lo927

Hero/Heroine

There are a couple of hero/heroines in this story, but the main ones are Katniss and Peeta, District 12's present tributes. To me, all the characters in this book are heroes in their own way. They all to extraordinary things and show amazing courage in the face of adversity.

Plot Summary

Every year the 12 districts of Panem are forced by the Capitol to enter one boy and one girl into the Hunger Games, a televised revenge to watch these boys and girls fight for the right to survive. Twenty-four go in and only one can come out alive. The Hunger Games are a gruesome and brutal event and this book follows the story of Katniss and Peeta, District 12's tributes. They BOTH manage to survive - something that has never happened before..... and the Capitol doesn't like it.

Departure

~Call to Adventure

Katniss' is called to adventure when her sister Prim's name is pulled out to go and represent District 12 in the Hunger Games. Katniss is crushed when Prim's name is called out and without even realizing it she volunteers herself in Prim's place. Having Prim's name called out is Katniss' call to adventure, the love she felt for her sister was so strong that she couldn't bear for Prim to go embark on an adventure that meant certain death.

Peeta's call to Adventure is nearly exactly the same as Katniss' except that he doesn't have to volunteer in any ones place. His name is drawn out of the ball by Effie, the announcer and this is his calling.

~Refusal of the Call

Katniss herself didn't refuse the call, her sister Prim tried to get Katniss not to volunteer and refuse the call but Katniss is firm with her choice to take Prim's place.

Peeta doesn't refuse the call because once your name is drawn out to compete you have not choice but to compete unless someone else volunteers in your place.

~Supernatural Aid

After Katniss volunteers in Prim's place and they start going through all the formalities, Haymitch appears. He is a past district 12 winner of the Hunger Games and he will be Katniss and Peeta's mentor. This is Katniss and Peeta's supernatural aid.

~Crossing of the First Threshold

Katniss and Peeta cross the First Threshold when their names are drawn out to compete in the Hunger Games. After the names are drawn and the formalities are over Katniss and Peeta are taken to into custody and taken to the Justice building. After being given time to say goodbye to their loved ones Peeta and Katniss are taken away on a train to the Capitol.                      

  ~Belly of the Whale

Katniss and Peeta step completely into the unknown world when they arrive at the Capitol, everything they know is completely different and foreign. The Capitol is also the place where they will both compete in the Hunger Games.

Initiation

~Road of Trials

Katniss and Peeta’s road of trials starts as soon as they get onto the train and head towards the Capitol. When they arrive in the Capitol they meet the other tributes and are publicly displayed and questioned. When the Hunger Games start, Katniss and Peeta are constantly undergoing tests on their road of trials - the most important of them being trying to stay alive. Katniss and Peeta are successful at the start surviving the most dangerous times, but eventually they are injured and are faced with great risks.

~Meeting with the Goddess

This is when Peeta announces to the whole live audience of the Capitol that he is in love with Katniss. Until this moment, Katniss had no idea that Peeta had even liked her.

~Woman as Temptress

When Katniss volunteered her name for the Hunger Games instead of her sister she had no choice about the matter. She is forced to continue the journey. But she does contemplate running away before she is forced into the arena. Another slight example of this is when both Katniss and Peeta start to commit suicide together, although this is just a ploy to try and get the Capitol to let them both live it could have failed , thus distracting Katniss from continuing on the journey.

~Atonement with the Father

This is when Katniss meets Rue and Peeta. By meeting Rue, Katnisshas a helper and this helps her survive. By meeting Peeta, Katniss is able to form an alliance and wins her favour with the television audience and helps her survive.

~Apotheosis

This is when Katniss and Peeta start to swallow poisonous berries in hopes that the Capitol will let them both live. Katniss and Peeta enter a state of enlightenment because they both survive and now experience a state of rest as they are returned to the Capitol and they get fixed up by the doctors.

~Ultimate Boon

This is when Katniss and Peeta both come out of the Hunger Games alive.

Return

~Refusal of the Return

Katniss and Peeta are both hesitant about returning to District 12 because to survive and return to District 12 means that one of them has to die. So, they are both hesitant about returning because they think that the other one deserves to live more than they do.

~Magic Flight

This is where Katniss and Peeta are both standing on the Cornucopia and Katniss has a brilliant idea. Both Peeta and Katniss know that there can only be one winner of the Hunger Games, but Katniss has the idea that they should both kill each other with the berries she has in her belt pouch. Therefore, transforming the berries into life saving things. When the game makers work out what Katniss has planned they retaliate and agree to let both Katniss and Peeta live, letting them both escape with the ultimate boon.

~Rescue from Without

After winning, Peeta and Katniss get taken up to doctors who frantically start working on Peeta. When they take Peeta away, Katniss starts hurtling herself at the glass trying to follow him and ends up with someone jabbing her with a needle. She ends up waking up and after awhile is allowed to go and see Haymithch, Effie, and Cinna who help her on her journey back to District 12. Haymitch also coaches her on what to say during the interviews so she doesn't make the Capitol more angry.

~Crossing of the Return Threshold

This is where Peeta and Katniss end up having a chat after they have finished their interviews. Katniss tells Peeta about how the Capitol is really angry about the fact that they both survived and that Haymitch has been coaching her through the last couple of days of interviews. She talks about how she acts like it wasn't actually her idea.

~Master of Two Worlds

This is where Katniss and Peeta come out of the arena and start giving interviews with Caesar. They talk about their love for each other. They have mastered the world of the Hunger Games and they have mastered the world outside of the games.

~Freedom to Live

This could be where the train finally gets home and Peeta and Katniss finally go home to their families after their terrible ordeal. But Katniss still continues to worry about the future, so I think that the Freedom to Live stage comes at the end of the third book.

Final Thoughts

I think that the whole project idea that you had for this subject was a brilliant idea! It was really interesting to each month learn about new aspects of a hero's journey and then put it into practise in one of our own favourite stories so that everyone could read it. I now put what I have learnt into my own life even and now have a desire to do more research about Joseph Campbell and The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Last term, I even told my class about Joseph Campbell's The Hero with a Thousand Faces and aspects about the hero's journey when we were analysing our novel for the term. 

How closely does my story follow Joseph Campbell's hero quest? Well, I would say fairly closely.  And yes, I do see elements of the Monomyth in other stories and movies pratically every story and movie actually.

At this moment in my life, I am just coming up to the start of my journey - the refusal of the call.... So I would just like to thank you for providing an excellent class. I have learnt so much that I will use in the future.