Essay --

Have you ever wondered how one person can make such a substantial difference and inspire so much change? In The Hunger Games novels Suzanne Collins creates Katniss Everdeen, the main character and protagonist. She is the empowered female character who through her atypical qualities and actions inspires incredible change. Collins uses Katniss as a lead because she disrupts the natural order of power in Panem and she is the unconventional representation of a heroic figure. The Hunger Games take place in Panem, a dystopian society that is divided into twelve districts and ruled by the Capitol, a totalitarian power. The people of the districts are suppressed; they have no rights and no freedom of speech. In Dystopian Fiction for Young Adults, literary criticism by Patrick Smith, he contributes to the idea of a dystopian society saying â€Å"dystopias feature totalitarian regimes and shattered economies, global war, climate change, the lack of meaningful personal relationships and lost identities, and the underdog fighting against near-impossible odds. All current societies, dystopian novels suggest, are just one cataclysmic event away from collapse.† This accurately describes the occurrences in Panem. Every year a male and female tribute between the ages of twelve and eighteen are selected from every district in a ceremony called the reaping. They are then forced to fight to the death in the hunger games while all of Panem watches on screen until there is one left standing, the victor. The hunger games were created as a means of which to restore order after the â€Å"Dark Days†, a rebellion that happened decades ago. The people must watch their young be slaughtered on screen to pay for the rebellion. â€Å"Taking the kids from our districts, forcin... ...ames is the rebellion that breaks out in district eight. Katniss gets an unwarranted glance at a TV with updates on the action taking place there. She sees masses of people, flags with the Capitol’s emblem being burned and banners with her face waving from the tops of buildings. The disorder is ultimately traced back to Katniss. Collins uses Katniss as the protagonist because she is the unconventional representation of a heroic figure due to her strong characteristics and her powerful representation; she inspires many people and gives them hope because of her sincere and self-sacrificing nature. As she defies the rules of the Capitol others follow in her lead and over time the natural order of power in Panem is not only disrupted but turned upside down. Katniss shows that it is possible for one person to make substantial differences and inspire unbelievable change.