In Praise of Katniss Everdeen

It was without doubt that The Hunger Games trilogy is full of many of the tropes that pervade YA fiction. Present and correct is the tyrany of the elders. Those in power have redesigned society for their own protection. Having been subject to a revolution, which they resisted at great cost (District 13). Once the revolution was suppressed, the ruling classes put in place a punishment to remind the Districts who was in charge, taking two children from each of 12 Districts, one male, one female, and putting them in an arena in a fight to the death.
President Snow is an unforgiving, totemic villain. He was, presumably, a child when the revolution happened, if he was even alive when it happened. Although his title is President, was he elected? He certainly seems to behave like a dictator.

Gale and Peeta as the objects of affection make a pretty standard love triangle. This is the standard for every female protagonist now (and to be honest, I'm a little bored of it). Next.The games themselves, while not a trope, are not a new idea. Stephen King's The Running Man was based on a similar premise, although in that case, the game was out in the real world and the participants volunteered in order to make enough money for their families. In the Hunger Games, participation in the games is enforced and is a tool of control.

So, why do I like Katniss?

Katniss is ordinary.

Katniss has bow skills. Ok. So what? She had to do this to feed her family. She learned how to kill small animals for meat and trade.
Does she have superpowers? No. Unless you consider her selfless devotion to her sister. Katniss isn't the chosen one. She volunteers as tribute. She doesn't go into the arena with the intention of killing the other contestants; she only wants to survive.
Her honesty is another "superpower". Katniss isn't very good at winning sponsors because she doesn't like "playing the politics game". Even in the arena, when her life depends on encouraging the relationship with Peeta, she holds back because her honesty is of higher value to her.

Katniss is weak.

Once she has become the champion, she suffers. Her life is forever tainted by the memories of what she has done or been party to, and that was after spending her life dealing with the death of her father. She doesn't want to be the Mockingjay. They effectively have to bribe and guilt trip her into taking on the role. Even then, the only way they can leverage their reluctant celebrity is to allow her into the real world so that she can experience the suffering of the people she has inspired and get angry.
When she is in District 13, she physically hides away from her responsibilities, having to be dragged out to face the public eye.

Katniss is angry.

Katniss has serious anger management issues. All of her brightest moments are driven by rage. She hates Snow for what he did to her. She hates Snow for what he is doing to the people. She hates Coin for trying to use her. Much of what Katniss does, especially in the second and third books, is driven by her anger and hatred.
The rescue of Peeta is driven by Katniss' rage. All the deaths in the Second Uprising are driven by her rage. Every time she speaks up and creates a propoganda moment, it is driven by her rage (with one notable exception: the Hanging Tree song, which is a memory of her father).
Yet even with that, she makes a deal with Snow to protect her family, because one thing that Katniss isn't is stupid. She knows that she still only lives by the grace of President Snow.

Katniss is kind.

This isn't the sort of kindness that wins awards and gets you to prominence/abuse within the PTA. This is the simple kindness of someone who wishes you no harm. Taking care of her sister is one thing, but taking care of Rue is another entirely. Even at the end of book one, she doesn't kill Cato out of malice, but to stop his suffering at the mercies of the mutts.
When she visits the makeshift hospital in Mockingjay, someone asks about 'the baby', a ruse from Catching Fire, devised to generate sympathy among the Capitol crowd and perhaps inspire a call for he games to be cancelled. Out of kindness, Katniss almost tells the woman the truth, but finds she can't, knowing that the hope is needed to keep the people going forward.

I like Katniss because she is a genuine accidental hero. She has no grand prophecy, she isn't "The Chosen One"™, and she isn't going to come out of this well. She stands up to do the right thing initially, but then is obligated to continue. She accepts this obligation, always with her eye on protecting her family. She is real, or as real as can be expected in such a desperate situation.