To her surprise, this boy she thought she loved was not the person she dreamed of. Gay begins to account her own personal story of when she was in school, and the ‘boyfriend’ that she thought she had. Katniss’s strength in the books is portrayed well, but the things that she had to sacrifice for that strength seem to be unimportant to the story, which is very unrealistic when you look at the big picture of life in the real world.

She begins with explaining her relationship with the novels and movies of The Hunger Games. Her sheer obsession with the works shows through her descriptions of the story and characters, but there is also an underlying connection between the main character, Katniss, and herself, which she later elaborates on. Her ideas and own personal experiences with having strength and the sacrifices one must make to have that kind of strength are comical at first and then heart-wrenching towards the end of her essay.

“All too often, representations of a woman’s strength overlook that cost.” Gay’s opening statement makes a path for the rest of her essay to follow.