Shannon Mazza Exam 2 Post #3

Mockingjay: Bravery Prevails (Spoiler Alert)


Katniss is now the Mockingjay, the symbol and leader of the rebellion. She has done what so many people have sat around and discussed. She has doubted in action.
Katniss knew the governments flaws, she saw every imperfection, she was never fooled by the glorious facade that it tried so hard to exude.

Katniss and her family live in the legendary district 13 now. The home of all those who stand against the Capitol. What does it mean to turn your back on the world you've known? To disclaim a supposed Utopia. Rather, a Dystopia, if you ask me.

Peeta is still missing for quite some time in this book. But he is recovered eventually. Only, he isn't the Peeta we've all known. He has been brainwashed, made to believe that Katniss is his worst enemy and now all he wants to do is destroy her. He is kept in the medical facility until he is under control, but he is a constant danger now.

Katniss, during the time that Peeta was missing, entered a state of depression. The connection she has to Peeta has been ripped apart and stomped on and now she finds out he is alive, and that he hates her. Where would your sanity be? To find that one of the most important people in your life doesn't know you as anything other than an enemy, every good memory turned into something evil.



But let's jump to the end, the time after they fight the Capitol, the reader in me can't bear to ruin that for all those who haven't read it. But let me warn you, it's gruesome.

Along the way, during the war between rebels and government, Peeta changes again. He is still brainwashed, he is still a danger. But Peeta is so inherently good that he still wants to help. He will find himself having the desire to strangle Katniss, so he'll ask to be tied up. His mind tells him she is the enemy but his heart tells him it isn't true. The people in the rebellion group come up with a game of sorts, Peeta will say a "memory" and they will tell him if it's real. He'll ask them things like, "do I like this food?", or, "did Katniss try to kill me?"

Every day Peeta had to fight against the lies he had been forced to believe. His world had fallen apart, yet he found his way back. By sheer will-power Peeta managed to fight his need to attack.



This is a story where goodness and bravery prevail. Katniss is the hero and main character in this story but Peeta is the novelty. He is the inherent goodness. No matter what came against him he remained determined to stay him. Now, Katniss on the other hand, while Peeta was fighting his inner demons, she was losing her mind. After the battle between the rebels and the Capitol, Katniss just lost it. She had seen too many deaths and been betrayed by too many people. She just quite, she didn't talk. When all the remaining rebels were called together, they were asked to take a vote. Should the Hunger Games continue with the people from the Capitol now having to enter as well.

Now all along we've heard Katniss talk about how wrong it is. How she can't understand how the Capitol could put the people through that. That it's evil. So it's extremely shocking when she votes yes. The Hunger Games should continue. How is it that the leader of a rebellion is voting for the very thing they have been fighting against to continue? When giving her reason, She says to do it for Prim, her little sister. I've never fully understood this. Prim would never want the games to continue. But from what I can tell, Katniss feels the need to make every person from the Capitol understand how it feels to have a loved one enter the games, to watch them fight for their lives, and to know the feeling of having that person ripped away from them. If this was her reason, then I think I understand. Is it right? No. Is it something that can be sympathized with? Yes.

As we can all guess, Peeta voted no. Even though he had to endure such torture, he can't imagine putting anyone else through it. Because of his vote the Hunger Games would not continue. Peeta had just as much reason to want to screw the Capitol. They stole his mind. But Peeta is so very good, that he didn't have it in his heart to start another games. He wanted to be done with fighting.

Now there is nothing left. The Capitol has been taken over, the seam--the place Katniss and Peeta lived-- was burned down and only the victors houses remain. This is where Katniss, Peeta, and their mentor Haymitch, are sent to live. A place where they can't cause anymore trouble, where they can be monitored. All Katniss and Peeta have now is each other. Well they also have Haymitch and Prim's seemingly immortal cat that keeps showing up. But they live together, just the two of them. Katniss will cry herself to sleep every night while Peeta holds her. He is the strong one now. Honestly, I think he was always the strong one.



What is this story about? What is philosophical about it? It's about bravery. It's about a Utopia gone awry. In Katniss we see a doubter, one of the few. She has been question the Capitol since she could shoot a bow and arrow and she was not willing to remain silent. Peeta is the symbol of inherent goodness, proof that we as people can live an honorable life without reason. He has every right to be hateful, spiteful, and full of revenge, yet he chose to be good, to live as the best person he could be because he didn't want the Capitol to win. It was his own personal passive sort of rebellion. And we have the Capitol, the pinnacle of a dystopia. Did it ever start as something good. It seems it was doomed from the start. B.F. Skinner talked about behavioral science in his view of Utopia. He thought that if you just made the people believe they were happy, they would be. That is what the Capitol tried to do. They would paint on a smile and make everyone think they were great. They lied, they cheated, and they destroyed, all with the heir of pleasantness. This is what made them succeed. That is, until someone came along who saw through it. Someone who knew the truth and was willing to expose it.