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Brett Cooper Books

how to write a katniss-worthy protagonist

7/7/2015

 
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Katniss Everdeen has sold more Hunger Games books and movie tickets than you can shake a bow and arrow at. There's a reason for that. She's someone we love to root for. 

Why? Because she's sympathetic and flawed. Highly sympathetic and sympathetically flawed. Let us count the ways:
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Sympathetic:
  1. Katniss is poor. Extremely poor. She hails from the lowliest of the twelve districts. That's not fair. We don't want her to suffer. 

  2. Katniss is oppressed. The citizens of District 12 break their backs to mine coal. The Capitol benefits. Conditions are so deplorable that Katniss' father dies in a mining accident. Food is so scarce that Katniss believes she has no choice but to break the law to hunt and to take on more tesserae (lottery tickets, but not good) in exchange for food, in the process increasing her chances of being chosen for the Hunger Games, which spell certain death.

  3. Katniss is motherly. In the wake of her father's death, her mom can't cope. She goes off the rails. Katniss is left to care for her little sister Prim in all the ways that their mom can't.

  4. Katniss is a provider. Through hunting and tempting fate with tesserae, she feeds her family.

  5. Katniss is skilled. We marvel at her impressive facility with a bow and arrow.

  6. Katniss is brave. She is willing to sacrifice herself for her loved ones, which is why she takes Prim's place at the Reaping: "I volunteer as tribute!"
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Flawed:
  1. Katniss is prickly. She's not always the best company. She's got a bit of attitude. She needs to learn how to work an audience, to curry favor, to get people to want to help her.

  2. Katniss is.too independent. She is used to doing everything herself: hunting, caring for her family, protecting them and her. She needs to learn to ask for help, to rely on Peeta and to form alliances.

  3. Katniss is untrusting. She doesn't trust the Capitol. She doesn't trust Haymitch. She doesn't trust Peeta. She doesn't trust much of anyone.

Note that these three flaws are related. Katniss is forced to be independent, so she is untrusting of others and this makes for a prickly attitude.

Note, too, that Katniss' primary flaw is too much of a good thing, independence. This only makes her more sympathetic.. Especially for Americans, independence is highly esteemed. Self-reliance is a mark of our mythical national character.

Now, how can you make your protagonists sympathetic and sympathetically flawed? How can you make them more Katniss-worthy?

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    Brett Cooper

    Writer, reader, runner, teacher, father, infp, huffleclaw. 

    ​I l
    ove to spin stories and collect thoughts.

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  • Home
  • Blog
  • Daily Thoughts
  • Other
    • Snoop Movie Script >
      • SNOOP Logline
      • SNOOP Synopsis
      • SNOOP Script
      • SNOOP Article
    • Collaborative Novel Writing >
      • BEASTS OF EDEN
      • THE HEART OF ATLANTIS
    • "In the Blood" Short Story
    • Movie Reviews
    • Articles
    • Other Memes
    • Daily Thoughts in the Classroom
  • About
    • Contact