Perseverance In The Hunger Games, By Suzanne Collins

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While reading the novel, “The Hunger Games”, written by Suzanne Collins, one could see without difficulty that a running theme flows through the writing. This theme being perseverance, the one thing that had allowed Katniss Everdeen, the main character that a reader follows during the events presented in the narrative, to live on and be crowned victor with her teammate, Peeta, a young man who ventures into the Hunger Games with Katniss. The theme of perseverance appears frequently as it is tied to every trait and skill of Katniss which includes the idea that she is persistent, caring, and resourceful when it comes to surviving in severe conditions similar to the Games. Every thought she has and every action that she performs drives her to …show more content…

This trait being perseverance which appears in the novel more times than once. At one point in the narrative, Katniss is dehydrated and on the verge of death, but she realises that the solution to her particular problem would be to find water no matter how difficult it may be to fulfill that task. The text states, “I grit my teeth and pull myself to my feet...The sun’s beating down, even more searing than the first two days. I feel like an old piece of leather, drying and cracking in the heat. Every step is an effort, but I refuse to stop.”(pg. 169). The quote given shows the exact amount of immense agony that Katniss is experiencing and how ardous of a task it is to move forward. Yet, Katniss does not give up once and decides to continue as getting to the thing she needs most requires her own tenacity and motivation. During the duration of the novel, the Capitol manipulates the games to set up a fire attack against the remaining tributes which forces Katniss to maneuver and think quickly to persevere through the brutal attack. The text states, on page 175, “Every sense I have goes into overdrive as the need for to survive takes over. There’s no time to judge if a move is the correct one. …show more content…

After the Games have begun, Katniss makes an alliance with a young tribute named Rue because she had helped her escape from a group of Careers, tributes who have been trained for the Games ever since they were born, earlier in the narrative. As an alliance, they create a plan to explode the remaining food supply of the Careers, but Rue is caught and a spear pierces through her chest, killing her shortly after. It is Katniss that witnesses this and the following event precedes in the quote given. The author says, “A few steps into the woods grows a bank of wildflowers. Perhaps they are really weeds of some sort, but they have blossoms in beautiful shades of violet and yellow and white. I gather up an armful and come back to Rue’s side. Slowly, one stem at a time, I decorate her body in flowers. Covering the ugly wound. Wreathing her face. Weaving her hair with bright colors.” (pg. 237). This quote shows the caring side of Katniss as she chooses to honor Rue and revolt against the insidious Capitol, the ones who were to be held responsible for the torment inflicted on all tributes involved, to show her sorrow for those who were forced to watch young Rue die. This action and character trait ties into the theme of persistence because Katniss is

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