A Research On Katniss’ Image In The Trilogy Of The Hunger Games

American writer Susan Collins’ novel The Hunger Games trilogy, which once topped the New York Times’ book list of bestsellers and has been translated into 39 languages around the world, has won tons of reputation by being a best-seller continuously since the publication in America.The novel expresses the reality metaphor of anti-Utopian, and the ideas of feminism by the style of youth science fiction. With the release of the film adapted from the novel,Katniss’ image of a civilian hero has been better highlighted.The novel is set in such a plot that in the future North American continent Katniss took part in the Hunger Games instead of his little sister in the Kingdom of Parnham, where she experienced the brutal killing in the arena, and with the revolution of fire in her heart she gradually grew into a female politician revolutionist from a young girl. Her heroic characters are mainly embodied in three layers--the courage to challenge the power, fearless pursuit of freedom and the value orientation of "greater self". To highlight the unique qualities of Katniss’ hero image, the writer uses a variety of artistic techniques to give a finely description of the female hero. First is the weakening of feminine appearance description and highlighting the aesthetic concept of both hardness and softness so as to get rid of the imprint of male consciousness. Besides, the contrasting garment description is also in line with the identity of Katniss. In addition, the trilogy has wonderful portrays of Katniss’ language style, typical actions and behavior decision etc. In the trilogy of The Hunger Games, Katniss’ image of a female hero reflects various social and cultural connotations. For one thing, it expresses the pursuit of feminism, mainly embodied the shaping of a sound feminist personality and the realization of the social appeals for woman’s political participation. For another, it is based on the thought of anti-utopian, which mainly concerns the drawbacks of totalitarian rule and technology abuse as well as calls for the good-will return to human nature. In terms of the literary value, Katniss, who is both brave and kind, served as a "protector" of kinship and love,thus breaks the woman’s role localization and binding in the stereotyped literature. Such characteristics, as making contributions in the political competition and social revolution,possessing superior ability but appearing not sociable, being brave, decisive as well as gentle,undoubtedly subverts the traditional female image in the literature works.