Gender Representation of Feminine Agency through Katniss Everdeen in the Hunger Games Trilogy

Abstract

Recent contemporary dystopian novels are addressed to teenage readers through the use of an adolescent‟s perspective that raises many questions and leads to significant research. This dissertation tries to examine the representation of gender roles and performance in the young adult dystopian literature through the analyses of Suzanne Collins‟ trilogy: The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay, with a specific focus on the principle character KatnissEverdeen. Employing Judith Butler‟s and Ann Oakley‟s basic aspects of gender, as well as other theories concerning feminism and masculinity, this study examines the evolution of the protagonist KatnissEverdeen‟s gender representation and performance through the course of the trilogy. For each novel, this dissertation explores the specific role attributed to this protagonist and how this role is influenced by gender interpretation and representation as well as the lurking presence of the government. It also scrutinizes how her interpretation and performance of gender change from one role to another. In addition, the study explores how Katniss navigates her way between a performed identity and a real identity. It also sets as a goal an understanding of how gender roles are played in everyday life.