Mockingjay

On the journey back, Katniss catalogs the history of District 13. The district was once the center of weapons manufacture for the Capitol. Seventy-five years ago, District 13 rose up against the Capitol, leading a nationwide insurrection known as the First Rebellion. When it became clear that the rebels would lose, District 13 aimed nuclear weapons at the Capitol and demanded to be spared. They struck up a truce, and District 13 moved entirely underground, allowing the Capitol to pretend the district was destroyed.

Under Coin’s direction, the residents of District 13 adhere to a strict routine of scheduled activities and rations. Before dinner, Gale and Katniss are summoned to a meeting in the rebel Command center.

In Command, Katniss finds Coin waiting along with Plutarch Heavensbee, a former Head Gamemaker who has been covertly allied with the rebels for years. Everyone is watching footage of Peeta being interviewed by Caesar Flickerman. Katniss is relieved to see that Peeta looks healthy.

Peeta recounts the events of the Quarter Quell. As part of a strategy to gain public sympathy, he and Katniss have been masquerading as husband and wife. Peeta also fabricated the story that Katniss is pregnant with his child.

Peeta tells Caesar that neither he nor Katniss knew about the rebels’ plan until the moment of their rescue. This is true; they were not informed, so they wouldn’t endanger the cause if captured. This decision was made by Haymitch Abernathy, a former District 12 victor who mentored Katniss and Peeta for the Hunger Games. Haymitch suffers from alcohol addiction and is currently isolated by District 13’s leadership to undergo forced withdrawal.

When asked if he wants to say anything to the rebels, Peeta calls for a ceasefire between the Districts and the Capitol. He argues that continued warfare will destroy humanity entirely. Overwhelmed, Katniss leaves the room and hides in a supply closet. She is soon joined by Gale, who tells her that Peeta is trying to protect her to the detriment of the rebellion. A ceasefire now would restore the old status quo, returning the districts to the control of the Capitol and continuing the Hunger Games indefinitely. With this in mind, Katniss decides, “I’m going to be the Mockingjay” (29).

Katniss returns to her living quarters and tells her family about her acceptance of the Mockingjay role. She tries to sleep but is haunted by the worry that Peeta will be executed if the rebels win the war. Prim comforts her by pointing out that the Mockingjay’s importance to the cause means that Katniss can ask for almost anything she wants.

The following day, Katniss presents Coin and Plutarch with a list of demands in exchange for her compliance as the Mockingjay. Among them are the freedom to hunt aboveground with Gale, the guarantee that Peeta will be pardoned for his interview if the rebels win the war, immunity for the other captured tributes, and the exclusive right to kill Snow herself. Coin reluctantly concedes.

Plutarch and his assistant Fulvia outline a plan to film a series of propaganda videos, or “propos,” featuring Katniss as the Mockingjay. Beetee Lanier, a tech-savvy victor from District 3, has hacked into Panem’s broadcast system. He will air the propos across Panem in the hopes of boosting the rebels’ morale. Plutarch shows Katniss the splendid Mockingjay costume designed by her late stylist and friend, Cinna.

Fulvia and Plutarch escort Katniss and Gale down several floors to a door marked 3908. An armed District 13 guard tries to turn them away, but Katniss slips past him and throws open the door to a filthy dungeon, where her old prep team, the stylists and makeup artists who managed her appearance during the games, are shackled to the wall.

Katniss’s team is almost unrecognizable without their usual flamboyant fashion and heavy makeup. They have been neglected and starved. Katniss confronts the guard, who tells her that Cinna requested her original prep team be brought to District 13. They were thrown into a cell after being caught stealing bread. Katniss demands the release of her team. They are brought to the hospital to be cared for by Katniss’s mother, who works as a nurse. She confirms that they have no serious injuries but is shocked to learn that District 13 practices the kind of brutal punishment she expects from the Capitol.

Katniss believes that Coin punished her prep team as a warning against disobedience and to send the message that “a Capitol pedigree is no protection” in District 13 (47). She takes this as a threat to everyone, including herself.

Katniss and Gale are released to hunt in the woods around District 13. When they are alone, Gale asks why Katniss cares about the torture of her prep team. She responds that she cares about anyone abused for a minor crime like stealing bread.

Katniss and Gale return to District 13 to attend the assembly, where Coin will announce Katniss’s acceptance of the Mockingjay role. On the way, she runs into Finnick Odair, a fellow Quarter Quell survivor from District 4. Finnick asks Katniss to add his girlfriend Annie Cresta’s name to the immunity list. Annie is mentally ill and may unintentionally say something dangerous. Moments before Coin begins her speech, Katniss tacks Annie’s name onto the list.

Coin announces that Katniss has agreed to be the Mockingjay in exchange for the guaranteed safety of Peeta and the other victors, which stirs anger in the crowd. Coin continues, stating that if Katniss deviates from the terms of her contract, immunity will be revoked. Katniss interprets this to mean, “I step out of line and we’re all dead” (52).

In the wake of Coin’s announcement, Katniss again resents being used as a game piece. First, it was the Gamemakers in the Capitol, then Snow, and now Coin. She and Gale argue about whether Coin’s speech contained a veiled threat.

The following morning, Katniss reluctantly allows her prep team to make her over in preparation for her propos, then heads down to the Special Defense level with Gale. There, Beetee shows them the new weapons he’s been developing. For Katniss, he’s designed a special voice-activated bow and a clutch of explosive and incendiary arrows.

Katniss returns to the higher levels, where her prep team finishes her hair and makeup. She’s then ushered out onto a stage and posed with her bow and arrow. Fulvia feeds Katniss her line: “People of Panem, we fight, we dare, we end our hunger for justice!” (62). Despite her misgivings, Katniss shouts the line with as much conviction as she can muster. Afterward, there is silence until Haymitch’s voice comes over the intercom, laughingly declaring that Katniss will kill the revolution.