CONSTRUCCION DELA CIUDADANIA

CHARACTERS:

Katniss Everdeen

Katniss Everdeen is a teenage girl who lives in District 12, an impoverished coal-mining

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 self-sacrifice.

Likes include: bows, arrows, and lamb stew. Also: a certain guy named Gale(best friend).

Dislikes include: Haymitch Abernathy(Mentor for the Hunger Games), tracker jacker stings,

getting her leg hair waxed, and the family cat. Also: occasionally her mother.

Peeta Mellark

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 (3.47) – and that Katniss really wishes he hadn't

been the one chosen as her co-tribute (2.23). Over the course of the novel, though, we

learn that he played a large part in helping Katniss's family survive after her father's death.

For this, Katniss feels deeply indebted to him. Peeta is also totally and completely in love

with Katniss Everdeen.

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 novel's major themes: love, hope,

class, and identity.

Gale Hawthorneu
Gale is Katniss's hunting partner and closest friend from District 12. As Katniss tells us,

he's "good-looking, he's strong enough to handle the work in the mines, and he can hunt"

(1.34). 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.

Primrose "Prim" Everdeen

Prim is Katniss's twelve-year-old sister, of whom she is fiercely protective. As Katniss says,

"I protect Prim in every way I can, but I'm powerless against the reaping" (1.63). This turns

out to be not entirely true. Prim was originally chosen as District 12's tribute during the

annual reapings, but Katniss made the ultimate sacrifice for her family and volunteered to

take her sister's place.

Prim serves as a contrast to her big sister. She is a more conventionally feminine character,

for starters. Unlike the tough, no-nonsense Katniss, Prim is quite sweet, cooks, and loves

animals (including Buttercup, the family cat). As Katniss says, "People deal with me, but

they are genuinely fond of Prim" (3.23).

Haymitch Abernathy

Haymitch is a former District 12 tribute and winner of the Hunger Games who is now a

middle-aged drunk. His job is to come out of his alcoholic stupor long enough to coach

Katniss and Peeta to victory in the Hunger Games. (Ha.) He tends to use condescending

names like "sweetheart," which does nothing to endear him to the sometimes-haughty

Katniss.

Despite his shortcomings, Haymitch serves as a very human and intermittently likable

mentor figure for Katniss and Peeta. He coaches the pair from a position of experience: he

understands the rules of the Hunger Games and the celebrity culture surrounding it.

Haymitch knows the importance of creating a persona, and encourages Katniss to go along
with the romance plot introduced by Peeta. After all, as Haymitch says: "Who cares? It's all

a big show. It's all how you're perceived" (10.24).

Cinna

Cinna is Katniss's fabulous – and often brilliant – stylist during the Hunger Games. (Think

of Carson from Queer Eye.) He's a new talent, and though he could have chosen another

district, he went with the underdog District 12.

Though Cinna comes up with Katniss's "girl on fire" ensemble, he is also able to coach

Katniss with her public persona. While the dresses he designs are completely to die for, he

also helps Katniss realize who she is within the context of the Hunger Games. Before her

pre-Games interview, he encourages Katniss not to worry about putting on a front; rather,

he tells her to "Just be yourself" (9.68).

Effie Trinket

Effie Trinket is the pink-haired prim and proper escort for the District 12 tributes. She's a

Hunger Games administrator, and her character represents the wealth and power of the

government. She's also, of course, a rather silly woman who places a good deal of

emphasis on etiquette and propriety. In this sense, she is a comic, rather than a

threatening, character. She is a token of the Capitol's frivolity and excesses.

As Effie hails from the Capitol, she views the Hunger Games merely as a competition – and

a source of career advancement – rather than as a brutal death sentence. As such, she's

excited to have tributes who might actually win this year. While Katniss finds Effie rather

irritating, she does have a kind of grudging respect for what she does, as Effie does do her

part to round up sponsors and rein in Haymitch the best she can.

Rue

Rue is the tiny, twelve-year-old tribute from District 11, the agricultural district. She can fly

from tree to tree and is a wonder with mockingjay bird calls. Despite her size, she scores a
surprisingly high "7" during her training sessions (8.34). Her name, also, means "regret" or

"sorrow" (source), which is a bit of foreshadowing as to what her fate will be in the Hunger

Games.

Rue reminds Katniss very much of her sister, Prim. Katniss acts as the primary protector of

Rue once the two become allies. In this sense, she continues the role that she formerly

played with her sister, Prim. Katniss and Rue share food, supplies, and stories about their

lives. Katniss learns that Rue is the oldest child in her family and she loves music. Rue

becomes human to Katniss and not simply a competitor. Their brief friendship during the

Games allows us to see Katniss as a nurturing character, even in the midst of all the fierce

competition.

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:

Foxface

Foxface is the female tribute from District 5, and she's sly, clever, and smart as a whip. She

survives by stealing food and supplies from the other tributes, rather than facing them

head on. Foxface is killed when she steals and eats poisonous berries that the oblivious

Peeta collected.
Thresh

Thresh is the big, silent guy from District 11 – Rue's district. He spares Katniss's life at the

Cornucopia in return for her defense of Rue. He is eventually killed by Cato.

MAIN CODES OF THE BOOK

Power
Who has the power?

Well, the main source of power in The Hunger Games is clear: the totalitarian government of the

Capitol. Because the Capitol holds most of the country of Panem’s wealth, the government there

is able to control the people in all of the districts across Panem. The Hunger Games, then, are

the ultimate display of the government’s power and were designed to warn the populace against

rebellion. In the Hunger Games, the citizens of Panem become nothing more than pawns in an

elaborate game of life or death. Since only one teenage contestant, or "tribute," can win, the

tributes are forced to kill teens from the other districts and one from their own district. It's all

symbolic of how the Capitol prevents the people in the districts from joining forces and

rebelling – the Games keep the people of the districts divided and fighting among themselves.

Worst of all, the government broadcasts the event live on television, reinforcing the idea that

the tributes are giving their lives for little more than the entertainment of the Capitol.

Let’s not forget, though, that this book is also about ways to resist the kind of power that the

Capitol represents. While the people of Panem might not have the Capitol’s money, they do have

other ways of fighting back. Remember when District 12 gives Katniss their salute? Or when

Katniss covers Rue’s dead body in flowers? These symbolic gestures call attention to the fact

that there are actual people in the Hunger Games – real live humans, not just game pieces. In

that sense, these small moments of defiance can be very powerful.

Versions of Reality
Ah, reality television: The Bachelor, The Biggest Loser, Jersey Shore. Don’t we just love it?

The people of Panem, the fictional country of The Hunger Games, also watch lots of reality

television, except there’s only one show they watch. It’s called the Hunger Games. Instead

of contestants losing a bunch of weight or marrying a total stranger, the show is about a

group of teenagers who (wait for it) kill each other in a fight to the death.

Yup, you heard us. Death.

The Hunger Games, then, asks us to think about all of the different versions of reality at

play in the novel – and their consequences. What’s real and what’s not real in the Hunger

Games? These are the questions we’ll be grappling with, along with the characters in the

novel, throughout the series. (Be sure to head over to "Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory" for

more on reality TV.)

Politics
The government of Panem is a totalitarian one, which means that it has absolute power

over its people. (Nazi Germany is a good example of a totalitarian government.) Yup, that's

right. The government has total and complete control over every part of its citizens' lives,

and the citizens get absolutely no say about any of it. No voting, no elections, no nothing.

Any kind of rebellion is a HUGE no-no, and we learn that the Capitol set up the Hunger

Games to remind people of that. Lots of the book, then, is about what it is like to live in a

society where you've got to struggle to have any kind of voice at all, and speaking your

mind could get you killed

Identity
By making a huge personal sacrifice, and taking her sister’s place, Katniss has changed the

way her community sees her. They give her respect, admiration, and love for the choice she

has made.
MAIN WORDS:

PANEM:Panem was run as a totalitarian dictatorship led by a president who served

for life and wielded absolute power over the government and military. Four
presidents of Panem are mentioned and present in the book series: Ravinstill,
Coriolanus Snow, Alma Coin, and Paylor.

DISTRICT 12:District 12 is a very poor coal-mining district located in the region

formerly known as Appalachia (3.50). Katniss and her family live in the poor section
of District 12, the Seam, where the coal-miners live and work. ... The poverty of
District 12 is often contrasted with the wealth of the Capitol.

TRACKER JACKERS:Tracker jackers are genetically engineered wasps, created in

the Capitol. They are genetically coded to attack anyone or anything that disturbs
their nest and have venom/are poisonous. Once they make a person their target,
they will follow him or her far away from their nest, unlike natural vespids.

Mockingjays: The mockingjay is a species of bird that was created through the
accidental mating of jabberjays and mockingbirds. Mockingjays have the
ability to mimic a wide range of sounds produced by humans.

Mutts: Hybrids between some kind of wolves, or dogs, and Tributes. Very
dangerous for their aggressiveness( they´re cannibals)

NIGHTLOCK BERRIES:Nightlock berries in the 74th Hunger Games. Nightlock is a

wild plant with extremely poisonous berries. Katniss first heard about this plant
from her father, who cautioned her that anyone who ate nightlock would be dead
before the berries even reached their stomach.

CORNUCOPIA:The Cornucopia is a giant golden (in the book) or silver (in the
movie) horn-shaped cone with a curved tail. In each year's Hunger Games, the
tributes launch into the arena and start off in the shape of semicircle, equidistant to
the Cornucopia.