shame [the Capitol], to make [the Capitol] accountable,” before doing her televised act of defiance.

This “mini-Rebirth” is a prelude to her major act of defiance–offering the deadly berries to Peeta, intending for both of them to die. Having awakened, having realized her capabilities to fight the Capitol as well as her newly-forged resolve in the wake of the Deaths, she is Reborn as the symbol of a revolution that goes on to consume the rest of the books in the trilogy. At the end of the book, she Returns home to District 12, rich as a Victor and with a new perspective–and will. Overall, in our alignment with the Heroine's Journey, we see an illuminated path of events in The Hunger Games, especially with the Rebirth(s) that Katniss undergoes, increasing our understanding of her journey and growth.