Literary Lads That We Love: Haymitch Abernathy
Because sorry, you know every time I see the young'uns of Peeta, Finnick, and Gale being featured and Haymitch being left on the sidelines ignored, I feel compelled to step in and defend just how amazing he is. ;) For lisal825's Literary Lads That We Love meme
1.) He's extraordinarily intelligent and cunning
Even Katniss and Peeta pick up on this in the first book when they figure out Haymitch must have won his Games by outsmarting the others. And it's clearly shown through the books that Haymitch is wily as a fox. He can outsmart anyone from his own tributes all the way to Coriolanus Snow in playing some dangerous and delicate games. He can react almost instantly to a situation that's presented to him and quickly use it to advantage, and he can keep all those plates spinning at once to make something happen. This is the guy who managed to bring two tributes home from the arena in an unprecedented move, who managed to help plan a rebellion to keep them alive, and did it cleverly enough that nothing was overt enough to draw some attention in a totalitarian regime where setting one foot out of line is likely to invite harsh consequences.
I don't think I'm wrong in saying he's very likely one of the smartest men in Panem, and in a different way from the bookish Ravenclaw-esque intelligence of weapons developers like Beetee and Gale. Haymitch isn't just smart, he's savvy. He doesn't just know what something is, he knows exactly what to do with it, who he needs for it, and where to go next. He's an unconventional thinker not constrained by thinking inside the box by any means, and he knows how to manipulate a system to advantage and use it, in a subtler fashion than just directly attacking it.
2.) He's compassionate and selfless, a fierce protector
"The drunk snarky asshole"? You bet. He's lost so much and suffered so much that his turning to rage and bitterness would be understandable, but he doesn't. He chooses compassion. He may be a manipulator but he does it only in the interest of others, not himself, which is remarkable. He's got more heart than anyone hidden beneath that crusty, gruff exterior. This is a man who remembers every single one of the forty-six children he's watched die in the arena well enough despite alcoholism to readily talk about them for a memorial book. He obviously grieves the loss of his mother, brother, and girlfriend so much that even twenty-five years later the loss is still sharp. He readily allied with Maysilee Donner in his own Games, and she was the one who had to send him away in the end, then he still came running to try to save her, and he stayed with her until she died.
While others are concerned mostly with protecting "their own" first, he obviously loves the other victors, regardless of their districts, to the point where the idea of them dying in the Quarter Quell is agony for him. He finally turns to alcoholism because he can't bear all his losses because every year is two more dead kids and that much more guilt and trauma, and he knows it. But then at the slightest excuse, he jumps in to do his utmost to protect Katniss and Peeta--twice--to the point of taking on extraordinary risk to make it happen. This is especially remarkable given that it's not even like he's getting anything equally reciprocated out of it--for example, Katniss may turn to him in extreme moments but she makes it frequently evident she disdains him and finds him weak. He's not even insisting on their respect or their gratitude, let alone their affection. Once you're "his", he'll pretty much walk through fire for you. He loves fiercely, cares intensely, and he fights for those he wants to protect, without any sense of self-preservation or expectation of anything in return. That's a true, selfless kind of love.
3.) He's direct and has a good sense of humor
Between him and Johanna Mason, they're the two willing to say what needs to be said and not sugarcoat it. He has a very dry, very sarcastic sense of humor that often contains very practical advice, or else being the one brave enough to call bullshit when needed. That's rare, and compared to his ability to be subtle and manipulative, it's an interesting contrast.
4.) He's brave
He knows better than anyone else in Panem exactly what tweaking the Capitol's nose costs, because it cost him his entire family in a brutal manner. And yet he still chooses to assume those risks and try to protect people by thwarting or manipulating the system, which must be terrifying for him. He doesn't get the nation's love for it, or anyone's admiration. He just does it, again and again and again, because he knows it's right.
5.) He's patient
Unlike Johanna, who never met a situation she doesn't want to just charge at full bore, or Katniss' sheer impulsiveness, Haymitch knows when to play the subtle, long game, even when he may want to charge in. And in the end, it's his careful, hidden work behind the scenes that helps make things happen to ensure Panem's freedom far more than just reckless bravado.
6.) He's a persistent fighter
Talented enough to take on multiple Careers as a youth and defeat them in combat, he's still never lost the will to carry on and to fight with all his might given even a glimmer of hope, even as alone as he is. He could have committed suicide years ago, miserable and isolated and caught up in further hopeless trauma every single year as he is, and it would have been understandable. But he chooses to stick around in hopes of doing some kind of good.
And given that chance, even in the slimmest form, he seizes it and runs with it to the utmost to the point where he makes unprecedented things happen. He may not care much about himself, and even more amazing (and depressing) he has nobody there to rely upon as intimate support or encouragement as others like Katniss and Finnick do, but he'll fight to the end for others nonetheless.
7.) He's flawed and thus very human
He's a pain in the ass sometimes and his prickly sarcasm is clearly a defensive armor. He has huge PTSD and alcoholism issues that don't just magically go away, his entire family was murdered in a way that clearly has given him huge guilt issues and fear of attachment, and he very likely has been prostituted out as a sex slave to boot (that's a whole different meta, but many people in fandom agree it's likely he lied to Katniss).
He was a dark horse tribute who survived the worst Hunger Games we're given any details on, with twice the number of tributes, any survival skills rendered useless by poisoned food and water, and a complete psychological mindfuck of an arena that he managed to outwit, almost dying in the process. After that, his family was slaughtered just as he came back from the Capitol, before he could start to rely on them for any support. After that, he was sole mentor for forty-six kids who never really had any chance, but he still feels responsible for them nonetheless. The many wounds of his Games, his family's murder, and the loss of his tributes so clearly shows in him. But despite his realistic and deep damage and his flaws, he's very much a good man with a great deal to offer.
8.) He's complex.
Lonely and with low self-respect but extremely compassionate towards others. Persistent on behalf of others but utterly depressed and hopeless about himself. A skilled fighter with great intellectual cunning. Readily manipulative without being ruthless and using people without a care. Damaged by many things and afraid of some of them, but utterly brave. Sarcastic but fiercely loyal and caring.
Too many people dismiss him as just a hopeless middle-aged drunk who only deserves to expect to drink himself to death in peace, probably because he's not a conventionally earnest, young, attractive figure, or else his damage isn't of the sexy, angsty-brooding variety. I don't buy it. Haymitch is a study in what might seem like a bunch of contradictions, but it adds up to one impressive, complicated, remarkable man who plays a huge role in The Hunger Games and deserves far more credit than he usually gets.
1.) He's extraordinarily intelligent and cunning
Even Katniss and Peeta pick up on this in the first book when they figure out Haymitch must have won his Games by outsmarting the others. And it's clearly shown through the books that Haymitch is wily as a fox. He can outsmart anyone from his own tributes all the way to Coriolanus Snow in playing some dangerous and delicate games. He can react almost instantly to a situation that's presented to him and quickly use it to advantage, and he can keep all those plates spinning at once to make something happen. This is the guy who managed to bring two tributes home from the arena in an unprecedented move, who managed to help plan a rebellion to keep them alive, and did it cleverly enough that nothing was overt enough to draw some attention in a totalitarian regime where setting one foot out of line is likely to invite harsh consequences.
I don't think I'm wrong in saying he's very likely one of the smartest men in Panem, and in a different way from the bookish Ravenclaw-esque intelligence of weapons developers like Beetee and Gale. Haymitch isn't just smart, he's savvy. He doesn't just know what something is, he knows exactly what to do with it, who he needs for it, and where to go next. He's an unconventional thinker not constrained by thinking inside the box by any means, and he knows how to manipulate a system to advantage and use it, in a subtler fashion than just directly attacking it.
2.) He's compassionate and selfless, a fierce protector
"The drunk snarky asshole"? You bet. He's lost so much and suffered so much that his turning to rage and bitterness would be understandable, but he doesn't. He chooses compassion. He may be a manipulator but he does it only in the interest of others, not himself, which is remarkable. He's got more heart than anyone hidden beneath that crusty, gruff exterior. This is a man who remembers every single one of the forty-six children he's watched die in the arena well enough despite alcoholism to readily talk about them for a memorial book. He obviously grieves the loss of his mother, brother, and girlfriend so much that even twenty-five years later the loss is still sharp. He readily allied with Maysilee Donner in his own Games, and she was the one who had to send him away in the end, then he still came running to try to save her, and he stayed with her until she died.
While others are concerned mostly with protecting "their own" first, he obviously loves the other victors, regardless of their districts, to the point where the idea of them dying in the Quarter Quell is agony for him. He finally turns to alcoholism because he can't bear all his losses because every year is two more dead kids and that much more guilt and trauma, and he knows it. But then at the slightest excuse, he jumps in to do his utmost to protect Katniss and Peeta--twice--to the point of taking on extraordinary risk to make it happen. This is especially remarkable given that it's not even like he's getting anything equally reciprocated out of it--for example, Katniss may turn to him in extreme moments but she makes it frequently evident she disdains him and finds him weak. He's not even insisting on their respect or their gratitude, let alone their affection. Once you're "his", he'll pretty much walk through fire for you. He loves fiercely, cares intensely, and he fights for those he wants to protect, without any sense of self-preservation or expectation of anything in return. That's a true, selfless kind of love.
3.) He's direct and has a good sense of humor
Between him and Johanna Mason, they're the two willing to say what needs to be said and not sugarcoat it. He has a very dry, very sarcastic sense of humor that often contains very practical advice, or else being the one brave enough to call bullshit when needed. That's rare, and compared to his ability to be subtle and manipulative, it's an interesting contrast.
4.) He's brave
He knows better than anyone else in Panem exactly what tweaking the Capitol's nose costs, because it cost him his entire family in a brutal manner. And yet he still chooses to assume those risks and try to protect people by thwarting or manipulating the system, which must be terrifying for him. He doesn't get the nation's love for it, or anyone's admiration. He just does it, again and again and again, because he knows it's right.
5.) He's patient
Unlike Johanna, who never met a situation she doesn't want to just charge at full bore, or Katniss' sheer impulsiveness, Haymitch knows when to play the subtle, long game, even when he may want to charge in. And in the end, it's his careful, hidden work behind the scenes that helps make things happen to ensure Panem's freedom far more than just reckless bravado.
6.) He's a persistent fighter
Talented enough to take on multiple Careers as a youth and defeat them in combat, he's still never lost the will to carry on and to fight with all his might given even a glimmer of hope, even as alone as he is. He could have committed suicide years ago, miserable and isolated and caught up in further hopeless trauma every single year as he is, and it would have been understandable. But he chooses to stick around in hopes of doing some kind of good.
And given that chance, even in the slimmest form, he seizes it and runs with it to the utmost to the point where he makes unprecedented things happen. He may not care much about himself, and even more amazing (and depressing) he has nobody there to rely upon as intimate support or encouragement as others like Katniss and Finnick do, but he'll fight to the end for others nonetheless.
7.) He's flawed and thus very human
He's a pain in the ass sometimes and his prickly sarcasm is clearly a defensive armor. He has huge PTSD and alcoholism issues that don't just magically go away, his entire family was murdered in a way that clearly has given him huge guilt issues and fear of attachment, and he very likely has been prostituted out as a sex slave to boot (that's a whole different meta, but many people in fandom agree it's likely he lied to Katniss).
He was a dark horse tribute who survived the worst Hunger Games we're given any details on, with twice the number of tributes, any survival skills rendered useless by poisoned food and water, and a complete psychological mindfuck of an arena that he managed to outwit, almost dying in the process. After that, his family was slaughtered just as he came back from the Capitol, before he could start to rely on them for any support. After that, he was sole mentor for forty-six kids who never really had any chance, but he still feels responsible for them nonetheless. The many wounds of his Games, his family's murder, and the loss of his tributes so clearly shows in him. But despite his realistic and deep damage and his flaws, he's very much a good man with a great deal to offer.
8.) He's complex.
Lonely and with low self-respect but extremely compassionate towards others. Persistent on behalf of others but utterly depressed and hopeless about himself. A skilled fighter with great intellectual cunning. Readily manipulative without being ruthless and using people without a care. Damaged by many things and afraid of some of them, but utterly brave. Sarcastic but fiercely loyal and caring.
Too many people dismiss him as just a hopeless middle-aged drunk who only deserves to expect to drink himself to death in peace, probably because he's not a conventionally earnest, young, attractive figure, or else his damage isn't of the sexy, angsty-brooding variety. I don't buy it. Haymitch is a study in what might seem like a bunch of contradictions, but it adds up to one impressive, complicated, remarkable man who plays a huge role in The Hunger Games and deserves far more credit than he usually gets.