thesis statement about katniss everdeen

The Hunger Games: Katniss Everdeen’s Character Essay

Katniss Everdeen is the main character and narrator of the novel The Hunger Games. We first meet Katniss as a teenager of 16 years who must support her family after her father’s death. Her mother also suffers from depression. Katniss must also support her younger sister. Katniss and her family live in a poverty-stricken coal-mining District 12. It is the realities Katniss encounters that shape her traits.

Katniss is the stalwart of her family. She has to support a depressed mother and her younger sister after the death of her father who died tragically in the coal mine accident. The fact that her mother could not cope with the loss made Katniss to take the role of the head of the household.

She must provide for the household, and save her family from starvation. Katniss talks about her roles as follows. “It was slow-going at first, but I was determined to feed us. I stole eggs from nests, caught fish in nets, sometimes managed to shoot a squirrel or rabbit for stew, and gathered the various plants that sprung up beneath my feet. Plants are tricky. Many are edible, but one false mouthful and you’re dead. I checked and double-checked the plants I harvested with my father’s pictures. I kept us alive” (Collins 4.19)

Katniss symbolizes the will of a woman to survive despite all odds. She must be innovative and hardworking to do this through foraging and hunting. These are what form the core of her female roles and identity.

Katniss also offers support to others outside her family. Katniss also extends her protective instinct to a friend and an ally, Rue from District 11. She tells us that Rue too is a survivor, and that is why she formed an alliance with her. This is crucial among the female characters in this novel. They must survive despite all odds.

Katniss’ role of protecting and providing for others extends even to male characters in the novel. Peeta Mellark is a son of a baker who is only good with cake decorations. Peeta lacks hunting and gathering skills we notice in Katniss. Katniss risks her life so that she can deliver medicine that can save Peeta from a near death.

We can see Katniss as a female character who others can rely on for their survival. However, we must ask what role Katniss will play if she wins Hunger Games. This makes her ponder her possible new identity and role in society. “For the first time, I allow myself to truly think about the possibility that I might make it home.

To fame. To wealth. To my own house in the Victor’s Village. My mother and Prim would live there with me. No more fear of hunger. A new kind of freedom. But then…what? What would my life be like on a daily basis? Most of it has been consumed with the acquisition of food. Take that away and I’m not really sure who I am, what my identity is. The idea scares me some” (Collins 23.62)

This reflection remains unresolved at the end of the novel, but we can guess Katniss will have to find herself a new identity and role once she returns to District 12.

Life in District 12 is hard; thus survival is the term other characters use in the description of other characters. This makes Peeta’s mother says “She’s a survivor, that one” (Collins 7.31). Survival is the main concern for Katniss wherever she may be. The needs to survive have made her fish, hunt, fight, and trap all manner of food items.

The survival instinct makes Katniss a hardened person. Katniss has no strong attachments to other characters or things. Thus, she lacks strong emotions to relate with other characters.

Katniss has all her energy directed to daily activities of making ends meet. Consequently, she is a sentimental character. This trait makes her different from other female characters in the novel.

For instance, Katniss shows lack of love for Buttercup, the family cat. Katniss views Buttercup as “another mouth to feed” rather than a playmate. This could be the reason why Katniss tried to drown the cut so as to save it from starvation and death eventually. Likewise, Katniss has no strong attachments to children. She is not thinking of having children.

This makes her tells Gale “Who would fill those mouths that are always asking for more?” (Collins 1.28). The thought of bringing children in a poverty-stricken life scares her. This is a deviation from normal role of female in society. As a female, society expects Katniss to take the traditional role of women, such as child-bearing and house chores.

Katniss does not approach the issue of love like any other normal female. It is difficult to understand her feelings of love given she has to struggle and provide for her family. However, we can notice some form of love among characters she interacts with in the novel. Team Gale provides some of the most important moments in Katniss life.

These are some of the moment happiest times in her life. However, Katniss keeps her feelings to herself because of family responsibilities. We notice this through her opinion on children and the need to cater for her family.

Peeta has always loved Katniss. However, Katniss does not return his love because they are competitors in the game.

Critics may consider Katniss a heartbreaker because Katniss ignores Peeta’s feelings. Peeta declared his love for Katniss before a National Television making a private affair public.

Amidst her confusion, what comes out of Katniss is “Peeta has made me an object of love” (Collins 10.33). In this context, the statement may present ambiguity. It can empower and disempower both characters. Katniss must play a role before the audience that may change her life. She must act as Peeta’s object of love because both of their lived depend on it. Therefore, rejecting Peeta before the audience is impossible.

This shows that women may take up some roles in order to save their positions in society. The idea of relating women to object of love seems to persist in society, and not likely to end soon.

Life changes for Katniss when she enters the Capitol. She becomes a celebrity and engages in celebrity games. However, this looks like an appearance to her than reality. She must change her traits to meet those of celebrities and public figures, and create a persona out of herself. However, she manages these roles with the help of Cinna, her stylist.

She also learns these new appearances from Haymitch, her coach. She can manipulate the audience of the Hunger Games through the romance act with Peeta. We can notice that Katniss can only achieve her success and win the audience through becoming Peeta’s object of love.

This makes Haymitch comments “It’s all a big show. It’s all how you’re perceived. The most I could say about you after your interview was that you were nice enough, although that in itself was small miracle. Now I can say you’re a heartbreaker. Oh, oh, oh, how the boys back home fall longingly at your feet. Which do you think will get you more sponsors?” (Collins 10.24)

Works Cited

Collins, Suzanne. The Hunger Games. New York: Scholastic Press, 2008. Print.

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Katniss Everdeen Is My Hero

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By Sabaa Tahir

• Oct. 18, 2018

Katniss Everdeen and I met on a rainy Virginia day in 2010. I’d seen “The Hunger Games” and its sequels at nearly every bookshop I visited. On that particular day, feeling glum about my own failed attempts to write, I decided to pick up this book everyone was talking about.

I read the first quarter right there in the store, bought the sequels, and ignored my family for the next few days while I binge-read the series.

Dystopias were not new, of course. As a high schooler, I’d read about power hungry governments (“Brave New World,” “1984”), and in college, I’d discovered underage death battles (“Battle Royale”) and ambiguous but hopeful endings (“The Handmaid’s Tale” and “The Giver”).

Suzanne Collins’s pointed social commentary about war drew me in, and her almost journalistic writing style helped the pages fly by. But it was Katniss who kept me hooked. Complex, flawed Katniss, with her bow and her braid and her tempered fury. Katniss with her fierce familial love and cussed hope. Katniss, who, as a teenage girl, is scarred and underestimated and dismissed by her government. Until they finally figure out how dangerous she is.

Katniss is a character of contradictions. She’s skilled at hunting but she second-guesses herself constantly. Her strength keeps her alive, but her decisions are often questionable. Her struggles made her real and vulnerable — enough that I could imagine myself in her shoes. Enough that her character stayed with me, long after I finished the books.

Clearly, I wasn’t alone. In the 10 years since its publication, the trilogy has been translated into 53 languages, with more than 100 million copies in print. Its success altered the landscape of young adult fiction. If Harry Potter revealed a vast market hungry for children’s literature and Twilight extended the market to young adult books, The Hunger Games cemented the buying power of that market.

[ Suzanne Collins talks about “The Hunger Games,” the books and the movies. ]

Waves of heroine-led dystopian books followed Collins’s, including many that spawned their own huge fan bases, like Veronica Roth’s “Divergent” and Marie Lu’s “Legend.” The rise of social media allowed fans to form communities on YouTube, Twitter and Facebook to share art, theories, blog-posts, videos, dream casts and reviews — all of which are still very much a part of young adult publishing.

And so Katniss became an embodiment of teenage anger. One that was respected and vaunted, immortalized on the big screen, in cosplays and even action figures.

“Katniss Everdeen’s name always booms through me like a firework,” says Dhonielle Clayton, author of “The Belles,” and chief operating officer of We Need Diverse Books, a nonprofit organization. “A bright reminder of what is required to change the world: defiance, irreverence and a stubborn determination. I needed to read girls like her; girls who weren’t so nice; girls so angry that their rage could topple anything in their path; girls that could face the dark; girls who could never be contained.”

Indeed Collins’s vision for a heroine was uncannily prescient, as is so much else in the series. Katniss’s story is set in Panem, ruled by the Capitol, which uses propaganda to turn the populace against each other and hang onto power. Class divisions are rife, and the economically disadvantaged are forced to become participants in their own oppression. Rebels are quickly silenced. The Capitol’s cunning media encourages an obsession with perfection that permeates every aspect of society.

To survive all this, Katniss adapts. Her enemies do not expect her to. Again, they underestimate her.

Leigh Bardugo, author of the forthcoming “King of Scars,” recalled the scene in “The Hunger Games” where Katniss gets a makeover. “Collins spoke to aspiration and commodification all at once, and the larger way Katniss is forced to transform in order to survive. She has to become a girlfriend, a proto-wife, and then a prospective mother to garner the sympathy and interest of the crowd. She has to belong to a certain kind of narrative to be seen as valuable at all — and that’s something young women and girls soak up every day from the media and on their Instagram feeds.”

Katniss uses her commodification against the Capitol. She fakes a romance to survive. She pretends docility to win over crowds. But doing so has its costs. In “Catching Fire,” a dress Katniss wears transforms into a symbol of rebellion. In response, the Capitol brutally murders the dress’s creator. The scene sends a message that applies as much to Katniss’s world as to our own: Challenging power-hungry governments can be deadly.

But that message also emphasizes one of the trilogy’s primary strengths: The story is ugly, because life is ugly. Heroes are not always heroic. The good guys do not always win, and when they do, they are haunted. Collins’s acknowledgment of the lasting impact of war on Katniss’s psyche is heartbreaking and powerful. This young woman who had been so ill-used by her country, a woman who stood up and fought anyway, would never be fully healed.

That is a hard truth, and it made me wonder: If Katniss knew what she would endure, would she still have fought? To me, the answer is an unequivocal yes. Her courage is sewn into her very bones. When the violence of the world knocks at her door, she must fight. Because of that, her character, one who will forever burn bright in the pantheon of beloved children’s book heroes, also serves as a timely reminder to all who care to heed it: Teenage girls are powerful and courageous and capable of great rage.

And they should never, ever be underestimated.

Sabaa Tahir is the author of “An Ember in the Ashes,” “A Torch Against the Night” and, most recently, “A Reaper at the Gates.”

Follow Sabaa Tahir on Twitter: @sabaatahir .

Follow New York Times Books on Facebook and Twitter (@nytimesbooks) , sign up for our newsletter or our literary calendar . And listen to us on the Book Review podcast .

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Why katniss everdeen is our favorite feminist – an analysis of the heroine of the hunger games film saga and her reception by young female spectators.

Paula Talero Álvarez , Virginia Commonwealth University Follow

https://doi.org/10.25772/QJ4T-DC64

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THROUGH THE FIGURE OF FICTIONAL CHARACTER KATNISS EVERDEEN, THIS DISSERTATION STUDIES HOW THE FILM INDUSTRY SIMULTANEOUSLY ENTRENCHES AND DISRUPTS GENDER, SEXUAL, AND RACIAL NORMATIVITIES. THE PROJECT USES TEXTUAL ANALYSIS AND PARTICIPANT RESEARCH TO ANALYZE HOW THE FILMS AND NOVELS OF THE HUNGER GAMES SAGA ENCAPSULATE BOTH DOMINANT AND ALTERNATIVE CONCEPTIONS RELATED TO FEMININITY, MASCULINITY, WOMANHOOD, AND MOTHERHOOD. IT ALSO EXPLORES IF AND HOW THE FEMALE HEROINE CAN BE READ AS FEMINIST AND PRODUCES A SENSE OF EMPOWERMENT. I CONCLUDE THAT ALTHOUGH THE INDUSTRY IS PRODUCING NEW MODELS OF WOMANHOOD THAT CHALLENGE TRADITIONAL GENDER ROLES, IT STILL PERPETUATES ROMANTIC IDEALS AND IDEALIZES THE HETEROSEXUAL NUCLEAR FAMILY AS THE ULTIMATE PATH TO FULFILLMENT FOR WOMEN. THE RESULTS OF THE PARTICIPANT RESEARCH SHOW THAT WHILE YOUNG WOMEN ARE CRITICAL OF CERTAIN ASPECTS OF THE SAGA, OVERALL THEY VALUE HAVING STRONG FEMALE CHARACTERS IN FICTION TO WHOM THEY CAN RELATE.

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Sinister Power Play and the Final Girl: Katniss Everdeen in Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games Trilogy

• First Online: 06 May 2020

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In Suzanne Collins’ Young Adult trilogy, The Hunger Games (2008–2010), the homicidal state of Panem acts like the classic psychopath of slasher films. Katniss Everdeen’s refusal to become a Final Girl in the brutal Games inspires the revolution that destroys President Snow’s tyrannical regime. Hailed as a hero, Katniss has, however, no true agency. Overwhelmed by her victimization, she even commits a shocking crime: the political assassination of the new leader, Alma Coin. The love of the Final Boy, Peeta Mellark, is essential for this Final Girl to survive, yet not enough for Katniss to ever cease being a victim.

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I focus here on the novels, although my arguments also apply to the remarkably faithful film adaptations.

Based on a novel (1999) by Koushun Takami, also adapted as a manga series (2000–2005) by the author and illustrated by Masayuki Taguchi.

This is somehow ironic since Cinna secretly supports the rebellion: he uses his designs to feminize Katniss but also to dress her as the subversive Mockingjay.

Collins focalizes the story through Katniss but still manages to give readers an accurate impression of the Final Boy’s silent romantic suffering, for Peeta does love Katniss.

An atrocity that, interestingly, the films ignore, perhaps finding it too gruesome.

Like Katniss, she has volunteered instead of another person: Annie, who lost her sanity in the Games she won.

The trend continues, but Lizardi refers to the period between 2003 ( The Texas Chainsaw Massacre , USA, dir. Marcus Nispel) and 2010 ( A Nightmare on Elm Street , USA, dir. Samuel Bayer).

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———. 2009. Catching Fire . New York: Scholastic Press.

———. 2010. Mockingjay . New York: Scholastic Press.

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Filmography

A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010, USA, dir. Samuel Bayer).

Battle Royale (2000, Japan, dir. Kinji Fukasaku).

Fear Factor (first run 2001–2006, USA, NBC).

Survivor (2000–present, USA, CBS).

The Hunger Games (2012, USA, dir. Gary Ross).

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003, USA, dir. Marcus Nispel).

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Martín, S. (2020). Sinister Power Play and the Final Girl: Katniss Everdeen in Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games Trilogy. In: Paszkiewicz, K., Rusnak, S. (eds) Final Girls, Feminism and Popular Culture. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-31523-8_8

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Identity Formation in the Dystopias of The Hunger Games and Divergent

The Hunger Games: Katniss Everdeen

This essay will focus on the character of Katniss Everdeen in “The Hunger Games” series. It will discuss her development, traits, and the significance of her character in the narrative and as a cultural icon. On PapersOwl, there’s also a selection of free essay templates associated with Katniss Everdeen.

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“”I volunteer! I volunteer as tribute”” shouts Katniss Everdeen from the back of the crowd as her sister Prim’s name is called during the reaping for the televised 75th annual Hunger Games. The capitol of Panem controls its twelve districts by forcing them to select a girl and a boy to fight to death until only one person remains. In The Hunger Games, Katniss is an archetypal hero because she puts her life in danger on many occasions and makes huge sacrifices for the well-being of others.

After Katniss’ father died in a freak coal mining accident, she was forced to take on the role of the protector and provider for her mother and sister. Through her hunting and archer skills, she was able to hunt for food for her family, and she is driven by the will to survive. When Katniss hears her sister’s name called during the reaping, she knows immediately what she has to do. The reaping is an annual event held in each twelve districts where one boy and one girl is chosen as tribute from a glass bowl. She knows her sister wouldn’t survive the games. This is where Katniss volunteers to fight for her life in the Hunger Games, so Prim doesn’t have to. As they whisk her away to say her final goodbyes to her family, Katniss fears leaving them behind and worries who will provide for them when she is gone. After all, this may be the last time she ever sees them.

When Katniss boards the train to the games arena, she is met with the unlucky boy who was chosen from her district to fight in the games as well, Peeta. Katniss is also met with her wise advisor, Haymitch, also a former victor of the Hunger Games. He shares his advice on how to survive in the games and how to get sponsors. Finally the time comes, and Katniss is lifted into the arena from an underground room. She comes face to face with the other tributes from all twelve districts and ends up finding a hiding spot in the woods instead of fighting. She is left without her choice of weapon, a bow and arrow. Katniss is hunted by a small group of tributes, of which includes Peeta. She is challenged with finding ways to stay alive and how to outlive all of the tests the gamemakers are throwing at her. She makes allies with a twelve year old little girl named Rue from District 11, who reminds Katniss a lot of her younger sister and acts as the primary protector of her. The two girls devise a plan to gather more supplies. They split up and Katniss risks her life to get supplies from the Cornucopia. When Katniss doesn’t find Rue at their planned meeting spot, she goes searching for her. She finds Rue at the moment another tribute stabs and kills her. Katniss kills the other tribute and honors Rue’s body by covering her with flowers.

At this point, Katniss is depressed and Rue’s death inspires her to fight even harder against the Capitol. It is now announced that two tributes from the same district can be declared winners, so Katniss goes looking for Peeta and eventually finds him severely injured and ill. Katniss helps him to a cave where they will be safe since he can barely walk. The next morning, Katniss realizes how bad Peeta’s leg is infected and knows he will die without treatment. Another announcement is made, stating that there is an item that each tribute left desperately needs at the Cornucopia. Katniss knows Peeta will die without that medicine, so she sacrifices her life to get help for him. As soon as he falls asleep after begging her not to go, she sets out toward the Cornucopia where she tries to run and grab the medicine, but she gets into a fight with a female tribute who nearly kills her. Katniss eventually gets back to Peeta, where she injects him with the special medicine just before she passes out from exhaustion and starvation. After Katniss and Peeta wake up after several days, they leave the cave to find food by the Cornucopia where Katniss is facing her greatest test by fighting alongside Peeta to kill Cato, the last tribute alive. Once they thought they had both won the games, it is announced that now only one can be the victor. Neither Katniss or Peeta will kill each other, so they decide to eat poisonous berries and commit suicide. Before they can do so, the announcer shouts for them to stop and he declares both of them winners. Katniss begins her journey back home and takes the knowledge with her how evil and cruel the Hunger Games are.

In conclusion, Katniss Everdeen shows qualities and demonstrates actions which are without a doubt, heroic. Even though Katniss’ journey doesn’t follow the typical archetypal hero story exactly, she shows courage when she volunteered as tribute for her sister Prim, strength for risking her life to protect a little girl, and selflessness when fighting to save Peeta’s life.

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Suzanne Collins

Ask litcharts ai: the answer to your questions, katniss everdeen quotes in mockingjay.

I use a technique one of the doctors suggested. I start with the simplest things I know to be true and work toward the more complicated. The list begins to roll in my head... My name is Katniss Everdeen. I am seventeen years old. My home is District 12. I was in the Hunger Games. I escaped. The Capitol hates me. Peeta was taken prisoner. He is thought to be dead. Most likely he is dead. It is probably best if he is dead...

No one will fully understand—how it's not just a flower, not even just President Snow's flower, but a promise of revenge—because no one else sat in the study with him when he threatened me before the Victory Tour. Positioned on my dresser, that white-as-snow rose is a personal message to me. It speaks of unfinished business. It whispers, I can find you. I can reach you. Perhaps I am watching you now.

"It's just...Peeta. I'm afraid if we do win, the rebels will execute him as a traitor.” Prim thinks this over. "Katniss, I don't think you understand how important you are to the cause. Important people usually get what they want. If you want to keep Peeta safe from the rebels, you can."

"Punishing my prep team's a warning," I tell her. "Not just to me. But to you, too. About who's really in control and what happens if she's not obeyed. If you had any delusions about having power, I'd let them go now. Apparently, a Capitol pedigree is no protection here. Maybe it's even a liability."

The president allows a few moments of unrest, and then continues in her brisk fashion. Only now the words coming out of her mouth are news to me. "But in return for this unprecedented request, Soldier Everdeen has promised to devote herself to our cause. It follows that any deviance from her mission, in either motive or deed, will be viewed as a break in this agreement. The immunity would be terminated and the fate of the four victors determined by the law of District Thirteen. As would her own. Thank you." In other words, I step out of line and we're all dead.

And now Coin, with her fistful of precious nukes and her well-oiled machine of a district, finding it's even harder to groom a Mockingjay than to catch one. But she has been the quickest to determine that I have an agenda of my own and am therefore not to be trusted. She has been the first to publicly brand me as a threat.

Haymitch holds up the notepad. "So, the question is, what do all of these have in common?" "They were Katniss's," says Gale quietly. "No one told her what to do or say."

"Unscripted, yes!" says Beetee. He reaches over and pats my hand. "So we should just leave you alone, right?" People laugh. I even smile a little.

"Katniss?" a voice croaks out from my left, breaking apart from the general din. "Katniss?" A hand reaches for me out of the haze. I cling to it for support.

Attached to the hand is a young woman with an injured leg. Blood has seeped through the heavy bandages, which are crawling with flies. Her face reflects her pain, but something else, too, something that seems completely incongruous with her situation. "Is it really you?" "Yeah, it's me," I get out. Joy. That's the expression on her face. At the sound of my voice, it brightens, erases the suffering momentarily.

I used to think the murderer was the creepiest guy imaginable. Now, with a couple of trips to the Hunger Games under my belt, I decide not to judge him without knowing more details. Maybe his lover was already sentenced to death and he was trying to make it easier. To let her know he'd be waiting. Or maybe he thought the place he was leaving her was really worse than death. Didn't I want to kill Peeta with that syringe to save him from the Capitol? Was that really my only option? Probably not, but I couldn't think of another at the time.

If you panic, it could spread like wildfire," explains Plutarch. I just stare at him. "Fire is catching, so to speak," he continues, as if I'm being slow on the uptake. "Why don't I just pretend I'm on camera, Plutarch?" I ask. "Yes! Perfect. One is always much braver with an audience," he says.

Maybe this realization on my part is all Snow needs. Thinking that Peeta was in his possession and being tortured for rebel information was bad. But thinking that he's being tortured specifically to incapacitate me is unendurable. And it's under the weight of this revelation that I truly begin to break.

"Of course, we'll try, Prim," says Beetee. "It's just, we don't know to what degree we'll succeed. If any. My guess is that fearful events are the hardest to root out. They're the ones we naturally remember the best, after all."

It's only now that he's been corrupted that I can fully appreciate the real Peeta. Even more than I would've if he'd died. The kindness, the steadiness, the warmth that had an unexpected heat behind it. Outside of Prim, my mother, and Gale, how many people in the world love me unconditionally?

I know there are a couple of huge screens here on the square. I saw them on the Victory Tour. It might work, if I were good at this sort of thing. Which I'm not. They tried to feed me lines in those early experiments with the propos, too, and it was a flop.

In the twilight of morphling, Peeta whispers the word and I go searching for him. It's a gauzy, violet-tinted world, with no hard edges, and many places to hide. I push through cloudbanks, follow faint tracks, catch the scent of cinnamon, of dill. Once I feel his hand on my cheek and try to trap it, but it dissolves like mist through my fingers.

We spend a couple of hours quizzing each other on military terms. I visit my mother and Prim for a while. When I'm back in my compartment, showered, staring into the darkness, I finally ask, "Johanna, could you really hear him screaming?" "That was part of it," she says. "Like the jabberjays in the arena. Only it was real. And it didn't stop after an hour. Tick, tock." "Tick, tock," I whisper back. Roses. Wolf mutts. Tributes. Frosted dolphins. Friends. Mockingjays. Stylists. Me. Everything screams in my dreams tonight.

I don't think they quite know what to do with the three of us, particularly me. I have my Mockingjay outfit with me, but I've only been taped in my uniform. Sometimes I use a gun, sometimes they ask me to shoot with my bow and arrows. It's as if they don't want to entirely lose the Mockingjay, but they want to downgrade my role to foot soldier. Since I don't care, it's amusing rather than upsetting to imagine the arguments going on back in 13.

"Sometime in the near future, this war will be resolved. A new leader will be chosen," says Boggs. I roll my eyes. "Boggs, no one thinks I'm going to be the leader." "No. They don't," he agrees. "But you'll throw support to someone. Would it be President Coin? Or someone else?" "I don't know. I've never thought about it," I say. "If your immediate answer isn't Coin, then you're a threat. You're the face of the rebellion. You may have more influence than any other single person," says Boggs. "Outwardly, the most you've ever done is tolerated her.”

"Don't trust them. Don't go back. Kill Peeta. Do what you came to do." What did he mean? Don't trust who? The rebels? Coin? The people looking at me right now? I won't go back, but he must know I can't just fire a bullet through Peeta's head. Can I? Should I? Did Boggs guess that what I really came to do is desert and kill Snow on my own? I can't work all of this out now, so I just decide to carry out the first two orders: to not trust anyone and to move deeper into the Capitol. But how can I justify this? Make them let me keep the Holo?

I’d certainly simplify the problem of dealing with his homicidal episodes. I don't know if it's the pods, or the fear, or watching Boggs die, but I feel the arena all around me. It's as if I've never left, really. Once again I'm battling not only for my own survival but for Peeta's as well. How satisfying, how entertaining it would be for Snow to have me kill him. To have Peeta's death on my conscience for whatever is left of my life. "It's not about you," I say. "We're on a mission. And you're necessary to it." I look to the rest of the group. "Think we might find some food here?"

"Can't help him!" Peeta starts shoving people forward. "Can't!" Amazingly, he's the only one still functional enough to get us moving. I don't know why he's in control, when he should be flipping out and bashing my brains in, but that could happen any second. At the pressure of his hand against my shoulder, I turn away from the grisly thing that was Messalla; I make my feet go forward, fast, so fast that I can barely skid to a stop before the next intersection.

Everything about the situation screams trap. I have a moment of panic and find myself turning to Tigris, searching those tawny eyes. Why is she doing this? She's no Cinna, someone willing to sacrifice herself for others. This woman was the embodiment of Capitol shallowness. She was one of the stars of the Hunger Games until...until she wasn't. So is that it, then? Bitterness? Hatred? Revenge? Actually, I'm comforted by the idea. A need for revenge can burn long and hot. Especially if every glance in a mirror reinforces it.

First I get a glimpse of the blond braid down her back. Then, as she yanks off her coat to cover a wailing child, I notice the duck tail formed by her untucked shirt. I have the same reaction I did the day Effie Trinket called her name at the reaping. At least, I must go limp, because I find myself at the base of the flagpole, unable to account for the last few seconds. Then I am pushing through the crowd, just as I did before. Trying to shout her name above the roar. I'm almost there, almost to the barricade, when I think she hears me. Because for just a moment, she catches sight of me, her lips form my name. And that's when the rest of the parachutes go off.

Deep in the water, I'm deserted by all. There's only the sound of my breathing, the enormous effort it takes to draw the water in, push it out of my lungs. I want to stop, I try to hold my breath, but the sea forces its way in and out against my will. "Let me die. Let me follow the others," I beg whatever holds me here. There's no response.

"I brought you this." Gale holds up a sheath. When I take it, I notice it holds a single, ordinary arrow. "It's supposed to be symbolic. You firing the last shot of the war." "What if I miss?" I say. "Does Coin retrieve it and bring it back to me? Or just shoot Snow through the head herself?" "You won't miss." Gale adjusts the sheath on my shoulder. We stand there, face-to-face, not meeting each other's eyes. "You didn't come see me in the hospital." He doesn't answer, so finally I just say it. "Was it your bomb?" "I don't know. Neither does Beetee," he says. "Does it matter? You'll always be thinking about it."

Peeta and I grow back together. There are still moments when he clutches the back of a chair and hangs on until the flashbacks are over. I wake screaming from nightmares of mutts and lost children. But his arms are there to comfort me. And eventually his lips. On the night I feel that thing again, the hunger that overtook me on the beach, I know this would have happened anyway. That what I need to survive is not Gale's fire, kindled with rage and hatred. I have plenty of fire myself. What I need is the dandelion in the spring. The bright yellow that means rebirth instead of destruction. The promise that life can go on, no matter how bad our losses. That it can be good again. And only Peeta can give me that. So after, when he whispers, "You love me. Real or not real?" I tell him, "Real."

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• Character Analysis: Katniss Everdeen

Character Analysis: Katniss Everdeen - Essay Example

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Time’s Up for a Change of Political Focus: Katniss Everdeen’s Ecofeminist Leadership in The Hunger Games Film Series

• Mónica Martín Universidad de Zaragoza

Author Biography

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Vasilis K. Pozios M.D. Praveen R. Kambam

How Bad Is Katniss' PTSD in The Hunger Games ? We Asked the Experts

This article was written by the psychiatrists of Broadcast Thought —Dr. Vasilis K. Pozios and Dr. Praveen R. Kambam. Spoilers for The Hunger Games movies follow.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay—Part 1 opens with a very telling scene. Katniss Everdeen is on the verge of tears and hiding in the bowels of District 13 reciting the most basic facts of her existence: Her name, her age, the fact that she was twice thrown into the Hunger Games arena to fight for her life. It's a reminder that for all of her resilience and heroism, Katniss is still just a teenage girl who has been in kill-or-be-killed situations far too often.

Psychological trauma is pervasive for Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence). She is haunted by the sheer brutality and life-threatening nature of the Games. In The Hunger Games: Catching Fire , she grapples with processing the emotional scars of her first Games and returning home to her loved ones. Then, in Mockingjay—Part 1 , she struggles with her identity as she endures the psychological trauma of her second time in the arena and the knowledge that her friend Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson) has been captured by the Capitol that put them in the Games in the first place.

Although it's become fashionable to use psychiatric terms such as "PTSD" in a colloquial sort of way, post-traumatic stress disorder is actually a strictly defined mental disorder that can be severely debilitating. There are five groups of criteria that must be met in order for the diagnosis of PTSD to be made. So, does Katniss meet those criteria? Is President Coin's (Juliane Moore) analysis in Mockingjay right— did the Games destroy her? Let's examine her symptoms.

To be diagnosed with PTSD, one must of course be exposed to a traumatic event. Even those who flunked Psych 101 know Katniss has been traumatized. But would the specific traumatic things she's experienced give someone PTSD?

Clinically speaking, traumatic events are defined as those involving the direct experiencing or witnessing of actual death, threatened death, or serious injury. By this definition, Katniss experiences multiple traumatic events—both in the arena and out of it—throughout The Hunger Games films. In fact, by our count, Katniss experiences over two dozen traumatic events throughout The Hunger Games , Catching Fire , and Mockingjay—Part 1 .

That's a lot of trauma.

Katniss' life is threatened multiple times in the Games—and unlike most combat veterans, Katniss knows the people she kills. She also bears witness to the brutal killing of other Hunger Games tributes—friends and foes alike. She is particularly traumatized by the death of young District 8 tribute—and her friend and ally—Rue (Amandla Stenberg), as well as by Peeta Mellark's (Josh Hutcherson) many near-death experiences.

And when Katniss isn't being gassed or electrocuted in the arena, she's being shot at and choked outside of it—or worse, witnessing floggings, executions, and mass murder.

Lauren Goode

Charlie Wood

Traumatic events can also be experienced second-hand if one learns of the violent or accidental deaths of close friends or family. Perhaps the best example of this occurs at the end of Catching Fire , when Katniss hears of the destruction of District 12—and its inhabitants—from Gale Hawthorne (Liam Hemsworth). This sort of trauma happens again, twofold, in Mockingjay when Katniss witnesses, via video feed, Gale risking his life to save Peeta from the Capitol.

Traumatic events can be re-experienced in a number of ways, intruding on normal thoughts. Katniss re-experiences the traumatic events of her time in the arena through recurrent nightmares of the Games. She also experiences at least one dissociative reaction, or flashback, when she sees herself shooting a fellow tribute (Rue's killer, Marvel) while bow hunting with Gale at the beginning of Catching Fire . In this instant, Katniss believes the trauma of the Hunger Games is actually happening to her all over again.

Exposure to internal and external reminders of traumatic events can result in psychological and physiological reactions. For example, in her second trip into the Games arena in Catching Fire , Katniss is surrounded by a flock of jabberjays in the jungle and is distressed to hear them repeating the voices of her sister Prim (Willow Shields) and Gale. Because of her past trauma, this causes her to briefly believe they have been abducted by President Snow (Donald Sutherland). She falls to her knees overwhelmed by the birds, her breathing labored, and takes a few minutes to recover and reestablish what is real and what isn't.

We see this time and time again in the Hunger Games films when Katniss experiences a marked variation in her pulse and respiratory rate in response to either traumatic events or the re-experiencing of trauma, often becoming tearful. A similar incident even happens far outside of the arena in Mockingjay when Katniss, retreating to District 13's bunker during an air-raid by the Capitol, freezes amidst the noise and chaos happening as 13's residents descend down the stairs to avoid being bombed.

After traumatic events, people may be motivated to avoid reminders of the trauma. Even though in the Hunger Games films Katniss refuses to flee from the Games, when faced with being forced back into the arena in Catching Fire , her immediate reaction is to run away with Gale. And at first, Katniss runs from the role of the Mockingjay. Beyond her rebellious streak, Katniss' initial resistance may indicate avoidance symptoms of PTSD.

Traumatic events can negatively alter thoughts and mood. In Catching Fire , when Gale asks Katniss if she loves him, she replies, "All I can think about every day since the Reaping is how afraid I am&mddash;there is no room for anything else."

Katniss' traumatic experiences resulted in a persistent negative emotional state of fear, with inability to experience positive emotions such as feelings of love. In fact, even though she initially begins to emotionally gravitate toward Gale, when she starts to feel unsafe, Katniss becomes estranged from him.

Unless prompted to for survival reasons by Haymitch Abernathy (Woody Harrelson) or Peeta, Katniss does not associate with the other Games' victors. And hints of self-blame and survivor guilt spill out in Katniss' eulogy of Rue to the residents of District 11: "I did know Rue. She wasn't just my ally, she was my friend. I see her in the flowers that grow in the meadow by my house. I hear her in mockingjay song. I see her in my sister Prim. She was too young. Too gentle. And I couldn't save her. I'm sorry."

Individuals with PTSD experience marked alterations in arousal and reactivity associated with their trauma.

As her character develops throughout the films, Katniss becomes increasingly irritable and prone to angry outbursts. She is easily startled, as evidenced by her response to Gale's approach in the woods, or her exaggerated reaction to Prim's cat Buttercup jumping through the kitchen window at her home. What's more, Katniss experiences sleep disturbance when she has difficulty falling asleep in the District 13 bunker.

Given these symptoms—and the fact that they've lasted over a year and cause Katniss clinically significant distress—it is our opinion that she suffers from PTSD.

It's no surprise that Katniss becomes traumatized—after all, the Hunger Games are the perfect breeding ground for PTSD. Severe, life-threatening, interpersonal violence as well as witnessing atrocities and killing enemies in combat are particular risk factors for the disorder.

Additionally, Katniss may have already been at some risk because of her prior trauma exposure, death of her father, and lower socioeconomic status. And it certainly doesn't help that she is re-traumatized at every turn.

However, in the face of the perfect storm for PTSD, Katniss endures. We can credit her intelligence, social supports (mother, sister, Gale, etc.), and realization of a greater purpose—becoming the Mockingjay—for our reluctant hero's relative resilience.

However, even though Katniss is fairly resilient, she may also benefit from treatment.

In the real world, Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) and other medications can alleviate symptoms of PTSD. Cognitive behavioral therapies such as Prolonged Exposure and Cognitive Processing Therapy can also be helpful. Typically, treatment with medications and psychotherapy in concert provide the best results.

Finally, peer support groups can help foster a sense of connectedness between those recovering from psychological trauma. For Katniss, the surviving victors—Peeta, Johanna Mason (Jena Malone), Finnick Odair (Sam Claflin)—may fill this role.

But as Haymitch told Katniss, when it comes to the Hunger Games, there are no winners.

Only survivors.

Laurence Russell

Marah Eakin

Megan Farokhmanesh

Geek's Guide to the Galaxy

David Gilbert

• , Katniss Everdeen

Katniss Everdeen's Anxieties and Defense Mechanisms in Suzanne Collins' the Hunger Games

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

KATNISS EVERDEEN'S ANXIETIES AND DEFENSE MECHANISMS IN SUZANNE COLLINS ' THE HUNGER GAMES

AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters

By MUHAMMAD RASYID HALIM Student Number: 134214154

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS FACULTY OF LETTERS UNIVERSITAS SANATA DHARMA YOGYAKARTA 2020

KATNISS EVERDEEN'S ANXIETIES AND DEFENSE MECHANISMS IN SUZANNE COLLINS' THE HUNGER GAMES

A Sarjana Sastra Undergraduate Thesis

KATNISS EYERDEEN'S ANXIETTES AND DEFENSE MECHANISMS IN SUZANI\E COLLINS' THE HUNGER

By MUHAMMAD RASYID HALIM Student Number: 1342141 54

6,2420 Advisor

Iune 6,2020 Co-Advisor

tlt PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

KATI{ISS EVERDEEN'S ANXTETIES AND DEFENSE MECHAI{ISMS IN SUZANNE COLLINS' THE HUNGER GAMES

By MUIIAMMAD RASYID HALIM Student Number: 134214154

Defended before on the Board ofExaminers onJune 17,2018 and Declared Acceptable

BOARD OF EXAMINERS

Name Signature

Chairperson : Drs. Hirmawan Wijanarka, M.Hum.

Secretary : Dr. G. Fajar Sasrnita Aji, M.Hum.

Member 1 : Ni Luh Putu Rosiandani, S.S., M.Hum.

Member 2 : Drs. Hirmawan Wijanarka, M.Hum.

Member 3 : Dr. G. Fajar Sasmita Aji, M.Hum.

Yogyakarta, June 30, 2020 Faculty of Letters Dharma University Dean

Iskarna, S.S., M. Hum.

iv PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

“Seek knowledge from cradle to the grave”

-Prophet Muhammad

“The key to growth is the introduction of higher dimensions of consciousness into our awareness.”

“Live a life that is well balanced, don’t do things in excess.”

-Daniel Smith

“Begin, be bold, and venture to be wise.”

For my beloved parents

For my brothers and sisters

For my future family

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

My greatest gratitude goes to Allah SWT for always giving me blessing and strength in my life. I would never be able to finish this thesis without His help.

Then, I would like to express my gratitude to Drs. Hirmawan Wijanarka, M.Hum. my thesis advisor who has guided me in writing this thesis. When I made mistakes, he patiently adviced me until I fix those mistakes. My gratitude also goes to my co-advisor,

Dr. G. Fajar Sasmita Aji, M.Hum. who gives helpful advice and suggestions. His inputs have improved my undergraduate thesis and I am totally grateful for his guidance.

My special gratitude goes to my beloved parents, my brothers, and my sisters, who always give never-ending support. With this thesis I would like to thank my parents who gave me a chance to go to college and encourage me to finish my study. Because of them, I am able to finish this undergraduate thesis. I hope this undergraduate thesis can return their favor.

Last but not least, I also thank all of my lecturers, friends, and colleagues who helped me in many aspects. I thank you for giving me support through many phases of my life.

Muhammad Rasyid Halim

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TITLE PAGE ...... ii APPROVAL PAGE ...... iii ACCEPTANCE PAGE ...... iv STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY ...... v LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH ...... vi MOTTO PAGE ...... vii DEDICATION PAGE ...... viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...... ix TABLE OF CONTENTS ...... x ABSTRACT ...... xi ABSTRAK ...... xii

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ...... 1 A. Background of the study ...... 1 B. Problem Formulation ...... 4 C. Objectives of the Study ...... 5 D. Definition of Terms ...... 5

CHAPTER II: REVIEW OF LITERATURE ...... 7 A. Review of Related Studies ...... 7 B. Review of Related Theory ...... 11 1. Theory of Characterization ...... 11 2. Theory of Anxiety ...... 13 3. Theory of Defense Mechanim ...... 17 C. Theoretical Framework ...... 19

CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY ...... 20 A. Object of the Study ...... 20 B. Approach of the Study ...... 21 C. Method of the Study ...... 22

CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS ...... 23 A. The anxieties of Katniss Everdeen ...... 23 B. The Defense Mechanisms of Katniss Everdeen ...... 37

CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION ...... 47

BIBLIOGRAPHY ...... 50

HALIM, MUHAMMAD RASYID. (2020). Katniss Everdeen’s Anxieties and Defense Mechanisms in Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2020. This study discusses Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games which is about the struggle of a girl named Katniss Everdeen who shows her psyche conflict in facing problems in her life. In this novel, the main character Katniss Everdeen volunteers herself to take the place of her sister to be placed in the Hunger Games competition. In the competition, the competitors kill each other to free themselves from the game. It is important issue from the novel that the main character Katniss Everdeen as one of the tributes in the competition must have psyche conflict within. Through the story, Katniss encounters some anxieties caused by the problems that she deal with. There are two objectives in this study. The first objective is to observe Katniss Everdeen’s anxieties in the novel. This objective finds the symptoms of anxiety through the characterization of Katniss Everdeen. The second objective is to find Katniss Everdeen’s defense mechanism as the result of her anxiety which influence her behavior in facing her problems. The method of this study is library research, and the approach of this study is psychanalytic approach. The primary source of this research is the novel The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. The secondary sources of the research are from textbooks, journals, and internet source about literature and psychology. There are also theories to support this study, such as theory of characterization, theory of anxiety, and theory of defense mechanism. The result of this study is that Katniss Everdeen experiences neurotic anxiety toward the memory of her father, her mother’s weakness, and her romance relationship with Peeta Mellark . In her moral anxiety, she experiences it toward Prim and Rue’s safetiness. Then she also experiences realistic anxiety toward the tributes. Then, five defense mechanisms are observed in Katniss Everdeen. Those five defense mechanisms are repression, projection, reaction formation, regression, and displacement. There is also an anxiety which is dominant and hard to be controlled with defense mechanism which is anxiety toward Rue’s dead body. It is affected by the situation of Katniss’ relation with Rue which is like her own sister. She gets herself down by the anxiety of not be able to protect Rue. Thus, she lost her consciousness for a moment by feeling helpless. However, Katniss Everdeen’s defense mechanism succeeds to bring her conscious and conscience into well functioning. This also makes her able to establish her goal to gain acknowledgement as a capable person. Keywords: characterization, anxiety, defense mechanism, The Hunger Games

HALIM, MUHAMMAD RASYID. (2020). Katniss Everdeen’s Anxieties and Defense Mechanisms in Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games. Yogyakarta: Program Studi Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma. 2020. Penelitian ini membahas The Hunger Games karya Suzanne Collins yang membahas tentang perjuangan seorang gadis bernama Katniss Everdeen yang menunjukkan konflik kejiwaannya dalam menghadapi masalah dalam hidupnya. Dalam novel ini, karakter utama Katniss Everdeen mengajukan diri untuk menggantikan adik perempuannya untuk ditempatkan dalam kompetisi Hunger Games. Dalam kompetisi, para pesaing saling membunuh satu sama lain untuk membebaskan diri dari permainan. Ini adalah hal penting dari novel bahwa karakter utama Katniss Everdeen sebagai salah satu pesaing di Hunger Games pasti memiliki konflik jiwa dalam dirinya. Melalui cerita, Katniss menghadapi beberapa kecemasan yang disebabkan oleh masalah yang dihadapi. Ada dua tujuan dalam penelitian ini. Tujuan pertama adalah untuk mengamati kecemasan Katniss Everdeen dalam novel. Hal ini dilakukan dengan cara menemukan gejala kecemasan melalui karakterisasi Katniss Everdeen. Tujuan kedua adalah untuk menemukan mekanisme pertahanan Katniss Everdeen sebagai hasil dari kegelisahannya yang mempengaruhi perilakunya dalam menghadapi masalahnya. Metode penelitian ini adalah penelitian kepustakaan, dan pendekatan penelitian ini adalah psikoanalitik.sumber utama penelitian ini adalah novel The Hunger Games karya Suzanne Collins. Sumber sekunder dari penelitian ini adalah dari buku teks, jurnal, dan sumber internet tentang sastra dan psikologi. Ada juga teori untuk mendukung penelitian ini, seperti teori karakterisasi, teori kecemasan, dan teori mekanisme pertahanan. Hasil dari penelitian ini adalah bahwa Katniss Everdeen mengalami kecemasan neurotik terhadap ingatan ayahnya, kelemahan ibunya, dan hubungan asmara dengan Peeta Mellark. Dalam kecemasan moralnya, dia mengalaminya pada keamanan Prim dan Rue. Kemudian dia juga mengalami kecemasan realistis terhadap para pesaing. Lalu, lima mekanisme pertahanan digunakan oleh Katniss Everdeen. Kelima mekanisme pertahanan tersebut adalah represi, proyeksi, pembentukan reaksi, regresi, dan perpindahan. Ada juga kecemasan yang dominan dan sulit dikendalikan dengan mekanisme pertahanan yaitu kecemasan terhadap mayat Rue. Itu dipengaruhi oleh hubungan Katniss dengan Rue yang seperti saudara perempuannya sendiri. Dia sedih karena kecemasannya tidak bisa melindungi Rue. Karena itu, dia kehilangan kesadaran sesaat karena merasa tidak berdaya. Dalam hasilnya, mekanisme pertahanan Katniss Everdeen berhasil membuat kesadaran dan hati nuraninya berfungsi dengan baik. Ini juga membuatnya mampu membangun tujuannya untuk mendapatkan pengakuan sebagai orang yang cakap. Kata-kata kunci: characterization, anxiety, defense mechanism, The Hunger Games

INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Study

According to Hudson’s An Introduction to the Study of Literature, literature is an expression of life through the medium of language. Literature can be regarded as something essential since it presents a description of a real life, people, feeling, thought, and feelings about life (Hudson, 1963:10). It is an expression and a description of people, human life, feeling, and thought. Literary works can be in the form of poetry, novel, and drama. Novel is one of the most common literary works. It is a fictional long prose narrative that describes character’s life, feelings, history, situation etc. Novel has intrinsic and extrinsic elements. Character is one of the intrinsic elements of a novel. There is a character in a novel that represents the story.

Character in a novel has its own behavior. The behavior of a character can depend on their feelings of anxiety. According to Freud in Jess Feist and Gregory Jess Feist’s

Theories of Personality, he defines anxiety as a felt, affective, unpleasant state accompanied by a physical sensation that warns the person against impending danger.

The unpleasantness is often vague and hard to pinpoint, but the anxiety itself is always felt (Feist and Feist, 2008: 39).

The response of each character may also be different when dealing with this anxiety. Anxiety of someone can give an influence to think, act, and decide. Those behaviors to suppress anxiety are called defense mechanism. According to Lois Tyson in

Critical Theory of Today, defense mechanism is the processes when human keeps his anxiety unconsciously in order to avoid knowing what he feels he cannot handle (Tyson,

2006: 15). Then, According to Freud in Jess Feist and Gregory Jess Feist’s Theories of

Personality, he defines that establishing defense mechanisms has the same meaning as to avoid dealing directly with sexual aggressive implosives and to defend itself against the anxiety that accompanies them (Feist and Feist, 2008: 41). Based on the description, the writer concludes that defense mechanism occurs after anxiety. It is used to defense oneself against the anxiety by suppressing it. So both anxiety and defense mechanism are correlated.

In this study, the writer wants to understand the anxiety and defense mechanism of Katniss Everdeen in the novel entitled The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. The

Hunger Games is the first book of The Hunger Games trilogy. The writer uses psychoanalytic approach because the novel that the writer chose has the theme of psychological conflict. The writer chooses this book because it is interesting how the hunger games is a competition which consists of tributes do the battle to the death until there is one winner. It is important issue from the novel that the main character Katniss

Everdeen as one of the tributes in the hunger games must have psyche conflict within.

From the novel, the writer sees that there are many Katniss’ experiences which make

Katniss has to encounter anxiety through the novel. Then, the writer also sees that based from Katniss’ anxiety, there is defense mechanism which comes unconsciously upon

Katniss after the anxiety appears. The writer tries to analyze about Katniss’ anxiety and defense mechanism which are described in The Hunger Games novel.

The theme of the novel describes how the society lives in the social differences where many rich people in a city of Capitol entertain themselves by watching suffering people in 12 districts and making a game called the hunger games. In this novel, the main character Katniss Everdeen volunteers herself to take the place of her sister to be placed in the Hunger Games competition. In the competition, the competitors kill each other to free theirself from the game. Katniss fights for herself and her sister with a boy named

Peeta who is also from District 12. Katniss, 16 years old girl, is the protagonist and also narrator of the novel. Katniss lost her father in a mining coal accident when she was eleven. The result of her father’s dead made her mother depressed and formed Katniss as an independent girl because she has to feed her family. She uses her hunting skills taught by her father to survive. Then, the major part of the story is the process of Katniss joining the hunger games competition where she has to deal with her anxiety which forced her to survive the Hunger Games.

The Hunger Games is chosen by the writer because this novel can be the example to conduct a research about the struggle of human being in coping anxieties by using defense mechanisms. The theme of the novel has close relation to the act of killing in the hunger games competition. In the hunger games, Katniss is forced to survive that make

Katniss has to deal with her anxiety. Then, to deal with her anxiety Katniss uses defense

mechanism. The writer also found some reasons which make the novel interesting. The first is the anxiety feelings of Katniss which can be described in The Hunger Games novel. The Hunger Games novel gives an interesting perspective of Katniss’s struggle by showing her defense mechanisms to deal with her anxieties. The second is the way

Katniss opposes her anxiety by using her defense mechanisms. This study is to show that defense mechanism has relation to the progress of Katniss in the story when she encounters any threatening situations, objects, or activities. The purpose of this study is to reveal that Katniss’ actions and behavior from her anxiety can be described and the use of defense mechanism as a result of her anxiety can be explained. Also, the topic of the thesis is not yet done by others.

Therefore, the researcher tends to analyze the psychological aspect of the anxiety that is used by Katniss Everdeen character in The Hunger Games novel because anxiety can be experienced by anyone. Thus, by analyzing the anxiety of Katniss Everdeen, it can be useful for public to understand more about anxiety and the way to cope anxiety with defense mechanism. Based on the description above, the writer is interested to analyze the anxiety feelings of Katniss Everdeen which is described in The Hunger Games novel and what defense mechanism Katniss Everdeen shows as a result of her anxiety.

B. Problem Formulation

Based on the previous background of the study, the writer formulates two problems:

1. How is Katniss Everdeen’s anxieties described in The Hunger Games?

2. What defense mechanisms does Katniss Everdeen use in coping her anxieties?

C. Objectives of the Study

There are two objectives of the study. The first objective is to identify the anxieties of Katniss Everdeen as the main character of Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games. The second objective is to reveal the use of defense mechanisms in coping her anxieties.

D. Definition of Terms

There are two terms which must be considered in this research that appear in the title and the problem formulation in order to avoid any misunderstanding.

The first term is anxiety. Based on Jess Feist and Gregory Jess Feist’s Theories of

Personality, Freud emphasized that it is a felt, affective, unpleasant state accompanied by a physical sensation that warns the person against impending danger. The unpleasantness is often vague and hard to pinpoint, but the anxiety itself is always felt (Feist and Feist,

The second term is defense mechanism. Based on Critical Theory of Today by

Lois Tyson, defense mechanism is the processes when human keeps his anxiety unconsciously in order to avoid knowing what he feels he cannot handle (Tyson, 2006:

15). Then, According to Freud in Jess Feist and Gregory Jess Feist’s Theories of

Personality, he defines that establishing defense mechanisms has the same meaning as to avoid dealing directly with sexual aggressive implosives and to defend itself against the anxiety that accompanies them (Feist and Feist, 2008: 41).

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

A. Review of Related Studies

In understanding more about the previous studies done on The Hunger Games and in providing broad knowledge of studies’ content, the review of four works of undergraduate thesis are provided. The undergraduate thesis reviewed in this study are entitled “Courage and Self-Defense Reflected in Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games

Novel (2008): A Psychoanalytic Approach” by Inda Ajie Listya Mahendra (2014), “An

Analysis of The Hunger Games Movie Focusing on the Character Katniss Everdeen

Using Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory Level of Awareness and Components of

Personality” by Ronny Aditya Tampake (2014), “Anxiety and Self Defense Mechanism

Study of Kat Novak in Girl Missing by Tess Gerritsen” by Bagaskara Gita Pradhana

(2018), and “Okonkwo’s Anxieties and Defense Mechanism in Chinua Achebe’s Things

Fall Apart” by Ardian Setianto (2017).

The first undergraduate thesis review is from Inda Ajie Listya Mahendra’s

“Courage and Self-Defense Reflected in Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games Novel

(2008): A Psychoanalytic Approach.” Mahendra’s research is to show courage and self- defense which is represented by the main character by observing into how courage and self defense have some relation on personality of the main character. In his research,

Mahendra analyzes novel The Hunger Games by using psychoanalytic approach. He analyzed it by determining two objects: the first is analyzing the novel based on its

structural elements and based on the psychoanalytical approach. In his anaysis, Mahendra finds that based on the structural analysis of each statement, it reveals that the character and characterization, setting, plot, point of view, and theme are correlated to each other.

Then, based on the psychoanalytical approach that he uses, the analysis puts on view that the personality of the main character is influenced by three main domains of mind, they are id, ego, and superego.

The Hunger Games novel consist of many structural elements that support the story of the novel to be groovy one. The researcher examines the structural elements of the novel from the background of the novel to the narrative elements of the novel (Mahendra, 2014: 14).

In this study, it uses the same novel as Mahendra’s to be analyzed which is The

Hunger Games. Mahendra’s study has similarity with this study because both studies use psychoanalytic approach. However, rather than just analyzing id, ego, and superego, this study wants to analyze the defense mechanism, but also consider those three main domains that’s explained in Mahendra’s study as to find out the defense mechanism. So this study can be considered as the development of Mahendra’s study.

The second review is from Ronny Aditya Tampake’s undergraduate thesis entitled

“An Analysis of The Hunger Games Movie Focusing on the Character Katniss Everdeen

Personality.” In his study, Tampake observes on the level of awareness which consists of conscious, pre-conscious, and unconscious mind. Then he also observes on components of personality which consists of Id, Ego, and Superego. It was analyzed by those two of psychoanalytic.

According to Freud’s Psychoanalytic theory about levels of awareness, components of personality, defense mechanisms and psychosexual stages; the movie filled all those theories. The lead character Katniss Everdeen was taken for the example to analyze the movie (Tampake, 2014: 14).

In this study, it uses the same object as Tampake’s to be analyzed which is The

Hunger Games, but the difference is that this study analyzes the novel, while Tampake’s study analyzes the movie. There are also another differences between Tampake’s study and this study. Tampake’s study focuses on figuring out the basic elements of Katniss

Everdeen. While in this study, it focuses on the way Katniss controls her anxiety through defense mechanism. The other difference is that Tampake’s study focuses on the basic characterization of Katniss. So this study can be considered as the development of

Tampake’s study.

The third undergraduate thesis review is from Bagaskara Gita Pradhana’s “Anxiety and Self Defense Mechanism Study of Kat Novak in Girl Missing by Tess Gerritsen.”

Pradhana’s research is to show anxiety and self defense mechanism which is represented in Kat Novak by observing the symptoms of anxiety in Kat Novak and by observing the self defense mechanism that occur as a result of Kat Novak’s anxiety.

Both reality and neurotic anxiety are found in Kat Novak. Related to the anxiety of Kat Novak, there are five defense mechanisms used in Kat Novak. Those five defense mechanisms are repression, projection, reaction formation, fixation, and regression. Overall, these defense mechanisms success to reduce her anxiety and bring her into full control of her conscious and conscience (Pradhana, 2018: 46).

In this study, it uses the same theory as Pradhana’s theory which is the theory of anxiety and defense mechanism. Pradhana’s study has similarity with this study because both studies use psychoanalytic approach. Furthermore, Pradhana’s study uses freudian

theory of anxieties which are neurotic anxiety, moral anxiety, and reality anxiety. Those

3 anxieties are also used by the writer to analyze this study. However, in this study the writer uses different novel which is The Hunger Games.

The fourth review is from Ardian Setianto’s undergraduate thesis entitled

“Okonkwo’s Anxieties and Defense Mechanism in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart.”

In his study, Setianto’s objectives is to describe the character Okonkwo in the novel.

Setianto analyzes Okonkwo’s behavior and the way of his thinking. The second objective of his study is to understand about Okonkwo’s anxieties and defense mechanisms that

Okonkwo does through the development of the story.

The first is about description of Okonkwo’s character in the novel. Okonkwo’s personality is being portrayed with several characteristics which is found in novel as bad tempered, ambitious, intolerant, optimistic, conceited, and hardworking. The second is about the defense mechanism that Okonkwo shows. Okonkwo tried to relief anxiety caused by his fear and problems with various types of defense mechanism (Setianto, 2017: 42). In this study, it uses the same theory as Setianto’s theory which is the theory of anxiety and defense mechanism, but the difference is that this study analyzes different novel. There are also another differences between Setianto’s study and this study. This study is analyzed by using anxiety through the symptoms and then analyzes the defense mechanism that occurs on effect of the character’s anxiety. While Setianto’s study is analyzed on figuring out the personality of the character and its anxiety and defense mechanism without seeing the symptoms of the anxiety. So this study can be considered as the development of Setianto’s study in terms of anxiety theory.

From the four related studies above, it can be concluded that the writer’s undergraduate thesis is different from the other studies and it also develops the other

studies because there is no analysis of the defense mechanism to the main character’s in the first and second related studies. In those two related studies, the researcher focuses on figuring out the basic elements of Katniss Everdeen. While in this research, the study focuses on Katniss’ anxieties and defense mechanisms. Then, this study is also considered different from the third and fourth related studies because it uses different literary work.

B. Review of Related Theory

In this part, the writer discusses about the theories that are used to answer the problem formulations in this study.

1. Theory of Characterization

In literary work, the writer attempts to present a character in many ways. Murphy in his book of Understanding Unseen: An Introduction to English Poetry and English novel for overseas Student says that a writer describes the character through the outward appearance, by the way, they dress, walk, look, gesture, and so on (Murphy, 1972: 161).

From a character’s behavior, reaction, events, situations, and even past lives, the reader can apprehend deeper toward a character. Murphy mentions in his book that there is a way the writer can express his character using different method or it is called as characterization. He explains nine ways in which an author tries to make the characters understandable and lifelike:

a. Personal Description

The author explains the physical appearance of the character. It can be in the form of appearance, clothes, and any other visible details. b. Character as Seen by Another

The author describes character through the lens of another rather than directly to a character. Other characters will give opinion about what the character is like. c. Speech

The author provides opinions and clues about the characteristic of one of the character in the book through what the character says. The clues about the characteristic can be found whenever a character is speaking or having a conversation. d. Past Life

In the character’s past life, the author can give us insight about the characteristic of a character. It gives information to events that have helped to shape a person’s character.

This can be done by direct comment by the author, through his conversation or through the medium of another person, and through the character’s thoughts. e. Conversation of Others

It is a conversation of other character and the things they say about the character which can give information about a person’s characteristic.

f. Reactions

The reaction is a respond of a character toward various situations and events. Fom the reaction, it can give us a clue to a person’s characteristic. g. Direct Comment

It is a description toward the character directly from the author. Direct comment forces the reader to agree to the information given by the author. h. Thoughts

The author can give us direct knowledge about a character’s thought in mind. It can also tell the reader about what the other characters are thinking. We then can reveal the character’s mind and thought. i. Mannerisms

It is a way of showing a character through a character’s behavior. The author can describe a character’s mannerisms and habits which may also tell us something about the person’s character.

2. Theory of Anxiety

In Kasschau’s Understanding Psychology, Freud’s theory describes several terminologies, the id, ego and superego. The id in Understanding Psychology is defined as “the reservoir or container of instinctual and biological urge” (Kasschau, 1995:271).

Ego in same book is defined as “the rational, thoughtful personality process that operates in terms of the reality principle.” Then, Kasschau considers superego as “the source of conscience and of high ideals-which operates in terms of moral principle” (Kasschau,

1995:272). The ego's job is so difficult that unconsciously all people resort to psychological defenses. Rather than face intense frustration, conflict, or feelings of unworthiness, people deceive themselves into believing nothing is wrong. Then, In Jess

Feist and Gregory Jess Feist’s Theories of Personality, Freud defines anxiety as a felt, affective, unpleasant state accompanied by a physical sensation that warns the person against impending danger. The unpleasantness is often vague and hard to pinpoint, but the anxiety itself is always felt (Feist and Feist, 2008: 39). Furthermore Calvin S. Hall in

A Primer of Freudian Psychology defines that anxiety is a painful emotional experience which is produced by excitations result from internal or external stimulation. For example, when a person encounters a dangerous situation his heart beats faster, he breathes more rapidly, his mouth becomes dry, and the palms of his hands sweat (Hall,

It can be seen that anxiety is a signal to the ego that the danger is coming. It warns the ego to do something to prevent the danger from doing harm to the ego. Then, in the process, only the ego can produce or feel anxiety, but the id, superego, and external world each are involved in one of three kinds of anxiety: neurotic, moral, and realistics (Feist and Feist, 2008: 39-40). The definition of each is below:

a. Neurotic anxiety

It is defined as apprehension about an unknown danger. The feeling itself exists in the ego, but it originates from Id impulses. People may experience neurotic anxiety in the presence of a teacher, employer, or some other authority figure because they previously experienced unconscious feelings of destruction against one or both parents. During childhood, these feelings of hostility are often accompanied by fear of punishment, and this fear becomes generalized into unconscious neurotic anxiety (Feist and Feist, 2008:

40). Furthermore Calvin S. Hall defines that neurotic anxiety is aroused by a perception of danger from the instincts. It is a fear of what might happen when the ego fails to prevent the instinctual object from discharging themselves in some impulsive action (Hall, 1999:

65). In this anxiety, a person is afraid of being overwhelmed by an uncontrollable urge to commit some act or think some thought which will prove harmful to himself (Hall, 1999:

60). b. Moral anxiety

Stems from the conflict between ego and superego. After children establish a superego, usually by the age of 5 or 6 they may experience anxiety as an outgrowth of the conflict between realistic needs and the dictates of their superego. Moral anxiety, for example, would result from sexual temptations if a child believes that yielding to the temptation would be morally wrong. It may also result from the failure to behave consistently with what they regard as morally right, for example, failing to care for aging parents (Feist and Feist, 2008: 40). Furthermore Calvin S. Hall defines that moral anxiety

is experienced as feelings of guilt or shame which is aroused by a perception of danger from the conscience. It is a conscience which is the internalized voice of parental authority, consists of prohibitions against sensuality and disobedience (Hall, 1999: 68-

69). From the explanation above, moral anxiety can be described as having guilt which is a shame or feelings of guilt over not living up to “proper” standards. c. Realistic anxiety

It is closely related to fear. It is defined as an unpleasant, nonspecific feeling involving a possible danger. For example, we may experience realistic anxiety while driving in heavy, fast moving traffic in an unfamiliar city, a situation fraught with real, objective danger (Feist and Feist, 2008: 40). Furthermore Calvin S. Hall defines that reality anxiety is a painful emotional experience resulting from a perception of danger in the external world (Hall, 1999: 62).

In a nutshell, only the ego can produce or feel anxiety, but the id, superego, and external world each are involved in one of three kinds of anxiety, neurotic, moral, and realistic. The ego’s dependence on the id results in neurotic anxiety, its dependence on superego produces moral anxiety, and its dependence on the outer world leads to realistic anxiety.

3. Theory of Defense Mechanism

In Kasschau’s Understanding Psychology, Freud defines that defense mechanism is the act to defend the ego from experiencing anxiety by distorting reality “If the demands of the id and ego cannot be resolved, it may be necessary to distort reality. Freud called these techniques defense mechanisms because they defend the ego from experiencing anxiety about failing in its tasks” (Kasschau, 1995:272). Furthermore Calvin S. Hall defines that defense mechanisms of the ego are irrational ways of dealing with anxiety because they distort, hide, or deny reality and hinder psychological development. They tie up psychological energy which could be used for more effective ego activities. When a defense mechanism become very influental it dominates the ego and curtails its flexibility and adaptability. Finally, if the defenses fail to hold, the ego has nothing to fall back upon and is overwhelmed by anxiety. The result is a nervous breakdown (Hall, 1999:

96). Several of the defense mechanisms Freud identified are described below.

a. Repression

When person has painful memories and unacceptable thoughts and motives that causes the ego to have too many anxieties, he or she may push that thought or urge out of consciousness down into the unconscious. The person simply “forgets” the thing that disturbs him or her, or pushes it out of awareness without ever realizing it (Kasschau,

1995: 273).

b. Projection

Another way the ego avoids anxiety is to believe that impulses coming from within are really coming from other people. This mechanism is called projection because inner feeling is thrown, or projected, outside. Many people, for example, feel that the others dislike them, when in reality they dislike themselves (Kasschau, 1995: 274). c. Reaction Formation

This mechanism involves replacing an unacceptable feeling or urge with its opposite. For example, a divorced father may resent having his child for weekend.

Unconsciously, he feels it is terribly wrong for a father to react that way, so he showers the child with expressions of love, toys, and exciting trips (Kasschau, 1995: 274). d. Regression

It means going back to an earlier and less mature pattern of behavior. When a person is under severe pressure and his other defenses are not working, he may start acting in ways that helped him in the past. For example, he may throw a temper tantrum, make faces, cry loudly, or revert to eating and sleeping all the time the way he did as small child

(Kasschau, 1995: 274). e. Displacement

It occurs when the object of an unconscious wish provokes anxiety. This anxiety is reduced when the ego unconsciously shifts the wish to another object. The energy of the id is displaced from one object to another, more accessible, object. For example if a son wanted to hit his father but were afraid to, he might hit his kid brother instead

(Kasschau, 1995: 274).

C. Theoretical Framework

There are some theories that help the writer answer the two problem formulations.

The first theory is theory of characterization from M. J. Murphy which is used to find the evidence and symptoms of anxiety in the novel. Then, the theory of anxiety is used to answer the first problem formulation and to help the writer analyze the main character’s anxiety who is Katniss Everdeen. The anxiety of Katniss Everdeen is categorized into neurotic anxiety, moral anxiety, and reality anxiety. Then, theory of defense mechanism is used to answer the second problem formulation which use the defense mechanism of

Katniss Everdeen. The defense mechanism is identified and categorized into repression, projection, reaction formation, regression and displacement.

CHAPTER III

METHODOLOGY

A. Object of the Study

The object of the study is a novel by Suzanne Collins, an American writer, entitled

The Hunger Games. It is the first book of The Hunger Games trilogy, The Hunger Games,

Catching Fire, and Mockingjay . In this study, the writer uses the edition which is published by Scholastic and it has 374 pages. This book was first published in 2008.

The theme of the novel is described as how the society lives in the social differences where many rich people in a city of Capitol entertain themselves by watching suffering people in 12 districts and making a game called The Hunger Games. In this novel, the main character Katniss Everdeen volunteers herself to take the place of her sister to be placed in the hunger games competition, where the competitors kill each other to free theirself from the game. She fights for herself and her sister with a boy named

Peeta who is also from District 12.

In her dark past, Katniss lost her father in a mining coal accident when she was eleven. The result of her father’s dead made her mother depressed and formed Katniss as an independent girl because she has to feed her family. She uses her hunting skills taught by her father to survive. Then, the major part of the story is the process of Katniss joining

The Hunger Games competition where she has to deal with her psyche conflict and also her anxiety feeling.

B. Approach of the Study

Since this study is about the anxiety that Katniss Everdeen feels and the way she suppresses her anxiety by using defense mechanism, the writer uses psychoanalytic criticism. Based on Peter Barry’s Beginning Theory: an Introduction to Literature,

Psychoanalytic criticism is a form of literary criticism which uses some of the techniques of psychoanalysis in the interpretation of literature. According to Barry, this criticism uses the method of making the client or subject talk freely. Then problems of the character are brought into the conscious mind (Barry, 2002: 96).

Barry also said that the basic reason, again, is that the unconscious, like the poem, or novel, or play, cannot speak directly and explicitly but does through images, symbols, emblems, and metaphors (Barry, 2002: 102). Understanding the aspects of human mind, the character’s behavior, and the reason behind character’s action in literary work is the purpose of this psychoanalytic approach. As the object that is being analyzed is a novel, the psychoanalytic criticism is used to do the analysis on the subject’s unconscious mind through statements that has been made in the novel.

The reason of choosing the psychoanalytic criticism in analyzing the topic was because this study used the theory of anxiety and defense mechanism which is considered as the unconsciouss mind. The criticism was used to support psychoanalysis theories and helped to analyze the main problem from this discussion. It becomes the main reason psychoanalytic criticism is used in this study.

C. Method of the Study

In this research, the writer uses library research method. The primary data are taken from the novel entitled The Hunger Games. Then, the second data are taken from some materials book which consists of approach book and theories book.

In the process of answering the problem formulation, the writer notes on Katniss’s anxiety which is described in the novel. Then, as the anxiety has been known, the writer analizes the defense mechanism that Katniss uses in controlling her anxiety.

To complete the study, some steps were taken. The first step, the writer read the novel thoroughly to get deeper understanding from important and related evidences in the novel. The second step was by note-taking or collecting data in the form of description data. The third step was by comparing and analyzing it along with related theories as explained in the Chapter II: Related Theories. Thus, the data and evidences could solve the questions of the problem formulation by dividing those evidences into two parts in each questions from the problem formulation. After the problem formulations were solved, the conclusion could be provided based on the answer of problem formulation.

There are two parts of this analysis. The first part is answering how is Katniss

Everdeen’s anxiety described in Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games. Secondly is identifying Katniss Everdeen’s defense mechanism as a result of her anxiety.

A. The Anxiety of Katniss Everdeen

The first analysis is to understand Katniss’ anxiety and how it is described in the novel. Based on Calvin S. Hall in defining anxiety, there are three types of anxiety those are reality anxiety, neurotic anxiety, and moral anxiety. The writer reveals the evidence and the symptoms of the anxiety using the theory of characterization by M. J. Murphy.

Theory of characterization is necessary to make the characters understandable from a character’s behavior, reaction, events, situations, and even past lives. Then, from the character’s apprehension, there is an evidence whether the character has reality, neurotic, or moral anxiety.

1. Neurotic anxiety

Neurotic anxiety is aroused by a perception of danger from the instincts. It is a fear of what might happen when the ego fails to prevent the instinctual object from discharging themselves in some impulsive action (Hall, 1999: 65). In this anxiety, a person is afraid of being overwhelmed by an uncontrollable urge to commit some act or think some thought which will prove harmful to himself (Hall, 1999: 60). According to Calvin S.

Hall, he defines that the feeling of anxiety can be seen through several symptoms, for

example when a person encounters a dangerous situation his heart beats faster, he breathes more rapidly, his mouth becoms dry, and the palms of his hands sweat. From the explanation above the writer simplifies the symptoms into constant worrying, muscle tightness, and sweating. There are another observable forms of neurotic anxiety which are the feeling of future threat and near-panic situations. The object of the anxiety isn’t directly threatening but gives a feeling of future threat to the person. a. Anxiety toward the memory of her father

Katniss Everdeen is described as having anxiety each time she remembers the memory of her father’s dead body. Firstly, it is during the reaping day when she volunteers for her sister to be a tribute in the hunger games. When Katniss volunteers on behalf of her sister, she suddenly remembers the tragic memory of her father who has been killed in the mine accident.

It was during the worst time, my father had been killed in the mine accident three months earlier in the bitterest January anyone could remember. The numbness of his love had passed, and the pain would hit me out of nowhere, doubling me over, racking my body with sobs (Collins, 2008: 26).

The situation that Katniss encounters in the reaping day might risk the safety of her sister. Both Prim and her father have the same portion as Katniss’ family who has close relation to bond with. Thus, it triggers the past memory of her who lost her father.

According to M. J. Murphy’s theory of characterization using past life, she uttered “It was during the worst time, my father had been killed in the mine accident three months earlier in the bitterest January” and “the pain would hit me out of nowhere.” From the evidence above, Katniss have a hard time and pain which shows her feeling of imagined

fear and worry. Calvin S. Hall’s theory of anxiety also mentions that feeling of worry is a symptom of anxiety.

Secondly, when Katniss stands in silence in the train. It is when the train goes through the tunnel to the Capitol. The way tunnel’s rocks separating her from the outside view reminds her the mine’s rocks of the mine accident.

Peeta Mellark and I stand in silence as the train speeds along. The tunnel goes on and on and I think of the tons of rock separating me from the sky, and my chest tightens. I hate being encased in stone this way. It reminds me of the mines and my father, trapped, unable to reach sunlight, buried forever in the darkness (Collins, 2008: 59).

This evidence shows that she hates being encased in stone. from the quotation above, it is also mentioned with the theory of characterization using reactions “my chest tightens.” From that evidence it can be concluded that Katniss has a muscle tightness when the tunnel’s rock reminds her of the mines and her father. According to the theory of anxiety by Calvin S. Hall, it is mentioned that muscle tightness is a symptom of anxiety. b. Anxiety toward her mother’s weakness

The death of her father not only affect Katniss but also affect on her mother as well. In this situation, Katniss’ mother did not do anything but sit propped up in a chair.

Sometimes she gets up as if moved, only to then collapse back into stillness. This condition makes Katniss feels terrified then she must take over as head of the family.

I was terrified. I suppose now that my mother was locked in some dark world of sadness, but at the time, all I knew was that I had lost not only a father, but a mother as well. At eleven years old, with Prim just seven, I took over as head of the family (Collins, 2008: 27).

Both her mother and Prim is in vulnerable condition. In this case, Katniss as the oldest daughter is the only one who can be head of the family. It is also said that from the statement Katniss feels terrified from her past experience on how her mother’s weakness can affect on family. It can be recognized using theory characterization of past life “I was terrified. I suppose now that my mother was locked in some dark world of sadness, but at the time, all I knew was that I had lost not only a father, but a mother as well.” The feeling terrified in here is similar as the feeling of worry. Furthermore, Calvin S. Hall’s theory of anxiety mentions that feeling of worry is a symptom of anxiety.

There is a scene that on effect of her mother’s vulnerability, Katniss on the age of eleven has to look for food so that her family can survive. At the end of the day she desperately find a food until she finally stumble hopelessly.

I couldn’t go home. Because at home was my mother with her dead eyes and my little sister, with her hollow cheeks and cracked lips. I couldn’t walk into that room with the smoky fire from the damp branches I had scavenged at the edge of the woods after the coal had run out, my hands empty of any hope. (Collins, 2008: 28-29).

The story above is the evidence that gives Katniss’ terrible past experience. Her past experience affects on Katniss action especially in the way she does not want to have the image of her as a weakling. Then, it is also supported by the evidence below.

The realization that I’d have nothing to take home had finally sunk in. My knees buckled and I slid down the tree trunk to its roots. It was too much. I was to sick and weak and tired oh, so tired. Let me die right here in the rain (Collins, 2008: 30).

Based on the theory of characterization using past life from M J. Murphy, it’s said that “The realization that I’d have nothing to take home had finally sunk in” and “I was to sick and weak and tired oh, so tired. Let me die right here in the rain.” As the oldest daughter it would be not good for Katniss to be seen as weak because of her past ironic experience. In this case, it’d be ashamed for her to look vulnerable because she is considered as the backbone of the family who has the role to keep sane on behalf of her family. Furthermore, it is also said that from the statement Katniss feels sick, weak, and tired. The feeling that Katniss encounters in here have the same meaning to the constant worrying and muscle tightness which are symptomps of anxiety.

Her past memory brings Katniss into someone who is afraid of being seen as weak in her adolescence. There is a scene of Katniss wakes up from her bed in Capitol then she got her dream filled with the memory of her disturbing past especially the image of her mother who is vulnerable.

My slumbers are filled with disturbing dreams. Gory images from earlier Hunger Games, with my mother withdrawn and unreachable, with Prim emaciated and terrified (Collins, 2008: 86).

Based on the theory of characterization using thought, it’s said that “My slumbers are filled with disturbing dreams. Gory images from earlier Hunger Games, with my mother withdrawn and unreachable.” From the evidence above Katniss’ mother is in an unreachable condition. It can be assumed that Katniss’ mother is in an abnormal condition. Then it is also said that the condition of Katniss’ mother is one of the reason

that makes Katniss dreams become a disturbing dreams. Furthermore, the term disturbing is similar with worrying which is one of anxiety’s symptom based on Calvin S. Hall.

Then, there are scenes that strengthen the evidence that Katniss mother’s weakness affects on the anxiety of Katniss being seen as weak. The first scene occurs when Katniss volunteers herself to be the tribute of Hunger Games in the substitute of her sister, Prim.

Prim is screaming hysterically behind me. She’s wrapped her skinny arms around me like a vice. “No, Katniss! No! You can’t go!.” “Prim, let go,” I say harshly, because this is upsetting me and I don’t want to cry. When they televise the replay of the reapings tonight, everyone will make note of my tears, and I’ll be marked as an easy target. A weakling .I will give no one that satisfication, “Let go!” Now I am truly in danger of crying, but fortunately Haymitch chooses this time to come staggering across the stage to congratulate me. (Collins, 2008: 23-24).

Based on the theory of characterization using reactions, it said “Prim, let go,” I say harshly, because this is upsetting me and I don’t want to cry.” It can be seen that

Katniss is upset in the truth that her sister is chosen to be the tribute. Then, she consciously think that being seen as a weakling is not an option, so she volunteers herself to be the tribute instead of Prim. However, when it comes to her feeling Katniss actually is on the way to be crying. The sentence “I don’t want to cry” and “Now I am truly in danger of crying” in here obviously gives Katniss true feeling that crying is forbidden for her and she won’t do it because it can be an indication of a weakling. The word ‘danger’ can indicate the situation of anxiety that Katniss encounters. It is the anxiety of worry that if she is crying, everyone in Panem will note her tears, and she will be marked as a weakling.

Calvin S. Hall’s theory of anxiety also mentions that feeling of worry is a symptom of anxiety. c. Anxiety toward romance relationship with Peeta Mellark

Peeta Mellark is Katniss’ childhood friend. Peeta and Katniss are chosen as tributes of the hunger games on behalf of district 12. As tributes, they are supervised by

Effie Trinket and coached by Haymitch Abernathy. In the preparation before the hunger games, they are getting close to each other despite that they already bond a relationship in the childhood. They are always have their training unseparated. However, there is a scene that is unexpected for Katniss when Haymitch tells her that Peeta wants to be coached separately.

“Well, there’s been a change of plans. About our current approach,” says Haymitch. “What’s that?” I ask. I’m not sure what our current approach is. Trying to appear mediocre in front of the other tributes is the last bit of strategy I remember. Haymitch shrugs. “Peeta has asked to be coached separately.” Betrayal. That’s the first thing I feel, which is ludicrous. For there to be betrayal, there would have to have been trust first. Between Peeta and me. We’re tributes. Was there some part of me that couldn’t help trusting him? On the other hand, I’m relieved that we can stop the pretense of being friends. Obviously, whatever thin connection we’d foolishly formed has been severed. The games begin in two days, and trust will only be a weakness. Whatever triggered Peeta’s decision, I suspect it had to do with my outperforming him in training. I should be nothing but grateful for it. Maybe he’s finally accepted the fact that the sooner we openly acknowledge that we are enemies, the better (Collins, 2008: 113-114).

In here, Katniss thinks that the friendship with Peeta in the beginning is just a pretense. Both Katniss and Peeta bond in a relationship before joining hunger games, but when the hunger games is getting closer it seems that Peeta hides his strategy from

Katniss. It can be revealed using theory of characterization conversation of others

“Haymitch shrugs. “Peeta has asked to be coached separately.” Betrayal. That’s the first thing I feel, which is ludicrous.” It is mentioned when Katniss gets herself a betrayal after

Peeta decides to have a private training with Haymitch. It is followed with Katniss’ feeling herself that she is betrayed by somone she trust. Furthermore, Katniss’ thought and feeling in here is considered as neurotic anxiety.

2. Moral anxiety

Moral anxiety is experienced as feelings of guilt or shame which is aroused by a perception of danger from the conscience. The original fear from which moral anxiety is derived is an objective one; it is fear of the punitive parents. As is the case with neurotic anxiety, the source of moral anxiety lies within the personality structure, and as with neurotic anxiety the person cannot escape from feelings of guilt by running away from them. The conflict is purely intrapsychic, which means that it is a structural one and does not involve a relationship between the person and the world. It is a conscience which is the internalized voice of parental authority, consists of prohibitions against sensuality and disobedience (Hall, 1999: 68-69). From the explanation above, moral anxiety can be described as having guilt which is a shame or feelings of guilt over not living up to

“proper” standards. Furthermore, Calvin S Hall described that moral anxiety has close ties with neurotic anxiety, so the symptomps are similar.

a. Anxiety toward Prim Everdeen’s safety

The moment when Katniss is chosen as a tribute, she is taken into custody by the peace keeper of Capitol. Volunteering as a tribute on behalf of Prim makes Katniss thinks about Prim’s safetiness.

I don’t bother suggesting Prim learn to hunt. I tried to teach her a couple of times and it was disastrous. The woods terrified her, and whenever I shot something, she’d get teary and talk about how we might be able to heal it if we got it home soon enough (Collins, 2008: 35).

It can be seen that Katniss is worrying on Prim's safety so that she teaches her how to hunt. However, on the other side Katniss is morally insecure with her doing hunting alongside with Prim because Prim gets teary everytime Katniss shots her prey. Then,

Katniss starts to panic as the peace keeper puts Prim away and takes Katniss to the train into Capitol.

The peace keepers are back too soon and Gale asks for more time, but they're taking him away and I start to panic. "Don't let them starve!" I cry out, clinging to his hand (Collins, 2008: 40).

According to the theory of characterization using reactions, it said “they're taking him away and I start to panic.” Katniss gets her feeling of insecure and panic about Prim's safety when she's gone. In this case, Katniss is afraid that Prim Will be starving when she is not with her family. The feeling of insecure is similar to the feeling of worry and the feeling of panic gets Katniss into muscle tightness. Furthermore, Calvin S Hall describes that the feeling of worry and muscle tightness based on conscience in here is considered as moral anxiety.

The other scene is when Katniss enters the arena of hunger games, she gets herself cornered by the other tributes. Being cornered and do risky actions make Katniss thinks not on herself but on her family instead, especially Prim.

I don’t know why I said anything at all. Although if I’m going to lose, I'd rather Peeta win than the others. Better for our district, for my mother and Prim (Collins, 2008: 100).

It can be seen that Katniss is aiming to win the district for her family rather than surviving her own life. She even tries to make her partner win the games when she is at her vulnerable. So that at least she can win the District for her family's safetiness if her

District won.

Oh, what does it matter? it’s not like I was going to win the Games anyway. Who cares what they do to me? What really scares me is what they might do to my mother and Prim, how my family might suffer now because of my impulsiveness (Collins, 2008: 103).

Katniss thinks that the system that is made by the capitol is a flaw especially the

Hunger Games competition. However, Katniss still follow the rules though because it is

Prim that is important for her. She is scared that Prim might suffer because of her impulsiveness. She does not want Prim and her mother get the impact because of her action. In the other event is when Katniss gets herself anxiety in the trial of preparation before the games.

“I shot an arrow at them. Not exactly at them. In their direction. I was shooting and they were ignoring me and I just... I just lost my head, so I shot an apple out of their stupid roast pig’s mouth!” I say defiantly. “Without being dismissed?” gasps Effie. “I dismissed myself,” I said. I remember how I promised Prim that I really would try to win and I feel like a ton of coal has dropped on me (Collins, 2008: 106).

Using the theory of characterization, Suzanne Collins describes Katniss

Everdeen’s feeling through thoughts “I remember how I promised Prim that I really would try to win and I feel like a ton of coal has dropped on me.” It indicates that Katniss gets worried everytime she thinks about her little sister watching her on the television that she will betray her because she promises that she will win the game. Katniss feels that the burden of her promise is like a ton of coal has dropped on her. Everytime Katniss in her vulnerable condition, she gets up because she worries on what Prim might think if she watched Katniss die.

From the evidence above, it can be seen that Katniss has her feeling of conscience toward the safety of Prim. She is scared that her little sister might suffer because of her action. The feeling of scared then change into constant worriness. Her feeling of conscience and constant worriness are symptoms of moral anxiety. b. Anxiety toward Rue's safety

Katniss meets with another tribute from district 11 named Rue. A little girl who reminded Katniss of Prim. In the Hunger Games arena she makes an alliance with Rue, but then finds her death stabbed by a boy from district 1.

There's no point in comforting words, in telling her she'll be all right. She's no fool. Her hand reaches out and I clutch it like a lifeline. As of it's me who's dying instead of Rue. My father pulled me on with that remarkable voice but I haven't sing much since he died. Except when Prim is very sick. Then I sing her the same sing she likes as a baby. Sing. My throat is tight with tears, hoarse from smoke and a fatigue. But if this is Prim's, I mean, Rue's last request, I have to at least try. I give a small cough, swallow hard, and begin (Collins, 2008: 233-234).

By using thought theory of characterization the situation that Katniss encounters can be seen that she is in a lament of losing Rue. The moment when Rue is dying, it is

Katniss who feels Rue's position "as of me who's dying instead of Rue." Katniss tries to calm her down by singing a song that she has learned from her father. When singing, her throat is tight with tears, hoarse from smoke and a fatigue. Then, Katniss’ worriness gets further when Rue’s eyes are shutted down.

Rue's eyes have fluttered shut. Her chest moves but only slightly. My throat releases the tears and they slide down my cheeks. But I have to finish the song for her. For a moment, I sit there, watching my tears drip down on her face. I lean forward and press my lips against her temple. I can't stop looking at Rue, smaller than ever, a baby animal curled up on a nest of netting. I can't bring myself to leave her like this. Last harm, but seeming utterly defenseless. To hate the boy from District 1, who also appears so vulnerable on death, seems inadequate. It's the Capitol I hate, for doing this to all of us (Collins, 2008: 235-236).

At the end, she presses her lips against her temple before the game maker took

Rue from the arena. Based on the theory of characterization using thoughts, the author gives information about Katniss’ thought in mind "I can't bring myself to leave her like this. Last harm, but seeming utterly defenseless." It can be seen that in Katniss' conscience she feels worried of what happen and what might happen to little Rue taken by the game maker with spear stabbed in her chest and curled up on a nest of netting. In the analysis, there are some symptoms that can be founded. The first is her unbearable feeling in Rue's dying position as constant worriness. Second is her throat which is getting tighten because of tears and when she presses her lips against Rue's temple that can be similar to muscle tightness. The third is on her conscience itself that she cannot bring herself to leave Rue.

Thus, her unbearable feeling of worry, muscle tightness, and her conscience of Rue are symptoms of moral anxiety.

3. Realistic anxiety

Reality anxiety is a painful emotional experience resulting from a perception of danger in the external world (Hall, 1999: 62). According to Calvin S. Hall, he defines that the feeling of anxiety can be seen through several symptoms for example, when a person encounters a dangerous situation his heart beats faster, he breathes more rapidly, his mouth becoms dry, and the palms of his hands sweat. From the explanation above the writer simplifies the symptoms into constant worrying, muscle tightness, and sweating.

Anxiety toward the tributes

Before entering the hunger games arena, Katniss feels worried on what’s to come whether she will be dead in an instance or not. She begins to over anticipate on every threat she might encounter.

Nervousness seeps into terror as I anticipate what is to come. I Could be dead, flat out dead, in an hour. Not even. My fingers obsessively trace the hard little lump on my fore arm where the woman injected the tracking device (Collins, 2008: 146).

“Nervousness seeps into terror” That’s what Katniss feels at the first moment she enters the hunger games. Her nervousnes is followed by the imagination of her that she could be dead at anytime. Her feeling at the moment has the same feeling as constant worriness. Then, when it comes to The Hunger Games arena, twenty four tributes circled

together. There, Katniss can see all the tributes and the girl from district 2 is being highlighted by Katniss.

Yes, the girl from district 2, Ten yards away, running toward me, one hand clutching a half dozen knives. I've seen her throw in training. She never misses. And I'm her next target. All the general fear I've been feeling condenses into an immediate fear of this girl, this predator who might kill me on seconds (Collins, 2008: 150-151).

In this kind of condition, Katniss has her feeling of fear as being seen in the evidence "All the general fear I've been feeling condenses into an immediate fear of this girl." It is a real threat from Clove, a tribute from district 2 that can kill Katniss at anytime the game begins. Knowing only one could live in The Hunger Games, Katniss is being threated by the first impression of Clove that is skillful with knives as Katniss ever saw her skill in the training ground.

Anger temporarily blocked out my nervousness about meeting the other tributes, but now I can feel my anxiety rising again (Collins, 2008: 93).

There are occasions that Katniss and the other tributes meet to each other, in the training ground and on the interview. In the training ground Katniss sees the ability of the other tributes. As in here, Katniss has her anger arises "anger temporarily blocked out my nervousness about meeting the other tributes." The anger that happens in Katniss can be assumed that it gives her muscle tightness in the procession. Then, there is also occasion in the interview that Katniss has to encounter with the other tribute.

I spotted Cinna as soon as he took his place, but even his presence cannot relax me. 8, 9, 10. The crippled boy from 10 is very quiet. My Palms are sweating like crazy (Collins, 2008: 125-126).

Based on the theory of characterization using reactions from M J. Murphy, it’s described that Katniss responses on every possible threats that she encounters as stated above “anger temporarily blocked out my nervousness about meeting the other tributes” and “My Palms are sweating like crazy.” In the interview she competes with another tributes based on each of their background. As she feels the threat from the tributes, she has her Palms sweating. From the evidence that the writer finds, there are some symptoms that can be founded based on the reality anxiety. There are muscle tightness and sweating.

As can be seen in the theory by Calvin S Hall, those symptoms are included in the anxiety of reality.

B. The Defense Mechanism of Katniss Everdeen

The defense mechanisms of the ego are irrational ways of dealing with anxiety because they distort, hide, or deny reality and hinder psychological development. They tie up psychological energy which could be used for more effective ego activities. When a defense mechanism become very influental it dominates the ego and curtails its flexibility and adaptability. Finally, if the defenses fail to hold, the ego has nothing to fall back upon and is overwhelmed by anxiety. The result is a nervous breakdown (Hall, 1999:

1. Repression against the anxiety of relationship with Peeta Mellark

1995: 273). It can be implied that repression is mechanism that happens when the subject tries to repel or confine unacceptable thoughts and motives that causes the ego to have too many anxieties inside his or her unconscious mind.

When Katniss linked with Peeta Mellark in the hunger games, she felt constant worriness. Katniss and Peeta’s romance relationship that is made by the prep team makes her worry. Then she performs a repression defense mechanism to reduce her anxiety.

“okay,” I say. So I keep holding on, but I can’t help feeling strange about the way Cinna has linked us together. It’s not really fair to present us as a team and then lock us into the arena to kill each other (Collins, 2008: 71).

In this case, the impulse of Katniss’ id wants to win the game, but in the other side her superego forces her to follow the preparation team’s plan to keep together with Peeta.

Then, her ego chooses to follow the flow that she is still partnering with Peeta but aware that he can be an opponent so she suppresses her feeling of symphaty toward Peeta throughout the game. In this case Katniss suppresses her feeling of partnership with Peeta because she thinks that it would be dangerous to trust someone in the games that will have one winner only. She suppresses and change the image of Peeta into someone who is going to kill her in the hunger games. At this rate, Katniss begins to suppress it and displace her anxiety by playing the game.

Furthermore, Katniss even suppress her feeling toward Peeta even deeper. She does not want to get herself manipulated by another competitor in the hunger games, even as a partner.

A warning bell goes off in my head. Don’t be so stupid. Peeta is planning how to kill you, I remind myself. He is luring you in to make you easy prey. The more likable he is, the more deadly he is. But because two can play at this game, I stand on tiptoe and kiss his cheek. Right on his bruise (Collins, 2008: 72).

As Katniss knows the condition, she begins to distract herself with the image of

Peeta who is going to kill her in the future. She anticipates every possibilities by repressing the feeling that will make her disappointed in the future. The feeling that

Katniss encounter gives her constant worrying and she succesfuly handle it by using repression defense mechanism.

2. Projection toward Peeta Mellark

Another way the ego avoids anxiety is to believe that impulses coming from within are really coming from other people. This mechanism is called projection because inner feeling is thrown, or projected, outside. Many people, for example, feel that the others dislike them, when in reality they dislike themselves (Kasschau, 1995: 274). It can be implied that projection is a belief that inner feelings are projected or coming from other people.

There is a scene of interview for every tributes before encountering the hunger games arena. In Peeta’s interview, he says that she adores his own partner Katniss

Everdeen. Eventhough that hunger games is a competition that only have one winner, ironically he still hopes that both of them can live instead. The moment after the interview,

Peeta comes back to the preparation team and suddenly being slammed by Katniss which is being offended by Peeta’s statement about her in the interview.

Peeta has only just stepped from his car when I slam my palms into his chest. He loses his balance and crashes into an ugly urn filled with fake flowers. “What was that for?” he says, aghast. “You had no right! No right to go saying those things about me!” I shout at him. “You are fool,” Haymitch says in disgust. “Do you think he hurt you? That boy just gave you something you could never achieve on your own.” “He made me look weak!” I say. “He made you look desirable! And let’s face it, you can use all the help you can get in that department. You were about as romantic as dirt until he said he wanted you. Now they all do. You’re all they’re talking about. The star-crossed lovers from District Twelve!” says Haymitch. “But we’re not star-crossed lovers!” I say. (Collins, 2008: 134-135).

Katniss in her id wants to always look strong and capable meanwhile her superego makes her think that it is not proper to use violence on people which is her partner upon something that is not certain yet. By knowing that consideration, her logical thinking starts to think that Haymitch’s word can be right, but to loose her anxiety she projects the weak images to Peeta so that she is still looking capable and independent. Furthermore, in keeping her image Katniss uses projection defense mechanism by blaming on Peeta.

“He made me look weak!” it is an evidence that Katniss is projecting his thought toward

Peeta because in the interview Peeta even does not say a thing about Katniss’ weakness.

It is supported by Haymitch, he said that Peeta doesn’t make Katniss looks weak but looks desirable and wanted because Peeta is the one who said that he adores Katniss without saying a thing about her weakness. Thus the act that Katniss does into Peeta is the act of projection defense mechanism especially when she slams Peeta into the wall which makes

Peeta looks weak but she said that Peeta is the one who makes Katniss looks weak instead.

3. Reaction Formation against the anxiety of being seen as weak

Unconsciously, he feels it is terribly wrong for a father to react that way, so he showers the child with expressions of love, toys, and exciting trips (Kasschau, 1995: 274). It can be implied that reaction formation is replacing unacceptable feeling with its opposition.

Katniss does not want to be recognized being vulnerable, but she tends to be acknowledged as strong and capable. Her mother’s behavior after Katniss’ father died is the reason Katniss sees weakness as something that she has to avoid. In this case, she uses reaction formation defense mechanism

Katniss could not alow herself to be weak, but had to take on the responsibility of taking care of the family (Collins, 2008: 32).

Restrained by her superego that she cannot allow herself to be weak, her ego chooses to repress her condition. She prefers to act capable and strong. Reaction formation defense mechanism is also seen in the act when Katniss thinks about her mother’s behavior. She expresses hatred upon her mother’s weakness after the dead of her father.

“And some small gnarled place inside me hated her for her weaknes, for her neglect, for the months she had push us through” (Collins, 2008: 64).

It can be implied that the feeling of weak is too threatening if Katniss is the one who support her family. Another example is when Peeta makes a statement about Katniss that she does not have to worry about not having sponsors to help her in the hunger games.

What on earth does he mean? People help me? When we were dying of starvation, no one helped me! What effect do I have? That I’m weak and needy? Is he suggesting that I got good deals because people pitied me? No one pitied me! (Collins, 2008: 111).

By hearing that statement, Katnis reacts so strongly which is the reason of Katnis’ reluctance being seen vulnerable. Katniss does not want to be pitied by her team and the sponsors. In this case, she feels anxiety everytime people think that she is weak eventhough she knows that her condition is obviously weak. However, to repress her anxiety she reacts as she is strong and capable. Thus she uses reaction formation defense mechanism to reduce her anxiety.

4. Regression against The Gamemakers

(Kasschau, 1995: 274). It can be implied that regression is return to his or her past self- pattern behavior. He or her may act less mature like thrown a temper tantrum to help relief his or her self.

On the third day of training, the Gamemakers start to call the tributes out for private session district by district. Katniss walks into the gymnasium as it comes for her turn. In her session she has a chance to show her skill of shooting an arrow into a target, but as she misses a target for a couple times the gamemakers ignore her. In the third chance Katniss finally hit the target but the gamemakers still ignore her anyway. Getting

underestimated by the gamemakers, Katniss is aroused by her anger then she aims and shoots her arrow in an apple beside the gamemakers. Out of control of herself then she gets out from the gymnasium and flings into her bed.

I brush past the gaping Avoxes who guard the elevators and hit the number twelve button with my fist. The doors slide together and I zip upward. I actually make it back to my floor before the tears start running down my cheeks. I can hear the others calling me from the sitting room, but I fly down the hall into my room, bolt the door, and fling myself onto my bed. Then I really begin to sob. Now I’ve done it! Now I’ve ruined everything! If I’d stood even a ghost of chance, it vanished when I sent that arrow flying at the Gamemakers. What will they do to me? Arrest me? Execute me? (Collins, 2008: 103).

Katniss’ anger triggers her id impulse to shoot the gamemakers as they ignore her ability in shooting. However in her superego, Katniss still thinks about the safety of her family and district. So that in the end her ego chooses to shoot an apple beside the gamemakers. As it is considered as reckless act, Katniss’ anxiety arises after the act that she makes in the gymnasium. Then in countering her anxiety, Katniss performs regression defense mechanism “I can hear the others calling me from the sitting room, but I fly down the hall into my room, bolt the door, and fling myself onto my bed. Then I really begin to sob” her anger which is considered as her id in the gymnasium makes her feel guilty with the act that she did, then she chooses to distract her ego by flinging herself into the bed and starts crying just like what she did in her childhood. Thus Katniss’ act can be considered as regression defense mechanism. The day after skill test, there is an interview for Katniss to face. Before encountering the interview, she has her preparation with her couch, Haymitch Abernathy. In her preparation she gets herself anxiety because

Haymitch tries to force Katniss the way he wants.

I have dinner that night in my room, ordering an outrageous number of delicacies, eating myself sick, and then taking out my anger at Haymitch, at the Hunger Games, at every living being in the Capitol by smashing dishes around my room. When the girl with the red hair comes in to turn down my bed, her eyes widen at the mess. “Just leave it!” I yell at her. “Just leave it alone!” (Collins, 2008: 118).

Katniss’ anger is shown in the way she act “taking out my anger at Haymitch, at the Hunger Games, at every living being in the Capitol by smashing dishes around my room” This act can be the evidence that Katniss is using regression defense mechanism because when a person is under severe pressure and the other defenses are not working, she may start acting in ways that helped her in the past. For example, she may throw a temper tantrum which is considered as the act of regression.

5. Displacement toward Prim and Rue

It occurs when the object of an unconscious wish provokes anxiety. This anxiety is reduced when the ego unconsciously shifts the wish to another object. The energy of the id is displaced from one object to another, more accessible, object (Kasschau, 1995:

274). It can be implied that displacement happens when the ego unconsciously changes the wish to another object.

The moment when Katniss volunteers as a tribute on behalf of Prim makes Katniss thinks about Prim’s safetiness. Katniss is afraid that Prim Will be unsafe when she is not with her family. In this case, Katniss gets her feeling anxiety about Prim's safety when she is gone. Then, in the hunger games arena Katniss meets Rue, a little girl who reminded

Katniss of her little sister.

I can almost hear Haymitch groaning as I team up with this wispy child. But I want her. Because she's survivor, and I trust her, and why not admit it? She reminds me of Prim. "Okay," she says, and holds out her hand. We shake. "It's a deal." Of course, this kind of deal can only be temporary, but neither of us mentions that (Collins, 2008: 200-202).

Katniss wants to team up with Rue. Her desire in here is considered as her Id’s impulse. It is in contradiction with Haymitch that he does not agree with Katniss’ decision as he thinks that it will not give advantage to Katniss. Haymitch’s words are considered as superego for Katniss. However, as she gets anxiety in the fact that she cannot protect

Prim, she tries to displace her responsibility of protecting Prim into protecting Rue by choosing to make an alliance with her. By doing so, she can suppress her anxiety of not protecting Prim in district 12 by at least helping a girl with the same physic. In this case, she uses displacement defense mechanism. Then in her further relationship with Rue, there is a moment that she finds Rue stabbed by a boy from district 1. She gets herself down by the anxiety of not protecting Rue which is like her own sister, Prim.

My father pulled me on with that remarkable voice but I haven't sing much since he died. Except when Prim is very sick. Then I sing her the same sing she likes as a baby. Sing. My throat is tight with tears, hoarse from smoke and a fatigue. But if this is Prim's, I mean, Rue's last request, I have to at least try. I give a small cough, swallow hard, and begin (Collins, 2008: 233-234).

Katniss sings Rue the same song that Prim likes as a baby. Katniss helps Rue as if it is Prim. In this case, instead of displacing Prim into Rue as before, Katniss displaces

Rue into Prim. She once again performs a displacement defense mechanism to reduce her anxiety. However, the anxiety that Katniss encounters is too dominant that it cannot be reduced using the defense mechanism. The anxiety is affected by the situation of her

relation with Rue which is like her own sister. She gets herself down by the anxiety of not be able to protect Rue. At this state, she lost her consciousness for a moment.

This chapter shows the conclusion of this research based on the writer’s analysis on previous chapter. The purpose of this chapter is to focus on the main point of the analysis from two problem formulations that aimed to find how Katniss Everdeen’s anxiety being described in the novel and what defense mechanism that Katniss experiences as a result of her anxiety. Thus, the writer describes the conclusion below.

Neurotic anxiety, moral anxiety, and realistic anxiety are found in Katniss

Everdeen. Katniss experiences neurotic anxiety toward the memory of her father, her mother’s weakness, and romance relationship with Peeta Mellark. In her moral anxiety, she experiences it toward Prim and Rue’s safety. Then she also experiences realistic anxiety toward the tributes. Related to the anxiety of Katniss Everdeen, five defense mechanisms are used in Katniss Everdeen. Those five defense mechanisms are repression, projection, reaction formation, regression, and displacement. Katniss tries to relief her anxiety caused by her fear and problems with various types of defense mechanism.

Katniss uses regression to deal with her anxiety. She unconsciously throws her temper to anything or anyone when everything is not right. She acts less mature and stands in her belief. Then, as a Hunger Games’ tribute, Katniss feels that she cannot be together and protect her sister, Prim. One of Katniss’ biggest anxiety is her fear to not be able to

protect her most precious sister. It causes Katniss to feel anxious and as a result she is doing displacement into Rue. Katniss protects Rue and thinks her as her own sister.

Moreover, Katniss’ anxiety is her fear to be weak and become like her mother. To counter her fear, Katniss defenses herself with repression. She tries to forget and counters her mother’s failure with her tough behavior. Katniss avoids to look weak in front of other people using projection and reaction formation. She even projects her inner feeling of vulnerability into her own partner. Then, in her vulnerable condition she reacts the opposite way as she unconsciously uses reaction formation so she believes that she is capable and tough.

In the result, there is also an anxiety which is dominant and cannot be reduced using the defense mechanism because of the situation and condition, it is the anxiety toward Rue’s dead body. The anxiety is affected by the situation of her relation with Rue which is like her own sister. She gets herself down by the anxiety of not be able to protect

Rue. Thus, she lost her consciousness for a moment by feeling helpless. It is seen when she gets over-fatigue and gets her throat tight with tears. However, Katniss Everdeen’s defense mechanism succeeds to bring her conscious and conscience into well functioning.

This also makes her able to establish her goal to gain acknowledgement as a capable person.

Furthermore, the writer also adds for the development use that the writer thinks psychoanalytic criticism is suitable to explore the psychology of characters in the novel.

Furthermore, the writer thinks this approach can explore more deeply in a matter of character’s psyche than other approaches in a literary work, which can provide

development in the study of analysis of a novel or other literary work. Thus, the writer hopes that this study of psychoanalytic criticism can develop the study of literature even further.

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