Mockingjay, by Suzanne Collins #1
I have to admit – I was a little bit worried about this whole “symbol of the revolution” part of the story. The girl has already been a pawn of the Capitol and now she is going to be a mascot? So far, and maybe I am just in a better mood because I had a nap today (I still have tons of papers to grade, but I’m taking the night off and resuming tomorrow afternoon – after I take myself to the movies – I am banking on this making me faster and more up to the task), but I think Katniss is actually shaping into a bit of the strong female character I was wishing for. [By the way - and this is a totally unrelated topic - did I ever tell you I have always wanted to learn archery? You can even ask GB if you don't believe me - we went looking for equipment a few years ago and couldn't immediately find anything locally, so I put that idea on the back burner. I had forgotten about that....]
So it appears that her strength lies in her unyielding desire to take care of other people. I can respect that. She has the opportunity to just wear the armor and pose for the cameras, but the first chance she gets she puts herself right into the line of fire to protect the weak. I actually love the scene where Haymitch asks the others to list times when Katniss personally moved them by her actions. She seems so surprised, and I think maybe I have been a bit too rough on her. She is, after all, a survivor – while it’s true that some of her success has been due to the efforts of others, I have always believed we are all interdependent and that this is as it should be. And the fact that she has been a victim and a pawn, despite all of her challenges, she has not only been acted upon – it appears she is the Mockingbird because of her personal choices after all.
I had forgotten about the “reality tv” aspect of this story, and this part of the book brought it back. The scenes where Peeta pleads for peace, as well as the bits where Katniss’ producer says “cut” at the end of a “scene” reminded me that this war is kind of an extension of the Hunger Games, only the appeals for sponsors have become appeals for allies. Talk about pressure. I enjoyed reading about the making of propaganda films (on the rebel side) and I’m glad that Haymitch is still the clever/brilliant strategist he has shown himself to be before. Actually, Haymitch as a strategist got me thinking about something – remember in the first book, how Haymitch makes a fool of himself at the Reaping, and then seems surprised that the 74 tributes are willing to try to win? Do you think this means that, had Katniss and Peeta not been the tributes that year, the revolution would not have occurred the following year? Because the way it is written, it really does seem that the stars aligned for the rebels when Katniss took her sister’s place and Peeta’s name was drawn. Do you think the rebels would have still planned it for the third quarter quell, assuming that former tributes would have been chosen even it Katniss and Peeta hadn’t been in the running?
So much to think about after reading section 2 – we get to see that moving out from under an oppressive government doesn’t mean you slide right into a utopia. Particularly given their numbers, it is smart for District 13 to be rigid about resource distribution, but it would be interesting to know more about their history. One character, one who has authority, says he misses coffee, and notes that he erroneously expected his position to grant him special perks – it starts off that way, I guess – one leader decides a few extra perks won’t be such a bad idea and then it escalates.
The most shocking revelation of the books so far – history books have not been destroyed, because the characters finally refer to them. I had to lift my jaw up off the floor after I read that – First of all, does this mean paper books didn’t become obsolete, or do they just refer to digital books as “books?” Second of all, who is learning “ancient” history in all of these propaganda-machines that pose as educational facilities, and why is no one at the Capitol planning their strategies so as to avoid repeating fatal mistakes from the past? Do they just use the history books for Roman baby names – is this where they got the idea for their vomitoreums?

