An Important Parallel Between Haymitch and Katniss

 The Aftermath

There's a really important parallel I noticed between Haymitch and Katniss at the end of Sunrise on the Reaping and Mockingjay respectively. I haven't seen many people talking about it so I'd like to get into it. 

Important note: This will contain spoilers for Sunrise on the Reaping and the original trilogy. Also, this article will discuss suicide and suicidal ideation so keep that in mind. Protect your mental health if you need to. 

They were ready to die

At the end of the 50th Games, Haymitch was mortally wounded with his insides on the outside and he was determined to make sure there would be no Victor. He didn't think President Snow would allow him to survive so he intended to make sure he brought Silka down with him and set off the second explosive so nobody would win. He chose to die, but the Capitol wouldn't let him find peace that way. 

After the second rebellion, Katniss had concluded that Alma Coin would be no different from President Snow. He was dying already and she took her shot to prevent President Coin from leading Panem down the same road. She knew that this assassination would not be tolerated by the winning side. Luckily, Cinna's final gift was right there in her uniform, she went for her nightlock pill before they could arrest her. Peeta intervened and stopped her, because that's what they do. 

Here's the connection. Both of them intended to die and were prevented from doing so, be it out of spite or out of love. Yet, Haymitch understood Katniss so well, he knew her intentions and ensured she got her chance to take Coin down. Haymitch finally kept his promise to Lenore Dove to stop the sun from rising on another reaping, through Katniss. The important thing is that they had both acted in such a way to paint their final posters, fully intending to kill themselves afterwards. 

Another Prison

After the Games, Haymitch is mortally wounded and is locked up in a lab while he is being treated for sepsis, post surgery and whatever else he needed to stay alive. It wasn't a pleasant experience, since he was seeing animals and Avoxes being tortured. He had no idea how long had passed. 

He is then sent back to the tribute apartment, locked in and fed milk and water. He's kept isolated for a while and has no contact with other humans. He's got a device like Loulou's that's feeding him painkillers. The only thing he gets is reruns of old Hunger Games on the television which he has no control over. The TV turns on and off by itself. He also knows he's being watched. 

He was just left to stew in his own trauma, reliving the trauma of others and remembering what happened in the arena. Finally, he is awoken by an old clip of Lucy Grey singing from the tenth games. He knows she's Covey and makes the connection to Snow's knowledge of the Covey. He loses it, and is dragged out for his victory celebrations. A way to unsettle him to force submission, similar to how Cinna was attacked while Katniss was in her launch tube in Catching Fire. 

After Coin's assassination, Katniss is treated largely the same. She's sent back to her tribute apartment as well, with no contact from anyone and nothing but a paper robe to wear. She is sent food and medicines and has no idea what is going on. She tries to find a way to end her life here, refusing to eat, refusing her medication until the withdrawals got bad or hoarding her meds so she can save up enough for an overdose. 

They are both returned to the last place they had been 'safe' before the trauma of being in the Hunger Games happened. They had no information and were completely isolated, left to stew in their trauma with nothing to do but relive it all. They wished they had died but lacked the means to do anything about it. 

They're both feeling like failures, their rebellion and reason to go on is out of the window. Katniss has lost the one person she set out to save, Prim. Haymitch has no idea if his loved ones will be safe since he didn't die like Snow wanted him to. That feeling of not knowing is a special kind of torture in itself. 

Passing the Time

Humans aren't built to sit around and do nothing. They need something to keep busy with. Leaving a young, traumatised person with no stimulus at all, they are going to find something. Haymitch spends hours soaking in the bathtub, keeping the water hot and replaying all of the arena in his mind. He even imagines the gruesome deaths that he didn't witness in person. Inspecting his scar and torturing himself with horrors real and imagined. 

Katniss fails to end her life and eventually she starts singing and doesn't stop. She sings all the songs she knows, all the ones her father taught her, the Covey songs and the forbidden ones. It's not clear why, she doesn't understand it but it could be a way of soothing herself or keeping herself busy. She maintains her hygiene, but stops eating and tries in vain to find a way to end her life. 

Even those who are prepared to give up and end their lives will find something to fill their time. Both of them engage in self-soothing behaviour while they stew in their trauma and process everything that happened. This is a common outcome of trauma, such as we see in people who suffer from OCD, which is often induced by trauma. The PTSD is obvious, but I think it's so interesting how similar their experiences were. 

Haymitch understands Katniss so well because of their shared experiences as well as their personalities being very similar. I do wonder how Haymitch felt, watching Katniss go through the same thing he did. Being a prisoner in their own minds, as much as in their tribute accommodations. 

There are no Victors, no winners in war. Not really. There are survivors, those who are left behind to pick up the pieces and try to move on from the trauma. It's not a happy ending, really. A peaceful ending for them both, but they remain scarred for life from their experiences. Even when a tyrant is overthrown, things don't magically improve overnight. Some food for thought. 

Emi the Cat Lady 💜

 Haymitch and Katniss: How Alike Are They Really?

"This is the moment, then. When we find out exactly just how alike we are, and how much he truly understands me." - Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

 This quote, within the new context of Haymitch's entire background is essential. I've seen people comment that we didn't need this prequel because we know what happened to Haymitch from the original trilogy. 

*This article contains spoilers for Sunrise on the Reaping. 

I disagree. It's necessary. Suzanne Collins is warning us and we need to listen. We need to understand why Katniss succeeded in changing the status quo and the backdrop of this second rebellion in the Hunger Games. Because it is still relevant to the current political climate in our world. Suzanne Collins only writes when she has something to say, and she really has something to say. 

So, exactly how alike are they? How does their history shape them? 

Poor Seam Families

We know that District 12 was subject to extreme poverty. The main industry of coal mining was dangerous, demanding and exhausting work, and the miners weren't paid enough to live off. They lived in the Seam, an area of the district with tiny, rundown homes without hot water or even reliable electricity. 

Both Haymitch and Katniss grew up in the Seam where food security was lacking. This forced them to work in some way to feed their families. Especially as they both lost their fathers in mining accidents which left them without the pittance of an income earned in the mines. 

This pushed them into adult roles while still children. One difference is how their mothers coped with the loss of their husbands. Katniss' mother fell into a deep depression and neglects her daughters. Understandable but dangerous as they nearly starved to death until Katniss figured out what she could do to help. 

For Haymitch, his mother threw herself into work, running a laundry business and providing what she could for her sons. She knew how to minimise waste, everything was used until it couldn't be used any more. Flour sack shorts that were turned into cleaning rags when they could no longer be worn. Collecting ashes to make soap and using an old flint striker for fire instead of buying matches. 

Breaking the Law

Because of this, both of them ended up going outside of the law to provide for their families. Katniss hunted and gathered, leaving the district to the woods. This is classed as poaching, per Capitol law and would result in severe punishment. Haymitch works for a bootlegger, a woman named Hattie who made white liquor in the woods to sell. Also very illegal. 

They both do this in full awareness that their actions are illegal. They rely on the peacekeepers benefitting from their illegal work and turning a blind eye to it. This alone is a form of rebellion because they are flouting the laws of the Capitol. Whatever their reason, breaking the law is rebellion.

Propaganda and Anti-Capitol Sentiment

Both Katniss and Haymitch recognise the propaganda for what it is and resent the way they are forced to live and endure everything. Haymitch maybe understands it a little better. The poverty and starvation doesn't sit well with either of them.

"District 12, where you can starve to death in safety." - The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins.

 They save their 'dangerous' opinions and thoughts for their trusted confidants. Katniss' hunting partner, Gale and Haymitch's girlfriend Lenore Dove. Both of their partners are much more vocal and angry about the Capitol's mistreatment. But that doesn't mean they don't nurse rebellion in their hearts.

Haymitch would love to see a birthday when there's no Reaping. Katniss is unwilling to consider having children that she would have to watch go into the Reaping. She eventually does have children, but only long after she is certain they can be raised without fear of the Hunger Games. 

Unconventional Reaping

Neither of them were reaped in the normal way. Katniss volunteered for her sister Primrose. Possibly the first time ever that anyone in 12 volunteered for the Hunger Games. Even family loyalty only goes so far. Unlike the Career districts where volunteering was common and expected.

"What I did was the radical thing." The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins.

Haymitch feared for Lenore Dove, after Woodbine Chance's attempt to flee. She was trying to help Woodbine's mother and the threat of harm to her caused Haymitch to try to intervene. For this, he was basically forced to volunteer since Woodbine Chance became ineligible after his death.

Victory Subversion

Both Katniss and Haymitch won their games by subverting them. By attempting suicide so there would be no Victor at all. These acts are seen as rebellious because they were doing something that would make the Games look bad, and the Capitol look bad by proxy. There is a reason the Games have a Victor, a tiny dribble of hope so the districts will continue to accept the status quo. 

Objectively, we can all agree that what the Capitol is doing with the Hunger Games is bad. Forcing children to kill each other and forcing the people in the districts to celebrate it and participate as an unwilling audience. Imagine watching your child die on television, or kill another child. The pageantry and the performative aspects make it all worse. Panem et circences: bread and circuses. 

Instead of being allowed to die, they are kept alive because if they got a quick death the Capitol would have to admit their failure to control these district kids. Lifelong punishment and psychological torture sends a stronger message than allowing them to die. A more effective deterrent and a way to avoid creating martyrs for a rebellion. 

Losing Those They Wanted to Save

Haymitch ended up in the games because he anted to save Lenore Dove and his family. They were killed anyway, so he pushed people away for fear that anyone who got too close to him would meet the same fate. 

"And so, I drive away anyone and everyone who could ever have been considered dear to me." - Sunrise on the Reaping, Suzanne Collins.

 Katniss wanted to save Prim and she lost her anyway. She also kind of lost her mother and Gale too, as they never returned to District 12. Gale, she will forever blame Prim's death on. She got to keep Peeta and Haymitch at least and eventually found a life of peace. 

Communication and Understanding

Katniss isn't good at manipulating people or faking things. She can hide her emotions but she can't act in a certain way. She emotionally moves people when it is real, like when Rue died or the hospital in District 8 was bombed. She can't be coached into it. Haymitch is better at that stuff, he understands how to work a crowd and how to elicit certain emotional responses. He pulled off the arrogant rascal angle in his games. 

What we do see is how they can understand each other and communicate without words. Katniss knew what Haymitch wanted based on the timing of sponsor gifts or the lack of them. I do believe that when Katniss was getting severely dehydrated and searching for water, he would have sent it if she was really close to dying from it, but he wanted her to find it on her own. 

Katniss understood the meaning behind the gifts such as when she finally opened up to Peeta and talked about something personal and they were rewarded with the stew. Or when he wouldn't let Katniss go to the feast so he sent her sleep syrup and she realised what he intended. He could predict her actions and she could see the unspoken messages in his gifts. 

Mags did something similar when Haymitch was in the arena, although it was more about showing him support and comfort to keep him going. She mentioned wanting to protect her district partner in her games, and this was her intention with the bean and ham hock soup, a staple funeral food in 12. Or the strawberry ice cream and coffee after Maysilee died. 

We know from Sunrise on the Reaping that Haymitch knew Katniss' father very well and I think this helps him predict her actions because she is so much like Burdock. And her choice of allies in the Quarter Quell being people that Haymitch allied with in his games. This is why he's not surprised that Katniss wants to team up with Beetee, Wiress and Mags. 

Betrayals of the Worst Kind

Both characters deal with significant betrayals and manipulation. Haymitch is set up to betray Lenore Dove or at least feel like he has. By feeding her the poisoned gumdrops. Or when the neighbours failed to put out the fire in his home because their cistern was empty. Haymitch blamed himself for that because he was supposed to fill it on Reaping day and instead went to see Lenore Dove. 

Katniss was betrayed by the rebels, especially Coin. Whoever it was that really dropped the parachute bombs, I believe it was the rebels, there is no way that Prim was there by accident. She was thirteen, not old enough to be a soldier per District 13's own rules. So why was she on the front line in live combat? Someone high up in the chain of command had to approve sending a thirteen year old into the front line. That was intentional and once Katniss began to doubt who did it, she realised the truth about Coin. 

"Nothing has changed. Nothing will ever change now." - Mockingjay, Suzanne Collins

 This is the moment when Haymitch and Katniss perform their most important non-verbal communication. Katniss agreed to the Capitol Hunger Games because she needed Coin to trust her so she could eliminate her. Haymitch understood that, and understood that she was speaking as the Mockingjay, the character the rebels had wanted her to play. Not as Katniss. Which is why he agreed to it and carried the vote. Because he knew what she was doing and why and he finally ensured there would not be another sunrise on the Reaping. 

He kept his promise to Lenore Dove. Not by himself, but by finding someone the same as him but luckier and at the right time to make it happen and make it stick. Katniss couldn't save her sister but she could make sure no child in Panem would have to worry about sending their kids into an arena to kill each other. She eventually felt safe enough to have a family of her own. 

I always liked Haymitch as a character and Sunrise on the Reaping really cemented that for me. He's not just the violent drunk who hates everyone and avoids people. He feared letting anyone in because they would be harmed or killed. Imagine what it was like for him to see his childhood friend's daughter go into that arena, for him to be responsible for trying to keep her alive. Heart-breaking. 

Thanks for reading. I'd love to hear your thoughts on Haymitch and Katniss and their parallels and relationship. 

Emi the Cat Lady 💜

The Presidents of Panem

 Two Sides of the Same Coin – The Presidents of Panem

Panem’s #1 Peacekeeper – Coriolanus Snow

Panem is a totalitarian dictatorship modelled on Ancient Rome. We know it is set in the remains of North America after an apocalyptic event. After a failed rebellion led by District 13, the other 12 districts were brought in line by the Treaty of Treason and the Hunger Games.

Coriolanus Snow ended up as an apprentice Gamemaker and he was instrumental in making the Hunger Games the spectacle they are by Katniss’ time. He took the ‘bread and circuses’ very seriously, and we learn a lot of this from the Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.

Snow became President of Panem when still young and he remained so for a long time. He is 82 years old in the first Hunger Games book. He is cruel, manipulative and more than willing to kill those in his way. Even friends. His preferred weapon is poison.

He often drank the poison himself, to avoid suspicion, and this took its toll on him. The antidotes weren’t always perfect so he had to wear a perfumed rose to disguise the smell of blood on his breath from ulcers that would never heal.

We know from the Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes that he has a particular vendetta against District 12 after his relationship with Lucy Grey. We know from Catching Fire that he killed Haymitch’s family and girlfriend because of his rebelliousness. I won’t spoil Sunrise on the Reaping here so I’m sticking to the little bit we know from the original trilogy.

Snow manipulates people, exploits them, tortures them and kills them to suit his own ends. By his own words, he isn’t wasteful, only killing when he believes it necessary. He has always feared another rebellion and civil war and in his mind, he’s trying to prevent it by dealing with rebellious elements.

He forces Katniss to try and calm the unrest after her Hunger Games suicide pact with Peeta, but she fails. The spark is lit and cannot be controlled. So he goes to great lengths to unhinge her and make her unwilling or unable to stand against him.

It’s pretty likely that he had the card for the Third Quarter Quell changed to ensure she went back into the arena so he could kill her without implicating himself in any way. Of course, he likely didn’t know that some of the Victors were in on a rebel plot, nor that Plutarch Heavensbee, the head gamemaker was in on it. They were collaborating with President Coin of 13.

After the rebels break her out of the arena and set her up as the Mockingjay, the face of the rebellion, he employs what amounts to psychological warfare to disturb and unhinge Katniss. Leaving the rose in her house in 12, dropping the roses after the bombing of 13 and allowing Peeta to be recovered.

He used Peeta for propaganda, and he progressively looks worse with every interview so Katniss can see he’s being tortured. When they go to rescue the Victors, the Capitol let’s them go. Because Peeta has been hijacked and turned into a weapon, conditioned to attack Katniss and try to kill her.

When the rebels take the Capitol, Katniss is utterly distraught at losing Prim in the bombing outside the mansion. She finds her way to Snow to speak to him. He reiterates their promise not to lie to each other, claiming that the bombs that killed her sister were not from the Capitol. It was a rebel plot. Katniss says she doesn’t believe him but it’s enough to plant that seed of doubt.

Katniss and Peeta were used as pawns by both sides, manipulated and put through hell to preserve the status quo. Snow claims he too was being manipulated, because he and Katniss were focused on each other while Coin was waiting in the wings to seize power for herself. Which is true.

Alma Coin

We learn that Coin wanted Peeta, not Katniss, to be a symbol of the rebellion. He was better at speaking and convincing people, but I think she also thought Peeta was more easily manipulated and controlled. Katniss is a rogue element, unwilling to take orders she disagrees with.

Coin was one of the major players behind the second rebellion. She is military, as that was 13’s purpose before the Dark Days, and they survived with careful control and training. The thing about military leaders is they don’t like unruly people who ask too many questions and don’t follow orders.

Coin was resentful of Katniss’ conditions for her becoming the Mockingjay. So she twists it around on her, announcing that the deal will be off if Katniss fails in her task of uniting the Districts against the Capitol.

She only wants to use Katniss as a poster, for propaganda. They try to get her to do this within 13, in a TV studio with a greenscreen, but Katniss is not an actress. She can only create emotional responses in people when it’s real and raw. But Coin doesn’t want her in combat.

Once the districts were united, she had no further need for the Mockingjay. It’s clear from her sending Peeta, who’s been too busy recovering from his torture and hijacking to train as a soldier. Katniss talks to Boggs about this, as she is certain Peeta was sent to kill her. That the Mockingjay was now of more value dead, as a martyr for the cause.

“If your immediate answer isn’t Coin, then you’re a threat.” – Boggs, Mockingjay Chapter 19

Coin sees Katniss as a threat because of her influence on people. She used that influence to her own ends but when Katniss refused to bend the knee, she wanted to eliminate Katniss. When that failed, she sent Prim to the Capitol. Primrose Everdeen was thirteen, not old enough to be a soldier by District 13’s own laws.

So why was she on the front lines? Sure she had a lot of potential as a medic, but she was too young to be sent there. It had to be on purpose, so that when the Rebels used their double bomb trap, Prim would be killed. So Katniss would either lose it completely (which she almost did) or be firmly on Coin’s side by blaming Snow for her sister’s death.

When Katniss confronts Snow, he tells her it wasn’t his doing. It was Coin and the Rebels that killed her sister because killing all those children like that would be ‘a waste’ and he wasn’t wasteful like that. At first, Katniss doesn’t believe him but it was enough to plant the seed of doubt.

When Coin proposed the Hunger Games using the Capitol’s children, instead of mass executions, Katniss said yes. Her purpose here was not to actually endorse a new Hunger Games, simply to gain Coin’s trust.

Haymitch seems to be the only one to understand what Katniss is doing here. Katniss then kills Coin, very publicly instead of Snow. Avenging her sister and intending to end her own life. Peeta stops her, but she’s finally seen the truth.

Coin is as bad as Snow. There is no difference as far as Katniss can see.

“Nothing has changed. Nothing will ever change now.”

Haymitch’s choice of words is interesting. He says he’s “with the Mockingjay” not that he’s with Katniss. He knows the difference between the Mockingjay and the real Katniss Everdeen. He understands what she sees and what she intends to do. I won’t spoil it but Sunrise on the Reaping really shows the truth about Haymitch Abernathy and gives a lot of context to his character.

Are They As Bad As Each Other?

It certainly seems like it. Coin clearly envisioned herself as the next President. She declares herself ‘interim’ President with the intention of holding an election when things ‘settle down’ but no time-frame is given for this. What’s to say she waits a year, five years, ten years to hold this election? Or just decides she’s not going to do it.

Coin underestimated Katniss, as did Snow. They both made assumptions about her nature and her motivations. They both tried to use her for their own ends with little care about how this would impact Katniss and the people around her.

The thing that the Hunger Games trilogy wants us to learn is how corrupt politicians never change. These powerful rulers that show no care for their people, lie and manipulate, punish and abuse them for the crimes of others. Keeping the people subjugated through brutality, forced poverty and a tiny glimmer of hope, an illusion of hope anyway.

President Snow outright states this in the movie. Hope is more powerful than fear, and a little hope is a good thing but it must be contained. Too much hope is dangerous to his regime. Coin too sold the illusion of hope, seeing herself as the ‘saviour’ of Panem while seizing power for herself.

Katniss eventually saw through her and I believe she was right to assassinate Coin. Her proposal to hold another Hunger Games proved it. Katniss had only wanted to save her loved ones, to protect Prim, Gale and Peeta. Both presidents sought to use her for their own gains and didn’t expect her to resist or push back. They didn’t expect her to get wise to their machinations.

In the end, snow fell and the coin landed heads down. Because Katniss saw the truth and seized her chance to prevent either of these dangerous people from letting more people suffer under an oppressive dictator.

Is it a happy ending? Kind of, but also not really. Katniss gets her life, her and Peeta heal and end up falling in love for real. They have a family, something Katniss only would consider when she knew it was safe and her children would never be in a Reaping. But there are only survivors, no winners, and everyone who survived bore the scars forever. Both physical and mental scars. So it’s a peaceful ending but not entirely sunshine and rainbows.

They put together a book of remembrance, about all the people lost and everything that happened. Because while history doesn’t repeat itself, it very often rhymes. Suzanne Collins is warning us of what can happen if we let it. The rise of far right extreme politics, the ability to justify any atrocity by claiming it’s ‘for the greater good’ when it’s not and the ways in which the media can manipulate us and desensitise us to human suffering. We need to listen. These books and movies are entertaining, but they are also showing us what our world could become if we let it. Remember, you cannot take politics out of books. Politics affect everything in our lives and the act of reading, and writing is inherently political. So make sure you are on the right side of history.

Emi the Cat Lady 💜

 The Boy With The Bread – Peeta Mellark’s Journey

The Hunger Games trilogy is told to us through Katniss’ perspective, so we don’t get a lot of insight into Peeta’s thoughts other than through what he says and does. It’s all coloured by Katniss’ own thoughts and feelings, which aren’t always reliable. Still, Peeta goes on a long and equally painful journey. There are very mild spoilers for Sunrise on the Reaping, basically just names of parents of the trilogy’s main characters.

First Crush

Peeta notices Katniss very early on when they are starting school at five years old. Otho Mellark, Peeta’s father, points her out to him. He mentions how he wanted to marry Katniss’ mother but she ran off with a coal miner, Burdock Everdeen. He explains to Peeta that when Burdock sang, all the birds stopped to listen to him.

During music class, Katniss sings a song to her class. Peeta noticed that the birds stopped to listen to her voice as well. He develops a crush on her, but never works up the courage to go and speak to her. They don’t even talk until the day of the Reaping when they go into the Games together. It’s a sweet, innocent little moment, that it was her singing that made Peeta take notice of her.

The Bread

This is a key moment for both Katniss and Peeta. After Burdock’s death in the mine explosion, Asterid falls into a deep depression and stops taking care of herself and her daughters. Katniss becomes desperate when the money runs out and ends up in the merchant part of town, searching the rubbish bins for anything she can use to feed her family.

Katniss is chased off by Peeta’s mother. She collapses against an old apple tree in the rain, too weak to keep going. Peeta drops two loaves into the fire, and his mother hits him for his clumsiness and orders him to give the burnt bread to the pig.

Peeta does this, but when his mother goes to help a customer, he throws the bread to Katniss. It is very likely that Peeta burnt the bread on purpose, to be able to give it to Katniss. It’s hearty bread with fruit and nuts in it, which will add calories and nutrients. He risks further abuse from his mother in order to help Katniss: his kindness, compassion and willingness to sacrifice himself is evident here.

The next day at school, their eyes meet but they don’t talk. Katniss drops her gaze and sees the first dandelion of the year. This little yellow flower reminds her of what her father had been teaching her, and she realises she knows how to survive this.

The dandelion is very symbolic of this hopeful moment where Katniss realises all is not lost. It reminds her of her father, and of Peeta’s help. Interesting side note is that Asterid is a clade of plants that include the dandelion. Burdock is also a related plant, and in the UK we have a drink called dandelion and burdock - it's a kind of root beer or sarsaparilla kind of drink. So Katniss’ parents are related to that dandelion, the hope, compassion and love she needs. And Peeta’s now associated with that symbol too.

Peeta might not be aware of how important this moment was to Katniss and her family. But we see his nature demonstrated very well here. He clearly doesn’t have a perfect home life, his mother hit him such that he had a black eye the next day. So she’s clearly abusive, even though his father seems to be very kind and caring too. Mr Mellark visits Katniss to say goodbye and promises her family will not starve if she dies.

The Reaping

Peeta is understandably shocked and scared to be picked in the Reaping. It’s rare for any kid in the merchant class to be reaped because they don’t claim tesserae so have much fewer entries than kids from the Seam. His mother tells him that she thinks 12 will finally have a Victor they can take pride in.

Except, she means Katniss. Not him. Which has to be a horrible thing to hear from your own mother. That she’s expecting him to die and has already written him off. He has very little confidence that he can survive the Games.

Even so, he confronts Haymitch first about giving them proper help and preparation. He also handles the public facing stuff well, waving from the train and everything. He’s got a way with words, he’s charismatic and easy to talk to. Easy to like too.

Haymitch pushes them to show a united front during training, showing that they are friends and will be together in all of this. Katniss tries to keep him at arms length, she struggles to trust him and doesn’t know how much of what he says is genuine. She’s hurt when he asks to be coached alone for the interview with Caesar Flickerman.

We find out why, when he has his interview. As the boy from 12, his is the last interview. He establishes a rapport very easily with the host, making jokes and talking. He confesses his love for Katniss on live TV, shocking her completely. She is angry about this, about finding out like this and she wants to know what game he’s playing. She thinks it’s a strategy, but we can see as time goes on that his feelings for her are genuine. He’s not faking it. But Katniss takes a long time to see the truth.

Their talk on the roof is significant. Katniss apologises for hurting him and they talk about the Games. Peeta expresses a wish, that he wants to die as himself and not let the situation and the Capital change who he really is. His goal is to protect Katniss and help her survive. Even if it means he dies.

The Arena

Once they’re in the arena, Katniss is alone for most of the early days. She’s horrified to find Peeta with the Career Pack. They’re using him to find Katniss, while Peeta’s trying to protect her from them. Katniss obviously doesn’t know that, but he helps her by urging her to run after the tracker jacker nest. He faces off against Cato, buying Katniss time to escape, sustaining a major injury from Cato’s sword.

So again, Peeta is risking himself, taking an injury in order to save Katniss’ life. She comments a few times about how she’ll never stop owing Peeta for saving her life. He doesn’t expect her to repay anything though. He’s not doing it for a reciprocal agreement, he holds nothing over her. He just cares and wants to help her.

When they’re in the cave, they play up the ‘star-crossed lovers’ angle a lot. Katniss assumes its all a strategy. Haymitch is encouraging this as well, via the sponsor gifts he sends and when he sends them. Katniss understands these subtle messages from Haymitch, Peeta is unaware of them as he gets no sponsor gifts until he joins up with Katniss. Haymitch chose her to support, because he also believed Peeta wouldn’t be able to survive the arena.

There is one time where she feels something. After Peeta’s sepsis is treated and Katniss has recovered from her head wound. They kiss and she feels something stirring in her chest, wanting more and starting to feel something for him. That she’s not thinking about the sponsors or what Haymitch would want. Proof that it’s not all about acting, for her. While Peeta doesn’t really need to act, because he knows his feelings and they’re real.

Finale of the Games

During the ending, the battle with Cato after evading the mutts, Peeta exhibits some impressive tactical thinking. He’s clever, and even under duress, when Cato has him in a headlock, he signals to her instead of fighting him off.

He has a serious leg wound which is bleeding so Katniss makes a tourniquet to stop the bleeding and keep him alive. But when they announce that they’ve revoked the rule change about two victors from the same district, he’s quick to ask Katniss to let him die so she can go home. He even removes the bandage to try and bleed out. He wants to save her.

Katniss doesn’t want to kill him or let him die. They argue and Peeta says it’s what he wants. The Games have to have a Victor. Katniss doesn’t fully understand her choice here but she proposes the suicide pact and Peeta doesn’t argue. It seems unlikely either of them are truly thinking of a full scale rebellion, but they are thinking about not letting the Games control them. Which is what Peet said he wanted in the end.

After it’s all over, Katniss gets a heads up that there is unrest in the districts after what she did. She has to be very careful. On the train home, when it stops for fuel, Katniss and Peeta take a walk along the tracks to talk out of earshot. Haymitch mentions they need to keep it up until their homecoming, which alerts Peeta to the fact that she maybe hasn’t been as genuine in her feelings for him as he thought.

Peeta is obviously very hurt and heartbroken to learn that she was executing a strategy. She admits she doesn’t fully know how much of it was real and that she’s growing more confused, the closer they get to home. Katniss wants to tell him he’s being unfair to her, holding her to everything that happened in the games. He obviously feels betrayed by both Katniss and Haymitch in this moment, he’s left in the dark about what’s going on.

Peeta is a good soul, but he’s not perfect, and being strung along like that has to hurt when his feelings are all real. He’s steady and warm, the kind of person that is easy to like. But Katniss doesn’t feel like she can give him the future he would want. Neither of them are great at communicating with each other. Yet, Peeta doesn’t risk anyone finding out the truth, he still plays his part for the public. He knows it could lead to harm for Katniss.

Victory Tour

After they return to 12, they basically avoid each other even though they’re now neighbours in the Victor’s Village. Yet when the Tour begins, Peeta still keeps up appearances for the cameras and the public.

They eventually talk, after Katniss snaps at Effie and storms off. Peeta goes to her, and they agree to at least try to be friends with each other. They help each other cope with their shared trauma, Peeta starts sleeping beside her because of her nightmares.

It’s only after the old man is executed in District 11 that she reveals what Snow has told her. They have to convince everyone about their love story to pacify the districts. Peeta is angry, because he would have taken a different approach to their speech if he knew. He feels left out, like they don’t trust him to do the right thing. It’s understandable, really. He feels they should be able to trust him to say and do the right things, to avoid making matters worse.

During this tour, they agree that an engagement in public might be the way to go. Peeta proposes during an interview with Caesar Flickerman. He’s not happy with this idea, because it’s not a genuine proposal, it’s all for appearances sake. It’s clearly not how he would want to do things, even though he obviously hoped that marrying Katniss was in his future somewhere.

There's obviously a bit of jealousy around Gale, on both sides. Gale is also making a bid for Katniss, and it puts both of them at odds. Yet, when Gale is whipped for illegal hunting by the new Head Peacekeeper, Peeta is quick to intervene and help care for Gale’s wounds. He helps, because he cares about people. He cares about Katniss and her happiness, even if she was to find it with Gale and not him.

The Third Quarter Quell

After the announcement, of course, everyone knows that Katniss is going in. She’s the only living female Victor from 12. He is determined to be prepared for this Hunger Games. He forces both Haymitch and Katniss to stop drinking alcohol and insists that they start training like the Careers do. So no matter what, they can help Katniss survive.

He volunteers when Haymitch is reaped, because he wants to stay at Katniss’ side and save her. They study the other Victors they’ll be facing so they are as ready as they can be. When it comes to making allies, Peeta is the most approachable. Although he doesn’t seem impressed with Katniss’ choices, because they’re not strong combatants.

Yet, there’s still protesting going on. When Peeta has his private evaluation, he pains Rue with the flowers around her after she died. To hold the Gamemakers accountable for her death. This prompts Katniss to do something similar, by ‘hanging’ Seneca Crane. So they’re still rebelling a little, despite knowing nothing about the plan to get them out.

The Baby

During the final interview, all of the tributes are saying what they can to try and get the Games cancelled. Of course, like the previous year, Peeta is last and blows everything else out of the water. It’s spectacular, when he mentions the baby, the fake pregnancy.

The Capitol audience is outraged to learnt hat Katniss is being sent into the arena while pregnant, and they start calling for it to be cancelled. Interestingly, they don’t seem to care about children fighting to the death but they draw the line at a pregnant woman.

It’s a genius move on Peeta’s part. Again, it’s a move that is largely about saving lives, saving Katniss’ life but could also be interpreted as rebellious. President Snow obviously wants them all dead so the show must go on!

The Clock Arena

Peeta almost dies with the forcefield, and Finnick saves him. Katniss is genuinely distressed, so we know she genuinely cares for him. But she begins to notice that their allies are doing their best to keep her and Peeta alive. She later learns that the rebels knew if Peeta died, Katniss would never stick with an alliance. So they must keep him alive.

All the while, Peeta is only focusing on protecting Katniss. That’s his goal. They share a sweet moment when he find the pearl in the oyster and gives it to her. He also has a locket with photos of her family and Gale in it. He gives it to her, and tells Katniss that nobody needs him. If he died, it wouldn’t matter to anyone.

Katniss tells him she needs him. And she means it. She might not be at the ‘love’ stage, but she knows that Peeta needs to be by her side. A kiss follows this, a genuine one where nobody is playing things up for the cameras.

When they are separated and it all goes to hell, Peeta tries to get back to Katniss. He sees Brutus kill Chaff, and kills Brutus in turn. This is the first time that we know Peeta killed someone directly and intentionally. Still, he’s left behind to the mercy of the Capitol.

Interviews With Caesar

As the rebellion grows, we only see Peeta via broadcasted interviews on television. The first one, he’s adamantly defending both himself and Katniss. They had no idea of the rebel’s plans, they were just trying to survive the arena again. He calls for a ceasefire. At this point, he’s alive and well, and seems like himself according to Katniss.

The next interview, Katniss sees from the hospital with Finnick. Nobody else knows she sees it. Peeta looks thinner and looks unwell. He warns Katniss that the rebels are just using her and she can’t trust them. She’s obviously concerned they are torturing him. Hurting him.

The third interview is with President Snow and Peeta looks even worse. His eyes are ‘angry and unfocused’ and he seems to be fighting some internal battle. He manages to get out a warning that District 13 will be dead by morning. Beetee is fighting for the airwaves so the broadcast is interrupted by the rebels own clips.

They still see Peeta being beaten, his blood splattering the camera lens. Haymitch and Katniss confirm he’s warning them, and this does save lives as 13 has time to respond and go deeper underground to survive the bombing. He’s still trying to save her at this point, but the Capitol are clearly using him to unhinge Katniss, and it’s working.

Hijacking

When Peeta is rescued, he tries to kill Katniss the moment he sees her. He’s unstable, believing Katniss is a threat and will destroy him. They realise he’s been ‘hijacked’, a method of fear conditioning using the Tracker jacker venom to alter his perception of his memories.

He takes a long time to begin to recover from this, with many relapses and difficult moments. He’s been through hell, and struggles to tell what’s true. Katniss struggles with this, and avoids him as much as she can.

There are still occasional flashes of the old Peeta, and he manages to decorate the wedding cake for Finnick and Annie. This helps him, perhaps something familiar and methodical helps him stay calm and remember who he is.

Real or Not Real

When Peeta is sent to join the squad in the Capitol, Katniss believes it is a plot to kill her. It definitely could be a plot from President Coin to kill her. Katniss rejects him, saying he’s not Peeta any more, but a Capitol mutt.

Eventually they devise a game to help Peeta sort out his memories. Finnick starts it, by suggesting Peeta ask if something is true or not, like Annie does. They do their best to answer all his questions, but the ones Katniss needs to answer are complicated and painful.

Peeta still has violent outbursts when stressed, which unfortunately leads to him trying to kill Katniss again. He ends up killing Mitchell, knocking him into one of the pod traps. After this, he begs to be killed or be given a nightlock pill.

The next time, when they are fleeing from the mutts, he breaks down and Katniss kisses him and asks him to hang on and stay with her. This works and he is determined to push on. He lets her go off with Gale, as she intends to assassinate Snow. He manages to survive the taking of the Capitol.

At the meeting with the surviving Victors, Peeta immediately rejects the idea of another Hunger games. He urges Haymitch to say no, when he has the deciding vote. He’s obviously not aware of Katniss’ reason for agreeing, but Haymitch understands her.

After Coin’s death and Katniss’ trial, she is sent back to 12 with Haymitch. A few months later, Peeta is sent home. He had intensive psychological care, and couldn’t come home until he was discharged. Katniss is in a deep depression, having not changed her clothes for weeks or bathed. She finds him planting primroses around her house in honour of her sister.

After this, Katniss begins to take care of herself again. Peeta’s kindness and compassion once again saves her life. This is the difference between him and Gale. Gale is too much like Katniss, all fire and anger. Peeta is steady, representing hope and rebirth for Katniss.

They begin writing a memorial book about their experiences, with Peeta adding drawings of people they don’t have a photograph of. They fall in love for real this time, as Katniss realises this was the only way it could have been. Peeta is the one who is right for her. He helps soothe her nightmares, she helps him with his flashbacks. Finally, he asks her this one question:

“You love me. Real or not real.”

Katniss answers: “Real.”

Epilogue

It takes a long time, but eventually Katniss agrees to have children with Peeta. They will tell their children about their story, show them the book. Haymitch eventually agrees to share his story and everything that happened.

Peeta is inherently a good person. He’s kind and compassionate, despite coming from a difficult home life. His mother was abusive, and they didn’t eat as well as Katniss believed, usually only what was too stale to sell. He clearly takes after his father who shows kindness to Katniss and her family.

He goes through hell, the same as Katniss and all those who participated in the Hunger Games. Even with the hijacking, they don’t manage to squash who he really is. He’s flawed, he can have angry outbursts at times and he can be a bit gullible. His kind nature would be easy to take advantage of.

He’s clever though, and he has the charisma and social skills to navigate all kinds of situations. He understands how to keep up appearances for the public. He maybe doesn’t ever think of himself as a rebel, but he has a little of that in him. His painting of Rue, his determination not to be just a piece in their Games.

He’s motivated by love, and eventually is rewarded for it. He got everything he wanted in the end, but had to go through literal hell to get it. He’s still scarred, mentally and physically, with a prosthetic leg and all. But so is Katniss, and he counters her fire. He keeps her steady.

Peeta is the only District 12 victor who was reaped as normal, and he’s unique among them as he has only made one deliberate kill. Brutus is the one Peeta killed intentionally. The others are different. The female District 8 tribute he checked on, we don’t know if he actually did anything to kill her. Foxface was probably accidental as he didn’t know the nightlock berries were poisonous. Mitchell was an accident while he was out of his mind from the Hijacking. Katniss, Haymitch, Finnick and Johanna have all killed more people on purpose.

 Katniss Everdeen – The Reluctant Rebel

“Nobody decent ever wins the games.”

Katniss Everdeen is the main protagonist of the Hunger Games trilogy, but she doesn’t really see herself as a hero. She’s a rebel, if a reluctant one. She claims she never wanted to be the symbol of a revolution. She goes on quite a journey, and her experiences change her dramatically.

It’s very clear that she started out wanting to protect her sister, then Peeta, then her family and Gale. Eventually she realised that she was being used, exploited and manipulated for someone else’s benefit. The Mockingjay symbol, the idea of the Mockingjay is not who she really is, just who Panem thinks she is.

A Little Bit of a Rebel

Katniss was forced to grow up fast, thrown into an adult role before she reached her teens. Her father died in a coal mine explosion when she was eleven and her mother fell into a deep depression. This meant Katniss had to take charge to feed herself and her family. Eventually she used the skills her father had begun to teach her to find food. Peeta helped by giving her bread, giving her hope and a reminder that she could do something about her situation.

It was illegal to cross the fence, leave the boundaries of District Twelve, hunt game, make and use weapons of any kind and to sell on the black market in the Hob. Of course, she got away with it because a lot of the Peacekeepers and the merchants bought from her. Even the Mayor bought strawberries she collected.

She met Gale in the woods and the eventually traded skills, he taught her about snares and traps while she taught him how to use a bow. They became friends and agreed to take care of the other’s family should one of them be reaped. They shared their hauls and profits equally.

While in the woods, they would talk. Gale was always the more vocal in his dislike for the Capitol and the system keeping them poor. Katniss was wary of saying too much, but it’s clear she somewhat agrees with him. She was worried what would happen to Prim if something happened to her.

She avoided open rebellion but she was more than happy to break the local laws and venture beyond the fence. She was happy to trade in the black market. She knew the consequences, should one of the Peacekeepers take offence or something. But equally, she knew that this was necessary for her family to survive.

I Volunteer!

Katniss is so sure that Prim won’t be reaped in the 74^th Hunger Games, as she only has one entry. Yet it happens, and she barely hesitates to volunteer in Prim’s place. She will fight to protect her loved ones, risk her life to save Prim. It’s a strong motivation and it informs most of her major decisions throughout the story.

During her private evaluations, she is angered by the Gamemakers overlooking her. Her first arrow misses because she’s unused to the bow provided, but afterwards she nails every shot. But the Gamemakers are bored and ignore her efforts.

So she boldly draws attention to herself by shooting the apple out of the roast pig’s mouth, pinning it to the wall and shocking the Gamemakers. This proves she is a contender for the games, capable enough to potentially win.

“Thank you for your consideration.”

I also like the symbolism here. The Capitol people feast lavishly, even using an emetic so they throw up and can go on eating. While the people in the districts are starving, with malnutrition extremely commonplace. So she takes food out of the mouth of a pig. It’s very interesting, and definitely foreshadows the rebellion that happens later.

“I’m more than just a piece in their Games.”

The night before the arena, Peeta says this and Katniss gets angry. She can’t afford to think like that, she can only focus on trying to survive and get back home. She’s in survival mode, as she has been her entire life.

Katniss spends a lot of time trying to figure out Peeta’s angle, assuming everything he says and does is purely sstrategy. Her reaction to him confessing his crush on her on live TV is the same, she is angry. She doesn’t trust him. She doesn’t know what to make of him. Yet, when the first deaths are shown after the bloodbath, she is relieved and conflicted when she realises he’s alive.

The Mockingjay’s First Alliance

Katniss conflates Rue with Prim in a big way. She sees her little sister in Rue, thinking how unfair it is that such a sweet young girl is going into this fight to the death. She ends up forming an alliance with Rue and a plan to destroy the Career Pack’s supplies. This is the second time the Mockingjay motif shows up. First is the pin, given to her by the Mayor’s daughter (in the book) or Greasy Sae (in the film). Rue teaches Katniss how to use a short melody to signal via the Mockingjay birds.

When Rue is fatally injured by Marvel (District One) she kills him immediately without a thought, acting on instinct. She comforts Rue as she dies, then memorialises her with flowers and the farewell gesture used at funerals in Twelve. This three fingered salute later becomes a symbol of defiance. Again, Katniss was only thinking of the little girl, an adopted sister, that she watched die. She wasn’t defying the Capitol, she was mourning the loss of her ally.

Nightlock

After Cato dies to the mutts, the Gamemakers revoke the rule change allowing for two victors from the same district. Katniss is immediately defensive but Peeta refuses to attack her. She then decides if both of them can’t live, then they shouldn’t get a Victor at all. They agree to eat the nightlock berries, a double suicide pact.

They have no choice but to declare them both Victors, but Snow sees this as an act of rebellion. It is, but Katniss isn’t thinking about overthrowing the President and the Capitol. She’s thinking about survival and saving Peeta. She has feelings for Peeta, even though she doesn’t understand exactly what they are.

“Convince me.”

“It must be a fragile system if it can be brought down by just a few berries.”

Snow visits Katniss before their Victory Tour. He is worried about uprisings in the districts and tells her that she must convince all of Panem that she is just so in love that she’s ready to die. To convince Snow himself that her love is real and that’s the only reason she did what she did.

In District Eleven, giving the eulogy for Rue and Peeta’s promise to donate winnings to their families. An elderly man whistles the signal and raises the three fingered salute, and is quickly executed for it, much to Katniss’ horror. As they go through the districts, it’s clear that they’re not slowing down the rebellion.

Even though Peeta proposes, at the party Snow confirms that she has failed to pacify the districts. She and Peeta are both horrified when they learn about the drink that makes you sick so you can eat everything you want. The stark difference between the Capitol and the Districts, that people are suffering and starving while the Capitol residents are indulgent and eating to excess. The unfairness of the system is so clear.

New Head Peacekeeper

When Thread arrives as the new Head Peacekeeper in Twelve, and he is flogging Gale in the square, Katniss intervenes. She throws herself into the situation, risking herself for someone she cares about. She sees that things are changing, the Capitol are pushing back to subdue the districts. She’s still not thinking about any grand cause or revolution, just her loved ones.

Bonnie and Twill

This part only happens in the books. After the Victory Tour, Katniss ends up in the woods and meets two women who are fugitives from District Eight. They tell Katniss that they believe District 13 isn’t as destroyed as people think, and they are going there. They are confident because the footage shown every year is the same, confirmed by a Mockingjay wing in the corner. The Mockingjay is back to foreshadow and represent Katniss’ role in the rebellion.

Katniss teaches them survival skills and returns home, finding the fence electrified and Peacekeepers waiting to question her family when she fails to return home. They are surprised to see her but Peeta and Haymitch help her with a cover. So they’re now bothering to enforce the law about leaving the district territory. Because it gives them an excuse to target Katniss and her family.

The Quarter Quell

The movies basically confirm that the plan for the 75^th Hunger Games was deliberately changed to target her. Because she is the only living female Victor in Twelve, so if they reap from the living Victors, she’s guaranteed to go into the arena again and nobody can volunteer for her. Understandably she’s enraged and distraught about this. She is determined to save Peeta if she can, convincing Haymitch to volunteer for him.

During the run up to the Games, a lot happens that makes the rebellion a bit more overt. From Katniss’ display of Seneca Crane’s death, to the wedding gown transforming into a Mockingjay, to Peeta’s lie about her pregnancy. All of the tributes are angry and express this during their interviews, but nothing stops the games.

In the arena, she finds herself with a range of allies: Finnick, Mags, Johanna, Wiress and Beetee. All of them were in on the plan to get Katniss out of the arena. During the games, Katniss definitely seems to be falling for Peeta and is determined to make sure he survives. She still doesn’t know that she’s the symbol of the rebellion.

Once she recovers, she prepares to kill Peeta to stop him being tortured, before learning the truth. They want her as the Mockingjay, the face of the revolution to overthrow the Capitol. She learns that District Twelve has been destroyed and all survivors are in Thirteen. This is the point where she decides she’s on-board with the rebellion.

Demands

“My sister gets to keep her cat.”

Katniss agrees to be the Mockingjay but she makes a list of demands from Coin. Immunity for the other Victors, that Prim can keep the cat and most importantly, that Katniss herself gets to be the one to kill President Snow. Coin agrees to this.

Except she twists it on Katniss. If Katniss doesn’t fulfill her obligations as the Mockingjay, she and her loved ones will be killed. Coin doesn’t mention this until her public announcement, so Katniss can’t question it or avoid it. The first hint that Coin is not to be trusted.

Propos

“That is how you end a revolution.”

The plan is to have Katniss film ‘propos’ or propaganda clips for the rebels. Beetee can commandeer the airwaves to push these videos out. It’s clear she won’t be effective when scripted on a stage. The reasons people respect Katniss, love her and want to follow her, are because of her courage, her empathy and her desire to defend those she cares for.

She can’t fake her emotions, her outrage, her courage. She can’t convincingly read a script, which should have been obvious from her Victory Tour. It has to be real, raw and in her own words for it to be effective. Unfortunately, as we see in Distright Eight, that often means someone has to die for Katniss to ‘perform’.

Storming the Capitol

Katniss is supposed to stay back in a ‘safe’ neighbourhood to film more propos of her ‘fighting’ but the traps laid by the Gamemakers puts the team in real danger. She loses several people, inlcuding Boggs and Finnick but she does manage to help Peeta begin to overcome his brainwashing.

Unfortunately, once again Katniss is spurred to act when she loses someone she cares about. The bomb trap with the Capitol children, where a second explosion is triggered once people rush in to help. Primrose Everdeen is one of the medics who run in to help, and she dies.

Snow and Coin

After the battle is over, Katniss visits Snow before his execution. He tells her that the bomb trap was not his doing, it was the Rebels. She doesn’t quite believe him but it’s enough to plant the seed of doubt in her mind. She knows that the trap was suggested by Gale, and even if he wasn’t directly responsible, she knows she will never see her old friend the same way. That romance option is over, because he might have been responsible for her sister’s death.

Coin brings the surviving Victors together to propose a final symbolic Hunger Games using the Capitol’s children. Peeta argues against it, as does Annie and Beetee. Annie is sure Finnick would have also voted no. Johanna and Enobaria say yes, followed by Katniss. This leaves Haymitch with the deciding vote. Haymitch seems to know what Katniss is thinking and takes her side, or the side of the ‘Mockingjay’. He understands her pretty well by this point.

When the time comes for Snow’s execution, Katniss realises the truth behind everything. She changes her aim at the last minute, killing Coin instead. Snow ends up dead among the crowd. She tries to take her nightlock pill but is stopped. She realises that both of these leaders were just using her, using her emotions, her fears and her need to protect people.

They exploited her, manipulated her and used her as a pawn. She suspects that Coin put Prim in the firing line on purpose, that maybe Coin sees Katniss as a threat. If Katniss doesn’t bow to her, like she refused to do so to Snow, then she’s a threat to the new regime as much as the old.

Happily? Ever After

Katniss doesn’t end up with a heroes welcome, going home to District Twelve to thunderous applause with a massive gold statue of her built in the Capitol. Because she’s not a hero, she’s the protagonist. Coin wanted to control her, and didn’t like not being able to control Katniss.

So Katniss goes home with Haymitch and falls into a deep depression. She refuses company and it takes a long time for her to come out of it. She knows that there’s no future with Gale now, but there could be a future with Peeta. She realises this when he returns to Twelve and starts planting primroses around her house.

They work on healing together, able to understand each other due to their shared experiences and PTSD. Because it is PTSD. Haymitch has it too, heavily self-medicated. Basically all of the Victors have PTSD, because it looks different in different people. They are haunted by the past, but a real love develops between them.

Katniss said that she never wanted to be in the Games, to be a symbol, to be the Mockingjay. She wanted to save her sister, protect her family. She didn’t really want to be a rebel, but she also did. She knew that the oppression from the Capitol was unjust, unfair and cruel. The bread and circuses was a distraction, keeping the poor in their place.

Any tyrannical regime that keeps pushing people down will eventually crumble. A line will be crossed and people will finally decide that enough is enough. She resented being used, being manipulated and being something she’s not. She realised that with Coin, it was jumping from the frying pan into the fire. The only people she feels can truly understand her now are Peeta and Haymitch.

She manages to live the rest of her life in relative peace. They put together a book about everything that happened, all the people that were lost. Eventually they have children, and prepare to tell them about their past when the time is right. It’s not perfect, it’s not a happily ever after, it’s an ending.

Thanks for reading! Let me know your thoughts in the comments.

Emi the Cat Lady 💜

The Hunger Games Analysis: Bread and Circuses

 Bread and Circuses

The Hunger Games books by Suzanne Collins are dystopian YA novels set in a post-nuclear North America. Part of the land has been submerged by rising sea levels and what is left is called Panem. There is a large metropolis, the Capitol, and thirteen districts. Each district has a specific industry to supply the Capitol with resources.

The society is very much modelled on Ancient Rome and was a totalitarian dictatorship. This means that the citizens are expected to be completely subservient to the state and the government has complete control over their lives. I thought this topic would be especially relevant now, because the new book Sunrise on the Reaping came out recently, and for no other reason. Of course. Ahem.

There is massive inequality within Panem, where people in the poorest districts are left to starve to death and struggle to survive while the Capitol indulge in gourmet foods and ostentatious fashions. Eventually civil war broke out, spearheaded by District 13, who were the main military industrial complex at the time.

The conflict lasted three years before it was ended when the Capitol bombed 13. A secret peace agreement with 13 was made, due to the district acquiring some of the Capitol’s nuclear arsenal, and they disappeared, pretending they didn’t exist and were allowed to remain independent.

The remaining 12 districts were subdued by the Treaty of Treason. The names of these things are very deliberate. This treaty established the Hunger Games, an annual event to remind the citizens of their failed rebellion and continually punish the Districts for their insurrection.

“Look how we take your children and sacrifice them and there’s nothing you can do. If you lift a finger, we will destroy every last one of you. Just as we did in District Thirteen.” – Chapter 1 of The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.

The above quote is Katniss’ interpretation of the history explained at every Reaping, when the children are chosen for the Hunger Games. Aggressive law enforcement with executions and public floggings were common place. Civil rights were restricted and travel or communication between the districts was banned.

Panem et Circenses

This literally means ‘bread and circuses’ in Latin and is where the name came from. The phrase means using entertainment and food to distract people from other, more important matters or to cover up what the government is really doing.

Each of the twelve districts had to send one boy and one girl aged 12-18 to go into an arena and fight to the death. The Games only end when there is a single survivor, the Victor. The Victor would be showered with money, food, a luxury house and gifts, and their district would get extra food for a year.

The Bread

This does literally mean food in this case. The Reaping was a lottery where each eligible child’s name would be placed on a slip of paper and one chosen at random by hand. Each child’s name went in once for every year they are eligible – so at 12 it would be once, 13 it would be twice, 14 it would be three times and so on. So they’re more likely to be picked as they get older.

Given the poverty that is so prevalent in the districts, especially the ones further away from the Capitol like 11 and 12, it was possible to claim extra food. Children could claim ‘tesserae’ for each member of their family: a years supply of grain and oil. Each tesserae claimed would add their name into the Reaping pool again.

These extra entries are cumulative over the years until the child is reaped and either dies or becomes a victor, or until they reach 18 and are no longer eligible for the games. So by the 74^th Games, Katniss has her name in there 20 times, while Gale, who has more siblings, has his name in there 42 times!

So it means that kids are putting themselves at greater risk just for the sake of keeping their families safe and fed for the year. So the poorest families have the higher chances of losing a child to the games since the odds are not in their favour. It is preying on their desperation because the slim hope that their child might win, thus netting them the benefits of being a Victor, is enough to be worth the risk.

I hope we all understand how horrific this is. For people who’ve seen the movies but not read the books, this isn’t well explained. Eligible children can volunteer in someone else's place but this is rare outside the ‘career districts.’ Districts 1, 2 and 4 are more affluent and shown preferential treatment by the Capitol and see participation in the games as an honour. While training for the Games isn’t technically allowed, these districts do it and are allowed to do it, so they do tend to produce more Victors than the poorer districts like 11 and 12. Of course being better fed and generally healthier would also aid their survivability.

The Circus

The Hunger Games is a huge national event with a lot of pomp and circumstance. The Tributes are fed well on the train, with rich and fancy foods they aren’t used to. Katniss finds her stomach unsettled because of the rich food.

They go through intense cosmetic preparation and are dressed up in extravagant costumes and outfits for the Tribute parade. They even use horse-drawn chariots to show them off and help attract sponsors. Highlighting the connection with Ancient Rome.

The tributes get three days of training before an individual assessment by the game makers to be rated for their skills. This impacts sponsorship too, as well as the odds offered on each tribute’s chances of winning. Because of course the Capitol residents can bet on the outcome of the games. It’s only money, right?

So the tributes get a taste of the luxurious and extravagant lifestyle enjoyed by the Capitol’s citizens. Their bizarre fashions set them so far apart from the districts, to the point where from Katniss’ point of view, they’re like aliens. A different species entirely.

The tributes are interviewed on TV and again there’s a lot of ceremony around it all. They want to appeal to sponsors, because a rich sponsor can send gifts to their chosen tribute in the arena. They could send food, water, medicine or even a weapon, such as the burn ointment sent to Katniss after the fireballs.

The game makers control the arena and can manipulate it in basically any way they like. Such as the fireballs, adding creatures or setting up a feast at the Cornucopia to force the tributes together to instigate a fight. It’s all recorded and broadcast like reality TV and everyone is expected to watch it. Every evening the death toll is broadcast, both on TV to the citizens and within the arena for the Tributes.

It’s very much like the gladiatorial combat of Ancient Rome, which was entertainment for people. Glorifying the violence and making it a big deal so nobody stops to consider the ethics of forcing children to fight to the death in punishment for what their ancestors did.

Every 25 years they have a Quarter Quell, which is a special edition (like having celebrities on a reality show like Big Brother) and has new, unique rules to set it apart. ‘Quell’ is a deliberate and specific word as it means ending a rebellion by force.

What is this story warning us about?

This dystopia is highlighting the issues with such extreme wealth disparity and keeping the poor under control by ensuring they can never elevate their socioeconomic status. Unless they are prepared to risk their life for it and kill for it. The Victor is showered in riches to remind the people of the Capitol’s ‘generosity and forgiveness’ which is a bold lie.

Even then, Victors are set apart from their communities with the Victor’s Village, much larger and nicer houses, extra money and food. So they’re no longer struggling like the rest of their neighbours and friends. There’s little care for any mental health issues suffered by the Victors. Most of them show signs of PTSD, unsurprisingly. Katniss has nightmares and flashbacks, Haymitch is an alcoholic (self medication) and there are other addicts among the tributes from Catching Fire.

The Capitol citizens are living a luxury lifestyle where they want for nothing. Peeta and Katniss see how far this goes at the feast at Snow’s Mansion during their Victory Tour. They are offered a drink that induces vomiting so that they can eat more and taste everything. While people in District 12 are literally starving to death.

The people in the districts are supposed to accept what the Capitol gives them and be thankful. They are supposed to be grateful for the pittance they are afforded, and told it’s their own fault and it’s for their own good. No complaints, no questions. Anything that seems rebellious is squashed harshly by the Capitol.

The word choices are very deliberate and imply this too. 'Tribute’ means a gift to show gratitude, respect or admiration. Historically it was also used to describe a levy, tax or tariff for protection. Two children are sacrificed as gratitude for the Capitol allowing them to exist. That they should be thankful for being allowed to live, continually punished for a rebellion that most people alive did not have any part in. You’ll take what you get and be happy about it.

This story, like many dystopian stories, is warning us of what happens when people are pushed to their limits and become desperate. Katniss wanted to save her sister, at the start. But she eventually realised that she had to save more than just one person from this corrupt, unfair system. That people who are desperate enough for survival will eventually be pushed to revolt and change things. That they’ll be willing to risk their lives and sacrifice everything to stop the abuse of power. Dictators and tyrants will always end up falling to revolution, just like we’ve seen throughout history. Some food for thought, no?

As always, I'd love to hear your thoughts. 

Emi the Cat Lady 💜

His Dark Materials: Dust, Sentience and Sapience

 Dust: Sentience and Sapience

Dust is central to the His Dark Materials story as it is ultimately what the protagonists have to protect and save. To fully understand it, we need to discuss two concepts that set people apart from other animals. I meant to say people, because in the context of the books, it's not just humans. 

Sentience

Sentience is defined as the ability to experience feelings and sensations, i.e. possessing a nervous system. This does not always imply higher cognitive functions like awareness, reason or complex thoughts. It is sometimes used interchangeably with 'sapience' but there is a difference in definition. 

There is ongoing  debate about animal sentience but we know they can suffer pain and distress, they can learn and solve problems and even pass on their knowledge to offspring and peers. It is generally accepted that all vertebrates are recognised as sentient beings, as well as fish, lobsters and octopus. The sentience of AI is beyond the scope of this analysis. 

Sapience

Also defined as wisdom, this means the ability to apply one's knowledge, experiences and judgement to decision making and encounters in our life. It means we use insight, ethics and discernment when we make decisions and take actions. 

Wisdom requires more than just intelligence, we need to have an understanding of human nature, morality and the long term impact of words and actions in order to apply wisdom to a situation. Wisdom is also connected to traits like humility, patience, compassion, empathy and morality. 

Being wise, or sapient, means reflecting, thinking and being willing to learn and continue to develop yourself. It also means recognising the limitations of your own knowledge and perspective. 

Both of these concepts are as much about philosophy as science, but the bottom line is that we base our actions and decisions on our experiences and knowledge. This understanding of nature and the world around us is what allows us to be creative, innovate and invent and to share our insights and skills with other people. 

Dust

Dust goes by many names: Rusakov particles in Lyra's world. Shadows, shadow-particles or dark matter in Will's world and sraf in the world of the mulefa. It is an elementary particle that is responsible for consciousness.

Dust is attracted to sentient species, especially adults, as well as things made by sentient people. It is produced by engaging in creative or introspective activities, created when matter begins to understand itself. Dust was lost through the wounds in the world created by the Subtle Knife, which is why the windows had to be closed. 

Dust got its name from the Bible, when God was cursing Adam and Eve for eating the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. The Magisterium took Dust to be evidence of this original sin, as we discussed before. 

"For dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return."

Dust is more attracted to adults than children and this is because it is a metaphor for the shift from childhood innocence to adult wisdom. The process of growing up and gaining experience in the world, learning and establishing who we are. 

Dust has an influence on us whether we are aware of its existence or not. It is clearly important for us to function, and this is shown through the Spectres of Cittàgazze. The Spectres were created by the knife every time a window was opened and they fed on dust, the ability to create dust and the soul, or daemon. Children were immune until they reached puberty. Victims of the Spectres did not die, but were apathetic and unresponsive to their surroundings. 

The mulefa could see dust because of the oil from the wheel tree seeds. Mary used this and a lacquer to create the Amber Spyglass to see it. She also used the Cave computer and the I-Ching to communicate with Dust, suggesting other divination methods could also communicate with Dust. 

In Lyra's world, someone used a special emulsion to develop photographs that showed Dust and how it was attracted to adults more than children. The Alethiometer too was a method of communicating with Dust. Angels are beings that are consolidations of dust, made of it. 

This implies that our consciousness is what created angels, including the Authority and Metatron, who was once a man. So we created God, because we needed something to believe in to explain our world. Interesting thought. 

The Final Battle

The ending of the story culminates in a battle which is ultimately about protecting dust and retaining it in all the worlds. Lyra and Will promise to produce enough Dust to keep the window from the world of the dead open. This is why they separate despite it breaking both of their hearts to live apart. 

So this battle is therefore fighting for the right to keep our knowledge, curiosity, creativity, free will and freedom of thought. Everything that makes us people, makes us sentient and conscious, that makes us sapient. An important thing to preserve, in my opinion and a major theme of the books. 

Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it. I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments below. 

Emi the Cat Lady 💜