Throughout the Hunger Games series Katniss Everdeen illustrates some of the same tendencies and attitudes of an American soldier.  Throughout the first novel of the Hunger Games series Katniss was illustrated as a level-headed competitor who was not easily distracted by the Capital.  In the novel Katniss did not back down from a fight and she did not seem flustered by the idea that she was being forced to fight for her life against 23 other tributes. However in Catching Fire, the second novel of the Hunger Games series, Katniss undergoes a transformation when she is informed that she must return to the Hunger Game arena in a fight known as the Quarter Quells.  Confusion strikes Katniss when she first arrives in the quarter quell arena and emerges into an area surrounded by water; however, within seconds Katniss has a change in attitude and she transforms into a killing machine that is determine to protect Peeta at any cost.  The change in Katniss illustrated in this scene is similar to the change undergone by the soldiers fighting in D-Day.  The soldiers on D-Day emerged from the water and began to fight on the beaches of Normandy.  When the soldiers were first arriving on the beaches confusion struck; however within minutes soldiers realized their purpose for invading this beach and began to fight with great intensity in order to protect themselves and the country they love.  By looking at the confusion of Katniss when she is placed in the Quarter Quell arena and her quick transformation into a fierce and determined competitor, we can see the effects of a person entering into an unknown territory and being forced to fight for their life and for someone they love, this is important because the experience relates to the D-day invasion which helps explain Katniss' transformation in the Quarter Quell arena in relation to an American soldier fighting for his country.
	
Katniss loss of control is illustrated when she first arrives into the Quarter Quell arena.  In the first novel Katniss emerges into the arena with a determined attitude; however in the second novel when she emerges into the arena a look of complete shock and traumatization covers her face.  The confusion of Katniss is illustrated by the line, "Where are you? I can still make no sense of my surroundings.  Where are you?! I demand an answer from myself and slowly the world comes into focus" (Collins 267-68).  This line illustrates the distracted side of Katniss and her inability to concentrate on what is important; the fact that she is in an arena fighting for her life and ultimately trying to protect Peeta.  Eventually Katniss regains control of the situation and begins to use her hunter/survival instinct to discover that she is surrounded by water, Peeta is blocked from view, and the main arena is the island in the middle of the water, which contains the cornucopia. Immediately after Katniss assesses the scene and swims onto the island she becomes a fierce competitor with a killer instinct.  The line, "I'm thinking like a career now, and the first thing I want is to get my hands on a weapon" (Collins 269) illustrates Katniss' ferocity and the new side of Katniss that was not illustrated previously in the novels.  The change in the mentality of Katniss relates to an American soldier storming onto the beach at Normandy and being forced to fight for his life.  Katniss emerged into the new environment confused and bewildered; however, after few seconds she was able to regain control and grasp reality.   Katniss quickly realized the realness of the situation and that she must fight for her life and protect Peeta. 
	
The D-Day invasion occurred on June 6, 1944 when the allied forces landed on the beaches of Normandy and brought the allied invasion to Western Europe.  Almost a hundred thousand soldiers attacked the beaches of Normandy and nearly ten thousand died.  The allied forces attacked the beach by land, air, and water.  Hundreds of boats and tanks emerged along the coastline and attacked occupied France. The soldiers were placed into a new environment; especially the soldiers who emerged from the water.  Roy Arnn gives a personal narrative of his experience when he invades Omaha. Mr. Arnn recalls being told that he is going to be part of Boat Crew # 8 and the training he would have to receive before the invasion; however the training could not prepare him for what he was going to experience.  This is similar to Katniss because in the beginning of the second novel Katniss is being trained in order that she might win the Quarter Quell; however none of the training could have prepared her for being thrown onto an island in the middle of the ocean on foreign terrain.   Roy Arnn recalls being in the boat with soldiers having puke bags around their necks because they were unaccustomed to the rock of the waves.  However as soon as the first gunfire was recieved and the battle began, all the soldiers sprang into action and none were focused on their new environment.  This is similar to Katniss, she comes into the arena and is in shock and does not understand where she is, but within seconds she regains control and gains her bearings.  Then shortly after she immediately becomes a girl with a killer instinct.  
	
Both Katniss and the soldiers fighting during the Normandy Invasion where thrown into an environment that was unfamiliar to them and neither one knew how to handle the situation at first.  However, after coming to the realization that they were being forced to fight for their life and to protect something they loved a transformation occurred.  Katniss was thrown into the Quarter Quell arena immediately after she witnessed the death of Cinna, a member of her team that she greatly cared about.  Soldiers who were invading the beaches of Normandy watched their comrades boats explode next to them because the boats had hit a minefield.  Archie Sanderson, a soldier who fought in D-Day recalls approaching the Normandy beaches and seeing the ocean filled with American soldiers and boats not having the ability to stop.  He also recalls "the real horror of the battle unveiled" as he witness the primary control vessel suddenly begin to sink.  Sam Grundfast, another war veteran recalls a thunderous boom and him being thrown overboard and him realizing that his ship had hit a minefield.  Grundfast was luckily picked up by a boat going to shore to drop off the first wave of soldiers who were going to fight for their country.  Although Katniss was forced to watch the brutal murder of a person she cared deeply about her entrance into an unknown environment was not as traumatizing as the D-Day experience for the American soldiers.
  
The similarities between the transformations of Katniss and the American soldiers shaped the reading of the Hunger Games and made the scene where Katniss was introduced into the arena more powerful.  Katniss at first is like a confused soldier, however as she quickly realizes what is important to her, she transforms into a determined person.  Katniss understood that she needed to save the person she loved and would do anything to achieve that goal.  Although Katniss was not thrown into a bloody battlefield like the troops; she still entered into a traumatizing situation, especially for a seventeen year old girl.  Katniss was forced to take on a mentality that was similar to the American troops and she managed to keep her wits about her and protect the person she loves most.  Katniss's transformation and desire to fight throughout the rest of the Hunger Games series is similar to an American soldier fighting to protect the thing they love the most, their country. 

