Destruction, death, and corruption have always attracted audiences in incredible magnitudes. From the beginning of human history, people went out by the thousands to watch gladiators fight to the death in glorified battles against fierce competitors.  Today, the daily news is plastered with corrupt politicians and foreign nations slowly imploding as their governments lose control. It only makes sense that dystopian societies have become an increasingly popular focus of modern literature, especially among young adults. Suzanne Collins's The Hunger Games series and Veronica Roth's Divergent are perfect examples of this. In these novels, the heroine is living in a corrupt, authoritarian society and they, along with their recruited followers, are assigned to save the day. A noticeable characteristic of this reemerging genre is the innovative idea that a girl is the hero. Weak, female characters are no longer waiting around to be saved by knights in shining armor. By looking at the characteristics and behaviors exhibited by Katniss in The Hunger Games and Tris in Divergent, we can see that there has been a shift in dystopian literature that has allowed heroines to dominate the genre. This is important because these females can be characterized by their innate abilities and strong wills rather than be automatically placed into the traditional category of "damsel in distress".

Katniss and Tris share a lot of similar personality traits. From the beginning of both books, the reader knows that these are no ordinary teenage girls. They are smart, powerful, but also extremely caring. It doesn't take long to discover that these girls are special. As their respective coming-of-age stories progress, the reader watches them become less naive and more in touch with themselves and the evil that is going on around them. Katniss and Tris start out trying to ignore the bigger enemy at the start. However, after their experiences, they realize who the bigger problem is and that it needs to be stopped: no matter what harm comes to them. This is where they share the importance of sacrifice. In The Hunger Games, every decision Katniss makes is for the sake of her little sister, Prim. She sacrifices herself for her from the start by volunteering for the Games at the Reaping in place of her sister. In Divergent, it appears that most of the people are sacrificing themselves for Tris. Both of her parents die so she can continue on in the fight. But, she chose to join the counterattack and knew she had to carry on for the sake of the victims in Abnegation and Dauntless. She learned from the example her parents both set as well as the values she obtained in her training at the Dauntless compound. She knew she would probably die, but she continued to rescue those under attack. The selflessness exhibited by Tris here echoes the same value that Katniss displays when she becomes the Mockingjay.
	
In both The Hunger Games and Divergent, the government's biggest threat was a 16-year-old girl. Katniss was the Mockingjay that stood for the revolution throughout the Hunger Games series. Tris was Divergent and, even though there was more than one of these, she was vital to the downfall of the uprising against Abnegation. Katniss and Tris play essentially the same character just in a different setting. Even though the plots differ greatly, they are each able to lead the fight against corruption in "the system". The Capitol was unable to control Katniss' popularity because she was thrust into the public eye from the start. Because she had sparked the revolution within the Districts, they couldn't kill her without it being suspicious. However, the majority of citizens in Divergent did not know of the rebels, let alone Tris. She was able to evade detection as a Divergent for long enough that they couldn't get to her. Given the opportunity, leaders of the Dauntless, or any, faction would have silenced her on the spot. Tris was lucky enough to avoid this fate just as Katniss did from the Capitol. 
 	
Even though Katniss and Tris are exceptionally strong and brave teenage girls, they are still teenage girls. And what's a teenage girl without her stud of a boyfriend? The romance subplot greatly affects Katniss and Tris in The Hunger Games and Divergent. Katniss and Peeta rely on each other throughout the series and (spoiler alert!) end up together by the end of the series. Katniss and Tobias also work as a team to hurdle all the obstacles thrown at them. Rather than the girl being rescued by the boy, in these "feminist critical dystopias", it is often the other way around. In both novels, there are a number of times where Katniss and Tris have to save their male counterparts. It is also interesting to look at the importance of these relationships to these girls. To them, their romances are the things they are fighting for. This often gets them into dangerous situations that they could have avoided had they just been apathetic towards their feelings. But they both are naturally protective and are willing to do whatever it takes to protect the ones they love. However, the most important thing about these relationships are that it proves to these heroines that there is still a possibility of love and support in a war torn world.
 
In the past century specifically, there has been an obvious transformation in society that has allowed women to become their own force in the world. There are so many strong women that can lead through revolutions and wars every day. They are no longer only seen as helpless and always needing to be saved. There has been an increase in feminist literature and female authors have taken this opportunity to showcase girls as a force to be reckoned with. The characters that have come out of this are admirable examples that people should strive to mirror. Their strength and values are things to be admired.

