When Katniss Everdeen bravely volunteers to participate in the Hunger Games, her beginning strategy is merely to survive for her family. However, as Katniss personally watches tributes fall at the hands of the Capitol, she begins to subtly undermine the Gamemakers to make a fool of the Capitol. Katniss association with the Mockingjay allows her to become a symbol of resistance, and throughout the games, she shows the Capitol that they can’t control her spirit.
Katniss’s personal token of a Mockingjay pin serves as a reminder of the Capitol’s faults. Katniss explains the birds’ significance when she says, “They’re funny birds and something of a slap in the face to the Capitol” (42). When Madge gives Katniss the pin, it’s an act of friendship. However, when the pin becomes Katniss’s token, it becomes a statement of rebellion, reminding her of the Capitol’s faults.The Capitol disregards the pin’s power, and as Cinna explains, “It barely cleared the review board. Some thought the pin could be used as a weapon, giving you an unfair advantage” (145). Ironically, as Katniss progresses throughout the games, her association with the Mockingjay becomes one of her greatest weapons.
When Katniss subtly rebels throughout the game, she comes to represent the Mockingjay pin that she wears. For examples, when she decorates Rue’s lifeless body with flowers, she highlights the innocence and beauty of a child they killed. She explains, “I want to do something, right here, right now, to shame them, to make them accountable, to show the Capitol that whatever they do or force us to do there is a part of every tribute they can’t own. That Rue was more than a piece in their Games. And so am I” (236-237). Additionally, Katniss’s victory, just like the Mockingjay’s existence, becomes “a slap in the face to the Capitol” when she forces the gamemakers to declare both her and Peeta champions. She states, “Without a victor, the whole thing would blow up in the Gamemakers’ faces. They’d have failed the Capitol” (344). Her entire victory reminds the Capitol of their failures, causing Katniss to resemble the Mockingjay.
Bridget Caraher claims that Katniss's spirit and beliefs make her a Mockingjay of the Capitol. Katniss undermines the Capitol's policies in a manner that does not offend the citizens of the Capitol or incites them to seek Katniss's death, but it does anger the Gamemakers and Mayor Snow. However, while it is true that Katniss becomes the Mockingjay by breaking the Capitol's rules, her actions are only for herself. She does not become the Mockingjay symbol for the different districts. Katniss does not want to stay in the Capitol to continue undermining the Gamemakers or travel to other districts and unite them for an uprising against the Capitol. The questions she has in regards to the revelations of the Capitol, she needs the "peace and quiet of the woods back home" (259) to unravel. She understands that the Capitol is too large of an enemy for her to fight and win. As she states, "when she poured out the berries, she was only thinking of outsmarting the Gamemakers, not how her actions would reflect on the Capitol. But the Hunger Games are their weapon... so they will act as if they were in control the whole time, that they orchestrated the whole event... but that will work only if she plays along with them" (358). She knows that "the most dangerous part of the Hunger Games" (259) is the final interview with Caesar Flickerman. She doesn't challenge the Capitol, choosing to pretend to be a girl "so madly in love" (357), she "couldn't bear the thought of being without him" (369). When the Mockingjay pin is returned to Katniss's room, she takes it as a reminder of the Hunger Games and her actions that pushed the Gamemakers' boundaries.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Sandy that, at this point, Katniss is rebelling for herself. All of her anger towards the Capitol is based on her personal experiences, rather than the broader injustices that the government commits against its citizens. When she covers Rue’s body to show the horror of the games, she does it because she is personally hurt by Rue’s death. When she devises the plan to eat the berries and make fools of the gamemakers, she does so because she feels tricked, and also because she really feels that dying would be better than killing Peeta and living with the consequences: “And as I say it, I know death right here, right now would be the easier of the two” (343). Katniss has not yet generalized the anger she feels about her own experiences to the experiences of other citizens of Panem. She thinks of the Capitol and the Games in definitive terms; their effects are inevitable. Katniss does not consider her rebellion to be representative of the other districts either, as she believes that any punishment for her actions will fall to her: “But, actually, President Snow may be arranging some sort of ‘accident’ for me as we speak” (366). Although she is not intentionally sending a message to others, nothing can negate her impact as the Mockingjay as she does start a revolution within the districts.
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ReplyDeleteKatniss resembles the Mockingjay because she too is another pawn in the Capitol scheme that went awry. Mockingjays were spawned from the Capitol's attempts to spy on their people with genetically engineered jabberjays. Once people figured this out and fed them false information, the jabberjays mated with wild mockingbirds and created the mockingjay. They are "something of a slap in the face to the Capitol" (42). Katniss' mockingjay pin is a reminder to her that even though the Capitol wants to make an example out of her, she can fight back. After Rue dies, Katniss says, "I want to do something, right here, right now, to shame them, to make them accountable, to show the Capitol that whatever they do or force us to do that there is a part of every tribute they can’t own" (98). She even unintentionally forms an alliance with the mockingjays trapped in the arena, and they act as signals for danger as well as encouragement. The capitol couldn't control the mockingjays, and they can't control Katniss either. I'm surprised that the game makers even allowed those birds into the arena -- maybe they aren't aware that they are a symbol of resistance. The book ends on an ominous note when Haymitch says, “Listen up. You’re in trouble. Word is the Capitol’s furious about you showing them up in the arena. The one thing they can’t stand is being laughed at and they’re the joke of Panem" (300). The Gamemakers know now that Katniss is not going to be a pawn, and she will pay.
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