{"id":97,"date":"2010-12-22T09:56:30","date_gmt":"2010-12-22T17:56:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/?p=97"},"modified":"2015-02-07T21:09:30","modified_gmt":"2015-02-08T05:09:30","slug":"mark-reads-the-hunger-games-chapter-27","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/2010\/12\/mark-reads-the-hunger-games-chapter-27\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Reads ‘The Hunger Games’: Chapter 27"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the twenty-seventh chapter of The Hunger Games<\/em>, Katniss faces two public appearances where she is forced to live through the Games again and maintain her \u00e2\u20ac\u0153relationship\u00e2\u20ac\u009d with Peeta the entire time. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to finish\u00c2\u00a0The Hunger Games<\/em>.<\/p>\n

I really don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t like any of this. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t mean that I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t like the book, but I am very uneasy about this appearance. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t feel like it can end well, can it?<\/p>\n

Katniss does make a point to state that Caesar, who helped her out during her initial interview, is probably just as aware as she is to how important it is for them to pull of this segment flawlessly, to provide a believable slice of entertainment for Capital, to show that they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re submissive to the powers-that-be. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m sure Caesar is very much aware that his own job and happiness is also at stake here too.<\/p>\n

Blinding lights. The deafening roar rattles the metal under my feet. Then there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Peeta just a few yards away. He looks so clean and healthy and beautiful, I can hardly recognize him. But his smile is the same whether in mud or in the Capitol and when I see it, I take about three steps and fling myself into his arms.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Despite being watched by millions of people, knowing the Capitol is looking for the performance of a lifetime, I feel safe saying that not a second of this is an act. And sure, Katniss\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s feelings are probably all mixed up and jumbled, but Peeta does<\/em> mean something to her. After being separated from him for so long, this isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t at all surprising. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s touching, actually, because we know<\/em> she means it.<\/p>\n
He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s kissing me and all the time I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m thinking, Do you know? Do you know how much danger we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re in?<\/em> After about ten minutes of this, Caesar Flickerman taps on his shoulder to continue the show, and Peta just pushes him aside without even glancing at him. The audience goes berserk.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll accept that this might be just an overexaggeration on Katniss\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s part because she can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have a fair concept of time at this point, but TEN FUCKING MINUTES ARE YOU SERIOUS<\/em>. <\/strong>That is simply ridiculous what are you guys doing.<\/em><\/p>\n
Usually, this is a single, ornate chair from which the winning tribute watches a film of the highlights of the Games\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
WHAT!!!! YOU ARE KIDDING ME. You are going to make him or her relive everything you just went through????<\/em> Well, at least there is a selfish reason for us to want to see this: we can finally find out what happened to everyone who died off\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6page. I was going to say off screen, but this isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t a movie. Off page? Is that fine?<\/p>\n
Caesar Flickerman makes a few more jokes, and then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for the show. This will last exactly three hours and is required viewing for all of Panem.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THREE GODDAMN HOURS HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE<\/em><\/p>\n
How have the other victors faced this alone? During the highlights, they periodically show the winner\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s reaction up on a box in the corner of the screen. I think back to earlier years\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6some are triumphant, pumping their fists in the air, beating their chests. Most just seem stunned. All I know is that the only thing keeping me on this love seat is Peeta\u00e2\u20ac\u201dhis arm around my shoulder, his other hand claimed by both of mine. Of course, the previous victors didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have the Capitol looking for a way to destroy them.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The real urgency of this situation is apparent now. They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got to pretend for THREE HOURS and give a performance the country can believe. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m starting to really make sense of why Collins forced this romance between Katniss and Peeta. I think it is a tad illogical that in seventy-four years, they never picked people who were in love with each other or came to love each other, but whatever. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a chance for the Games to be different and for the intensity to be more serious. I wish this had made sense earlier because I still find a lot of the early introduction to their romance to be problematic, but I think I might get it now.<\/p>\n
Whoever puts together the highlights has to choose what sort of story to tell. This year, for the first time, they tell a love story. I know Peeta and I won, but a disproportionate amount of time is spent on us, right from the beginning. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m glad though, because it supports the whole crazy-in-love thing that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s my defense for defying the Capitol, plus it means we won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have as much time to linger over the deaths.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Is that a slight run-on sentence? Whatever, can you imagine having the job of editing WEEKS OF FOOTAGE for this? Your brain would have to be so desensitized to violence in order to stand it. Though I suppose living in Panem, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just a reality for everyone, privileged and oppressed alike.<\/p>\n
Once we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re in the arena, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s detailed coverage of the bloodbath and then the filmmakers basically alternate between shots of tributes dying and shots of us. Mostly Peeta really, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no question he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s carrying this romance thing on his shoulders. Now I see what the audience saw, how he misled the Careers about me, stayed awake the entire night under the tracker jacker tree, fought Cato to let me escape and even while he lay in that mud bank, whispered my name in his sleep.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Wait\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6.so Collins doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t reveal any new information on what happened to everyone who died? BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.<\/p>\n
With that out of the way, I will say that Collins is definitely building more of the foundation for Katniss to come to her epiphany that Peeta actually loves her. I know, I know, HOW DID SHE MISS IT BY NOW. Still, being forced to see Peeta\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s dedication to her has to be making an affect on how she sees him.<\/p>\n
I seem heartless in comparison\u00e2\u20ac\u201ddodging fireballs, dropping nests, and blowing up supplies\u00e2\u20ac\u201duntil I go hunting for Rue. They play her death in full, the spearing, my failed rescue attempt, my arrow through the boy from District 1\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s throat, Rue drawing her last breath in my arms. And the song. I get to sing every note of the song. Something inside me shuts down and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m too numb to feel anything. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s like watching complete strangers in another Hunger Games. But I do notice they omit the part where I covered her in flowers.<\/p>\n
Right. Because even that smacks of rebellion.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Good lord, this is disturbing. Just in case you forgot, Katniss, here\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s all the awful shit we did to you and others perpetrated in the effort to stay alive. Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t forget it! EVER<\/em>.<\/p>\n
Objectively, I can see the mutts and Cato\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s death are as gruesome as ever, but again, I feel it happens to people I have never met.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Wow. The disconnection has already occurred. Perhaps this is part of the plan of the Gamemakers and the Capitol. They want to desensitize and dehumanize the contestants so much that they can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even recognize their actions for what they are. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a really fucked up form of homogenization, isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t it?<\/p>\n
The President of the Panem (President Snow) arrives to hand them each one half of the crown that deems them the victors. This detail was pretty frightening:<\/p>\n
He places the first around Peeta\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s brow with a smile. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s still smiling when he settles the second on my head, but his eyes, just inches from mine, are as unforgiving as a snake\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s.<\/p>\n
That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s when I know that even though both of us would have eaten the berries, I am to blame for having the idea. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m the instigator. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m the one to be punished.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Though Haymitch clearly didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t need to tell Peeta to play up the romance, since he was sincere, I think that perhaps he only told Katniss what happened with the berry rebellion because he knew she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d be targeted. I like Haymitch because he does stuff like this even though he doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have to.<\/p>\n
The presentation is finally over and we learn that they have to make ANOTHER appearance the next day for their final interviews. AS IF MAKING THEM VISUALLY RELIVE THE GAMES WASN\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T ENOUGH. Katpee are whisked off to the president\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s mansion for a banquet of sorts and I love how reminiscent this is of Hollywood, and how meaningless parties full of empty gestures are thrown for people who are supposed to be important. I wish Collins had spent more time elaborating on how out-of-place Katpee were at that party because I think it would have been an interesting contrast.<\/p>\n
Alas, it doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t happen. I was a bit chuffed that Collins rushed through so much of this: Katniss returns to her room, tries to talk to Peeta, finds out she is locked in, sleeps, and is awoken the next day for her final interview by Effie. This all happens in one paragraph. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s only a couple more paragraphs before she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s suddenly thrust before Caesar Flickerman in the studio where the interview is being recorded.<\/p>\n
Peeta is there and Caesar encourages them to snuggle as close as possible on the love seat. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s something strangely endearing about Caesar, as if he is subtly trying to communicate to Katniss that he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s on her side; he certainly goes out of his way to make sure that her interviews go well. I suppose it could be self-interest, because if an interview goes sour, he could easily be blamed. Maybe he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just a natural at all this.<\/p>\n
He does seem to know when to shift the conversation. The interview opens with a long section of Peeta and Caesar discussing the Games and his love for Katniss. When it turns to Katniss and she stumbles to answer a question about when she fell for Peeta, we get another sign that Caesar really wants to do right by Katniss.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Well, I know when it hit me. The night you should out his name from that tree,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d says Caesar.<\/p>\n
Thank you, Caesar!<\/em> I think, and then go with his idea. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Yes, I guess that was it. I mean, until that point, I just tried not to think about what my feelings might be, honestly, because it was so confusing and it only made things worse if I actually cared about him. But then, in the tree, everything changed,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I say.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Why do you think that was?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d urges Caesar.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Maybe\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6because for the first time\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6there was a chance I could keep him,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I say.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
I bet there is truth to that, but this interchange just reminds me how fucked up all of this is. The Games manipulated these people to feel emotions (and emotions that very well were real to these people), but was ultimately doing so in order to entertain and oppress. No one in the Capitol ever really cared if Peeta and Katniss stayed alive. They were simply a means to an end.<\/p>\n
We learn that Peeta got some sort of implant where he lost part of his leg, and Katniss loses control of herself. Understandably so, but then there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s this weird part.<\/p>\n
I guess this is true, but I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t help feeling upset about it to the extent that I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m afraid I might cry and then I remember everyone in the country is watching me so I just bury my face in Peeta\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s shirt. It takes them a couple minutes to coax me back out because it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s better in the shirt, where no one can see me, and when I do come out, Caesar backs off questioning me so I can recover.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
This is a live interview, right? Isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t this super awkward and a REALLY BAD IDEA? Also HOW DO YOU HIDE IN A SHIRT FOR THAT LONG.<\/p>\n
The moment of truth arrives: Caesar asks Katniss about the berries.<\/p>\n
It seems to call for a big, dramatic speech, but all I get out is one almost inaudible sentence. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know, I just\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t bear the thought of\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6being without him.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Peeta? Anything to add?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d asks Caesar.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153No. I think that goes for both of us,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he says.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Well, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not amazing, but it does the trick. Haymitch confirms the interview went fine, which ends after that, is just what they needed. They are taken away quickly to gather their few belongings and are sent to the trains that are waiting to take them back to District 12.<\/p>\n
We barely have time to say good-bye to Cinna and Portia, although we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll see them in a few months, when we tour the districts for a round of victory ceremonies. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the Capitol\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s way of reminding people that the Hunger Games never really go away. We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll be given a lot of useless plaques, and everyone will have to pretend they love us.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
WHAT. THE. FUCK. Ok, first of all, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s clearly what the next book is going to address. But more importantly\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6.WHYYYYYYYYYYYY. Like, is Katniss going to have to meet the parents of the boy she murdered after he killed Rue? Or visit Rue\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s family? OR WHY IS ALL OF THIS oh my god AWFUL.<\/p>\n
Not as awful as what happens next, though. Peeta and Katniss get a moment alone during a fuel stop. And all those confusing, conflicting emotions start to come to a head.<\/p>\n
Gale. The idea of seeing Gale in a matter of hours makes my stomach churn. But why? I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t quite frame it in my mind. I only know that I feel like I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been lying to someone who trusts me. Or more accurately, to two people. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been getting away with it up to this point because of the Games. But there will be no Games to hid behind back home.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Oh man, are we going to have to deal with a love triangle? I hate love triangles more than I hate most things<\/strong><\/em>. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll give it a chance, but NO THANK YOU in advance. But it is interesting that Katniss finally says she has been lying<\/em> to Peeta about her feelings for him. Before this, it was always expressed as ignorance. Is she now certain how she feels?<\/p>\n
NOPE. Because now it all comes out as Peeta confronts Katniss after Haymitch makes a passing comment about keeping up their appearances until they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re back in District 12. Katniss reveals the truth about the berries and how they upset the Capitol and how Haymitch has been coaching her for days so she doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t mess things up.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153But you knew what he wanted you to do, didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t you?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d says Peeta. I bite my lip. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Katniss?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d He drops my hand and I take a step, as if to catch my balance.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153It was all for the Games,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Peeta says. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153How you acted.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Not all of it,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I say, tightly holding onto my flowers.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Then how much? No, forget that. I guess the real question is what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s going to be left when we get home?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he says.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know. The closer we get to District Twelve, the more confused I get,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I say.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
WELL, THIS ISN\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T AWKWARD. I have to turn my criticism to Peeta for a moment. Did he also<\/em> not ever pick up on Katniss faking her reaction? I suppose he could have been distracted by his love for her, but\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6.I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s fair for me to be so hard on Katniss and give Peeta a break when it comes to this. Perhaps both of them have the emotional depth of a teaspoon, right?<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Well, let me know when you work it out,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he says, and the pain in his voice is palpable.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
It sucks because the context of it is so horrifying: she pretended to love him so she wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be murdered or die of starvation.<\/em> I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know about you, but I give her a complete moral pass on this one. I ain\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t judging.<\/p>\n
Still, it hurts. It hurts Peeta to see the girl he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s grown to love over many, many years tell him that she wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t genuine.<\/p>\n
I want to tell him that he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not being fair. That we were strangers. That I did what it took to stay alive, to keep us both alive in the arena. That I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t explain how things are with Gale because I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know myself. That it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no good loving me because I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m never going to get married anyway and he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d end up hating me later instead of sooner. That if I do have feelings for him, it doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t matter because I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll never be able to afford the kind of love that leads to a family, to children. And how can he? How can he after what we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve just been through?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Perhaps I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve discounted Katniss too much. I think those are all solid, valid points. But she doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t get to address them at all because they pull up to the station in District Twelve.<\/p>\n
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Peeta extend his hand. I look at him, unsure. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153One more time? For the audience?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he says. His voice isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t angry. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hollow, which is worse. Already the boy with the bread is slipping away from me.<\/p>\n
I take his hand, holding on tightly, preparing for the cameras, and dread the moment when I will finally have to let go.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Shit is fucked up, you guys.<\/p>\n
And because I have to do this:<\/p>\n
The Hunger Games<\/em> is a flawed book that still ultimately reminds me too much of Battle Royale<\/em><\/strong>, but the ending is pretty fantastic and MOAR HAYMITCH and such. <\/strong><\/h1>\n
Up next: Predictions for Catching Fire <\/em>tomorrow\u00c2\u00a0and then I start on Friday!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In the twenty-seventh chapter of The Hunger Games, Katniss faces two public appearances where she is forced to live through the Games again and maintain her \u00e2\u20ac\u0153relationship\u00e2\u20ac\u009d with Peeta the entire time. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to finish\u00c2\u00a0The … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/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":[28,24,27],"class_list":["post-97","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hunger-games","category-the-hunger-games-novel","tag-katniss-everdeen","tag-mark-reads-the-hunger-games","tag-suzanne-collins"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97","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=97"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=97"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=97"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=97"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}