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Heroine

While you could choose more than one hero/heroine from the whole series, it is obvious that our main protagonist is Katniss Everdeen. The books are written in first person and they guide the reader through her point of view. And well, beside all of that, she follows the journey stages that a hero has to go through. In addition, she's the center of the story and the ultimate 'key' to saving the world, once she accepts her role as a heroine and uses her influence to prevent the evil that roams her land. She rises from a not-so-significant person to being -the- person, unique and vital to the story.

Plot Summary

The story takes place in a post-apocalyptic world, in what used to be North America. The place is now called Panem, and is divided into sectors, where the main one is The Capital and acts as the controlling place for the other sectors known as Districts. There used to be a total of 13 districts, and they were all assigned different areas to work on (such as farming, fishing, coal-mining, diamond-mining, etc.). However, there are now only 12 districts left (or so the first book says) as District 13 was destroyed in an uprising of the citizens of Panem against the Capitol. Furthermore, to make sure this never happens again, the Capitol have introduced the Hunger Games - an annual death match of children aged 12-18 where one girl and one boy is picked to represent their respective district.

Our heroine is called Katniss Everdeen, and she herself belongs to District 12 where coal-mining is done. Her father died in the mines when she was a kid and her mother has been in a state of shock ever since. So it fell on her back to look after the whole family, including her younger sister, Prim, and to ensure they had something to eat so they don't die out of starvation. She managed to do this through illegal hunting in the woods surrounding the district, and she had a partner in this - Gale, who has had a similar fate like hers. She also volunteered to have her name put into the Reaping (choosing the tributes or children from each district) several times every year just because they provided people with small supplies for it. Our heroine is scared that she'll get chosen for the games due to her name being in so many times, but what she doesn't expect is her sister being picked. Unable to let that happen, Katniss volunteers for the games as a tribute where she will also have to kill a boy from her district if she is to survive and bring wealth and survival to her family. Unfortunately for her, this happens to be a boy who helped her without even knowing her in a time where she needed it the most - the boy with the bread, Peeta Mellark.

Departure

Call to Adventure

In the Hunger Games, for Katniss Everdeen this stage happens before the actual Reaping where they choose the tributes for the games. While hunting with Gale in the woods surrounding her district they discuss the possibility that one of them, or heaven's forbid, her sister gets chosen to be a tribute in the games. Though this is not the actual start of her hero journey, this is the first time that she's clouded with emotions that lead toward it. If there ever was a Call to Adventure in this story, then this is it. Her reaction to the thoughts of being in the games is her call.

Refusal of the Call

Soon after the conversation mentioned above, our heroine discusses yet another option --- running away from District 12. They think about getting their families and leaving the place before the Reaping even takes part. And this wasn't just an idea thrown away, but a thought that lingered with them for a quite a few days. Both of them were actually considering the idea seriously, and they even thought of how it can be done, what they would do afterward, etc. They had it all planned out, really, it was like they were just waiting for one of them to say "let's go!" and they'll be miles away from their home place.

Supernatural Aid

One could say that there is no supernatural aid present in Katniss Everdeen's journey. However, though it's not supernatural, I would like to believe that she in fact has aid from multiple sides. First there's the mockingjay pin she receives before leaving, then Gale's support, her sister Prim asking her to at least try and win, etc. Her whole district ends up being her aid to reassure her that she can and should do this. She is strong, if anyone could do it from their district then it's her.

Crossing of the First Threshold

This stage would have to represented by the train heading to the Capitol. Our heroine has never been outside her own District, minus the whole illegal hunting in the woods surrounding it, but that's completely different. She gets to see what's out there in the world, and it's all new to her. Her head is flooded with emotions both about this new world and what expects her ahead. It's just like Harry Potter's journey with the Hogwarts Express - it's their first touch with this "other world" where their journey is to take place.

Belly of the Whale

The train stops at the Capitol. It's more majestic that Katniss could ever imagine, and this is it - this is what her departure has been leading to, this is where her journey is to take place. She is now far away from home and there is no return, whether she likes her "quest" or not, she's reached the starting point and now has to do it. It might not be easy, it might get harder as time goes, she might even fail, but there's no going back, she has to at least try. Nothing is as it used to be, both the place and the people are unfamiliar to her - she's pretty much on her own in this new world.

Initiation

Road of Trials

Now that she's in the Capitol, it's time for our hero to get ready for the games. Her first trials include the tribute parade, where her and Peeta did a fantastic job thanks to Cinna's flaming dresses; the training, where she finds out she might have a harder time winning than she expected; then the scores from every tribute's presentation; and the interviews. Katniss fears she's failed  the training and that the Game Makers will give her a low score for her presentation where she showed off her archery skills, and in a moment of anger shot an arrow at the Game Makers, but in fact they liked her fierceness and she ended up having the best score from all the tributes. Then she fears the interviews as she answers rapidly and says what's exactly on her mind so often says things that people dislike. But she needs to do good if she is to get more sponsors on her side and have a better chance at winning. Thankfully, the interviewer and Cinna helped her leave a charming impression.

Meeting with the Goddess

While this stage is a bit harder, I believe Katniss goes through it at the end of the interviews mentioned above. The last person to be interviewed is Peeta and in his final answers her tells he's been in love with Katniss for quite a while now even though they've never met beside that one moment years back where he helped her out. It's hard to interpret the stage, but as this statement of love is going to cloud Katniss' judging forever, I'd like to think it was a rather crucial moment. Plus, it made her more loved by the crowd, it managed to do what her own interview did.

Woman as a Temptress

I've thought about this for a while but I believe this stage is not present in Katniss' journey.

Atonement with the Father

The games are about to start, but Katniss is still feeling unsure about her journey. It is then that Haymitch and Cinna's advice helps her regain her confidence and enter the games with hope and will for survival. Haymitch is her mentor, he's one who has already won these games back in his days and therefore he acts as the fatherly figure with incredible powers. Plus Katniss does not have a father, and it is Haymitch who has been preparing her for this the whole time, hence he's the one who manages to say the final words who give her the strength and spirit she's been lacking. Let the Hunger Games begin!

Apotheosis

While Katniss doesn't "die" at any point in the story, nor gets close to it, I believe this stage can be interpreted through Peeta. When he's so hurt she fears he's about to die, but doesn't want to let go of him because they Game Makers announced if the two tributes from the same District are the last survivals they'll both win, is when she feels the most 'down', or so to speak. This is her breaking point, and closest to the point where the final stages of her journey begin. The Game Makers offer the remaining tributes to obtain what they need if they have the courage to go at the same spot at the same time, and thankfully Katniss acquires the cure for Peeta.

Ultimate Boon

Soon after Peeta's been healed, the final few tributes match their skills one against each other, and victory seems to be on the sight. Katniss and Peeta both survived as Cato, the other remaining tribute, dies. This is what they've been fighting for - the last remaining people from the same District will be crowned as victors and they'll be famous and rich and finally be able to return to their families. It's been a long road but they've made it!

Return

Refusal of the Return

I do not believe this stage exists in Katniss Everdeen's quest. Heck, she couldn't wait to get home to her family!

Magic Flight

The ultimate boon is victory in this story, so it can't really be 'stolen', right? Well, it can. As Katniss and Peeta happily await being crowned and brought home at last, the Game Makers once again change the rules - there can only be one victor, as always, and the previous rule change does not apply anymore. This leaves our hero and Peeta having to fight one each other. Peeta suggests she kills him off, as she was always going to win, but Katniss doesn't want to do it. Instead, she finds the true purpose of her journey, proving to the Capitol that they're more than just toys in their games - she finds a way for both of them to die at the same time, which would defeat the whole purpose of the Hunger Games. Realizing this, the Game Makers stop them, and announce that they're both victors of the 74th annual Hunger Games.

Rescue from Without

Once they were pulled out from the Arena, Katniss had all her injuries taken care of by the Capitol's staff. All her fire burns were now gone, all the marks she had were now gone - it was as if she's never even been in the games.

This is the best I could think of for this stage, sorry!

Crossing of the Return Threshold

Katniss learned a lot through the games, and honestly after the games as well --- Haymitch and Cinna told her that her act against the games will cost her a lot and that the whole Capitol is probably going to keep a close eye on her. Unless she calms down, she might start a whole revolution and it won't bring anything good to her family. And while she loves her family and would love to share everything with them, she fears they might not understand and it's best if they do not know about the whole revolution thing. As the train travels back to sent them home, Katniss is trying to decide what to do with that she knows now.

Master of Two Worlds

Katniss had mastered her own world way before her journey even began, but now she's proven herself in the Capitol and the games as well. She's a new person, a person who is part both of the Capitol and District 12. She knows people both here and there, she knows how to act both here and there, and is simply comfortable with both worlds. At this point, now that the games are over and she knows of the influence she can have on people, she's truly a Master of Two Worlds.

Freedom to Live

The bare fact that she won the games, gives Katniss a guarantee that she's free to live her life now. Both her and her family, along with Peeta and his family, are now Victors of the Hunger Games and will be treated with great respect, fame, and be showered with riches. Katniss no longer has to worry about the survival of her family, nor the whole Hunger Games. For now, she can rest and live her life freely as she has earned that freedom by obtaining the ultimate boon - winning the Hunger Games.

Final Thoughts

Well first, to be honest, I didn't do any additional reading or reminding myself of The Hunger Games so I did the whole project on what was already in my head from previously reading the series (even though my analysis is solely on the first book). And I think The Hunger Games follows Joseph Cambell's Hero Quest quite closely, even though it doesn't have a stage or two, but obviously a hero doesn't have to go through all of the stages. There is also no kind of supernatural aid present in this story, but the aid is still there and it happens as it should - when the hero is at the appropriate stage.

Other stories who follow the stages on top of my head are Rick in The Walking Dead, then characters (you can name your own character, obviously) from many games such as Dragon Age, Warcraft, The Frozen Throne, etc. I'm not a comic person as even though I love them I haven't really read that many so I'm not sure I can list a lot of characters but I'm pretty sure Spiderman and Batman for example do have most of these stages. It's a general hero-centered analysis that I think can be applied to most stories if you think about them enough.

I'm glad I took this class as even though I had my own, similar to this, theory of what defines a hero, now I am more reassured and have better knowledge of it. It was also fun applying what I had learned in this class to the analysis I did of The Hunger Games.