Character Sketches: The Hunger Games

If you recognized the banner photo at the top of this blog post, you might have guessed that I will be looking over The Hunger Games, by Susanne Collins. The following sketches include some extra strokes and are more down to earth, as the first of these movies and books are more of a shock to the system; something that people were not expecting. Though these are just a few of the vivid characters that Susanne Collins, the author of the trilogy, created, I chose some of my favorites and explain why. I did use versions of the movie-based characters, as I appreciate the effort that was taken in creating characters largely based on the concept that Collins created in her books.

As a short summary, The Hunger Games, by Susanne Collins, is a young adult, futuristic, science fiction where the capitol of the known world, Panem, has been offering tributes of one boy and one girl from every city or “district” as they are called here in order to prevent an uprising to power. The children are tasked to fight to the death in an arena until there is only one person remaining, the “victor.” The president of Panem protects his position by filming the entire “games” and forcing all citizens to watch. *Spoiler alert* There are two victors at the end of Collins’ book, an anomaly from all other games. One of them realizes that though they survived, they are still in grave danger. The overarching themes of this book are courage, dangers of war, and family (old and new). If you have not read the books or seen the movie, I recommend that you read the following with caution, as I am continuing on the assumption that everyone is familiar with the storyline and I may prematurely reveal certain elements of the story.

As part of my process, I chose to use a different colored pencil to reflect the personality of each character. I chose green for Katniss because of her favorite color and the trees that she loves. Then there is sunset orange for Peeta because it his favorite color and as a nod towards what is to come in future books. Gale is drawn in brown because he works hard to provide for his family and is Katniss’s hunting partner. Cinna gets purple because it’s a royal color and he is willing to stand up for what is right, even among oppression. Haymitch is regular black lead because at this point, he’s still very angry with life in general.

Katniss - Of course, she is the hero of this story, with the voice from the books coming from her point of view. She demonstrates love for family and determination from the beginning, and by the end we see her ideas enhanced because of the tragedy that she faces.

Peeta - The Samwise Gamgee of the story. He seems to be a random side character and is truly the heart of the story, bringing a smile and hope when it is most needed.

Gale - Everyone wants Katniss to fall for Gale, and he is worth it. But then Katniss is sent into the games and he is left to watch. From that point on, he struggles to grasp a life he always imagined, but never experienced.

Haymitch - One of my favorite characters because of his authenticity. He has a very cinical view of the world. He is given the seemingly futile task of keeping the kids alive who are least likely to survive. Yet he does what he can in each moment and it pays off in the end.

Cinna - He is the most human among those in the capital and puts his heart into his designs. When Katniss comes along, he does one better. He stands up for her in the only way he can; through the fashion that he creates.

I plan on trying to develop more character sketches similar to these. I would include with each blog my version of fan art with some short explanations for my favorite characters. Keep an eye out for more!

References:

Collins, S. (2008). The Hunger Games. New York: Scholastic Press.