Katniss Everdeen she experienced when her father was fighting in the Vietnam War. In the novels, Katniss is extensively knowledgeable in foraging, wildlife, hunting, and survival techniques. Collins knew some of this background from her father, who grew up in the Great Depression and was forced to hunt to augment a scanty food supply, although Collins saw her father bring home food from the wild during her own childhood as well. In addition, Collins researched the subject using a large stack of wilderness survival guidebooks. Katniss and the other tributes are, in their time before participating in their Hunger Games, compelled to
Katniss Everdeen compete for the hearts of sponsors who donate money that can be used to buy vital supplies for them when they are in the arena. The concept of how the audiences carry nearly as much force as actual characters is based on how, in reality television and in the Roman games, the audience can both "respond with great enthusiasm or play a role in your elimination," as Collins said. Katniss's first name comes from a plant called "Sagittaria" or arrowhead, which is a tuber plant, usually found in water; another name for this plant is katniss. The root of this