In the early 20th century, dystopian fiction was a genre dominated by male authors and male protagonists. A few of the most popular novels of this time are centered around dystopian societies, including Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, George Orwell's 1984, and Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 (Grossman). In modern literature, this genre has become increasingly more popular and its appeal has shifted toward young adult readers. Suzanne Collins's The Hunger Games and Veronica Roth's Divergent are perfect examples of this.  However, there is a radical difference between the most recent dystopian stories and their predecessors. A noticeable characteristic of this reemerging genre is the innovative idea that a girl is the hero. In The Hunger Games and Divergent, the heroine is living in a corrupt, authoritarian society and they, along with their recruited followers, are assigned to save the day. Weak, female characters are no longer waiting around to be saved. 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 as opposed to the traditional male protagonist. 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 does not 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 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 volunteers as tribute for the Hunger Games in place of her sister even though "the word tribute is pretty much synonymous with the word corpse" (Collins 22).  In Divergent, it appears that most people are sacrificing themselves for Tris. She watches as both of her parents die so she can continue on in the fight. From these selfless examples, she discovers that she must power through for the sake of the innocent victims remaining in Abnegation and Dauntless. By carrying on with the counterattack, she knows she will either die or worse, become factionless. Regardless, she leads the way: "I watch the others run in the opposite direction  --  toward safety, toward Amity  --  for a few seconds, and then I turn away, toward the city, toward the war. We stand next to the railroad tracks, which will carry us into danger" (Roth 455). This value of self-sacrifice is something that Katniss and Tris share and make them strong heroes.
  
In both The Hunger Games and Divergent, the government's biggest threat is a 16-year-old girl. Katniss is the Mockingjay that stands for the revolution throughout the Hunger Games series. After successfully cheating the system with the nightlock berries in The Hunger Games, the Capitol becomes nervous from such a public act of rebellion. When Haymitch discusses why this is so dangerous with Katniss, he says, "Listen up. You're in trouble. Word is the Capitol's furious about you showing them up in the arena. The one thing they can't stand is being laughed at and they're the joke of Panem" (Collins 356-357). It is right for the Capitol to be so terrified of the backlash of the berries because they do end up being the spark for a revolution. In Divergent, Tris is Divergent. Her mom describes what this means and why she is vital to the downfall of the uprising against Abnegation: 
Every faction conditions its members to think and act a certain way. And most people do it. For most people, it's not hard to learn, to find a pattern of thought that works and stay that way But our minds move in a dozen of different directions. We can't be confined to one way of thinking, and that terrifies our leaders. It means we can't be controlled. And it means that no matter what they do, we will always cause trouble for them (Roth 441).
	 
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 is unable to control Katniss' popularity because she was thrust into the public eye from the start. Because she sparked the revolution within the Districts, they can't kill her without it being suspicious. However, the majority of citizens in Divergent did not know of the rebels, let alone Tris. She is able to evade detection as a Divergent for long enough that they don'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. In The Hunger Games, Katniss goes to the point of drugging Peeta so that she can go to the Feast to get the medicine to keep him alive (Collins 277). In Divergent, Tris pulls Tobias from a mind-controlling trance just by the sound of her voice (Roth 477-478). It is interesting to look at the importance of these relationships to these girls. Their romances are often what drag them into the most dangerous situations. The danger they encounter could have been easily avoided had they been apathetic towards their feelings. However, Katniss and Tris are naturally protective and will do whatever it takes to protect the ones they love. It proves to these heroines that there is still a possibility of love and support in a war torn world (Grossman).

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. In Pakistan, a 15-year-old girl, Malala Yousafzai, was shot by the Taliban for campaigning for girls' education. Now, a revolution is being led in her name and she is the face of a movement raising billions of dollars to ensure that all girls go to school by 2015 (AFP). Girls are no longer helpless both in stories and in the real world. Female authors have taken advantage of the increase in popularity in feminist literature to showcase that girls are a force to be reckoned with.

