Mark Reads ‘Catching Fire’: Chapter 15

In the fifteenth chapter of Catching Fire, Katpee prepare for their chariot ride into the Capitol, where they, once again, blow the minds of everyone around them. They get to size up their opponents before they see a familiar face at dinner…and not in a context that is pleasant. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to read Catching Fire.

I was impressed that despite Collins revisiting some of the exact same locations (and people) as before, she still managed to keep things interesting for the reader. Honestly, I was concerned that we’d have to cycle through the chariot entrance, interviews, trainings, etc., from the first novel and that we’d all be bored. But providing a different context and group of competitors for the Games does wonders for the story.

At some point during the prep, each of them bursts into tears at least twice, and Octavia pretty much keeps up a running whimper throughout the morning. It turns out they really have become attached to me, and the idea of my returning to the arena has undone them. Combine that with the fact that by losing me they’ll be losing their ticket to all kinds of big social events, particularly my wedding, and the whole thing becomes unbearable.

Basically, it’s Awful Town, USA for Katniss right now, and I understand that while it is sort of sad that her prep team is so torn up about this, it’s getting to be kind of irritating that the center themselves in virtually everything concerning her. I don’t hate the trio, for what it’s worth, but it’s still something that is frustrating to read about.

It’s interesting, though, when I think of what Peeta said about the victors having to fight again. About people in the Capitol not liking it. I still think all of that will be forgotten once the gong sounds, but it’s something of a revelation that those in the Capitol feel anything at all about us.

I still am failing to understand President Snow and the more I think about the Quarter Quell, the less sense it makes to me. In a way, the existence of the victors directly supports the kind of oppression the Capitol hands down to Panem. It’s that hero worship, that celebrity obsession many of us are familiar with, that proves to be so distracting when needed. This is certainly the case in the Capitol and probably to an extent in the other districts.

President Snow has to be aware of this. (I’m still sticking to the notion that this Quarter Quell was intentional.) Does he think that the Capitol’s taste for violence as entertainment will even extend to the people they desire to be around? I was under the impression that victors were very much like celebrities there, so how does murdering them help?

Standing there in my thin robe with my stinging skin and hear, I know I can’t bear even one look of regret. So the moment he walks in the door I snap, “I swear if you cry, I’ll kill you here and now.”

Cinna just smiles. “Had a damp morning?”

“You could wring me out,” I reply.

Cinny puts his arm around my shoulder and leads me into lunch. “Don’t worry. I always channel my emotions into my work. That way I don’t hurt anyone but myself.”

Seriously, Cinna just gets it. Can we have some Cinna backstory, now? I want more of him. The thing is, he even calms me because his certainty is so infectious. I’m intrigued as to why he’s so calm all the time and why he is so dedicated to making Katniss look good.

Thankfully, he’s the only person that helps Katniss get ready for the chariot ceremonies; she doesn’t have to deal with her weepy prep team. Cinna’s style for this appearance is drastically different not only from the previous year, but from anything he’s styled for her before.

But now my face is almost obscured by the dramatic highlights and dark shadows. High arching eyebrows, sharp cheekbones, smoldering eyes, deep purple lips. The costume looks deceptively simple at first, just a fitted black jumpsuit that covers me from the neck down. He places a half crown like the one I received as victor on my head, but it’s made of a heavy black metal, not gold. Then he adjusts the light in the room to mimic twilight and presses a button just inside the fabric of my wrist. I look down, fascinated, as my ensemble slowly comes to life, first with a soft golden light but gradually transforming to the orange-red of burning coal. I look as if I have been coated in glowing embers–no, that I am a glowing ember straight from our fireplace.

Bless your heart, Cinna. You are a genius. In any case, I expect Cinna’s outfit for Katniss to do a couple of things: piss off the other victors or piss off the Capitol. Somehow, that feels right to me. Cinna is not designing for his bosses anymore. (Was he ever, though?) This is one bold statement to make and I really respect Cinna for doing it without fear.

To add to such a ~fierce~ design, Cinna also tells Katniss to do the following:

“When you’re on the chariot this time, no waving, no smiling. I just want you to look straight ahead, as if the entire audience is beneath your notice.”

“Finally something I’ll be good at,” I say.

I feel like Cinna is banking on most of the members of the Capitol being disappointed behind the idea of this Quarter Quell. I feel it’s all but outright confirmed that the rest of Panem isn’t happy with a Game filled with victors, but here, this performance is specifically for the Capitol. It’s a statement of fury and purpose, and it’s the perfect thing to do.

Team Cinna forever.

The scene at the Remake Center, where the victors and their mentors will appear before heading out on their chariots, was not at all what I expected. Instead of a tense group of frightened teams, it’s more like a high school reunion. I suppose that is probably the most sensical development, but it never even crossed my mind. Some of these people know each other and have for years. Most of them, it turns out, are also very interested in getting to know Katniss.

One of those people is Finnick Odair, who won the Games when he was just fourteen. He was a Career from District Four, disgustingly beautiful, and (I’m not sure of this) may have won the Games in the quickest amount of time.

When he received a silver parachute with a trident–which may be the most expensive gift I’ve ever seen given in the arena–it was all over. District 4’s industry is fishing. He’d been on boats his whole life. The trident was a natural, deadly extension of his arm. He wove a net out of some kind of vine he found, used it to entangle his opponents so he could spear them with the trident, and within a matter of days the crown was his.

The citizens of the Capitol have been drooling over him ever since.

Well, it the Games happen on schedule and with no complications (and I’m beginning to get a sense that something is going to disrupt them), then this sounds like the Katpee vs Cato fight from The Hunger Games. He’ll survive until the end and they’ll have to fight. JUST SAYING.

Also this is what he is wearing:

He’s draped in a golden net that’s strategically knotted at his groin so that he can’t technically be called naked, but he’s about as close as you can get.

How Katniss is able to have any sort of conversation with him dressed like this is beyond me, but so it goes. Thank you for the terrifying mental image, Collins. The way Finnick acts doesn’t help, either, and it makes me like Katniss more because she’s so revolted by who he has become since he won the games.

Still, there’s something up with Finnick and I’m not sure what it is. And that’s what is contributing to me thinking that the Games will be…derailed in some way.

“Then how do they pay you for the pleasure of your company?” I ask.

“With secrets,” he says softly. He tips his head in so his lips are almost in contact with mine. “What about you, girl on fire? Do you have any secrets worth my time?”

For some stupid reason, I blush, but I force myself to hold my ground. “No, I’m an open book,” I whisper back. “Everybody seems to know my secrets before I know them myself.”

He smiles. “Unfortunately, I think that’s true.”

Ok, so it could be very easy to write this off as Finnick simply hitting on Katniss, but something else is at work here. Is he spying for the Capitol? Does the Capitol think there’s more to Katniss’s plans for an uprising? Or is he doing something more noble?

I AM INTRIGUED.

Katpee head off to their chariot ride after this, which goes off flawlessly because Cinna is a goddamn genius and plays off of Katniss’s hatred and cynicism so well.

We star-crossed lovers from District 12, who suffered so much and enjoyed so little the rewards of our victory, do not seek the fans’ favor, grace them with our smiles, or catch their kisses. We are unforgiving.

And I love it. Getting to be myself at last.

Katniss hate fuels my love for her. I cannot wait to see this moment on screen. WE ALL BETTER WATCH THE FIRST MOVIE AND MAKE SURE IT EARNS A TON OF MONEY SPECIFICALLY SO THIS SCENE CAN BE FILMED.

I found it humorous that other designers tried to copy Cinna’s illumination idea from the year before:

The electric-light-studded outfits from District 3, where they make electronics, at least make sense. But what are the livestock keepers from District 10, who are dressed as cows, doing with flaming belts? Broiling themselves?

You cannot imitate Cinna. HIGH FIVES FOREVER.

After the ceremony, Katpee head inside and meet the victors from District 11, one of whom is Haymitch’s friend Chaff, the other an older woman named Seeder.

Before either of us says a word, she embraces me. I know it must be because of Rue and Thresh. Before I can stop myself, I whisper, “The families?”

“They’re alive,” she says back softly before letting me go.

Well, that’s unexpected. Good news, but still a surprise. So is the moment when Chaff kisses Katniss on the mouth. Was he drunk at the time? Probably. Nothing like an unwanted kiss! Will there be more Chaff shenanigans in the future? Who knows.

It’s interesting to me that we learn so much about the other victors, especially since we still know next-to-nothing about the tributes during the last book. We meet the sole victor from District 7, a girl named Johanna Mason, who happens to be the only person we’ve been introduced to so far with a normal name. She is from a district that specializes in lumber and paper, and she won her Games by pretending to be weak and helpless, thereby getting ignored.

She is…well, she’s feisty. That’s a good word. She greets Katniss in an elevator by tearing off her costume in anger and standing naked alongside her. REALLY.

“That strapless number you wore in District Two? The deep blue one with the diamonds? So gorgeous I wanted to reach through the screen and tear it right off your back,” says Johanna.

You’re a pleasant one, aren’t you, Johanna?

I don’t really understand the fight that Katpee have after this, where Peeta says that everyone is treating Katniss strangely because she’s so new and, as he says, “pure.” She feels like the butt of a huge joke that I apparently do not understand at all because none of this section makes sense to me. Hmmm. It will probably make sense in the future, so I’ll refrain from saying much more about this until I know what the other victors are up to.

They reach the dining room, ready for dinner, and that’s when Effie tells Katniss that they got a “matched set” this year, referring to two Avox that will assist them during their meal.

Then a chill runs through me. Because I know him, too. Not from the Capitol but from years of having easy conversations in the Hob, joking over Greasy Sae’s soup, and that last day watching him lie unconscious in the square while the life bled out of Gale.

Our new Avox is Darius.

WHHHHHHHHHHHHHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY?

Before I move on to the next chapter, I just want to say there’s an obvious parallel here that is so sad: this is another person that Katniss didn’t prevent from being saved, at least indirectly. OH, HELLO THERE, VISUALIZATION OF MY GUILT.

Good lord, this is depressing.