Hunger Games
SPOILERS for the end of the Hunger Games trilogy. And caution for my own rambling, still-raw and processing thoughts.
idk idk guys, this is me rn:
I mentioned on Twitter earlier that I was a bit put off by some of the deaths that Collins wrote into the book, and the death of Prim in particular seemed like a huge stretch to me. Even when you wave aside the logistical considerations in how Prim came to be situated with the Capitol children in front of the mansion, I'm not sure how the death of those children was meant to expedite the war, as it was unlikely that most of the Capitol citizens had seen the children murdered by the silver parachutes (unless it was supposed to have been televised?). Perhaps I missed this the first time I read it, but I'm also unsure as to what Coin hoped to accomplish by murdering Prim. Was it simply to break Katniss?
The death of Prim also neatly resolved the love triangle and absolved Katniss of the need to make a difficult decision, as she could only be reminded of Prim whenever she looked at Gale. However, I did like how Collins shows how Gale's vengeful and bloodthirsty mindset could only conclude in the death of innocents and the loss of that which was precious to him, both Katniss and Prim. So in some ways, no decision needed to be made, because the actions of the characters convey the author's own opinion on which viewpoint is, at the very least, less morally ambiguous than the other.
Continuing on the morally ambiguous side, I was extremely frustrated with Katniss during her recovery phase directly following her discussion with Snow, especially after she agreed to a final Hunger Games. I've only read that part once, and I'll have to reread it, but now as I understand it, both she and Haymitch understood that when she agreed for Prim, she was actually realizing that she had to kill Coin for Prim?
I did also rather enjoy (I use the term 'enjoy' in a very perverse sort of way here) the mirroring of Prim's name being called at the reaping at the very beginning of the trilogy with the death of Prim at the very end of the trilogy. It is certainly unsettling how the the rebellion ended with Prim's death when the rebellion itself started because Katniss was attempting to save Prim's life.
There are a million more things that I could say and articulate, but I figure this is as good a starting point as any. Needless to say, the storyline hardly did anything that I expected it to, and props to Suzanne Collins for that fact. It is in fact quite brave of her to tackle such themes at all, not even touching the rather morbid conclusion. It seems that the price of freedom is being able to relinquish nearly everything that one cherishes in life.
And on a completely unrelated note, I really hope that there are some Katniss/Johanna AU fics floating around.
idk idk guys, this is me rn:
I mentioned on Twitter earlier that I was a bit put off by some of the deaths that Collins wrote into the book, and the death of Prim in particular seemed like a huge stretch to me. Even when you wave aside the logistical considerations in how Prim came to be situated with the Capitol children in front of the mansion, I'm not sure how the death of those children was meant to expedite the war, as it was unlikely that most of the Capitol citizens had seen the children murdered by the silver parachutes (unless it was supposed to have been televised?). Perhaps I missed this the first time I read it, but I'm also unsure as to what Coin hoped to accomplish by murdering Prim. Was it simply to break Katniss?
The death of Prim also neatly resolved the love triangle and absolved Katniss of the need to make a difficult decision, as she could only be reminded of Prim whenever she looked at Gale. However, I did like how Collins shows how Gale's vengeful and bloodthirsty mindset could only conclude in the death of innocents and the loss of that which was precious to him, both Katniss and Prim. So in some ways, no decision needed to be made, because the actions of the characters convey the author's own opinion on which viewpoint is, at the very least, less morally ambiguous than the other.
Continuing on the morally ambiguous side, I was extremely frustrated with Katniss during her recovery phase directly following her discussion with Snow, especially after she agreed to a final Hunger Games. I've only read that part once, and I'll have to reread it, but now as I understand it, both she and Haymitch understood that when she agreed for Prim, she was actually realizing that she had to kill Coin for Prim?
I did also rather enjoy (I use the term 'enjoy' in a very perverse sort of way here) the mirroring of Prim's name being called at the reaping at the very beginning of the trilogy with the death of Prim at the very end of the trilogy. It is certainly unsettling how the the rebellion ended with Prim's death when the rebellion itself started because Katniss was attempting to save Prim's life.
There are a million more things that I could say and articulate, but I figure this is as good a starting point as any. Needless to say, the storyline hardly did anything that I expected it to, and props to Suzanne Collins for that fact. It is in fact quite brave of her to tackle such themes at all, not even touching the rather morbid conclusion. It seems that the price of freedom is being able to relinquish nearly everything that one cherishes in life.
And on a completely unrelated note, I really hope that there are some Katniss/Johanna AU fics floating around.