Wednesday, July 17, 2019

How can I write a monologue based on the character Katniss after the games/while she is on the train back to District 12? What will she fear now that she’s won the games, what is she feeling or experiencing now (e.g., trauma from the games, etc.)?

In order to properly approach this, it's best to consider the context you want the monologue in, there are three different approaches:
1) Dramatic Monologue: A long speech used typically in a stage play or other similar works, in which a character is addressing a second character in conversation.
2) Soliloquy: A long speech used typically in a play, when a character is addressing the audience, making them aware of the the character's thoughts. This character can be alone or with others.
3) Interior monologue: This is used in literature and not intended for stage use. An interior monologue is used to let the audience know what the character is feeling.
Once you discover which one you would like to use, begin to consider what Katniss has gone prior to and through out the first novel: her father has passed away, leaving her family in a vulnerable situation; she was the main provider for her household for some time; yet she still elected to go in for her sister; she was treated to riches and fortunes in order to prime her for those in the Capital to be willing bet on her; she entered the games; was forced to consider her alliances; saw her friend die in the games; had to nurse Peeta back to health, with her limited knowledge of medicine; mercifully killed Cato; contemplated committing suicide with Peeta; was transported back to the Capital, as the winner of a horrible prize; and would be on her way back to District 12, with riches, a home, and a life that she never considered possible for her and her family. To her knowledge, she will also now be preparing future District 12 children for the games, grooming them for the same situation she just went through.
There's a lot to work with here. Katniss will no doubt be suffering from PTSD after the games, but, as mentioned, she will continue to have to prepare children from District 12 for the same horrors despite her nightmares and fears. The best way to approach is to think about what Katniss would want for her future, and what she's imagining on that train ride home, as the country zips by and she's silent, with no fear of her life at that moment. Ask questions: Would she feel guilty? Would she be excited to see her family? Would she be relieved to see them?


One of the purposes of a monologue is to give readers an opportunity to hear what is going on inside a character’s mind. A monologue can be written to reveal a stream-of-consciousness, thus giving readers the feeling that they can hear the character’s thoughts.
On the train back to District 12, Katniss is depressed, and she demonstrates the classic symptoms of PTSD. Characteristic of the syndrome, she struggles to reconcile the realities she witnessed that assaulted her strength, her emotions, and her moral code. Katniss has a psychological need to understand the terror she experienced during the games and come to terms with it. However, at the same time, she has a need to bury the pain and ignore it, as to contemplate the terrors requires that she relive them in her mind—an idea that is threatening in itself and seems too much for her to bear. On the battlefield, Katniss was a soldier in combat; her life was constantly threatened, and she was forced to kill others, but unlike typical soldiers, she was forced to kill people she knew and loved as friends. All these traumas are fresh and real to Katniss, and quite likely, they dominate her thoughts on the train back to District 12.
By returning home, Katniss hopes to live a simple life and escape from the government, and the control, and the horror of the games. However, she faces the same dilemma many other soldiers have faced when they return to civilian life after fighting in wars. She must come to terms with what she saw and experienced—she must understand it and learn to accept—before she can put it behind her and have a more or less “normal” life where she is not constantly tortured by nightmares and flashbacks of past horrors.

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