{"id":173,"date":"2011-01-31T08:00:08","date_gmt":"2011-01-31T16:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/?p=173"},"modified":"2011-01-29T21:49:14","modified_gmt":"2011-01-30T05:49:14","slug":"mark-reads-mockingjay-chapter-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/2011\/01\/mark-reads-mockingjay-chapter-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Reads ‘Mockingjay’: Chapter 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the second chapter of Mockingjay<\/em>, we learn just how difficult the situation is for Katniss, the rebels, and, surprisingly, Peeta. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to read Mockingjay<\/em>.<\/p>\n

I really want to applaud Collins for making this all so uncomfortable.<\/p>\n

I think I expected an unrealistic reality when I finished Catching Fire<\/em>; I thought that things would be much more hopeful for Katniss when she was picked up by Haymitch and Plutarch at the end of the Games. I knew she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d be upset by Peeta being captured. I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even remotely predict the environment that Mockingjay<\/em> opens up with.<\/p>\n

The thing is, I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t feel hope right now. And yes, this might seem strange, but this is pretty goddamn awesome. It feels far more realistic that Katniss has shut down due to trauma and depression than if she suddenly went all gung-ho to fight the rebellion.<\/p>\n

Gale sits next to me. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Pretty bad down there?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be much worse,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I answer. I look in his eyes and see my own grief reflected there. Our hands find each other, holding fast to a part of 12 that Snow has somehow failed to destroy. We sit in silence for the rest of the trip to 13, which only takes about forty-five minutes. A mere week\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s journey on foot.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m interested to see how this plays out. Like I said towards the end of the last book, I finally started to believe the Peeta\/Katniss pairing. It seemed real, and their mutual respect for each other grew to something genuine and touching. And yet, Gale and Katniss just feel so natural together. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no pretension or grandeur to their interaction, as this scene shows us, and I wonder if this is going to affect who Katniss ends up with by the completion of the trilogy.<\/p>\n
Bonnie and Twill, the District 8 refugees who I encountered in the woods last winter, weren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t so far from their destination after all. They apparently didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t make it, though. When I asked about them in 13, no one seemed to know whom I was talking about. Died in the woods, I guess.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Yeah, so back on that theme of awfulness. Collins doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t seem reluctant to make everything terrible right from the get-go.<\/p>\n
Let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s move on to District 13, something I was essentially drooling about all throughout Catching Fire<\/em>. We finally get our first look at it here in chapter two and, like everything else, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not quite what I anticipated. Everything is essentially built underground, as we already knew, and from Katniss\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s narration, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m guessing that 13 is somewhere near Washington, D.C.:<\/p>\n
There was already a substantial underground facility here, developed over centuries to be either a clandestine refuge for government leaders in a time of war or a last resort for humanity if life above became unlivable.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
THIS IS TOTES UNDER CONGRESS OR SOMETHING. Or the Pentagon, maybe? I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122M CALLING IT. Though I suppose it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s actually unimportant to the actual story, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s funny to guess all of this since we don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t get a hard-coded map from Collins.<\/p>\n
District 13 itself was indeed the byproduct of the last uprising during the Dark Days, when the rebels took control of the nuclear weapons housed by the Capitol. I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t expect the reveal that there are nuclear weapons on the west side of the country, though, and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m worried of oncoming nuclear warfare. IN WHICH EVERYONE DIES. RIGHT? Because you always lose against a nuclear bomb.<\/em> I have a feeling Collins isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t going to include this detail and then never deal with it again.<\/p>\n
I think the most surprising (and, admittedly, upsetting) aspect of District 13 is the system by which they organize themselves. Katniss describes the rigid routine and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not too thrilled with how this might affect future events:<\/p>\n
You can go outside for exercise and sunlight but only at very specific times in your schedule. You can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t miss your schedule. Every morning, you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re supposed to stick your right arm in this contraption in the wall. It tattoos the smooth inside of your forearm with your schedule for the day in a sickly purple ink. 7:00\u00e2\u20ac\u201dBreakfast. 7:30\u00e2\u20ac\u201dKitchen Duties. 8:30\u00e2\u20ac\u201dEducation Center, Room 17<\/em>. And so on. The ink is indelible until 22:00\u00e2\u20ac\u201dBathing<\/em>. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s when whatever keeps it water resistant breaks down and the whole schedule rinses away. The lights-out at 22:30 signals that everyone not on the night shift should be in bed.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The thing is, I understand why they have such a schedule. Being allowed to live outside of Capitol rule is a HUGE thing, something that can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be loss due to a lack of organization. I think this sort of rigidity makes total sense. I see this being a huge problem for all of the refugees who escaped one set of rules to replace them with another. (I also can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t deny that it must inversely be comforting for other people to leave the chaos of District 12 and find this, so I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want it to seem like I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m completely against it.)<\/p>\n
It doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t work for Katniss and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not surprised. She is not a particularly chaotic person and she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s certainly the type to have a routine. But after the events of the last year or so, she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s mostly abandoned a lot of her old mainstays. The image of her sleeping in hidden areas around District 13 only suggests how bad her unrest is. I did derive some joy from this moment, as Katniss did too:<\/p>\n
Fortunately, the people of 12 have never been wasteful. But once I saw Fulvia Cardew crumple up a sheet of paper with just a couple of words written on it and you wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve thought she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d murdered someone for the looks she got. Her face turned tomato red, making the silver flowers inlaid in her plump cheeks even more noticeable. The very portrait of excess. One of my few pleasures in 13 is watching the handful of pampered Capitol \u00e2\u20ac\u0153rebels\u00e2\u20ac\u009d squirming as they try to fit in.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d probably enjoy this. MARK HATES RICH PEOPLE lol<\/p>\n
Then I take a deep breath and open the door. My mother and sister are home for 18:00\u00e2\u20ac\u201dReflection<\/em>, a half hour of downtime before dinner. I see the concern on their faces as they try to gauge my emotional state. Before anyone can ask anything, I empty my game bag and it becomes 18:00\u00e2\u20ac\u201dCat Adoration<\/em>. Prim just sits on the floor weeping and rocking that awful Buttercup, who interrupts his purring only for an occasional hiss at me. He gives me a particularly smug look when she ties the blue ribbon around his neck.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m perfectly fine if, in chapter five, both nuclear bombs go off and somehow, Buttercup is the only living thing left on the planet and we just follow him around for the remainder of Mockingjay<\/em>. 100% ok with that.<\/p>\n
Gale and Katniss head to Command, the room where the leaders of the rebellion use their technology to keep track of the uprising. One of the tools they have is a feed of what the Capitol is broadcasting on television sets across Panem, and I was fascinated by their use of propaganda, war footage, and ominous warnings from President Snow. POINTS TO COLLINS FOR THE SMALL DETAILS.<\/p>\n
So it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s almost entertaining to see Caesar Flickerman, the eternal host of the Hunger Games, with his painted face and sparkly suit, preparing to give an interview. Until the camera pulls back and I see that his guest is Peeta.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
WHAT THE HOLY HELL<\/strong>.<\/p>\n
Collins continues to keep me on my toes, as Peeta\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s interview with Caesar is one surprise after another:<\/p>\n
Peeta looks healthy to the point of robustness. His skin is glowing, flawless, in that full-body-polish way. His manner\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s composed, serious. I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t reconcile this image with the battered, bleeding boy who haunts my dreams.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
At first, this also made no sense to me. Why would they present Peeta as if they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d done nothing to him? But upon asking myself that question, it started to make sense: they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re using him as a mouthpiece.<\/p>\n
The interview is just straight-up odd. I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t read Peeta at all and I had a hard time determining what he actually believes and what the Capitol is trying to use as propaganda. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s clearly confused about the last night in the arena and the realization that he and Katniss were pawns for the rebellion.<\/p>\n
Here\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the first moment that confuses me. Caesar asks Peeta to describe that final night in the arena and Peeta doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t hesitate to be open and candid about it. He discusses how horrifying and claustrophobic it is, how the very concept of the Hunger Games is inconceivable, even a second time around.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153As bad as it makes you feel, you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re going to have to do some killing, because in the arena, you only get one wish. And it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s very costly.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153It costs your life,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d says Caesar.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Oh, no. It costs a lot more than your life. To murder innocent people?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d says Peeta. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153It costs everything you are.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Heavy philosophy aside, I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t figure out why<\/em> the Capitol would be ok with someone speaking about the Hunger Games this way. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no possible positive connotation to this that I could figure out.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153You were too caught up in Beetee\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s plan to electrify the salt lake,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d says Caesar.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Too busy playing allies with the others. I should have never let them separate us!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Peeta bursts out. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s when I lost her.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
This, on the other hand, seems genuine, an actual expression of anger and disappointment on his part.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I can only remember bits and pieces. Trying to find her. Watching Brutus kill Chaff. Killing Brutus myself. I know she was calling my name. Then the lightning bolt hit the tree, and the force field around the arena\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6blew out.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Holy shit, Peeta actually killed someone? What the FUCK? It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s made even worse when Caesar suggests that perhaps Katniss was on the rebels\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 side all along:<\/p>\n
Peeta\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s on his feet, leaning in on Caesar\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s face, hands locked on the arms of his interviewer\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s chair. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Really? And was it part of her plan for Johanna to nearly kill her? For that electric shock to paralyze her? To trigger the bombing?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s yelling now. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153She didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know, Caesar! Neither of us knew anything except that we were trying to keep each other alive!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
And now we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re back to a genuine statement from Peeta that doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t seem to benefit the Capitol at all. I DON\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T GET THIS.<\/p>\n
When Haymitch is brought up, Peeta is quick to share his distaste for him, especially since Haymitch deceived both him and Katniss in order to satisfy his agenda. And while I am a big fan of Haymitch as a character, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m glad that both Katniss and Peeta are openly defiant towards being pawns in all of this, especially since none of this was done with their consent. This is also when we learn what happened to Haymitch:<\/p>\n
I haven\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t seen Haymitch since I attacked him on the hovercraft, leaving long claw marks down his face. I know it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been bad for him here. District 13 strictly forbids any production or consumption of intoxicating beverages, and even the rubbing alcohol in the hospital is kept under lock and key. Finally, Haymitch is being forced into sobriety, with no secret stashes or home-brewed concoctions to ease his transition. They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got him in seclusion until he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s dried out, as he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not deemed fit for public display. It must be excruciating, but I lost all my sympathy for Haymitch when I realized how he had deceived us.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
I get it. I do. But I know, as an alcoholic many years ago, that becoming sober is incredibly painful and difficult, so while I do support the general idea of Katpee\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hatred for Haymitch, maybe she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s going a bit too far.<\/p>\n
Peeta drops the first bit of what I would think is Capitol propaganda when Caesar asks him how he feels about the war:<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I want everyone watching\u00e2\u20ac\u201dwhether you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re on the Capitol or the rebel side\u00e2\u20ac\u201dto stop for just a moment and think about what this war could mean. For human beings. We almost went extinct fighting one another before. Now our numbers are even fewer. Our conditions more tenuous. Is this really what we want to do? Kill ourselves off completely? In the hopes that\u00e2\u20ac\u201dwhat? Some decent species will inherit the smoking remains of the earth?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
On a pacifist level (AND I AM A BIG PACIFIST I have never even punched someone in the face<\/em>), Peeta\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s speech is neat, but it feel entirely written by the Capitol as a ploy to get the rebels to lay down their arms so they can be SMASHED BY THE STATE. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t trust it. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t like it. And it makes me sad that Peeta said it.<\/p>\n
As the voices in Command turn to name calling Peeta, referring to him as a traitor and a liar and WHO IS COIN. I mean, I know who she is, but something isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t quite right with her. I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t figure her out either, so when she tells Katniss, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153You have not been dismissed, Soldier Everdeen,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I just want to yell YOU\u00e2\u20ac\u2122RE NOT MY MOTHER! And then storm out of the room, stomping upstairs so I can get emo to Linkin Park.<\/p>\n
What.<\/p>\n
Gale follows after Katniss, having suffered a bloody nose due to the elbow of one of Coin\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s guards. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s great to hear them joking between each other, just because it reminds me that these two are friends, that they come from a similar place and they are there to help each other out.<\/p>\n
This is one of the few good things about 13. Getting Gale back. With the pressure of the Capitol\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s arranged marriage between Peeta and me gone, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve managed to regain our friendship. He doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t push it any further\u00e2\u20ac\u201dtry to kiss me or talk about love. Either I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been too sick, or he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s willing to give me space, or he knows it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just too cruel with Peeta in the hands of the Capitol. Whatever the case, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got someone to tell my secrets to again.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Huh. Maybe there is a chance of a Gale\/Katniss future. OH WAIT, I PREDICTED GALE WOULD DIE sadness forever :\/<\/p>\n
But for now, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m glad that Katniss has someone<\/em> that understands her, that she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not entirely alone in all of this. It helps for her to have someone to talk all of this through, someone who knows what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s happened, and someone who trusts her enough to respect how she feels. They openly discuss Peeta\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s interview, and Gale comes to a disturbing conclusion:<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153My guess is he made some kind of deal to protect you. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d put forth the idea of the cease-fire if Snow let him present you as a confused pregnant girl who had no idea what was going on when she was taken prisoner by the rebels. This way, if the districts lose, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s still a chance of leniency for you. If you play it right.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I must still look perplexed because Gale delivers the next line very slowly. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Katniss\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s still trying to keep you alive.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
That certainly explains more of this. So Peeta is possibly acting entirely out of selfish desire to keep Katniss alive. (Or wait. Is that selfish? I suppose it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s only selfish if he expects to live himself, right?) THIS IS NOT GOOD. Peeta, you could seriously fuck this up with that kind of narrow interpretation of events. I still think it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s noble of him to do what he can to keep her alive, but possibly put an entire nation at risk for that? THAT\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S WEIRD, RIGHT?<\/p>\n
Katniss agrees and suddenly stands up aside Gale in a haste.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153He doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know what they did to Twelve. If he could\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve seen what was on the ground\u00e2\u20ac\u201d\u00e2\u20ac\u0153 I start.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
RIGHT? RIGHT??? I AGREE WITH YOU, KATNISS.<\/p>\n
What am I going to do?<\/em><\/p>\n
I take a deep breath. My arms rise slightly\u00e2\u20ac\u201das if recalling the black-and-white wings Cinna gave me\u00e2\u20ac\u201dthen come to rest at my sides.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m going to be the Mockingjay.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
WHAT!!!! Badass conversion IS ABOUT TO BEGIN. FUCK YEAH.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In the second chapter of Mockingjay, we learn just how difficult the situation is for Katniss, the rebels, and, surprisingly, Peeta. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to read Mockingjay.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31,5],"tags":[28,39,24,27],"class_list":["post-173","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mockingjay","category-hunger-games","tag-katniss-everdeen","tag-mark-reads-mockingjay","tag-mark-reads-the-hunger-games","tag-suzanne-collins"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=173"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=173"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=173"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=173"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}