Katniss Everdeen as a heroine: an analysis of the Hero’s Journey and the role of the mentor

Abstract

Out of a compilation of the archetypes developed by Carl Gustav Jung, Joseph Campbell creates his theory of the hero’s journey. Campbell (2004) develops this theory as a way of tracing patterns on how individuals’ character is developed, by understanding that these myths proposed by Jung follows a pattern intrinsic to our society. Christopher Vogler (2007) applies The hero’s journey to the sphere of movies in order to create a manual for screenwriters to write successful narratives. This thesis has as a goal to analyse both the heroine’s journey and the role the mentor in the dystopian novel The Hunger Games (2008). For this paper, Campbell’s hero’s journey adapted by Vogler (2007) is used. It is observed that The Hunger Games follows the structure of the hero’s journey, from the very beginning to the end of the narrative. The role of her mentor, Haymitch Abernathy, is crucial for the success of the heroine in the mission.