What emotions or empathy is shown in the novel?

"Why don't you just be yourself? … No one can help but admire your spirit."

Page 121, Chapter 9

These quotes are spoken by Cinna to give Katniss guidance on how to best sell herself to the audience in her first interview with Ceaser Flickerman. The whole situation, as well as the work Haymitch does to help Katniss shape an image, speaks to the pervasiveness of the spectacle that is the Hunger Games. It is telling that Cinna's suggestion – that Katniss should just be herself – is almost revolutionary in a world where the spectacle is so highly prized. What's more, behind Cinna's suggestion is the message that everything Katniss needs not only to win the Hunger Games but also to become a hero is already inside of her. Her victory comes not from the stoic determination that makes her a good hunter, but moreso from her acceptance of her emotional and empathetic side. The revolutionary she approaches becoming by the end of the novel is someone she already is – she just has to learn to be herself and thereby accept it.