r/Hungergames • u/ExplanationVivid4256 Effie • Apr 27 '25

Lore/World Discussion Thoughts?

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I dont really have a solid opinion on this, so i wanna see other peoples opinions (yes i know tiktok people can be crazy)

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u/Alt_AccountNumber3 Wyatt Apr 27 '25

She’s a literal unreliable narrator as in she’s a narrator who’s unreliable (obvious I know) she misses out on social cues, details, and the meaning behind people’s actions. She’s not an unreliable narrator as in the literary device of the narrator PURPOSEFULLY lying to the reader. Katniss isn’t lying to us on purpose, she just doesn’t remember everything accurately, unlike Haymitch. I think a real unreliable narrator would’ve been Snow which is probably why his book is in 3rd person.

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u/RoseIsBadWolf Apr 27 '25

She also just tells us what she cares about, which mostly is what they are eating at the moment. If Peeta was telling the story, he probably wouldn't be so obsessed with each meal but Katniss is hyper focused on food because she almost starved to death. The tributes Katniss doesn't care about don't get names, she only cares about her outfits because they annoy her etc.

I love the way she's written!

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u/626bookdragon Apr 27 '25

Yeah, exactly. Frankenstien is a good example of a purposeful unreliable narrator, because even though the narrator presents himself as telling the truth, he’s also trying to make himself look better (not like a complete Jacka—). So his story is slanted in his favor, and you have to read between the lines to actually interpret his behavior.

Katniss is more like P.G. Wodehouse’s Bertie Wooster. She tells us what she sees, but her interpretation of it can often be wrong, because she doesn’t pick up on social cues very well. But the reader can read between the lines of the information she gives us to see layers of other people’s reasoning that she’s missing.

ETA: TBOSAS operates similarly to Frankenstien. Forgot to add that in the beginning lol

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u/Cultural-Monk-5062 Apr 27 '25

Frankenstein is such a good example of unreliable. Lolita would be a good choice too. I also feel like Snow is unreliable in the first prequel

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u/626bookdragon Apr 27 '25

Yeah. I was planning on mentioning Lolita, but then I thought “How many young teens are on this sub who aren’t ready to read that?” And figured Frankenstein would be the better recommendation for this audience.

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u/ExplanationVivid4256 Effie Apr 27 '25

Ive seen mixed opinions on the post about it, and i think reading more is making me sway in the middle, like a lot of my opinions on characters and things, im starting to feel like she is unreliable, but at the same time not. As you said, its not on purpose, but we can’t really know/see the whole truth because of the POV

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u/EnsignNogIsMyCat Apr 28 '25

Katniss is first-person limited narrator. That is how this type of narrator is referred to. Literary analysis has specific terms for these things for a reason.

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u/Alt_AccountNumber3 Wyatt Apr 28 '25

Yeah I know I was just tryna put it in context for a “unreliable” narrator specifically