Is Katniss interested in dresses, though? I thought the dresses/clothing she wore served a purpose and somewhat determined her role in the games. During the pre-Games events, Katniss's clothes—Peeta's, too—served to establish her presence within the games and gather the attention of the viewers. When Katniss interviewed with Caesar Flickman, her moments of "Look at my pretty dress. *twirls*" were due to Cinna's coaching. Then, after Katniss and Peeta won the first Games, Cinna had Katniss wear a demure dress in her interview to portray her as a young schoolgirl in love, instead of a young woman who defied the Gamemakers.
The same can be said for the second Games, where Katniss goes on about her pretty wedding dress. Again, that act was due to Cinna's coaching and played upon the audience's emotional investment in the tributes. She's not the only one who did that, either. Each tribute, in his/her interview, appealed to the audience's emotions—can't Snow do something about the games, since you all love us so much?, etc. Katniss's approach was through her dress, because the Capital citizens were all about fashion, but she (through Cinna) turned the wedding dress into a defiant symbol of rebellion.
In Mockingjay, the emphasis on clothes is only to show how functional Cinna made them so she could play her role in the rebellion. Additionally, in the books (I can't remember which one. Catching Fire, I think.), Katniss says she's thankful her "talent" as a tribute is dressmaking, because it's something Cinna could do on her behalf. That doesn't sound like she's interested in dresses to me. Just the opposite, in fact.
I don't think Katniss is stereotypically stupid, either. I agree that Katniss's lack of emotional insight can be annoying at times, but she's a girl who spent her life ensuring her family's survival, and she didn't have a lot of time to analyze her feelings or others' motives. As for her distrusting Finnick/Johanna/the other tributes in CF, I don't blame her. The truth is that she had, again, one goal: Peeta's survival. She was single-minded in her approach, and trying to accomplish her goal in the arena didn't allow for much introspection, especially when you consider the point of the Games is for the tributes to murder one another. As she said, whatever moment of solidarity the tributes had on the pre-Games interview show disappeared the moment the buzzer sounded.
Post Games, you have to admit Haymitch did use her, and without her knowledge. That has to bring up some trust issues. And nobody would let her rest. I know you don't think Katniss suffered more than anyone else; it doesn't matter if she had it better or worse than others, because her pain was still valid. She did suffer from being in the Hunger Games twice, and that's not something I'd expect her to analyze in a, "Look. Peeta/Haymitch/Finnick/etc. were in the Games and they survived, too. I guess I shouldn't complain" way.
I agree with fauxkaren: instead of allowing her to emotionally, mentally, and physically heal, she's become yet another pawn in Coin's/Haymitch's/Plutarch's games. I can't fault her for not being able to decide who to trust, what the ultimate goal is, or others' motives.
I didn't mean to sound like I'm attacking anyone or invalidating a different opinion. I just wanted to add my perspective, because I love Katniss and think she's definitely one of the stronger women I've read in fiction lately.
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Is Katniss interested in dresses, though? I thought the dresses/clothing she wore served a purpose and somewhat determined her role in the games. During the pre-Games events, Katniss's clothes—Peeta's, too—served to establish her presence within the games and gather the attention of the viewers. When Katniss interviewed with Caesar Flickman, her moments of "Look at my pretty dress. *twirls*" were due to Cinna's coaching. Then, after Katniss and Peeta won the first Games, Cinna had Katniss wear a demure dress in her interview to portray her as a young schoolgirl in love, instead of a young woman who defied the Gamemakers.
The same can be said for the second Games, where Katniss goes on about her pretty wedding dress. Again, that act was due to Cinna's coaching and played upon the audience's emotional investment in the tributes. She's not the only one who did that, either. Each tribute, in his/her interview, appealed to the audience's emotions—can't Snow do something about the games, since you all love us so much?, etc. Katniss's approach was through her dress, because the Capital citizens were all about fashion, but she (through Cinna) turned the wedding dress into a defiant symbol of rebellion.
In Mockingjay, the emphasis on clothes is only to show how functional Cinna made them so she could play her role in the rebellion. Additionally, in the books (I can't remember which one. Catching Fire, I think.), Katniss says she's thankful her "talent" as a tribute is dressmaking, because it's something Cinna could do on her behalf. That doesn't sound like she's interested in dresses to me. Just the opposite, in fact.
I don't think Katniss is stereotypically stupid, either. I agree that Katniss's lack of emotional insight can be annoying at times, but she's a girl who spent her life ensuring her family's survival, and she didn't have a lot of time to analyze her feelings or others' motives. As for her distrusting Finnick/Johanna/the other tributes in CF, I don't blame her. The truth is that she had, again, one goal: Peeta's survival. She was single-minded in her approach, and trying to accomplish her goal in the arena didn't allow for much introspection, especially when you consider the point of the Games is for the tributes to murder one another. As she said, whatever moment of solidarity the tributes had on the pre-Games interview show disappeared the moment the buzzer sounded.
Post Games, you have to admit Haymitch did use her, and without her knowledge. That has to bring up some trust issues. And nobody would let her rest. I know you don't think Katniss suffered more than anyone else; it doesn't matter if she had it better or worse than others, because her pain was still valid. She did suffer from being in the Hunger Games twice, and that's not something I'd expect her to analyze in a, "Look. Peeta/Haymitch/Finnick/etc. were in the Games and they survived, too. I guess I shouldn't complain" way.
I agree with
I didn't mean to sound like I'm attacking anyone or invalidating a different opinion. I just wanted to add my perspective, because I love Katniss and think she's definitely one of the stronger women I've read in fiction lately.