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How Are Teenagers Represented In The Hunger Games by Niamh Sygrove

Katniss Katniss Everdeen is a teenage girl who lives in District 12, a very dirty and poor region in the country of Panem. She's a volunteer tribute in Panem's annual Hunger Games, having taken the place of her younger sister in an act of heroic selfsacrifice. Ever since the death of her father in a tragic coal mining accident, Katniss took on the role of her family's head of household. While Katniss's mother was unable to cope with the loss, falling into a deep depression, Katniss stayed focused and took charge. Filling her father's shoes, she became the chief cook and bottlewasher, bringing home the food and income that would save the family from starvation. Katniss is the stalwart rock of her family. Hunting, foraging, and providing for her mother and sister Prim are at the very core of her identity. While Katniss's role as a provider originated within the context of her family, Katniss is a strong provider in the arena as well. Her protective instincts extend to her ally from District 11, the young girl named Rue. The two shared food, clothing, and companionship. While her alliance with Rue is sadly short-lived, Katniss will also act as provider and protector of another tribute, her accompany from District 12, Peeta Mellark. The daughter of a coal miner, Katniss is a far more skilled hunter and tracker than Peeta, who is the son of a baker. When the games are near the end, Katniss showed that she would risk her life against the other tributes in order to bring Peeta the only medicine that can bring him back from the edge of death. Katniss sees herself primarily as someone who others can depend upon, both in and out of the arena. Whether she's in the woods of District 12 or the Gamemaker's arena, Katniss is concerned with one thing: how to stay alive. This, of course, makes her a fierce competitor. She can hunt, fish, trap, and fight. Katniss doesn't get attached to people very easily, or to things. Warm, fuzzy emotions are a luxury that she just can't afford. Because she is only focused on the day-to-day work of living, Katniss isn't terribly sentimental, a characteristic that sets her apart from many other girl heroines (just think of Bella from Twilight and compare them) and from Peeta himself. She has no great love for the family cat, Buttercup, for example. To Katniss, Buttercup isn't a cute and fuzzy playmate, but simply another mouth to feed. This would explain, why in the film she always has a disgusted look on her face when Buttercup is around. As the girl tribute from District 12, Katniss is thrust into the spotlight when she hits the Capitol. Cameras are on her every move at every minute; unfortunately, though, she's not funny or charming or even particularly telegenic. As Haymitch puts it, whenever she opens her mouth, she comes across as "sullen and hostile". She's like a Panem version of Kristen Stewart. So, Katniss must learn the importance of public image, celebrity, and creating a persona. With the help of her stylist, Cinna, she'll wear a series of spectacular gowns with which she'll be able to woo and wow the crowds at the Opening Ceremonies. Likewise, by following Haymitch's coaching and advice, she learns to manipulate the at home audiences of the Hunger Games by playing up the supposed romance plot with her co-tribute Peeta. Once she's made into Peeta's object of love, she secures a powerful place in the hearts of the audience. Katniss becomes a pro at playing the game of celebrity, and at playing the audiences and sponsors of the Hunger Games. But she'll also learn that the distinctions between what's real and what's not can sometimes blur. Everywhere Katniss goes, she is surrounded by terrible conditions. Her clothes and surroundings are always ragged and dirty. She stays in the same clothes around her district and as she gradually starts to go into the Hunger Games, they transform her into a glamorous young woman, with fancy dresses, makeup and the latest fashion iconic hair styles. Whilst in the district she appears as a natural girl with no makeup, common dresses for the reeping only and possibly a couple of grips to keep her hair up. She is interpreted through many different camera angles, showing off her personality differently through each one. The close ups focus more in on her when she becomes panicked, especially during The Hunger Games when the countdown appears and she has to shoot up the tube and land on the podium, with all the emotions and surroundings building up inside of her. Her facial expressions work well during the whole thing as they show fear, but also hope inside of her, which really resemble who she is as a person in the film. When she is up in the tree and is trying to get down by cutting off the trackerjackers, they specifically use the effect of being paralysed and that is shown extremely well through the camera effects of making her look dizzy and in a trance with people who arent even there in the arena.

Peeta When Peeta Mellark is selected as the tribute for District 12, all we really know about him is that he's a baker's son, a little bit emotional and that Katniss really wishes he hadn't been the one chosen as her co-tribute for the Hunger Games. Peeta's character serves, at times, as a contrast to Katniss's. Whereas she is a provider and a survivor, Peeta is just the opposite: he's not much of an outdoorsman, is in touch with his soft side, and comes from a world very different from Katniss's. (His family, while they end up eating stale bread, never goes hungry: they are of the more privileged merchant class.) As such, Peeta's character helps develop many of the movies major themes: love, hope, class, and identity. Peeta's been in love with Katniss ever since he first saw her back in grade school and heard her singing a catchy valley song. He's the one who instigated the whole romance plot by confessing his feelings for Katniss on camera to the nation. As for Peeta, he truly believes in the part he is acting. Peeta is way into all of the kissing and cuddling and love talk. His ongoing affections make him a symbol of the hopeless romantic, a role he plays exceedingly well both on and off camera. His feelings for Katniss capture the audience's heart, attesting to the power of romance and its attendant narratives. Peeta's family lives in District 12, but they are not coal miners. Rather, Peeta's family, his sweet father and unpalatable mother are bakers. His parents' occupation puts Peeta one step up above Katniss on the class ladder (though still far below the citizens of the Capitol). This might seem to be a rather small difference, but Peeta's class perspective very much shapes the way he sees the world. Peeta has, perhaps, a different view of political matters than Katniss and Gale. Peeta's relationship to Katniss is very important for the film, his character is also significant in that he is one of the tributes who considers what his identity means in the scope of the Hunger Games. As he tells Katniss as the Games approach, he doesn't just want to be a pawn in the Capitol's game. He wants to "die as himself". For Peeta, it is important that the Capitol knows that they don't own him. Much of Peeta's reflection on himself has to do with the fact that, unlike Katniss, he is not of the survivalist mindset. Instead, Peeta contemplates the Big Questions. This all makes Katniss feel kind of small. Peeta has no duties or obligations to his self-sufficient family (the survival of others doesn't depend on his own), he has the time and resources for self-reflection. Peeta comes across as a very independent, calm character, who dresses very naturally and maturely for his age. He gets it slightly better off than others because of his parents and his own job working in the bakery. This also makes him better off when it comes to eating habits as he can just have bread and cakes whereas others in District 12 would have to sell things like goats and chickens to get enough money to have those luxuries. A majority of his time in District 12 hes dressed up as a baker because he spends pretty much most of his time working in the bakery. When he went to the reaping he was dressed very calm and normal in just a regular plain shirt and trousers with the classic 1930s haircut which possibly questions the fact that this movie is a retro futuristic film. When hes in the Capitol for the interviews and the Hunger Games he stuns the audience with a very formal, attractive skinny suit and stylish hair. His actions during his interviews made him come across as a very humorous guy and he easily pleased over the audience not just during interviews, but also on the train to the Capitol, making him instantly one of the favourites to win the Hunger Games. He goes along with Katniss as the girl on fire with his own suit when they ride along on the carriage to the main event. They both wear matching black outfits to show that they are mysterious and possibly the best contenders, and the fire added even more intensity on to this to make them seem like straight from word one, they know what theyre gonna do to survive. His emotions are easily shown throughout as soon as we find out hes chosen for the Hunger Games. Immediately after finding out he was the chosen one, his jaw literally dropped and remained there for the rest of the reaping. This may not all be because of the fact he was chosen for the Hunger Games but also because of who he has to go there with as he knows theyve had a rough past together.

Gale Gale is Katniss's hunting partner and closest friend from District 12. The two characters have a good deal in common, from their backgrounds, to their family situations, to their shared harsh opinions on Panem's government. There's also some romantic tension simmering beneath the surface, but for now it has yet to come to a full boil. Katniss's relationship with Gale is often contrasted with the friendly or romantic playacting she performs with Peeta. Gale is mostly absent in the film and appears mainly in Katniss's many flashbacks or during the period of the Hunger Games itself. He sometimes serves as a reminder of home or the unwanted voice of conscience. Though Katniss hasn't allowed her feelings for Gale to fully develop, it's clear that they are present. And it is definitely the same the other way around, you can tell this by the face he pulls when he notices Katniss and Peeta kissing when they are in the cave in the Hunger Games. Gale mentions the subject of running away together, but Katniss sees this as something that, given their duties to each of their families, is impossible. So she doesn't stop to wonder whether it is a lack of feelings, or simply circumstances, that keeps them apart. References to Gale's character remind the viewer that Katniss is actually capable of authentic emotion, friendship, love, and all of that good stuff and not only emotion, but actual genuine happiness. When Gale is located in the film, he is always the sort of character that kinda just goes with the flow and remains as calm as he possibly can throughout. He comes across very protective over Katniss, and that he can only possibly trust her with everything as she agrees with him on everything. Hes dressed very rugged, roughly about as rugged as Katniss as they are both probably about equally poor. At the reaping he came across blending in with everyone with the casual dull shirt and the trousers. They highlight him a few times during the reaping and we can tell hes been in it a few times with Katniss as we see him mouth the first few words of the movie clip that is yet to be played and also how Katniss chuckles at the fact hes said it. Clove Clove was the female representative from District 2 in the 74th Hunger Games, and an expert at knife throwing. Although she was smaller than most of the other tributes, she was highly feared because of her knife-throwing techniques, an area she is dominant in, and seems never to miss a target. She pursues the Games with a sadistic personality, never upset at the prospect of another death on her hands. Clove was strong, sadistic, arrogant, violent, dangerous and powerful. Clove is also slightly unhinged, which makes her a feared opponent. She has a strong hatred for Katniss due to her high score given by the Gamemakers. When she captures Katniss at the Feast, she joyfully says she was going to make it a slow and torturous death. Clove was also intelligent, supporting Marvel in his idea to keep Peeta alive to get to Katniss, and is smart enough to go to the lake to heal her tracker jacker wounds, and was also instinctive enough to go back to the Cornucopia instead of chasing Katniss. She was raised with the Career mindset. Clove had a large selection of knives that were attached to the inside of her jacket. The weapons gave Clove a big advantage because of her skill with knives as shown in both the training center and during the Games. Right from the beginning of seeing Clove, she instantly comes across as a character that you just dont want to mess with. Her arrogance makes her someone youd be rather scared to encounter during the Hunger Games, because youd feel that youd have no chance whatsoever against her when it comes to fighting. Clove was always dressed very athletic, always prepared for fighting conditions, she took the Hunger Games very seriously, because she knew she had a really good chance of winning with her knife skills as many of the people in the Games were incredibly untrained and weak. She had a different side to her however during the interview phase in the Capitol. She still came across very determined to win the Hunger Games (which is always the signs of a great tribute), but also came across very stylish and feminine to wow over the audience and also a bit of the other tributes to put pressure on them during their interviews.

Cato Cato, from District 2, is the strongest and most threatening male tribute in the Hunger Games. He is Katniss's main competition. Cato is a Career Tribute from one of the wealthiest districts in Panem, who has trained his whole life for the glory of the Games. For him, the Hunger Games are not so much a death sentence as a shot at eternal fame. As such, Cato is a character who is associated with power, strength, wealth, and brutality. Cato suffers a particularly slow and agonizing death at the hands of the Gamemakers' pack of mutant dogs. The Gamemakers refuse to step in and end his suffering and instead further dehumanize him by playing up the entertainment value of his death. His death signals that even the wealthiest tributes are no match against the Gamemakers' cruelty. His loss in the Games makes us ask what kind of strength it really takes to win the Hunger Games. Tall, strong, muscular, and good-looking, the monstrous boy from District 2 has no restraint when it comes to killing, and is thought to be the most dangerous tribute in the game. He uses all the weapons he can get his hands on. He can easily choke anyone within seconds of getting his hands on their throats, and he proves this raw, physical power by grabbing another tribute (the boy from District 3) and snapping his neck almost instantly. He is one of the most feared tributes in the Games, but is considered the second strongest tribute. This reputation is solidified after supposedly killing the huge Thresh. Defiant and stupidly brave, Cato never gives in. After Katniss blows up the supplies, he unleashes another side of him, a side that convinces Katniss he is not completely sane. Determined to win, he does everything he can to achieve his goal. Cato is bloodthirsty and he does not care who he kills in the process, whose lives are spent, as long as he comes out alive. Like Clove, Marvel and Glimmer he truly hates Katniss either because of her 11 in training, her taunting them in the tree, or the tracker jacker incident. He expresses this when he says that when they find her he will kill her his own way. He later shows compassion and humanity when Clove is killed, and in the film, by giving a speech at the end about being a pawn in the Capitol's games. Despite his deadly nature, Cato seems to be at least partially loyal to his friends and allies. When his partner from District 2, Clove, is at the mercy of the dangerous District 11 tribute, Thresh, he rushes to her aid, having been searching for Katniss and Peeta. When he arrives, he begs her to stay alive, but he is too late. Cato is genuinely saddened by her death, and in another fit of rage, he chases down Thresh to avenge her death. At the time, they could have used the same deal as Katniss and Peeta and both have been crowned victors. Cato isn't very thorough during the Games which is displayed when he slashed Peeta in his leg, a place that should have killed him but it didn't, and when he possibly stabbed the District 8 female, but then had to have someone to return when her cannon wasn't released. His arrogance seemed to cost him dearly in the games. Cato always came across as one of the best during the interview phase as right from the beginning of being interviewed his words came across as determined, confident, ready. It also showed through his body language of how revved he got and also through his facial expressions which showed greatly his determination to win the Hunger Games. Like Clove, Cato always dressed very athletic type, because his only concern was to win the Hunger Games, and win by a landslide. He showed very strong during practice with his strength and almost made the other tributes sort of envy him through this. He always had a very strong ability to make the other tributes feel uncomfortable and weak by looking down upon them when they did something wrong or looked like a complete fool against the others. During the interview phase in the Capitol he like Peeta came across very smart and formal, with a luxurious suit next to the rest of the people in the Capitol. He really blended in with his stylish hair and good looks. He instantly became a massive threat to the rest of them as half of them literally had no clue what on earth they were going to do. He greatly knew his plan to survive.

Thresh Thresh was reaped into the 74th Hunger Games, along with the female tribute from his district, Rue. Viewed as the physically strongest tribute in the entire Games, the Career Tributes attempted to recruit him for their alliance during the training sessions, but he refused to join them. In the Hunger Games, Thresh only had one known tactic; to occupy a portion of the arena and to seldom leave its boundaries. Thresh is seen participating in the Cornucopia bloodbath. Thresh chose to enter a field of wheat that was as tall as Peeta's shoulders, seeing the area as both a threat and a source of food, shelter and safety. He saw it as a place of safety particularly because it resembled his home District 11. Thresh shows mercy towards Katniss when they met in the arena, even at a time when he had the advantage in terms of combat, as he believed that he owed her for being in alliance with and avenging Rue, the female tribute from his district. Through this action, Thresh is shown as having a certain degree of honour and dignity. By attempting to avenge Rue, Thresh also showed a side of kindness, which, in this case, is directed towards an innocent twelve-year-old girl. Another aspect of Thresh's personality is that he is vengeful. Other of Thresh's actions that reveal his personality include his choice of solitude throughout the duration of the Games, demonstrating his preference to work alone. Thresh was one of the main competitors in the Hunger Games. Being as strong and huge as he was, it was obvious from when you first saw him, Thresh would pose a problem if you were to face him. He commanded respect and was feared by virtually everyone in the arena, even the whole Career pack. Being from District 11, his knowledge of plants helped him in the field, where no one else dared to go, and it became a hide-out as well as a potential food source. Katniss herself had thought that if she were a sponsor, Thresh would be who she would sponsor. He was defiantly someone not to be underestimated. Thresh's physical aptitude was often complimented by Katniss. It is also revealed in training that when the Career Tributes asked him to join their pack, he refused, probably knowing they would eventually have to betray one another. Thresh was very aggressive and didnt let anybody fool him over. He was very protective over Rue because of her age, but with everyone else showed no signs of friendship or even civil conversation. They were all a threat to him, and he was a threat to them too. Dressed very athletic, Thresh never gave up on his training and didnt let Rue give up either. He chuckled at the fact that Rue was starting to become very good at the Games when she hid Catos knife by strapping herself to the ceiling, watching him rage with fury over another tribute thinking he took it not her. He wasnt shown greatly during the interview phase in the Capitol but once again when he was shown, he came across very strong and wasnt going to let anyone tell him otherwise. He was incredibly strong straight from the beginning, and he was always a big contender to win the Games. Many of the tributes feared him for such strength because he literally never stopped showing it throughout the entire training, Capitol interviews and the Games themselves. Its unknown whether or not he had a strategy, but from the way he acts throughout the film, it shows that he knew what he was doing and managed to get through without being attacked by any other tributes. If the dog attacks hadnt of come, Thresh probably would have had an amazing chance of winning. No one probably wouldnt have been able to kill him, not even Cato. He defeated Clove which just proves he really is a strong tribute.

Marvel Marvel presumably volunteered for the 74th Hunger Games, along with his district partner Glimmer. As a Career Tribute, Marvel was strong and ruthless, yet overconfident. It is also mentioned by Katniss that he might have not been the smartest. Katniss thought Marvel as "arrogant" after finding a pack of dried fruit on him following Rue's death, due to the fact that he had bountiful resources with the career's supplies. During training in the film, he saw Peeta's weakness and viewed him as a "meal" until Peeta's true strength was revealed, leaving him and the other Careers surprised. While the District 3 female was on the Gauntlets, she was tripped and he, along with the rest of the Careers, laughed. He showed great skill at fighting and throwing with a spear, which made him deadly at a distance. Marvel showed the same arrogance as many of his fellow careers, but lacked the ruthless discipline of Cato and Clove (probably because they were from District 2, which contributes heavily to the Capitol's military); however, unlike his fellow tribute Glimmer he was well-trained in his weapon of choice. He wasnt always considered one of the best tributes in the Games, but he for sure wasnt the worst. He smartly knew which tributes to hang around with to survive as much as possible, hence why he went with Cato and Clove e.t.c. He dressed very similarly to Cato as he almost sort of looked up to him as an influence to be better in the Hunger Games. He interpreted Catos ways during the interview phase and cleverly stood by him during the actual games themselves. Glimmer Glimmer was born in the luxurious District 1, one of the wealthier districts. She presumably spent most of her life training for the games. Glimmer showed little consideration in choosing her weapon at the Cornucopia. However, it is not known if the bow would have been her first choice as a weapon, or if she had taken any other weapon from the Cornucopia. During the bloodbath in the film, Glimmer used a dagger to stab the District 6 female to death. For the rest of the games up until her death, she utilized a bow and arrow which Katniss would later take from her corpse and use for the remainder of the games up until her victory. Katniss described Glimmer as "incompetent" when using the bow. She used her looks to her advantage, getting many sponsors with her looks. Glimmer was not to be underestimated. Being one of the Career Tributes, she had a good chance of survival and was ready to fight. In the film portrayal, during her private session with the Gamemakers, Glimmer most likely showed the Gamemakers her archery and knife skills. Like Marvel, Glimmer wasnt considered one of the strongest competitors in the Hunger Games, but not one of the weakest ones either. She too hung out with Cato and Clove e.t.c. because she knew like Marvel that she wanted to survive as long as possible and the only way for that to happen was to stay with that lot. Glimmer wowed the Capitol with her incredible good looks and stunning dress during the interview phase. This made her a favourite just through appearance. Throughout the rest she dressed quite athletic, but a bit more toned down to how Clove and Cato were dressed. Glimmer almost sort of looked up to Clove like Marvel did to Cato because she knew that Clove was very intelligent when it came to the Games and that she always had the right ideas towards survival.

Foxface Foxface was the female tribute from District 5 in the 74th Hunger Games. During the training session, she tested her knowledge of plants in a matching test. Like Peeta, Foxface ran away from the Cornucopia bloodbath when she entered the arena as she had no weapons or supplies to help her. After this Katniss and Foxface run into and knock each other over. However, instead of fighting, the two of them scramble away, running off in different directions with scared expressions. Foxface proved to be one of the smartest, trickiest, and most clever tribute in the Games. She demonstrated this several times throughout the film by doing various things, such as stealing supplies from other tributes, letting herself to become a forgettable tribute in order to not draw attention to herself, and she could find things that others didn't look hard enough for. Foxface was careful not to make enemies or even to make herself noticed. Remarkably, she managed to get through to the final four tributes without making a single kill, showing either her morals, luck, or her intelligence. Foxface hid in the Cornucopia, waiting for the others to come. She didn't waste time with a battle, she ran up, snatched her bag, and quickly evacuated the area. No one would follow her in fear of not getting their own bags, containing something they "desperately needed," taken away by another tribute. Katniss was also jealous of her plan, how strategic and risky it was, and how it trapped the other tributes. She demonstrated the attribute of being wily, when she deciphers a path through the explosives to reach the Careers' pyramid of food and supplies, making sure to take enough to survive, but not so much that it would be noticed by the others when they arrived back at their camp. She was independent, always working alone and was sly, elusive, and probably untrustworthy. Foxface avoided confronting the other tributes and kept a reasonable distance between her and anyone else. She intelligently observed other tributes from afar, which allowed her to understand their plans. She took an unnoticeable amount of food from others without their knowledge, and was careful when she was in the Careers' camp, for she knew that it contained mines. She was clever enough to trace a path through the mines where she could step without being blown to pieces. She had no alliances with other tributes and kept completely to herself. She liked to remain to herself which could be seen as a smart way of going because that way no one could betray her and also she was less likely to be known about. This kept her through a lot of the games unlike other tributes. She always came across very camouflaged, hence why she had no allies and was always planning the next move whilst in hiding. Foxface dressed very casual during the training, she did take the Games very seriously, but no where near as serious as Cato and Clove as they literally took the Games over the bar. During the interview phase at the Capitol, she stunned the audience with a beautiful dress, but still remained quite anonymous to the rest of the tributes; this helped with the fact that she wanted no enemies and no allies.

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