Hello Hivers and Book Clubbers,
Three fiction-novel reviews in a row must be a record for me. But since it's to talk about a trilogy of books, it's pretty inevitable to do so. The third installment in the Hunger Games trilogy is called 'Mockingjay', and it tackles the challenge of tying up every plot-line in the trilogy, might I say with varying success. Fair warning, plot points will be talked about explicitly, so this is your SPOILER ALERT.
A symbol or a pawn?
In the first two books, Katniss has clearly been in charge of her own actions. Her conduct in both Hunger Games events, and outside of the arena, have been completely of her own volition. This changes in the third book; it is revealed that there was a plot to keep Katniss alive during the Quarter Quell, and that many tributes there died to save her. She was picked up out of the arena by district 13, which is shown to have survived for 75 years below the surface.
She meets the leadership there, specifically president Coin, who has a complicated relationship with Katniss. This relationship leads to many quid-pro-quos, chief among them that Katniss is willing to be portrayed as the symbol of the rebellion, in exchange for amnesty for all Hunger Games participants who are currently in the Capitol. Chiefly among them is Peeta, who wasn't rescued, and is now shown in propaganda pieces by the Capitol.
Katniss is convinced Peeta is in this position against his will, and is being used as a pawn. It leads to an interesting symmetry between the Capitol and District 13 in many ways. Both Katniss and Peeta are used as propaganda pieces by the respective presidents, Snow and Coin. These two characters, as the book goes on, also are very similar in style and behaviour; district 13 is very rigidly structured. Exact time schedules are allotted to everyone each day, very strict times for work, meals etc.
This ethic is what has made district 13 endure underground for 75 years, but it shows the same top-down tendencies that are shown in the Capitol, albeit that the people in 13 are poorer. One can counter this by saying that 13 is not exploiting the other districts for material gain, though the story brings some of this to the table as well. District 13 has suffered some sort of plague several years before the start of the story, and it has depleted their numbers, and more importantly, their ability to have children. Katniss ponders over how the influx of the remnants of district 12 are replenishing their numbers, and that their welcome might be somewhat self-serving in the end.
More game-mechanics
The story builds up to the siege of the Capitol by the rebels. Katniss and many main and side characters are put together with a film-crew to be used for propaganda-purposes. Many are itching for a real fight, not a concerted one, and it leads to the deaths of many when they finally get in the thick of it. The entire city is booby-trapped with gimmicks that are very similar to those used by the Hunger Games arena's, which means that all books use the Hunger Games gimmick once. Which in my opinion is twice more than necessary.
It is clearly a plot device to kill off many side characters, who succumb one by one to an assortment of traps. Katniss and some get through to the center, which is the mansion of president Snow. Here, a group of children is bombed for some unknown reason, a clear war atrocity. When Katniss's younger sister Primm goes to help them, because she is part of the medic-batallion, they get bombed in turn, and she dies.
The big question in Katniss' mind is; who dropped the bombs? Would Snow bomb the children of his own capital, when all was clearly lost already, and there were many enemies to target? Or was it Coin who authorized it, to rally the own troops in the face of a remarkable atrocity by a cornered enemy. Katniss meets a defeated president Snow, who insinuates the second, and has made a point across the books never to lie to her.
To kill a Mockingbird
Katniss makes several decisions at the end of the book that shape the overall story. She is the executioner for president Snow, but in a split-second decision chooses to shoot Coin, who she has perceived as the greater evil, as shown by her actions and her running of district 13.
I think the implications around this are the most interesting ones in the entire book series. A certain regime (the Capitol led by Snow) is built up as the cruel and unjust masters of an entire continent, with many districs suffering poverty and hunger, while the few live in great luxury. When revolt reaches a fever pitch, the mantle is taken up by a leader/administration (Coin and district 13) that turn out pretty much the same, if not worse; dictatorial, Machiavellian with a cruel streak as well.
It leads to a situation, in my view, similar to the French Revolution. The French kings and nobility were seen as corrupt, so the people revolted because of this. Yet the regime that came in place, Robespierre and the Directorate, had led to a situation that was clearly worse than before. Is the Hunger Games series a cautionary tale against revolution? I might be reading too much into this, but it's an interesting question to ponder.
Conclusion
That the 'good guys' win in the end is a bit of a given with this type of books, yet the spin with district 13 is one of the more interesting sections in my view. People who have read this series might notice that I skip over the love-triangle (Katniss-Gale-Peeta) entirely, becaus I find it hopelessly boring. It really is my biggest disconnect with the young-adult genre, I guess.
There still is much to be desired in terms of world-building, but these books do read away very quickly and well, so if you're looking for some not-too-hard-to-get fiction with a solid dose of action, these books might be something for you. I'll probably return to non-fiction in the next review. See you then.
-Pieter Nijmeijer
(Top image; book cover of pdf-edition)