Senior Thesis

She's the Man Coerced into Womanhood and She's the Girl Transformed by Manhood

Analyzation of the Characterization of Female Protagonists in The Hunger Games and Divergent

Abstract

This undergraduate-level senior thesis is a comparison in the characterization of the female protagonists from The Hunger Games and Tris from Divergent. This discusses that these two books are radical because Katniss and Tris as female characters do not follow gender norms and become rebels in their societies for this reason, but their journeys are in response to their own survival.

Introduction

    Young adult dystopian societies have become increasingly popular in the past decade. The Hunger Games (2008) by Suzanne Collins and Divergent (2011) by Veronica Roth have become the face of the genre after going to the movie screens, and both series represent the ideals of feminism, gender, and coming-of-age. Because this genre is becoming even more popular in response to these movie adaptations, people should come to realize that these young female protagonists are examples of feminism and female empowerment.

     Katniss and Tris seem to be very similar in character, but their journeys in their novels show that they are two different kinds of strong female protagonists. Katniss’ journey as the Girl on Fire is one where she must use her feminine side along with her masculinity to survive. On the other hand, Tris has to learn how to hide in plain sight by blending in with her new faction to keep away unwanted attention from herself.

    First, scholars point out that Katniss and Tris’ appearances change as an act of rebellion to free themselves. Next, researchers show that the two young heroines are aware of everything around them and think calculatingly. Finally, scholars argue that these two girls from the young adult dystopian society genre act in rebellious ways intentionally. I have built on these ideas clearly showing that both Katniss and Tris bring together masculine and feminine traits for their survival, but they do so in different ways.

     Katniss learns how to become more vulnerable and feminine as her government forces her to appear more feminine in appearance while Tris physically strengthens her body and willingly wears different clothing to blend in with her new faction. Both female protagonists’ thoughts may seem to betray their characters but Katniss reasons out her thoughts while Tris tends to translate hers through emotions. Both coping mechanisms are a means to protect themselves from unwanted attention once their thoughts transform into actions. Katniss’ actions allow her to be independent, which help save both herself and fellow district tribute, Peeta, but she has to learn to be more dependent on others. Tris often learns that she has to depend on herself to protect herself from harm as she learns more about her corrupt city. In these three aspects of characterization through a feminist lens, both Katniss and Tris in The Hunger Games and Divergent respectively do not seem to fit the traditional gender roles in response to their methods of survival. Because both female protagonists incorporate both male and female traits in their everyday lives in their ways, the genre suggests that there is not one single ideal female hero but a possibility of many for young women to become.

The Young Adult Dystopian Society Novel

    The young adult dystopian society novel is a combination of different characteristics of two different genres, which are young adult novels and dystopian novels. In this particular genre, there has been a rise of strong female protagonists that impact the young adult population’s internal growth as they read this genre.

Young Adult Literature

     In the 1960s, the Young Adult Library Services Association, or YALSA created the term “young adult” (Strickland). There is no set definition for young adult literature but these novels primarily target an audience from the ages of twelve to eighteen and often are characterized as fast-paced coming-of-age stories. These teenage protagonists face problems that start from a large troubling event and lead to a struggle of finding themselves in life every day through thought and actions (Koss, Teale 567).

     Young adult literature represents teenagers who challenge the ideas of society and often rebel against them to gain more freedom or learn an important lesson about life that helps lead them to adulthood. The genre typically includes family relationships, romantic relationships, journeys, self-actualization, and controversial topics about drugs, alcohol, sex, and violence (“Dystopias”).

     Other characteristics include one or both absent parents, rejection of gender roles, sexual awakening, and justice (Brendler 222). According to Reading for a Better World, young adult literature is becoming more popular because it allows teenagers to understand war, violence, and a search for peace (Wolk 669). The young adult genre may only be less than sixty years old, but it influences the lives of many teenagers and young adults, which is why it is still popular today.

Dystopian Novel

    The second part of the young adult dystopian society novel is the dystopian novel, which shows through the background of both novels through an oppressive but falsely perceived perfect world. Dystopian societies became a derivative of the word utopia, or a perfect world, which means “non-existing good place.” Thomas More coined the word Utopia with his published book Utopia in the eighteenth century that focused on the idea of desiring equality (Mohr 19). In 1868, John Stuart Mill created the word “dystopia” when he gave his speech in Parliament.

     Since dystopia is the opposite of a utopia, dystopia means “non-existing bad place” (29). Other scholars see dystopian societies as societies usually set in the future, where the government utilizes brainwashing, propaganda, fear, oppression of the citizens by restricting uniqueness, and creating the idea that the society is perfect even though it is not (Cart). This kind of novel eventually leads to rebellion in a search for justice. According to Dunja Mohr, a dystopian society “reverses, mistrusts, and parodies the ideals of a perfectly regulated utopian state” (28). A dystopian society deals with the issues of politics, surveillance, and violence in a society that controls their citizens, which often makes their protagonist look like a rebel when he or she simply tries to make his or her life better (“Dystopias”). These protagonists become revolutionaries and inspire others to fight for their freedom.

Positive Feminine Presence

     In the past ten years, there has been a rise in first-person female protagonists in young adult dystopian societies, and they have become more popular in both literature and film. These women become the revolutionaries that inspire rebellion through their actions typically without any intentions to create change. Through this rise, the young adult dystopian society genre is also a feminist utopia because these novels tend “to transgress gender boundaries and to synthesize contraries like masculine and feminine” (Jones 74).

     The feminist utopian novel is one that gives women empowerment than the social norm as they become more capable of taking part as citizens by challenging the middle class’ zeal and changing their society with ideas that allow them to be one with nature (Silbergleid 157-158). Ottoh-Agede and Essien-Eyo believe that gender expectations in women and young girls are a reflection of gender norms imposed or not imposed on them in both their homes and in society (15). These girls often perform their tasks in a more masculine fashion rather than the expected feminine ways.

What This All Means

    To put these three separate terms together (young adult, dystopian society, and feminist utopia), young adult dystopian society fiction is now typically about young teenager girls who grow closer to adulthood as they challenge gender roles and their oppressive governments in order to obtain more freedom. Through all three concepts together, young adult dystopian societies are so popular that they have book to movie adaptations that often show the themes of love, suffering, and growth.

    Once carefully examined, both Katniss and Tris’ characters fit these trends but their differences are also as clear as their similarities. These two protagonists use a combination of female and male traits in two different ways though their appearances, inner and outer dialogue, and actions.

Appearance is Not Everything

    First, the female heroines both portray stereotypical teenagers trying to find their place in their worlds. As their journeys unfold in their novels, both female heroines learn that they are not stereotypical teenage girls who have to become extraordinary to survive their cruel worlds.

Nothing But An Average Teenage Female

     The first-person narrator in The Hunger Games is Katniss Everdeen in the post-apocalyptic United States referred to as Panem. Her description portrays her to be a short sixteen-year-old with brown hair, gray eyes and small in stature or, in other words, she seems to be an average teenager. She is one of the lowest citizens of the oppressive Panem since she lives in District 12’s Seam. In the novel, District 12 is one of the poorest districts, and Katniss resides in District 12’s the Seam where coal miners work day and night with hardly enough food to feed their families. Katniss’ main goal is to protect her mother and especially her sister at any cost to her well-being.

     In Roth’s novel, Beatrice “Tris” Prior is also a small sixteen-year-old average-looking girl who lives under an oppressive post-apocalyptic government in Chicago under a faction system. She starts out living in one of the most oppressive lifestyles for anyone in her society, which is Abnegation. Abnegation is the selfless part of her society where members put themselves last and sometimes get taken advantage of by other factions. Tris decides to change her faction to Dauntless, or the brave and warrior culture, during the novel’s choosing ceremony. She tries to create a new identity where she becomes strong and capable like a man and outsmarts her oppressive society.

Identity Through Cross-Dressing

     Most young adult literature represents girls who are small in stature and height, and almost every dystopian society fiction has female protagonists who start in the novels as sixteen years old since the publication of The Hunger Games. Identity is also an important theme in this genre as these girls’ governments strip away their identity and force them to create another. The appearances these girls create become a large part of their identities.

     As Katniss and Tris’ identities unfold before the reader, they fit into cross-dressing trends in young adult feminist dystopias. According to Victoria Flanagan, cross-dressing for females is freeing and allows them to live more like a male (78-79). Females who cross-dress in dystopian societies often do it out of necessity rather than desire. Societies in literature often oppress young girls and women by coercing them into wearing dresses, but many of these female characters often hide their hair and dress like men to protect their identity as women and possibly rebels.

     Cross-dressing is a weapon for women because their physical appearance is often the first impression they make toward authority, especially in oppressive societies. Katniss and Tris both cross-dress but for different reasons that eventually lead to their survival. Many scholars believe that from the beginning of Collins’ novel Katniss dresses as a man and attempts to hide her gender as a woman. Nevertheless, in Of Queer Necessity, Katniss unwillingly transforms into a more feminine appearance, which makes her feel weak and open for attack (Mitchell 134). Even though Tris sees her feminine side as an asset, Katniss views femininity as a weakness, but she eventually embraces her femininity after circumstances force her to learn how to adapt by becoming more feminine.

Stripped for the Hunt

    Katniss’ physical appearance in The Hunger Games’ descriptions shows her to be feminine, however, the way she dresses says otherwise. When the book first opens, she heads out hunting in man’s clothes, such as a pair of trousers and a shirt, and she hides her hair in a hat (Collins 4). Katniss hides her hair and dresses as a man in an attempt to conceal the rebellious act of defying the idea that hunting is a man’s sport or job, but she uses it as a means of her family’s survival rather than willful rebellion.

     As the story progresses, her appearance becomes less masculine as she looks more feminine physically compared to the beginning of the book because it is Katniss’ only option for survival. When Cinna prepares Katniss’ body for her costume, she has so much hair on her legs and body that her stylists have to rip it all off, which makes her feel like a “plucked bird ready for roasting” (61). The idea that she is this plucked bird shows how Katniss feels that the Hunger Games strips away her identity away little by little and forces her to look weaker as she is preparing to fight and most likely die.

    The next step to her losing her masculinity is the etiquette training her mentors teach her. She has an extremely difficult time walking in a dress and heels as she hopes that she can get out of her new attire soon (115). Her desire to get out of both the dress and heels is an example of removing herself from the stereotypes of women and teenage girls being forced to dress how society wants them, but also an example of embracing individuality.

     Even after winning the Games, her efforts for a masculine appearance become virtually nonexistent. She quickly discovers surgically implanted breasts, which bewilders and upsets Katniss (354). The surgically given bosom translates Katniss’ appearance as more innocent and vulnerable, which devalues the physical masculine character she held onto and also all that she has accomplished since she managed to save both herself and Peeta during the Games.

Ready for a Change

     Tris, on the other hand, has to learn how to carry her weight instead of letting others do it for her as she becomes physically stronger. Many scholars concern themselves more with Tris’ appearance as she looks well-fed. Scholar Cristina Paravano from Real and Metaphorical Hunger states that the food from Abnegation is very plain and meager while Dauntless has food that is less healthy and more flavorful as an act of rebellion (124-126).

     Unlike Katniss, Tris’ appearance changes purposely from feminine to masculine, but little research concerns with Tris’ appearance. She starts out looking like a young and innocent girl with a small face while dressed in plain clothes but then becomes stronger and more nourished as the novel progresses. Strength and a nourished body give her more of a sense of identity and confidence as she becomes more capable of protecting herself while also learning to make her own decisions.

     Even though she believes that she will always feel like the young and innocent girl she was before she came to Dauntless, Tris turns away from her old faction and changes her identity by calling herself Tris rather than her birth name, Beatrice. Tris feels a sense of excitement and relief at the idea of a new name and says, “A new place. A new name. I can be remade here” (60). This represents how Tris uses her slight name change to remove more of herself from her family while protecting herself in a very masculine faction.

     Although Tris changes both her appearance and her name, she is conforming to the system as a means of survival and as an act of defying the faction system. This shows when she receives her first tattoo and says, “I never intended to get pierced or tattooed when I came here. I know that if I do, it will place another wedge between me and my family that I can never remove” (Roth 90). Tris’ intentions of getting a tattoo is a means to get away from conforming to one faction to creating a new and different life in another, but it also allows her to protect herself by blending in by becoming more Dauntless and less Abnegation. Since she is transforming herself, Tris makes herself less vulnerable and attempts to blend in so that she will not attract unwanted attention from the oppressive leaders in her society.

     Between both cases, Katniss does not have the option of the change in her appearance but Tris changes as a form of willful and necessary conformity, which facilitates in both their survival while living in male-dominated worlds.

Hidden Thoughts and Emotions and Their Verbal Translations

    Next, both protagonists, for the most part, show discomfort toward love with the opposite gender but also show awareness of being watched. Through the first-person narrative of the young adult dystopian society, there is a second layer that shows the protagonists’ reasoning, or lack of reasoning, when it comes to their actions. Both Katniss and Tris have a large portion of thought monologue, but their inner thoughts look different from their actions because of their reasoning. Both characters experience discomfort over their desires in their novels.

Discomforting Desires

    Katniss struggles with her discomfort over her desires concerning Peeta and his motives throughout the novel. According to Katherine R. Broad, Ellyn Lem, and Holly Hassel, Katniss copes through the discomfort of acting out the romance and having real feelings for Peeta by strategizing what is necessary for survival. Her thoughts become stoic as she rationalizes all the reasons why she should act out the romance for the watching crowd.

     On the other hand, Tris feels discomfort over her desires to pursue Four, her male counterpart. Tris feels extremely uncomfortable with her thoughts as she wraps her mind around expressing her feelings when she is near Four since she never could have relations with boys or men like him. Through getting over her discomfort, Tris can have “increased confidence and willingness to pursue larger forms of social rebellion” (Day, Docile Bodies 88). Tris’ growth in expressing her feelings is a rebellious act from her original faction.

    Not only do these two young women deal with discomfort with the romance in their lives, but they also become self-aware of the problems that lie in their societies. Both Katniss and Tris are aware of the surveillance, which forces them to be cautious of their actions. According to the Brendler, Katniss’ circumstance coerces her to deal with surveillance through panopticon, or an enclosed space, while Chicago leaders watch Tris through the tracking serum injections and video surveillance (222). Self-awareness is becoming more aware of what is real and unreal in the simulations that Tris encounters under the Dauntless’ initiation process (Green-Bartreet 45). Katniss, too, becomes aware of surveillance throughout her entire time in the arena, and even before, as she performs for everyone else.

Perception of Motives

    Katniss’ thoughts and emotions show in most cases both physically and mentally that she controls them throughout the novel, which provides depth to her character through her responses to the situations she undertakes.  Scholars say little about Katniss’ emotions and thoughts, which range from skepticism and indecision to guilt and regret. Katniss’ automatic response to others’ motives is skepticism but then leads to indecision.

     Immediately after the reaping of the tributes to fight to the death, Katniss witnesses Peeta’s crying but he does not appear to be hiding, which makes her question his motives as a means to trick everyone else (Collins 40-41). A typical response of females is to feel pity or sympathy or, in this case, empathy because Katniss is heading into the same direction, which is impending death. Unfortunately, Katniss expresses neither sympathy nor empathy, which shows that her masculinity by portraying none of these emotions.

    As time progresses while Katniss witnesses more of Peeta’s actions during the Games, her reactions are still skeptical but evolve into indecision concerning Peeta. After Katniss thinks about Peeta’s crying and helping drunk Haymitch, she questions his motives of doing so as being kind but then immediately reverts to skepticism in thinking that he plans to be Haymitch’s favorite (60). This is a response that takes the idea that Katniss is not naïve enough to take a single gesture as a means of weakness and that she should still watch her back from her adversaries, which shows her lack of femininity.

    Several times throughout the novel, Katniss uses stoicism and reasoning as a means to hide her true feelings of fear, weakness, and anxiety. She resorts to stoicism, especially when she feels the need to cry. The first instance where she feels like she wants to cry is after she is away from the stage and alone. However, she will not allow herself to cry by telling herself, “Crying is not an option” (34). Crying is seen as a feminine action, but Katniss’ thought that “Crying is not an option” is a masculine response.

     By the end of the novel, Katniss forces herself to give the illusion that she may cry and needs to be dependent on Peeta as a means to manipulate the Capital and the sponsors for the resources she needs to survive. When Caesar Flickerman interviews both Peeta and Katniss after the Games, she fears that she may cry so her response is to hide into Peeta’s shirt (369). This is a form of strategy to use society’s expectations of women to make it seem like Katniss is innocent and vulnerable, but she is only acting as a means to protect herself.

    Owing others is visible less through Katniss’ actions, but in her thoughts through guilt and regret. Katniss states from the very beginning that she has an aversion to owing people and feels responsible for returning any favor. Katniss uses owing others as a code of honor, and eventually, it becomes a tool in her survival. This adds irony to the phrase “May the odds be ever in your favor,” which is the motto of the Hunger Games. Both the odds are never in Katniss’s favor, and she also does not know how to return the favor of Peeta saving her and her family’s lives with a couple of loaves of bread before the novel’s time starts. She does not understand how to return that favor to Peeta until the rule change that two victors from the same district can win.

     Unfortunately, she still feels like winning the Games with Peeta is not enough, and she knows she will never stop owing him. Her anger leads her to more regret of owing Peeta even before both of them enter into the arena. When she pushes him into a vase after he professed his love, she immediately feels regret and guilt since Peeta gave her an edge of being wanted (137). For Katniss, the aversion of owing people is another male response because needing help means that she is weak and needs assistance, which shows that weakness is a female trait. Another character that echoes Katniss’ feelings of owing people is the male tribute, Thresh, from District 11. After he finds out about Katniss’ burial for Rue, he responds, “Just this one time, I let you go. For the little girl. You and me, we’re even then. No more owed” (288). The use of a male character having a feeling of owing reinforces Katniss’ character as masculine.

Reason Vs. Emotion

    On the contrary, while Katniss leads by reason, Tris follows by emotion. Tris is an impulsive protagonist from the start of the novel. She tries speaking up about a report at the dinner table in Abnegation with her family, but her father reprimands and suppresses her from giving her opinion (Roth 34). Her impulsiveness is what leads her to Dauntless and allows her to learn more about what is going on in Chicago. When there is a game of capture the flag, Tris does not think through the risks of climbing the Ferris wheel but does it because she has to know where the other team is. Four follows her and keeps her from falling when she missteps a rung (141).

     Tris’ impulsiveness leads to a lot of danger that could kill her but becomes necessary as she learns to make her own decisions. Her impulsiveness is a male trait that she combines with her female emotions, which makes her decisions work to her advantage while helping her survive in her new environment. She has a greater potential of dying at the end of the novel when her boyfriend, Tobias who is also known as Four, is holding a gun while under simulation. Tris also has the option of saving her life by shooting Four, but instead of shooting him, she begs, “Please see me, Tobias, please!” (475). The words she speaks and her actions show that Tris is more of a masculine protagonist in a male-dominated world because she cares to protect the ones she loves and follows a similar code that Katniss follows.

     Both girls may process their thoughts and emotions differently for themselves and their loved ones, but Katniss often analyzes her thoughts to allow herself to stay strong through difficult events while Tris tends to use her emotions to help her learn how to use her voice in making decisions.

Actions Speak Louder Than Words

    Finally, Katniss and Tris regularly show their independent nature in their actions when it comes to survival for themselves and those they love. Research shows that young adult dystopian novels often have very strong, outspoken young women who go against the norm of the desired girl where these protagonists typically see themselves as unattractive. Both Tris and Katniss redefine themselves as young women through the risks they take for both themselves and their loved ones by rebelling against those in charge and taking justice in their own hands (Green-Bartreet 35).

Care Taking

     Katniss understands herself more like a female through caring for both her family at home and then Rue and Peeta in the Games while Tris learns to think about herself and what she wants in life as she finds a way to love her family, who she believes she betrayed, and Four. They both understand, to a certain extent, the punishments that can happen if they make the wrong move when they rebel. Green-Bartreet continues to say that both Tris and Katniss redefine their roles as women in their society through their independence and their freethinking (48).

     Katniss’ actions are both a mix of feminine and masculine actions but mostly masculine, which she reasons through her thoughts. Her feminine actions include gathering food, healing, singing, and dealing with Peeta while her masculine actions involve hunting and providing for Prim and her mother, which both lead to her survival along with the reasoning behind the kisses she shares with Peeta. Before Katniss goes into the Games, she already has the knowledge of both hunting and gathering that become her means of survival while she is in the arena but also survives through learning how to depend on others.

    Katniss provides for her family mostly through hunting in the Meadow, which is a symbol of freedom in District 12, where her father taught her before his death before the novel’s beginning (Collins 51). Ironically, the arena is a forest, which becomes a nightmare rather than a haven for Katniss and the other tributes. She also inherited a beautiful voice from her father that originally caught Peeta’s attention when they were children. The fact that her father is a balanced man echoes how Katniss as a young woman can also have balance by incorporating both of her parents’ skills. On the other hand, her mother is very feminine. Her mother knows how to gather herbs and other plants and turn it into food or herbs for healing purposes, which she has helped heal many of the coal miners who needed care. This trait becomes evident through Katniss heals Peeta despite how squeamish she becomes toward his critical wound. When she does try to heal Peeta, she shows a lack of confidence but continues to heal Peeta anyway (258). Her mom’s skill of healing allows Katniss to embrace her feminine side when she needed it most to help both Peeta and herself to survive.

    Kissing Peeta becomes a whole game of strategy once she reunites with him toward the middle of the Games, but eventually evolves into a small but growing attraction. When she first kisses Peeta, she uses it to keep him quiet and get the food they desperately needed from sponsors (281). The reasoning behind kissing Peeta is a typical male response when he needs something, even comfort, which Katniss also needs. Katniss continues with this strategy and initiates almost every kiss, which eventually puts her into unfamiliar territory when Peeta initiates one. Katniss recalls, “This kiss is the first that we’re both fully aware of. Neither of us hobbled by sickness or pain or simply unconscious. Our lips neither burning with fever nor icy cold. This is the kiss where I actually feel stirring inside my chest. Warm and curious. This is the first kiss that makes me want another” (298). As her government strips her appearance away and forces her to figure out her life as being a female, she starts allowing Peeta to protect her and love her, although temporarily in her eyes.

Fighting for Survival

    While Katniss is learning to become more dependent on others, Tris puts herself more in danger but does not give up when it seems that all hope is lost. Part of initiation is fighting where the initiates beat up each other until one of the fighters cannot handle the pain anymore or pass out, but Tris cannot protect herself when she is up against the men in the book. Tris continues getting up after several blows to the head, but she cannot get her first punch in on Peter (Roth 109). Her perseverance is a masculine response to her weakness as a female because she has the option to give up and depend on others for help but decides to get stronger on her own.

     While initiation is still happening and Tris poses a threat for the other initiates becoming factionless, she is unable to defend herself and has to depend on Four more. Before Four saves the day, Peter and some of the other initiates attack her. As the attack happens, Peter gropes her chest and says, “You sure you’re sixteen, Stiff? Doesn’t feel like you’re more than twelve” (278). This is an act of rape, which is a common attack on more females than males because females tend to be weaker and unable to protect themselves. Tris shows strength after this act of rape and does not hide behind Four. Instead, she defies her attackers by becoming the top initiate and learning how to protect herself while being able to depend on others when she needs it. These actions of true strength and perseverance show her true character that is neither just feminine nor just masculine.

          In “I’m beginning to know who I am,” Tris attempts to fit into Dauntless through appearing to be tough by “jumping off trains to zip-lining off of an abandoned skyscraper to getting multiple tattoos” as a form of rebellion from her home faction, Abnegation (Green-Bartreet 44). This is a form of survival to keep away unwanted attention from the oppressive authorities of Chicago. She becomes aware of the dangers of showing her strengths to others as she blends in to protect herself. While Katniss incorporates her strategy for survival with the skills she learned from her parents when she was younger, Tris learns her new skills as she realizes she was not prepared to protect herself before coming into Dauntless from her home in Abnegation.

Conclusion

    Both Katniss and Tris become revolutionaries at sixteen because they take their difficult living situations and become more adaptable to give them the freedom they need. First, Katniss learns how to become more feminine as President Snow forces her to look more innocent and physically feminine while Tris allows herself to look more masculine to hide how innocent she is. Next, Katniss rationalizes her thoughts to keep her from making the wrong decisions while Tris uses her emotions and impulsiveness to help save herself and others. Finally, Katniss strategizes her actions as a means of survival while Tris continues to be perseverant as those bigger and stronger than she is beat her several times.

    With this research, young adult dystopian societies as a fairly new genre show a trend of ideas that are prevalent in our culture and provides empowerment to teenage girls and young women to become independent while discovering themselves. Others young, old, and in between should care and read these books because these are one of the many that are shaping the next generation to be our future leaders. These books can also facilitate a sense of empathy and sympathy for the protagonists and other characters as both experienced loss, hardship, and pain. After all the evidence, it does not matter what side of masculinity or femininity that a protagonist comes from, especially in the young adult dystopian society. It is the journey that she takes through her appearance, thoughts, and actions that allows her to survive through trauma and new changes.

 

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