Mockingjay: Please tell me this is going to get better.

[alexandral]

I am through about 40% of "Mockingjay", and dear friends list, I am getting seriously annoyed. Katniss is undergoing what is probably the worst ever character development in the history of fiction.

Where is Katniss that was a strong survivor? Where? When was she replaced by this whiny clueless mess:

- "No-one is telling me anything! My life is a woooooooooe!" Me: no-one is telling her anything because she is naïve beyond any belief (to the point where her naivety has become brain-deficiency) and throws tantrums all the time?

- "EVERYONE IS EVIL! Capitol is EVIL! Rebels ARE EVIL! Everyone is evil! Even Haymitch! How dares he to try to keep me alive! Even cats are evil!". Me: I am eye-rolling so hard my eyes are in danger.

- "Everyone died because of Meeeeeeeeee! I should have died! Died!" . Me: Katniss, get a grip on yourself. Please get a grip.

- "Oh no! Look at poor me suffering so much when watching Peeta tortured on TV! I passed out! And I raged! " Me: Peeta is tortured. PEETA. How come it is all about YOU?

Leaving my "I am so annoyed at this" feelings aside and trying to be rational: the character development of Katniss is that of Sansa Stark (A Song of Ice and Fire) in reverse. Sansa starts as young and terribly naïve and grows into a survivor. Katniss starts as a survivor and disintegrates into a puddle of jelly with no brains.

Please tell me this is going to get better. As it stands now, I think Katniss is as good a role model to young girls as Bella (Twilight), just in a different way (no brains, tantrums, "me me me" attitude)! I am so horrified that this is supposed to be "a feminist book for young adults".

PS: Shall I keep listening? There are 6.5 more hours of this! Or shall I give up, find the spoilers, and move on to some better books?

Comments

[alexandral.livejournal.com]

and think she's definitely one of the stronger women I've read in fiction lately.

You see, this is the PROBLEM. If she is one of the strongest, what about the others? When even the strongest woman is still weaker than a man (Peeta, for example)?

[geeklee.livejournal.com]

Wow. It seems I missed the fireworks. Since others have already shared it, I was also disappointed by katniss' character arc. While I agree EVERYONE (not just girls) is entitled to their feelings and it is always valid but books so frequently show the female characters being extremely emotional. I loved early katniss because she was different. She showed so much courage and strength when she was so young. It's hard to enjoy her falling apart, regardless of how realistic that may seem.

Lots of fans of "PTSD katniss" talk about how tired they are of she-roes. Are there really that many? And wasn't she more of a she-ro at 14 than she is now? (shakes head) Ok, she is bound to feel trauma from being in the arena twice. But I agree with you alexandral, others aren't hiding in closets. Sure they all have their crosses to bear but they appear to be handling it better. Again, the girl of the story isn't managing as well.

Her actions in district 13 makes me question how she did so much in the first books. I do believe we all have our breaking points and I guess it was all just too much for katniss. Even if all the others managed to pull through. That's the part that pisses me off about katniss. She's the only one hiding in the closet.

I also agree she's been horribly manipulated by the capital but goodness hasn't everyone who entered the arena or had a member of their family enter it? She started off so amazing and now she's so broken. So yes Collins, we get it. Life sucks.

[alexandral.livejournal.com]

EEEEEEEE! Your comment is everything I wanted to say, but expressed beutifully. THANK YOU.

Also re: she-ros. I hate the term. I have always worked in a male-oriented field myself and I want more ladies doing more "male-oriented" stuff.