{"id":90,"date":"2010-12-20T09:55:34","date_gmt":"2010-12-20T17:55:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/?p=90"},"modified":"2015-02-07T21:09:46","modified_gmt":"2015-02-08T05:09:46","slug":"mark-reads-the-hunger-games-chapter-25","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/2010\/12\/mark-reads-the-hunger-games-chapter-25\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Reads \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcThe Hunger Games\u00e2\u20ac\u2122: Chapter 25"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the twenty-fifth chapter of The Hunger Games<\/em>, there are few things in the world as fucked up as this. Seriously. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to read The Hunger Games<\/em>.<\/p>\n

I give up. I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t handle this.<\/p>\n

Muttations. No question about it. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve never seen these mutts, but they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re no natural-born animals. They resemble huge wolves, but what wolf lands and then balances easily on its hind legs? What wolf waves the rest of the pack forward with its front paw as though it had a wrist? These things I can see at a distance. Up close, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m sure their more menacing attributes will be revealed.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Yeah, could they not<\/em>. Like\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6yeah I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want to see these things at all.<\/em><\/p>\n
Gamemakers, you are winning. I would seriously be dead already, but if not, I would definitely die right now.<\/p>\n
My hands have just landed on the metal at the pointed tail of the Cornucopia when I remember I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m part of a team. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s about fifteen yards behind me, hobbling as fast as he can, but the mutts are closing in on him fast.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
I totally get that Katniss freaks out and runs immediately. WHICH OF US WOULDN\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T DO THE SAME THING. I still laughed, though, when she was like, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153OH OOPS MY PARTNER.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Best teammate ever, right right right?<\/p>\n
Cato lies on his side at the very top of the horn, twenty feet above the ground, gasping to catch his breath as he gags over the edge. Now\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s my chance to finish him off. I stop midway up the horn and load another arrow, but just as I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m about to let it fly, I hear Peeta cry out. I twist around and see he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just reached the tail, and the mutts are right on his heels.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
GOD DAMN IT. I WANTED CATO TO BE MURDERED. Mostly just so this can be over with because WHY IS THIS SO STRESSFUL. Oh my god.<\/p>\n
Peeta starts up hampered by not only the leg but the knife in his hand. I shoot my arrow down the throat of the first mutt that places its paws on the metal. As it dies the creature lashes out, inadvertently opening gashes on a few of its companions. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s when I get a look at the claws. For inches and clearly razor-sharp.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
This is definitely the most frightening thing Collins created. I am in awe at this. You were all right. Was not at all prepared.<\/p>\n
The mutts are beginning to assemble. As they join together, they raise up again to stand easily on their back legs giving them an eerily human quality. Each has a thick coat, some with fur that is straight and sleek, others curly, and the colors vary from jet black to what I can only describe as blond. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s something else about them, something that makes the hair rise up on the back of my neck, but I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t put my finger on it.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Might it be the fact that THESE MUTATED WOLVES ARE ASSEMBLING<\/strong><\/em>. That is what does it for me. So I take it back: This<\/em> is now the most awful thing Collins has ever created.<\/p>\n
For a moment it hangs there, and in that moment I realize what else unsettled me about the mutts. The green eyes glowering at me are unlike any dog or wolf, any canine I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve ever seen. They are unmistakably human. And that revelation has barely registered when I notice the collar with the number 1<\/em> inlaid with jewels and the whole horrible thing hits me. The blonde hair, the green eyes, the number\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Glimmer.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
WHAT!!!!!<\/strong><\/p>\n
$\"\"$ <\/a><\/p>\n
NO. YOU SERIOUSLY HAVE TO BE FUCKING KIDDING ME!!!!<\/p>\n
The small one with the red coat and amber eyes\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6Foxface! And there, the ashen hair and hazel eyes of the boy from District 9 who died as we struggled for the backpack! And worst of all, the smallest mutt, with dark glossy fur, huge brown eyes and a collar that reads 11<\/em> in woven straw. Teeth bared in hatred. Rue\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
I revoke my last statement. There is nothing in this book worse than this. I am appalled. Think about this: they killed their fellow tributes and now the Gamemakers designed it so that they have to kill them all over again.<\/em><\/p>\n
Gamemakers are the worst. I am in shock.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s them. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s all of them. The others. Rue and Foxface and\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6all of the other tributes,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I choke out.<\/p>\n
I hear Peeta\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s gasp of recognition. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153What did they do to them? You don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6those could be their real eyes?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Their eyes are the least of my worries. What about their brains? Have they been given any of the real tributes memories? Have they been programmed to hate our faces particularly because we have survived and they were so callously murdered? And the ones we actually killed\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6do they believe they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re avenging their own deaths?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Massively, mega-screwed up. This is horrifying. Collins, I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know what possibly inspired you to create this\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6thing, but good lord. I am impressed.<\/p>\n
As Peeta is grabbed by a mutt, Katniss is quickly overwhelmed by everything. She tries fighting off the mutts, but the action is simply too much. What does she focus on? What happens when Cato catches his breath? Is Peeta ok?<\/p>\n
Cato stands before me, almost at the lip of the horn, holding Peeta in some kind of headlock, cutting off his air. Peeta\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s clawing at Cato\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s arm, but weakly, as if confused over whether it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s more important to breathe or try and stem the gush of blood from the gaping hole a mutt left in his calf.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Unbelievable. Collins continues to ramp up the action and the risk at the same time. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve ever read so fast in my whole life; in fact, as soon as I finished this chapter, I immediately read it a second time, knowing I missed details.<\/p>\n
Cato just laughs. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Shoot me and he goes down with me.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s right. If I take him out and he falls to the mutts, Peeta is sure to die with him.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Cato, I am so full of rage. I hate you. Guys, where is that scene of the earth opening up and eating him? I need it right now<\/em>.<\/p>\n
Peeta\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s lips are turning blue. If I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t do something quickly, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll die of asphyxiation and then I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll have lost him and Cato will probably use his body as a weapon against me. In fact, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m sure this is Cato\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s plan because while he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s stopped laughing, his lips are set in a triumphant smile.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Just awful, right? The extreme irony is that Peeta can win this game alongside Katniss, but Cato is preventing that from happening. WHAT A BIGOT.<\/p>\n
But what happens next is possibly one of the more brilliant twists in the whole book, not just because it changes the characters, but it also affects our perception of the Games in a way that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s completely unexpected.<\/p>\n
Peeta draws an X on the back of one of Cato\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hands and Katniss recognizes it as her chance: she draws back her bow and shoots an arrow into his hand. In this moment, Cato releases Peeta, who slams into him. He goes toppling off of the horn.<\/p>\n
We hear him hit, the air leaving his body on impact, and then the mutts attack him. Peeta and I hold on to each other, waiting for the cannon, waiting for the cannon, waiting for the competition to finish, waiting to be released. But it doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t happen. Not yet. Because this is the climax of the Hunger Games, and the audience expects a show.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
That show, though, is the moment I realize Collins has been planning this all along. We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been set up to hate Cato the entire time. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s rude, ruthless, cruel, and desperate to cause pain. Yes, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s in the context of the Games and we have no idea what he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s like outside of them, but we still grow to hate him for what he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s done.<\/p>\n
And yet, as Cato fights the mutts, he delays the inevitable, as he uses the armor to his advantage as he tries to kill the mutts.<\/p>\n
I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know how long it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been, maybe an hour or so, when Cato hits the ground and we hear the mutts dragging him, dragging him back into the Cornucopia. Now they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll finish him off<\/em>, I think. But there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s still no cannon.<\/p>\n
Night falls and the anthem plays and there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no picture of Cato in the sky, only the faint moans coming through the metal beneath us. The icy air blowing across the plain reminds me that the Games are not over and may not be for who knows how long, and there is still no guarantee of victory.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
So, I hated Cato. I begged for his death. And now I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m getting it, attached to a very Haneke-like twist: we have to read about him suffering for an entire night.<\/p>\n
I feel awful that I ever hated him. Sure, he was an asshole in the Games<\/em>, but who wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t? Ok, maybe not Rue or Foxface, but still. Wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t you<\/em> be an asshole to if you had to fight to survive.<\/p>\n
Touche, Collins. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m impressed.<\/p>\n
The night stretches into what seems like infinity. I know I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve complained a lot about Katpee just waiting around, but here it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s strangely suspenseful, despite that nothing<\/em> happens for hours. HOURS. Fucking terrible.<\/p>\n
The cold would be torture enough, but the real nightmare is listening to Cato, moaning, begging, and finally just whimpering as the mutts work away at him. After a very short time, I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t care who he is or what he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s done, all I want is for his suffering to end.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
You know who truly deserves our hate right now? The Gamemakers. THIS IS CONSIDERED ENTERTAINMENT<\/strong>. I know this is another culture, but who in Panem actually is entertained<\/em> by all this?<\/p>\n
Guess how long this lasts? ALL GODDAMN NIGHT. Until the sun comes up. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s when Peeta convinces Katniss to user her last arrow (which is in Peeta\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s tourniquet) to finally end the Games and put Cato out of his misery.<\/p>\n
It takes a few moments to find Cato in the dim light, in the blood. Then the raw hunk of meat that used to be my enemy makes a sound, and I know where his mouth is. And I think the word he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s trying to say is please<\/em>.<\/p>\n
Pity, not vengeance, sends my arrow flying into his skull. Peeta pulls me back up, bow in hand, quiver empty.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Did you get him?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he whispers.<\/p>\n
The cannon fires in answer.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Then we won, Katniss,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he says hollowly.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Hurray for us,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I get out, but there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no joy of victory in my voice.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m shocked. I expected to feel the slightest bit of exhilaration when Katniss won. Despite Peeta winning too, I feel dirty. As if I shouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have read this and been entertained by it.<\/p>\n
I feel fucking awful.<\/p>\n
The mutts disappear into a hole in the plain, but after that, nothing happens. No anthem. No fanfare. No final announcement. The dread starts to fill inside my chest. Katpee have no idea why the Games haven\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t closed and they decided to head towards the lake. A hovercraft picks up the remains of Cato, but nothing happens to our winning tributes.<\/p>\n
As I stoop to pick it up, Claudius Templesmith\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s voice booms into the arena.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Greetings to the final contestants of the Seventy-fourth Hunger Games. The earlier revision has been revoked. Closer examination of the rule book has disclosed that only one winner may be allowed,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he says. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Good luck and may the odds be ever in your favor.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
WHAT THE FUCK!!!!!!!!!<\/strong><\/p>\n
$\"\"$ <\/a><\/p>\n
I wanted to start crying. Even reading this a third time while writing a review, it is like the very worst slap in the face. I feel betrayed and this book isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even real.<\/em><\/p>\n
I wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t fucking prepared.<\/p>\n
I stare at Peeta in disbelief as the truth sinks in. They never intended to let us both live. This has all been devised by the Gamemakers to guarantee the most dramatic showdown in history. And like a fool, I bought into it.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
This is the most fucked up thing in Things That Are Fucked Up. I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t. I just can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t.<\/p>\n
The two of them almost immediately face off, though Peeta constantly insists that Katniss kill him. They argue frantically over who should die, both throwing down their weapons. Peeta ups the ante, though: He removes the bandage on his leg and begins bleeding to death.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153You\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not leaving me here alone,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I say. Because if he dies, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll never go home, not really. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll spend the rest of my life in this arena trying to think my way out.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s probably my favorite line in the whole book. Just so damning and disturbing.<\/p>\n
But Katniss (and bless her for thinking of this) realizes there is actually a third<\/em> option.<\/p>\n
Yes, they have to have a victor. Without a victor, the whole thing would blow up in the Gamemakers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 faces. They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d have failed the Capitol. Might possibly even be executed, slowly and painfully while the cameras broadcast it to every screen in the country.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The greatest act of rebellion in the arena is one of self-identity, to make a choice outside of the system that is yours and yours alone.<\/p>\n
Double suicide by eating nightlock.<\/p>\n
I spread out my fingers, and the dark berries glisten in the sun. I give Peeta\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hand one last squeeze as a signal, as a good-bye, and we begin counting. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153One.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Maybe I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m wrong \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Two.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Maybe they don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t care if we both die. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Three!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s too late to change my mind. I lift my hand to my mouth, taking one last look at the world. The berries have just passed my lips when the trumpets begin to blare.<\/p>\n
The frantic voice of Claudius Templesmith shouts above them. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Stop! Stop! Ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased to present the victors of the Seventy-fourth Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark! I give you\u00e2\u20ac\u201dthe tributes of District Twelve!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m relieved. I can say that. And yet\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6I still feel completely terrible.<\/p>\n
What the fuck, Collins.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In the twenty-fifth chapter of The Hunger Games, there are few things in the world as fucked up as this. Seriously. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to read The Hunger Games.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,488],"tags":[21,28,24,29,27],"class_list":["post-90","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hunger-games","category-the-hunger-games-novel","tag-awful","tag-katniss-everdeen","tag-mark-reads-the-hunger-games","tag-so-fucked-up","tag-suzanne-collins"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}