Character Analysis
(Avoiding Spoilers)
Grew Up... in a happy if poor home with her parents and younger sister Prim. But the happiness ended when she was eleven and her father was blown to pieces in a mine explosion.
Living... in District 12 of Panem with her mother and sister. Her mother took her father's death even worse than Katniss, basically checking out on life and leaving her daughters to fend for themselves. As Katniss says, "I try to forgive her for my father's sake. But to be honest, I'm not the forgiving type." Thankfully, Katniss has Prim. She loves her more than anything and believes it's her job to keep Prim safe.
Profession... fighter in the Hunger Games. The Games are a long tradition; this is the seventy-fourth one. Each year, the twelve districts of Panem must send one boy and one girl to the Capitol as a sacrifice, to fight each other to the death while the nation watches on TV. Although the government tries to make the killing sound honorable, it is really just showing how much power it has over everyone. In her district, a boy named Peeta and her sister Prim were selected. But she volunteered to take Prim's place.
Interests... archery. With her trusted bow and arrow, she has been putting food on the table for her family since her father died. That also enables her to spend hours hunting with her best friend, Gale.
Relationship Status... single, but complicated. The handsome Gale is her hunting buddy, but maybe he could be more - much more. Now Peeta says he has always had a crush on her, and if the two of them pretend to the Hunger Games audience that they are in love, it could help keep her alive. But now she's developing real feelings for Peeta, too.
Challenge... competing in the Games. One of the 24 contestants will go on to fame and fortune, and the rest will die. So Katniss is forced to choose between two terrible alternatives – kill or be killed.
Personality... tough and loyal. Katniss can have a cold exterior, but she does warm up. As she says, "It's not as if I'm never friendly. Okay, maybe I don't go around loving everybody I meet, maybe my smiles are hard to come by, but I do care for some people." If you can get through the wall that she puts up, Katniss is a very caring person. After all, she has made the ultimate sacrifice for Prim by taking her place in the Games. We would all be lucky to have a big sister like her.