DISSERTATION

The Role of Cruelty in Transforming Society ;

Reading Suzanne Collins Mockingjay

A Dissertation submitted for the partial fulfilment of Masters in English

degree at the Department of English at National P. G. College, Lucknow

Supervisor: Submitted by:

Dr. Rakesh Jain Shaifali Pal

Head of Department Roll No. 423201
Department of English
National P. G. College, Lucknow

National P. G. College, Lucknow

An Autonomous, CPE & NAAC Grade ‘A’ College of University of Lucknow
2024-25
 NATIONAL P. G. COLLEGE, LUCKNOW
(An Autonomous NAAC Grade ‘A’ College of University of Lucknow)
2 Rana Pratap Marg, Hazratganj, Lucknow – 226001
www.npgc.in ; [email protected]

CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the dissertation entitled “The Role of Cruelty in

Transforming society; Reading Suzanne Collins Mockingjay” is a bonafide record

of original research work submitted by Ms. Shaifali Pal for the award of the Degree of

Masters in English, under my supervision at the Department of English in National P.G.

College, Lucknow. I also certify that the whole work or any part thereof reported herein

has not formed the basis for the award of any other research degree` of this or any other

University.

Date: Dr. Rakesh Jain

Head of Department
Department of English
National P.G. College,
Lucknow
 NATIONAL P. G. COLLEGE, LUCKNOW
(An Autonomous NAAC Grade ‘A’ College of University of Lucknow)
2 Rana Pratap Marg, Hazratganj, Lucknow – 226001
www.npgc.in ; [email protected]

DECLARATION

I hereby declare that this Dissertation titled “The Role of Cruelty in

Transforming Society; Reading Suzanne Collins Mockingjay” represents my own

work which has been done for the partial fulfilment of my Masters in English Degree

from the Department of English at National P. G. College, Lucknow. It has not been

previously included in a thesis or dissertation submitted to this or any other institution

for a degree, diploma or other qualifications. I have read the current research ethics

guidelines of the College and accept responsibility for the conduct of the procedures in

accordance with them.

Date: Shaifali Pal

 Table of contents
Preface i

Acknowledgements ii

Chapter 1 - Introduction to the hunger games (1 - 15)

Chapter 2 – The aftermath of destruction (16 - 34)

Chapter 3 – prim’s death and katniss’s trauma (35 - 64)

Chapter 4 – The siege of the capitol (65 - 84)

Chapter 5 – conclusion: The hunger games in mockingjay (85- 96)

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PREFACE

In Suzanne Collins’ Mockingjay, the final installment of The Hunger Games trilogy, cruelty is

not merely a symptom of tyranny—it is a calculated instrument of social and political transformation.

As Katniss Everdeen navigates the emotional, physical, and ideological battlegrounds of rebellion,

readers are forced to confront the many faces of cruelty: the Capitol’s violent suppression, District

13’s manipulative propaganda, and the psychological toll of war on individuals. Collins dismantles the

romanticized narrative of revolution by foregrounding the suffering and moral compromise that define

both sides of conflict. In doing so, she illustrates how cruelty—whether enacted through bombs,

media, or silence—reshapes societies, erodes identities, and redefines the boundaries of justice.

This preface explores how Collins uses cruelty as a thematic and narrative force to critique

power structures, examine the cost of resistance, and ask whether true societal change can ever emerge

without sacrificing the humanity of those who seek it.

In Mockingjay, the final book of Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games trilogy, cruelty emerges

as a central force in the transformation of society, exposing the deep costs of rebellion, resistance, and

political change. Collins portrays cruelty not only through the overt violence of the Capitol—such as

the destruction of District 12 and the psychological torture of Peeta—but also through the more subtle

and systemic manipulations employed by District 13, which uses Katniss as a propaganda tool. This

duality reveals that cruelty is not limited to dictatorships; it can also be found within revolutionary

movements that justify suffering in the name of freedom. Through Katniss’s trauma, moral confusion,

and growing disillusionment, Collins critiques the idea that societal change can be achieved without

inflicting or enduring harm.

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Acknowledgements

This endeavour would not have been possible without my professor Dr. Rakesh Jain

for his invaluable patience and feedback. I could not have undertaken this journey without

my peers who generously provided knowledge and expertise

I am grateful to my classmates for their help which impacted and inspired me. I would

also like to thank to our principal sir and other professors for the efforts you make to help us

grow and the challenges you encourage us to face and also thanks to the library staff for

providing books and other materials required for the research.

Lastly i would like to address my parents and my siblings as I am deeply indebted to

them for their unwavering support and their belief in me to kept my spirits and motivation

high through the process.

Shaifali Pal
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CHAPTER – 1

Introduction

In 2008, The Hunger Games took the world of young adult literature by storm as author Suzanne

Collins invited readers to imagine a dystopian North America where children are forced to fight to the death.

The Hunger Games tells the story of a future post-apocalyptic United States, now called Panem, which has

been divided into twelve districts. Katniss Everdeen lives with her mother and eleven-year-old sister, Prim,

in what was once the Appalachian Mountains and is now District 12. She saves Prim from the Hunger

Games, a televised fight to the death among twenty-four children, by taking Prim’s place as a “tribute,” or

contestant.

The male tribute from her district is Peeta Mellark, the baker’s son who acts first as Katniss’s friend,

enemy, and love interest to propel the violent story through the Games. In the process, Katniss, with the help

of Peeta and mentor Haymitch Abernathy, start a revolution against the Capitol of Panem. Within the novel,

violence is presented through multiple perspectives as a form of punishment, a reminder of forced

obedience, a general fascination with death with a variety of meanings, and a pleasure for the public,

tributes, and Capitol citizens.

Throughout the novel, Collins relies on words to create scenes and images in readers’ heads that will

manipulate their emotions and offer various perspectives and sometimes contradictory thoughts from the

participants in the Games as the novel progresses. The readers see Katniss as the protagonist and the enemy

tributes as the immediate antagonists, but the Capitol, specifically the people involved in making the Games

possible as well as the president of Panem, is the real antagonist to fight against. Katniss appears to struggle

with this idea, as she is too preoccupied by the other tributes and the problem of how to handle them in the
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arena. That is, until the end of the Games, when it is announced that only one tribute instead of a pair from

the same district can come out alive. In this moment, Katniss realizes that the Capitol, not her rival tributes,

is the true enemy to fight as she realizes that “Without a victor, the whole thing would blow up in the

Gamemakers’ faces.

They’d have failed the Capitol. Might even be executed, slowly and painfully while the cameras

broadcast it to every screen in the country” (Collins 344). With a determination to make a stand against the

Capitol, Katniss and Peeta nearly eat a handful of poisonous berries. Unlike District 12, some of the

wealthier districts see the Games as a way to honour and serve the Capitol, even illegally training their youth

to be the strongest tributes. These districts consider the Games a way to prove their worth to the Capitol and

show that they are willing to die for their country. The tributes from the wealthy districts do not suffer as

many do and are less likely to go against the Capitol. These districts see the Gamesas less of a punishment

and more as a way to prove their worth to the Capitol and continue receiving the best treatment. The closer a

district is geographically to the Capitol, the wealthier they tend to be. District 12 is on the outskirts, the

poorest of the districts. The outer districts have more kinds of violence to face as their district may be filled

with disease and starvation in addition to the violence the tributes face in the Games. It is not only in the

Games that readers see how the citizens of Panem react to violence.

Readers are exposed to the characters’ reactions to violence in a memory that Katniss has before the

Games start. One day while hunting in the woods, before she is a participant in the actual Games, Katniss

has the option to save a girl from falling victim to the Capitol. While training for the Games, the girl Katniss

could have saved acts as servant to her and Katniss apologizes for her rude actions at a dinner, “But I know

that my apology runs much deeper. That I’m ashamed I never tried to help her in the woods” (Collins 85).

When faced with the decision to help the girl or let her be abducted, Katniss choses the latter. Instead of

taking the opportunity to stand up for the girl and make a stand against the Capitol, Katniss decides to be a

viewer of the action, similar to the viewers of the Games. Katniss’s apology is sincere and carries more
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weight than just apologizing for dinner behaviour. Her apology reflects her feelings on her passivity from

years before. Her passivity from that day haunts her in her time in the Capitol when training for the Games.

Katniss’s apology to the Avox girl allows her to reflect on the memory with a new perspective as she

has gone from a passive participant in an abduction in the woods to an active participant in the Games.

Though she is not a participant in the Games when she first sees the girl, she is a participant in Panem and

so, just as with any other Capitol viewer, she does nothing to stop the death and torture of a boy and girl who

are similar in age to herself. She feels guilty and partially responsible for their fates, but at the time did not

put herself in a position to help them.

Though she does not necessarily feel the responsibility to take action at the time, at the time of seeing

the girl again, she feels responsible for their fates and Katniss and the girl both know that Katniss is the one

who let the Capitol abduct her, “You don’t forget the face of the person who was your last hope” (Collins

85). When faced with the image of the girl at dinner and again in her room, Katniss feels the weight of her

decision. Now that the girl is a symbol of the Capitol and what they do to people, Katniss realizes the role

she had in this girl’s life and that now their relationship runs much deeper than a day that Katniss suppressed

from her memory.

On that day hunting in the woods, she embraces passivity. But now, Katniss must face her passivity

with regard to the girl and the other tributes that will soon be trying to kill her. Unlike Katniss, readers have

no way of addressing their passive role in the novel. Readers act as a different kind of audience, one where

they can have no say in what happens. Even though they feel guilty that nearly two-dozen children are

brutally killed, they are unable to take action in the events. They are not directly responsible for the deaths of

the characters, but they are enabling a fictional world where murder as a sport is embraced and celebrated.

The readers, like characters in the novel, are being manipulated in order to feel guilty for the deaths. Readers
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are unique because they mirror Katniss’s passivity during the abduction and read the novel for

entertainment, similar to how the Capitol views the Games, but they are able to see both the tributes and the

Capitol’s involvement in the Games.

After apologizing, Katniss reflects on her reaction to watching the girl be abducted by the Capitol

while readers watch her without the involvement of the Capitol or the Games. Katniss knows that this event,

though not actually a part of the Games, still influences the relationship between the Capitol, the Games,

tributes, and audience. She recognizes how her passivity in that event is similar to how citizens of Panem

watch the Games, “That I let the Capitol kill the boy and mutilate her without lifting a finger.

Just like I was watching the Games” (Collins 85). When faced with this opportunity to take part in a

scene that mirrors the Games, including the Capitol’s involvement, the inability to rebel against the Capitol,

and hiding and fighting for your own life, Katniss does not act like the victor she will become. Instead, she

acts as Capitol citizen, watching instead of taking part in the action. Katniss is a part of the audience here,

she is part of the drama in a larger sense, but she is not actually taking part in the action. Because she is not

part of the action, she can essentially deny her involvement in this scene. Audience members in the Capitol

can deny their involvement in the Games because they are not actively participating, even though they

encourage, embrace, and are excited watching the action. Both the stage of the abduction and the stage of the

Games are there for the readers as audience members.

As she goes to bed, Katniss wonders at the girl’s reaction to Katniss’s own possible death, “I wonder

if she’ll enjoy watching me die” (Collins 85). Here, Katniss acknowledges that their roles are now switched,

but the girl has motivation to take pleasure in watching Katniss’s pain and has no opportunity to save

Katniss even if she wanted to. Instead of being alone in the woods, the whole country will watch Katniss

fight for her life, just as Katniss watched the girl fight for her life alone in the woods. The initial interaction
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between Katniss and the girl sets up an important aspect in Katniss’s life because it is in that moment where

Katniss acts as a Capitol citizen and sets up the reversal of that role as the servant girl will now watch the

deaths in the arena.

After seeing the Avox girl in the Capitol for the first time, Katniss must refocus herself into the

mindset of a tribute in the Games, a participant in the Capitol’s torture for its districts and the pleasure the

citizens feel watching murders. The tributes receive first-class treatment before an inevitable death for all but

one of them. After winning, the victor will never have to face hunger again and will be provided new

housing within their district.

The first-class treatment can often distract tributes and the promise of food and fame is tempting

enough for many to want to participate in the Games and fight to win. Initially, seeing the Avox girl reminds

Katniss of the reality of the Games. Katniss, after getting caught up in the same thing the Capitol citizens are

interested in, realizes that “the idea of the girl with her maimed tongue frightens me. She has reminded me

why I’m here. Not to model flashy costumes and eat delicacies. But to die a bloody death while the crowds

urge on my killer” (Collins 80). The fantasy of the food and costumes will overshadow that dark reality of

the Games if tributes allow it. Katniss refuses to be distracted by it. The Games have shifted from being

post-rebellion district punishment almost seventy-five years ago to a Capitol entertainment source at the

expense of selected tributes.

Initially, the Games were put in place to show the districts that the Capitol held the power in the

country. For modern Capitol citizens, it has transformed into the ultimate form of reality television. Former

arenas are preserved as historic sites, but they are not necessarily used as a way to educate Capitol citizens

and the people of the districts. Instead, “The arenas are historic sites, preserved after the Games. Popular

destinations for residents to visit, to vacation. Go for a month, rewatch the Games, tour the catacombs, visit
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the sites where the deaths took place. You can even take part in reenactments” (Collins 144). These “historic

sites” can be used as an additional warning to the districts, but the also serve another purpose. The sites show

that the Capitol can create more than just a reality television series about the Games. The sites are used as

vacation spots for Capitol citizens and demonstrate how the Capitol has created more than just a reality

television series. They have built their new culture around the Games, encouraging Capitol residents and

district citizens to fully embrace this form of entertainment in every aspect of their lives.

The novel takes into consideration the different perspectives a character can have on violence;

especially in the way they view violence. Earlier in her life, Katniss plays the role of Capitol citizen as she

watches a girl get abducted in the woods without taking part in the action.

While training for the Games, Katniss’s role as a bystander changes. Before, she took the role of

Capitol citizen watching a girl who will inevitably be punished by the Capitol. Now, she takes the role of a

tribute in training, watching what could very well be an image of her own death.

During a training session, Katniss’s role transforms as she watches another tribute “kill” a dummy

and standing by frozen with fascination. She watches the fight unfold, imagining that she is the dummy and

stands watching an image of her death in a fantasy world. Unable to turn away, Katniss watches the sight of

her own possible death. However, it is not entirely a fantasy world for Katniss, nor was it a fantasy world as

she watched the girl in the woods. This time though, Katniss is the one facing the likelihood of dying, not a

stranger. Katniss is aware that this dummy being mutilated is a representation of what could soon be her own

death. She is fascinated while she watches the spear enter the dummy’s heart as if she were an outsider

watching an image of her own death, “I’ve been preoccupied with watching the boy from District 2 send a

spear through a dummy’s heart from fifteen yards” (Collins 95). She watches herself die in a fantasy that

could soon become reality, if not for her then for her fellow tributes. If she is not the one getting a spear
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through her heart, she will be the one throwing the spear. This is the moment Katniss realizes she will have

to take an active, not passive, role in the Games. In an active role, Katniss will have to take action in the

Games, fighting for her own life while at the same time trying to protect her young ally, Rue, and when they

fight together, Peeta.

She will fight against the other tributes, even if she does not want to kill them, she knows it is the

only way to survive, and survival is not something Katniss gives up on. Her previous passive role as she

watched as if she were an audience member and watching the spearing of a dummy involved her simply

standing by the sidelines, worried about her own safety in each scene. Being active would allow her to take

control of what is happening to her and taking part in the fighting, thus giving her the opportunity to protect

herself, Rue, and Peeta.

Before the Games, she is fascinated with seeing these fake death scenes take place and is unable to

turn away from them, but, after winning the Games and witnessing the murders of the other tributes, she has

no desire to watch them again as a televised program. The idea of reliving the Games is nearly unbearable

for Katniss. She struggles with the fact that she is only one of two people who survived the Games, even if

she had no previous connection to the victims.

Despite her lack of personal relationships with nearly every person in the arena with her, watching

the Games a second time as a member of the Capitol society causes her distress. Reliving these scenes, she is

isolated from the society she is supposed to belong to because no one else experienced it first hand as she

did. She did not want to see them die the first time, “I do not want to watch my twenty-two fellow tributes

die. I saw enough of them die the first time” (Collins 362). First, she had to watch them as a participant in

the Games, but now she will see them from the perspective the audience was seeing them. As she watches

the events on screen, she recognizes herself and the other tributes, but is unable to make the distinction that
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the reality of the Games exists and she participates in it, “It’s like watching complete strangers in another

Hunger Games” (Collins 363).

Once again, her role as a participant has shifted. Instead of watching as dummy is killed by a fellow

tribute, she is watching the people she knew in the Games commit murder and seeing them die. She is also

seeing the Games as the Capitol and the Districts saw them. In this way, Katniss is seeing the Games as a

victor, a Capitol resident, and as a citizen of District 12, both of which are a part of the country of Panem.

Even though she is viewing the televised version of the Games as a member of three distinctly different

groups, she is entirely alone. She is isolated from the reality of participating in the Games. She is mentally

and physically unable to connect these three versions of herself to any of the groups. She is the first to have

caused such a drastic change in rules for the Games by finding a way for two tributes to survive and

therefore does not fully connect with any group. She survived the Games like the victors, but she did so by

outsmarting the Capitol, not by murdering every tribute she came across.

When viewing the televised version of the Games, Katniss sees them as a Capitol resident would.

Despite seeing the same thing a Capitol resident would see, she cannot view the Games as a Capitol resident

would because she has experience what it is like to be in the arena faced with the task of doing the killing,

instead of watching it be broadcast on television. She has a first hand experience of the violence that the

tributes are exposed to. She sees the tributes as people, not as the source of entertainment and drama that the

Capitol residents see them as. Even within her own district, she cannot view the Games as her neighbors do.

While they see it as a victory for District 12 and an opening for change and rebellion in the country, Katniss

sees the damage she has done and the effect she has had and desperately wants to minimize future damage

that could lead to more death and destruction. As a result, she finds herself separated and struggling to

establish her role and who she is now that she has survived the Games.
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Katniss’s perspective of the Games evolves as she participates in them and while she watches the

televised version of the Games after she and Peeta win. Katniss and Peeta watch the televised version as both

Capitol residents and citizens of Panem. As the victorious pair watches the screen, Katniss recognizes herself

and the other tributes, but is unable to believe that these events happened to her. Katniss views the Games as

the citizens of Panem, in the Capitol and the people at home in the districts, watched it, and recognizes that

while they are brutal, they were appealing and enjoyable for the Capitol citizens to see. The violence that

Katniss experiences in the Games serves as entertainment for the Capitol and she recognizes this. Waiting

for the last tribute to die before Katniss and Peeta can be declared winners, Katniss is aware that their

suffering is what fuels the energy of the Capitol. Though they were originally made as a punishment for an

uprising, the Games now serve both as punishment and entertainment. Katniss and the other tributes are

tortured in order to bring pleasure to the citizens of the Capitol:

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’t care who he is or

what he’s done, all I want is for his suffering to end. ‘Why don’t they just kill him?’ I ask Peeta…No viewer

could turn away from the show now” (Collins 339).

Katniss acknowledges that in this moment, they are meant as a means of entertainment with the

ideological point to show the districts how little power they have over the Capitol. They are not seen as

people. After the Games, Katniss recognizes the brutality of them, “Objectively, I can see the mutts and

Cato’s death are as gruesome as ever, but again, I feel it happens to people I have never met” (Collins 364).

Here, Katniss removes herself from the Games entirely and views it as someone in the Capitol, someone

who has no connection with any of the tributes and the risk there is for not just the tribute, but also unaware

of the families in the districts waiting to see if their child will come home.
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Despite acknowledging that it is enjoyable for the Capitol to watch, she feels no connection to the

actions or deaths in the Games. The horror of the Games is pleasurable to the viewers and even extends to

the tributes, but the end result is death for nearly all participants in the Games whereas the result for the

Capitol viewers is the pleasure of watching them fight to the death. The suffering the tributes face in the

Games feeds the excitement of the Capitol residents. Within the Capitol, people feel a small connection to

the tributes and they act as if they really know the tributes, even though they will watch them die and most

likely never see them as anything other than a product of the Games. With a confined connection to the

tributes, residents are able to feel passionate about who they want to win while maintaining enough distance

between themselves and the tributes to see the Games as part of the culture of the Capitol.

Capitol residents have more sources of pleasure than the districts, usually involving their extravagant

lifestyle but also by relying on violence to further feed their pleasure and enjoyment of life. They rely on the

deaths of the Hunger Games to give them pleasure in their lives while gorging themselves on food, changing

their physical appearance, and socializing at parties.

The relationship between Peeta and Katniss intensifies the suffering of the Games as well as the

narrative pleasure that readers take part in. Readers and Capitol residents alike are cheering for Katniss and

Peeta, though residents believe only one will survive, adding to the suspense of the Games, and readers hope

both will leave, deepening the relationship between Katniss, Peeta, and the Capitol by allowing both tributes

to live. The couple looks for subtle ways to increase the pleasure the citizens are feeling in order to gain their

sympathy and support, while at the same time giving the people in the districts watching a sense of hope for

a start of a rebellion, “‘Whose idea was the hand holding?’ ‘Just the perfect touch of rebellion’” (Collins 79).

The portrayal of Katniss and Peeta as a team serves to intensify the suffering they will feel in the

arena and the pleasure of watching the pair throughout the Games and seeing their relationship develop in
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front of the Capitol crowd. For a moment during the ceremonies and festive dinner, Katniss is caught up in

the thrill of being in the Capitol and seeing how the people live. She is distracted by the glamor of the

Capitol and what her life could be like until she sees the girl that she denied helping in the woods and

realizes the severity of the situation.

The primary reason for the Games was originally for “punishment for the uprising,” however the

unofficial reason to hold an annual Games where twenty-three twelve to eighteen year olds are murdered

under the watchful eye of the Capitol and the citizens of Panem is a way to embrace the power the Capitol

has over the districts and even its own residents.

The Games are considered a sport across the country, “The real sport of the Hunger Games is

watching the tributes kill one another” (Collins 177). Using the word “tribute” for participants in the Games

suggests that the children in the country are meant to be offered up as payment to the Capitol. In ancient and

medieval times, it was common for a powerful state to compel a tributary entity of some sort to surrender

children as slaves or sacrifice. By doing this, the powerful state is able to dominate the lesser state into

submission. Giving up a child, as parents in Panem do, forces them to acknowledge their own abjection and

abasement in the matter. The lesser parties that are involved, in this case the tributes of the Games and the

residents of Panem, give up their children without a fight. Giving their children up to a more powerful,

foreign entity lets the districts know that the Capitol holds the power and there is nothing the people can do

to stop it.

The people have been cast off from the society of the Capitol and their children are being used to

enforce this. It is well known that the Games serve not only as a punishment, but also now as the Capitol’s

primary form of televised entertainment. The yearly ceremonial acknowledgement of power and

powerlessness between the Capitol and the districts highlights each party’s role in the government system:
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the districts serve the Capitol. The residents of Panem are humiliated and must acknowledge their abasement

by being forced to sacrifice their sons and daughters to the Hunger Games.

The Capitol, as the powerful being in Panem, demands sacrifices of the districts’ children primarily

to maintain the power they have and mirrors historical human sacrifices. Officially, it is for punishment. This

punishment can be viewed as a way to maintain harmony within the society. René Girard argues, “there is a

common denominator that determines the efficacy of all sacrifices…This common denominator is internal

violence – all the dissensions, rivalries, jealousies, and quarrels within the community that the sacrifices are

designed to suppress” (8).

The “internal violence” for Panem is the rebellion that gave rise to the Hunger Games. It is also

negative feelings the people have towards the Capitol. Because of the internal violence within a society,

order and harmony must be restored. This is where a ritualistic sacrifice comes in to play: “The purpose of

the sacrifice is to restore harmony to the community, to reinforce the social fabric” (Girard 8). Violence, if

left unappeased, will build up until it breaks free from its confinement in the society and interject within the

surrounding area. Sacrifice, whether animal or human, is used as a way to manage this violence. For the

society in The Hunger Games, the violence that the Capitol openly acknowledges is the rebellion that

resulted in the supposed destruction of District 13.

But there is more internal violence than that. The issues within the districts – starvation, death,

disease, poor living conditions, lack of resources – are also a part of the violence that the Capitol attempts to

quell.

The human sacrifices made in the novel are no different from the sacrifices that have been made

throughout history. Oftentimes, sacrifice has been described as “an act of mediation between a sacrifice and

a ‘deity’” (Girard 6), but there is no ‘deity’ within The Hunger Games, not even an omniscient narrator. The
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idea of a deity receiving blood sacrifices, at least in today’s day and age, has little reality. Instead, the

Capitol takes the role of ‘deity.’ The sacrificial process also requires a certain degree of misunderstanding

(Girard 7). This misunderstanding typically means that the celebrants “do not and must not comprehend the

true role of the sacrificial act.” (Girard 7). It is the deity that demands the victims, the deity that savors the

smoke from the altars. In this case, the Capitol savors the power it continues to hold over the people and

demands that the districts continue to give up their children as victims for sacrifice to hold its power.

However, the people in the outer districts understand the role of the sacrificial act and Katniss

becomes the person who goes against the sacrificial ritual and refuses to let the Capitol use her as a sacrifice

for the country. The system of the Hunger Games involves giving up two individuals, one male and one

female, to the government. This sacrifice is an act of violence inflicted on an individual representing the

group. Not only are the individuals representing the group, but they are the youngest and presumably most

innocent of the people. Panem is a society that reserves an entire category of human beings, twelve- to

eighteen-year-olds, for sacrifice.

The victims are a substitute for the entire community. Instead of risking the lives of all the people in

the district if they were to rebel, two individuals from each district are offered as substitute. A substitution

sacrifice “serves to protect the entire community from its own violence; it prompts the entire community to

choose its victims outside itself” (Girard 8). While the districts themselves are not choosing the specific

victim, other children are able to volunteer, just as Katniss did for her sister, giving them an advantage in

terms of who might survive the sacrificial ritual that is the Hunger Games. Victims in the Hunger Games are

forced to follow a long tradition of being sacrificed to a higher power in order to keep violence within the

country under control until Katniss defies the rules of the Games.
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The Games also serve to provide a physical escape from Capitol life in the form of preservation and

vacation, “The arenas are historic sites preserved after the Games. Popular destinations for Capitol residents

to visit, to vacation. Go for a month, rewatch the Games, tour the catacombs, visit the sites where the deaths

took place. You can even take part in reenactments” (Collins 144-5). Instead of providing resources for their

starving and dying citizens in the districts, the Capitol opts to cater primarily to the people living in the city

by giving them the opportunity to vacation and take further advantage of the entertaining horror of the

Games. Even after the annual Games are over, the Capitol encourages its citizens to continue the

pathological obsession they have of the Games by creating a historical vacation destination that makes the

Games appear less traumatizing and more fictionalized, even in a fiction novel.

The complicated pleasure residents get from the Games leads them to be obsessed with wanting more

all the time, even when the Games are not officially happening. Readers of the trilogy also feel a

complicated pleasure as they witness the events of the novel. They read about the violence in the novel and

still yearn for more as they go on. As outside spectators, the Games have no direct effect on them, just like

the Games have no direct effects on the Capitol citizens. Both the readers and citizens watch from the

outside as the violence unfolds.

However, the Capitol only has a relationship with the tributes and other characters within the novel.

Readers on the other hand watch as the Capitol citizens take pleasure in encouraging the events and as the

tributes, specifically, Katniss, fight for their lives. Katniss’s position in the Games as a tribute inside the

arena of the Games and the readers’ and Capitol citizens’ position as viewers outside the arena cause there to

be a divide between the two, even though the novel is told through Katniss as a first-person narration.

Katniss is an Other in the novel, “a sub-human object of entertainment to audiences both inside and

outside of the texts” (Garriot 103). Cameras are ubiquitous in the arena, relying certain aspects of the Games
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and the tributes’ daily lives to the Capitol audience for entertainment and the district audience as a reminder

of what the government can do to their children. However, Katniss’s narrative gives readers an even closer,

more voyeuristic look at the action. Still, the readers’ have a perspective that is a safe distance away from the

heart of the action and allows them to identify with Katniss as an Other through her close first-person

narrative. It is the general rule of young adult literature that readers identify with the focal character, in the

case of The Hunger Games, Katniss (Garriot 106). But readers also identify with secondary characters,

Peeta, Prim, Gale, Cinna and Effie Trinket.

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CHAPTER – 2

The Aftermath of Destruction

Several dramatic and damaging events would define 2008 economically and socially for the United

States, but for Gen Z, it mostly consisted of moving for Dad’s new job or not going on vacation. There was

no awareness of the violence we would soon encounter, but it had been published and was picking up speed

to meet the waves of adolescents who would soon comprise its readership and its theatre audience. Suzanne

Collins published the first instalment in her trilogy, The Hunger Games (2008) and watched as it stayed on

the New York Times’ bestseller list for almost four years and became only the second book in history to

remain the number one seller on USA Today’s bestseller list for 16 consecutive weeks (Scholastic).

Following the release of the first movie in March 2012, Scholastic reported that more than 50 million

copies of the original series had been sold. Film adaptations usually spur book sales, as movie trailers engage

different audiences than bookstores, but there are numerous theories available to explain why exactly The

Hunger Games, hereafter referred to by the abbreviation THG, experienced such popularity. Collins’ world,

Panem, was bleak and cruel long before her 16-year-old narrator Katniss Everdeen was born. The narrative

begins as Katniss sneaks out of town and beyond the electric fence to illegally hunt wild game, using the

meat to provide for her younger sister and mother. Her father died in a mining disaster five years earlier,

forcing Katniss to become the breadwinner and protector. The world around Katniss is oppressive and

threatening, and the insidiousness of Panem’s government, referred to as “the Capitol,” is no more evident

than during “the reaping.” The reaping ceremony always starts with a recitation of the country’s history, one

not at all unique to Collins’ dystopia.

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The narrative that an oppressive regime—which paints itself as the species’ benevolent saviour—

rises from the ashes after apocalypse is stereotypical in Young Adult Dystopian Fiction. YA dystopias

distinguish themselves not by how humanity arrived at its futuristic state of suffering, but by what form that

suffering takes and how it is somehow by the end of the series if not abolished at least abated because of the

actions of a disgruntled teen. Thus, THG captures the audience as Katniss explains that the Capitol is not

secretly—but instead overtly—pernicious. There are no delusions among the 12 districts about the cruelty

and evil intended by the Capitol and its leader, President Snow. After snuffing out an attempted coup from

the original 13 districts (the 13th was obliterated during the conflict), the Capitol conceived a new torture:

The Hunger Games.

The reaping is an annual lottery where the tributes will be chosen, names on slips of paper pulled out

of a bowl and read aloud to the crowd of peers and parents. Each year between the ages of 12 and 17, a

child’s name is put into the bowl; once at 12, twice at 13, three times at 14, and so on. At 18, if they have

escaped the horrors of having to kill or be killed on national television, they will officially enter the

workforce, which in some districts, like Katniss’ which specializes in mining, will be less traumatizing but

just as treacherous.

At 16, Katniss’ name should be on five slips of paper; in actuality, she confesses that it is on 20,

because along with compounding her chances every year, she collects tesserae, a system through which the

Capitol provides resources to starving families in exchange for extra entries in the reaping. Katniss enters

three additional times a year to gain the extra food rations for herself, mother and little sister, and this debt

follows her every year, increasing her chances of being drawn as a tribute and killed in the arena. Of course,

as the nature of novels permits, Katniss is not selected, but rather is forced to volunteer, to save her 12-year-

old sister whose name is inexplicably drawn as one in thousands. Katniss makes the ultimate sacrifice, and

the reader is allowed a first-hand narration of just what fighting in a Hunger Games is like.
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The nature of novels also permits allegorical criticism, and Suzanne Collins’ is no stranger to the

practice. In an interview concerning her inspiration for the abnormally popular series, Collins explained that

she was channel surfing one night and watched as reality tv and war footage from Iraq began to bleed

together (“Collins on Vietnam”). The overlay of these two media types, was meant to bring into question the

ability of the viewer to dissociate, to justify in their own minds that the violence of war is far away, and yet

those same individuals care deeply about reality tv stars whom they have never met but have tracked

incessantly on their screens. To make the brutality of war into a reality television spectacle might still seem

to hyperbolize consumer cruelty, but Collins’ also drew from the gory and gruesome gladiator games of

ancient Rome, which act as evidence of the entertainment value humanity finds in suffering. It is the

destruction of innocence which thus provides perhaps the most shocking element of Collins trilogy, as

children are forced to kill or be killed.

Her fascination with classical mythology, particularly the myth of Theseus, in which every year 14

children were thrown into the labyrinth to be eaten by the minotaur provided much of her inspiration for

Panem. Collins recounts that even when she was little the cruelty to this story struck her because killing

children was so much worse for their parents than having to die themselves (“Collins Part 1”), and thus

Panem’s Capitol also understood and implemented this Machiavellian strategy. Collins’ criticism of reality

television stemmed from her own disturbance by it and the gruesomeness of war also communicated through

technology. She explained that her desire for her readers was that “they think about what the watch in a more

reflective way” (“Collins Part 6”). The violence of war conflated with the lack of reality in television

consumption particularly concerned Collins as she explained,

The conflation thus demonstrated by the reality television aspect of the Hunger Games as Katniss is

groomed into Capitol standards of beauty and paraded around doing talk show interviews like any

gameshow contestant communicates the desensitization of Capitol audiences. Katniss is a celebrity, and even

as she fights for her life in the arena and becomes a murderer, the Capitol cheers and bets on her success,
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completely dissociated from the brutality of the contest and the destruction of innocence enacted within.

Collins intended that THG illuminate the propensity of the consumer to fictionalize death and suffering,

even enjoying it at times. and even enjoy it.

However, this series, with all of its intentional disillusionment, unfortunately continued, and even

deepened, the readerships’ unwillingness or inability to see the harm of entertainment when centered around

suffering. The popularity of this series instead demonstrates the consumer’s hunger for violence; just as the

Capitol residents jeer and cheer, readers and moviegoers hungered for more Hunger Games. But worse than

repeating humanity’s mistakes in ancient Rome, Collins created a source of gruesome and graphic

entertainment specifically targeting child readers; the series was marketed as appropriate for readers aged

twelve and up. It may be in our nature, or it may not, to seek the suffering of others and find solace and

excitement in it.

However, it is not the nature of innocence to demand death, and thus stimulating a desire for not only

the destruction of life but the malicious dismantling of innocence in the most innocent and impressionable

segment of humanity is not only harmful to the child it traumatizes, but to the society they will one day

construct.

Things have been too quiet today. No deaths, perhaps no fights at all. The audience in the Capitol

will be getting bored, claiming that these Games are verging on dullness. This is the one thing the Games

must not do. – The Hunger Games, 202 Collins uses her books to spotlight the damages the entertainment

industry has wrought on society. She encapsulates the issue of televising war and the subsequent ways the

audience chooses to dissociate from things that disturb them. Reality television also proves damaging to

those who spend too long under the magnifying, ever-watching camera. In her first Hunger Games, Katniss
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struggles to let down her guard when she knows there are cameras everywhere waiting to show the world her

feelings if she allows them to broadcast on her face.

Yet, to survive, to manipulate the oblivious and pernicious crowd into sponsoring her life in the

arena, she must reveal her humanity, wielding pathos and preying on audience attachment to her “character”

to convince them to open their wallets and send life-saving gifts. These gifts allow the audience to grow in

attachment to the entertainment, to engage with it in a way that satisfies their desire to taste the celebrity and

feel influential in the outcome. However, the violence of war and the strange, attached detachment of reality

tv pale in comparison to the imagined horrors made possible by fiction. After all, both war and reality shows

possess that element of truth: they are happening somewhere on our Earth, even if the angles are selective

and the words are scripted.

Fiction, in contrast, is restricted only by the imagination of the author and the extent of their

vocabulary. If it can be fleshed out in their minds and written on the page, it can be conveyed to an audience

in a book. Even the special effects in film can only accomplish so much in delivering horror or beauty, but

the human brain can conjure and construct pictures that need only be written to be shared. Collins, like many

other young adult dystopian writers, seizes the opportunity to expound upon the violence and horror of

death. As Alexander and Black put it, “The worlds they depict are cutthroat, greedy, and rabid” (233).

Panem is the perfect example; there are millions of gruesome ways to die, courtesy of the Gamemakers

whose job is to create as much spectacle in the killing as possible.

The simultaneous use of the tributes as reality TV celebrities and sacrifices to “preserve the peace,”

reveals that “Capitol culture is. . . aesthetically oriented but ethically shallow, still aiming to capitalize on

deep human emotion and suffering by turning them into spectacle” (Guanio-Uluru 76). For Katniss, this

means that as she avoids the other contestants by physically keeping her distance, she is eventually corralled
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toward her enemies by abnormally aggressive, Gamemaker technology-enhanced fire; there will be no

waiting out the violence or avoiding the trauma of this kill or be killed contest, lest the Capitol audience’s

blood lust be left unsatisfied or the outer districts forget the brutal totalitarian power exercised over their

lives through the torture of their children. If it is Collins intention that her books encompass the violence of

war so that her readership might better grasp the reality of its devastation, then violent content to a level of

gravity rivaling that of war might seem logical as a rhetorical tactic.

However, the gore depicted in THG has the ability to be more horrific than its proclaimed real-life

counter part because of its ability to be conceived of the imagination and remain unconstrained by possible

outcomes in our physical world. The trilogy is meant to criticize the entertainment industry’s capitalization

on human suffering but ironically itself must also capitalize on the consumer’s desire for said suffering. This

is problematic because, “While the trilogy’s declared purpose is to critique the misuse of power by a corrupt

government who perpetuate their control through staging the slaughter of children as entertainment, the

narrative can only make this critique through itself enacting the gladiatorial contest which is the Hunger

Games” (Moffat and May 441).

A critique through portrayal may demonstrate the eagerness for death, pain, and suffering in the

audience, but it also consequently encourages further indulgence in such behavior as it provides a new

opportunity for death as spectacle (Tate Ch. 6); it fails, substantially, to offer any solutions to the problem it

points out, preferring instead to exacerbate.

The allegorical criticism observed in THG, which is “clearly didactic” (Basu et al. 5), Moffat and

May argue can still serve to justify the creation and circulation of the work because, “She does not hesitate

to show ‘onstage’ deaths … in order to accentuate the horror of the Games, but does so in a fairly spare and

factual way that does not sensationalize the events” (444). Unfortunately, this is not a truthful assessment of
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Collins’ language when describing the death of the tributes. When one particularly ruthless tribute dies after

being stung by tracker jackers, a type of mutation (play-on words for mutation) which is a genetically

modified animal enhanced to grotesquely kill whomever the Capitol might set them upon, Katniss (and

Collins) describe the body,

The graphic description of just how terrible tracker jacker stings can be helps the reader comprehend

the imagined terrors of fictional Panem and the sadistic attitudes of the Capitol, but the real-world equivalent

meant to be criticized remains to be seen.

As one popular meme expressed it, Harry Potter fans dream of Hogwarts, and Narnia fans dream of

Narnia, but Hunger Games fans find themselves more content with their reality; there is no desire to enter a

world so cruel as to actively celebrate annual child-gladiator games. As one popular meme expressed it,

Harry Potter fans dream of Hogwarts, and Narnia fans dream of Narnia, but Hunger Games fans find

themselves more content with reality; there is no desire to enter a world so cruel as to actively celebrate

annual child-gladiator games.

As one popular meme expressed it, Harry Potter fans dream of Hogwarts, and Narnia fans dream of

Narnia, but Hunger Games fans find themselves more content with their reality; there is no desire to enter a

world so cruel as to actively celebrate annual child-gladiator games. The indulgence in descriptive language

that will disgust or disturb the reader is not entirely overlooked in Moffat and May’s analysis as they

acknowledge, “There are many moments of death in the trilogy, and some of these are particularly grotesque

– such as Cato being eaten by the mutant hounds or Mags burned by the poisonous fog – but most of these

are presented as ‘bad deaths’…” intended, they argue, to remind the reader—as they remind Katniss—that

the Capitol is the true enemy, not the children trapped in its game (444).
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However, just the concept of child gladiators, which Merritt et al. label as “quite frankly, bizarre,”

(30) is enough to stimulate memorable and lasting criticism in the reader against the government. Clearly,

the violent upheaval of Katniss’ life, which was barely survival even before the Games, evokes enough

sympathy for readers to dislike the Capitol and see a need for change. Thus, the extensive and seemingly

perpetual process of Cato’s death right before Katniss is declared victor, is excessive in its attempts to

communicate just how painful and brutal an end he received by the Capitol’s design The actual physical

torture of Cato, Katniss’ brutal enemy for the entire book, and her mental torture through the sounds of

suffering, even as she acknowledges that this is exactly what the audience has been hoping for, can do

nothing but sate the equally sadistic desires of Collins’ readership.

The only alternative is that they be traumatized by the violence and gore read and imagined in their

mind’s eye. Have readers then indulged in destroying their own innocence, or have they had it wrenched

from them by the premature exposure to graphic violence wrought upon the innocent for the pleasure of the

already perverted Capitol? The reader would not debate that death is bad, or that the Capitol is evil. What

then is the value rhetorically and societally of making that evil and death so much more devastating in

literature meant for children?

Trauma is defined in Webster’s as “an injury (such as a wound) to living tissue caused by an

extrinsic agent” or “a disordered psychic or behavioral state resulting from severe mental or emotional stress

or physical injury.” This definition reveals just how vulnerable the human species is to trauma, because

while it is first classified as physical arm, like the kind that sends the victim to the hospital, there is much

more potential for that second and less obvious emotional trauma. It is harder to study hidden trauma

because it is often buried in a person’s personality under layers of sarcasm, defensiveness, or aggression.
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Yet, all of those protective layers are behavioural; they are expressed and therefore observable; they

affect the other people in the traumatized person’s life. The most well-known manifestation of trauma is

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), the development of which is attributed to many factors including

the circumstances of the event and the person, or people, involved. After her first Games, Katniss has

nightmares which grow increasingly worse as she realizes that the horror of being hunted is not over.Each

book has an arena for Katniss, her first Games initiating the nightmares, her second in the 75th, or Quarter

Quell, which always tends to be somehow more gruesome than the annual competition, intensifying them.

But it is the third book, Mockingjay, that cements them.

As Katniss works her way through the Capitol, she realizes that she is once again in an arena,

combatting the Gamemakers who have laid “pods””—essentially” landmines of horrific ways to die.

Katniss’ story ends in her epilogue, where she spells out how she will parent her own children, striving to

help them understand what violence humanity can conceive, without traumatizing them. She explains to the

reader, “We can make them understand in a way that will make them braver. But one day I’ll have to explain

about my nightmares. Why they came. Why they won’t ever really go away” (Mockingjay 438).

This is the nature of war-wrought PTSD; it is a permanent pain, and as Alexander and Black

describe, “Katniss is steadily worn down over the course of the trilogy, having escaped death so many times

but also having had to kill to do so, that she is essentially an empty shell of a person by the close of the final

book,” (225). Katniss may have won in the eyes of the reader because she has managed to topple the

innocence sacrificing regime readers have been cheering against from page one, but Katniss herself is

damaged in a way she acknowledges she cannot fix.

That trauma is permanent for her; what is seen and done cannot be undone. Collins portrayal of

PTSD is thus very accurate and compelling to the right reader. If her goal was to raise awareness about the
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struggles of those in war and after war, then she has certainly succeeded. A study on the mental health

ramifications of killing in combat found that “About half of Vietnam combat veterans reported taking the

life of an enemy combatant and just under one third reported witnessing abusive violence, which included

mistreatment of civilians, killing of prisoners, use of chemicals or bombs on villages, and mutilation of

bodies. These rates are comparable to Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF),” (Maguen et al, 435).

The exposure to violence and prevalence of bodily threat in war is not news, but the same study more

specifically tied killing to PTSD, “After controlling for killing, the atrocities variable no longer predicted

PTSD symptoms, suggesting that killing may be the potent ingredient in predicting PTSD,” (436). This

suggests that it is not Katniss’ general memories of having to fight for her life that have so deeply ingrained

themselves in her mind that even after twenty years she cannot manage to stem them. Instead, it is that she

was forced to kill others that traumatized her so permanently. Another study found that of Vietnam veterans

seeking assistance for diagnosed PTSD, 92% reported combat trauma of some kind (Teten et al. 828).

Taking another life is the observed correlating factor in developing PTSD after war, but the extensive trauma

generally experienced during war only worsens the condition, and most diagnosed with PTSD are struggling

specifically with war-related memories. Katniss epitomizes the struggle of combat veterans to process

correctly and helpfully what they witnessed in war.

However, there are greater implications for Katniss’ trauma because of her age when she entered the

war and her level of involvement in violent conflict throughout the trilogy. THG opens with Katniss’ fifth

reaping, meaning she is only sixteen when she volunteers to take her little sister’s place as District Twelve’s

tribute in the 74th Hunger Games. The violence she then experiences should scar her more deeply for several

reasons, starting with the fact that her brain is incredibly vulnerable to trauma. In examining brain

maturation in adolescents, Arain et al. explains that “The brain undergoes a rewiring process that is not

complete until approximately 25 years of age…” (451) which means that, “The adolescent brain is

structurally and functionally vulnerable to environmental stress…” (458).

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Katniss is neurologically in the middle of physical maturation, and this both inhibits her ability to

make reliable decisions under stress and increases the impact of the violence she witnesses, and in several

cases enacts, in the arena. It is possible that Katniss, having become becoming the primary provider for her

family at only age 11 has further traumatized her in ways that she cannot afford to process.

After all, “the adultification of youth is harsh for those whose brains have not fully matured…”

(Arain et al., 456). Katniss’ rise to adulthood was forced and, at minimum, ten years too early. She was not

neurologically equipped with the brain function she needed, not at 16, and certainly not at 11. It is no

wonder that her character is coarse, rough around the edges and pessimistic. Her only gentle moments are

saved for her little sister, whom she tries even with her life, to the point of death, to protect from the cruelties

she herself has been overexposed to since her father died. Katniss’ trauma is enhanced because it is not just

her body that is more vulnerable in the games, but her brain. Considering the gruesome events Katniss both

witnessed and, in some instances instigated, it is no surprise that she is traumatized and that her symptoms

substantially impact her quality of life.

However, as a child specifically, with an immature brain, Katniss does not exhibit as many

symptomatic behaviours of PTSD as perhaps she should. As van der Kolk explains, “Childhood trauma is

particularly significant because uncontrollable, terrifying experiences may have their most profound effects

when the central nervous system and cognitive functions have not yet fully matured, leading to global

impairment that may be manifested in adulthood in psychopathological conditions” (p. xii).

The expected pathologies include PTSD, but they can also manifest in other ways, including

emotional liability, increased expressions of anger, rage, and irritability especially toward peers, and “a

reduced capacity to modulate feelings” (van der Kolk 14). They may even entirely isolate themselves,
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avoiding and even rejecting tenderness, affection, and nurturance from others (Armsworth and Holaday 52).

While Katniss is very apparently distrusting of the people around her, she does not withdraw from her sister

or mother, nor from her (while never officially labelled) boyfriend Peeta or her childhood friend Gale

Katniss even as a child was not particularly interactive, so her intentional distancing and distrust of the

people she encounters is not so easily tied to her traumatic memories of the arena. She does not exhibit any

aggression towards the people around her, and the unwanted, subconscious memories of her time in combat

are not shown in the text or the movies to surface very much when she is awake.

Her dreams, naturally, serve to communicate that she is haunted, but they are not enough. The

question that should thus be asked of Collins: why choose to make Katniss 16 if she does not cognitively or

socially operate as a 16- year-old. She was conditioned by her society and her circumstances when they gave

her only two options: grow up instantly and assume adult responsibilities or die. The most obvious answer is

that she must be 16, or somewhere between 12 and 18, to enter the child gladiator games in place of her

sister. To have a character experience the traumatic events orchestrated by the author, she must be physically

16. This pollutes the illusion of trauma presented within the text, because as a political commentary, Collins

brutalizes innocence by having children kill children, while her protagonist is only exhibiting

characteristically adult responses to trauma.

The trauma that accompanies destroying innocence is much deeper. As Armsworth and Holaday

point out, “an awareness of the child’s stage of cognitive development is the core feature in understanding

how the child has made sense of the traumatic experience,” (50). Thus, Katniss’ stage in cognitive

development suggests that her vulnerability to trauma is so much higher than that of typical veterans, and yet

the impact her experiences have on her behavior, even in the epilogue, does not match the expected level of

affectedness.
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Perhaps, because Collins’ narrative is actually significantly more gruesome than the reality it is

meant to critique, she chose not to accurately portray the damage done to her protagonist because it. An

accurate portrayal would accentuate the bizarre and grotesque hyperbole of her fiction.

The excessive violence coupled with the limitlessness of the human imagination, both in authors and

in readers, forms the perfect combination for nightmares. Adult readers with fully formed prefrontal cortexes

capable of judging for themselves the shortcomings of any fiction and, particularly the didactic kind, are not

in as much danger of being traumatized by the vivid nightmares of Collins’ trilogy. But the adolescent

readership, who the books were primarily written for and marketed toward, are particularly vulnerable for

the same reasons as Katniss. Arain et al. explains, “it is more difficult for teens to think through potential

outcomes, understand the consequences of their decisions, or even use common sense,” (455). Adolescent

readers are neurologically lacking in some key areas for assessing and applying allegories that show up in

their “reading-for-fun” materials.

The white matter that “enables an individual to access a full array of analytical and creative strategies

to respond to complex dilemmas” is still populating inside their brains (Arain et al. 454). An adolescent

readership is not as capable of scrutinizing, either what they are reading or what the world around them truly

looks like and how it needs to be changed. They cannot detect the didacticism nor, effectively discern

whether or not they agree with the author or decide how they might want to express that agreement (through

things like political involvement). Furthermore, if done in stressful environments, adolescents are not as

likely to retain or successfully recall what they might learn because “high levels of cortisol, associated with

stress, can damage neurons in the hippocampus,” (Solomon and Heide 53).

Unfortunately, the damage trauma can reap upon this region of the brain, responsible for memory,

can stunt maturation in adolescents. A study on brains affected by trauma revealed that “Changes in brain
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structure and physiology are thought to affect memory, learning, ability to regulate affect, social

development, and even moral development,” (Solomon and Heide 53). This is very unfortunate news for

Collins because the consequent stress caused by excessive violence within the series could not only fail to

convict her chosen target audience of how the world must change but could actually damage their ability to

see the need for change in the future; the excessive terror allowed when it need not be realized but simply

put on a page and sold has actually worked against Collins’ intended purpose in writing an allegorical

criticism.

It is important to note that Collins selected books as her delivery system for political commentary.

Considering THG is a written medium, perhaps the analysis of childhood trauma and the behavioural issues

noted do not apply to the nightmares induced by reading a particularly disturbing but still fictitious book

series. However, the principles of Social Cognitive Theory suggest otherwise: “the central premise of SCT is

that individuals learn through social influence in dynamic interactions through viewing the behaviours and

the consequences of those behaviours performed by others in particular contexts including media,” (Mitchell

et al. 323). SCT explains how people are influenced by their interactions with others.as they bear witness. As

a species, humanity has learned by observing, whether that be in real or fictional contexts. This process of

observing, learning, and applying is part of identity construction.

Cohen defines it as “a mechanism through which audience members experience reception and

interpretation of the text from the inside, as if the events were happening to them” (245). They empathize

with the character so strongly, employing the “imaginative process of spontaneously assuming the identity of

a character in a narrative and simulating that character’s thoughts, emotions, behaviours, goals, and traits as

if they were one’s own” (Kaufman & Libby 1). Thus, the idea that young readers with underdeveloped

brains might read the violence and determine it appropriate, because otherwise why would they be allowed

to read such things, is not unreasonable. As their prefrontal cortex and the skills in assessment and

judgement it provides are not yet developed enough to aid in correctly storing and applying the implicit
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messages of Collins’ trilogy, or any other dystopian novel, adolescent readers are not predisposed to

accomplish in their own minds what she desired. If they can evaluate consequences by reading books and

applying the “lessons” they observe the protagonist learning to their own lives, then they most certainly can

emote with, to a damaging intensity, the terror, horror, and stress of that same protagonist. The language

describing how Katniss feels can thus be very damaging, because as the reader takes emotional cues from

the author’s selected vocabulary, they imagine things that would frighten them because Katniss is frightened.

Readers, particularly young readers, have no trouble immersing themselves entirely in the worlds of their

books.

This happens through two processing behaviours, perceived realism and parasocial interactions. With

perceived realism, “Readers often experience vivid mental images as they become absorbed into a book.

With perceived realism, “Readers often experience vivid mental images as they become absorbed into/ a

book. This is a phenomenon known as narrative transportation, which has been shown to elicit story-

consistent beliefs and positive views of fictional characters” (Kokesh and Sternadori 143).

The reader immerses themselves in the world of the book to the point of reality and then begins

conflating the two when employing judgement. However, this becomes more problematic as “Perceived

realism has been shown to mediate the effects of content on attitudes, as in a study in which viewers

perceiving televised sexual narratives as realistic were found to be more likely to be influenced by them.

Furthermore, research has suggested that the perceived realism of television content may make examples

from television content more easily accessible in one’s memory and thus more likely to influence social

judgments” (Kokesh and Sternadori 144). The social judgements offered to impressionable adolescent

readers are not always positive and— because of the vulnerable state of their prefrontal cortexes—can lead

to permanent damage and inhibit maturation of neurological skills essential to functioning adults.
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One 14-year-old participant in Kokesh’s study said, “When I read books, it’s like I’m not just reading

it, I’m in there with the characters. I can see what they’re seeing and hear what they’re saying” (152). The

violence and trauma experienced by Katniss holds the potential to become too real for readers, particularly

the target audience of adolescent readers. But while the violence becomes real, Katniss is not a good

example of a traumatized child. Child readers who experience trauma by reading THG will have a much

more adverse response because unlike Katniss, their brain structure is incomplete because of their age, and

the damage done by stress and fear will have a much more drastic and permanent effect on their brains.

The consequences of live action portrayals of violence have been studied much more often than

literary portrayals, and thus the ramifications of exposing vulnerable adolescent brains to violence through

the screen have been measured and assessed to the point of exhaustion. Yet, because THG was also adapted

for the screen and generated over $14.5 billion over the release of four movies, it is important to analyse its

potential affects as a film franchise and not just a book series (The Numbers).

Mitchell et al. studied the relationship between sex and violence in movies viewed by children, and

violent or promiscuous behavior exhibited afterward, and found that “Exposure to violent content was

associated with increased aggression, which is also consistent with research on violence in television and

movies that indicate short-term and long-term increases in aggression and violent behaviours in adolescent

viewers during childhood as well as into adulthood” (328). There is also a demonstrated correlation between

childhood exposure to violence and spousal abuse as an adult (Mitchell et al., 322). The violence in films

viewed by adolescents impacts their cognitive processing, which because it is in development, is particularly

vulnerable to permanent changes and damages.

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Depending on how they perceive that violence, it can also traumatize younger viewers, whose

understanding of the sometimes-pernicious capabilities of other human beings was previously shallow if

existent.

The misconception is that film, because it provides the visual and auditory input for the consumer, is

generally more traumatic because the material depicted can be more easily misconstrued by the brain and

classified as physically threatening. However, because of the limitlessness of the human imagination,

literature actually often holds a higher propensity to instil fear or create emotional distress. When fleshing

out an imagined concept on screen, there are limits both within developing that depiction and placed on the

imagination of the viewer. First, in film adaptations of books, graphic artists work closely with the author

and director to flesh out a character, creature, or place, based on the verbiage used in the books and the

image the author had at the time they were writing.

Designers work to align the image in their own heads with that of the author and subsequently deliver

something close to what readers expect. For THG production director Philip Messina that task was

particularly challenging because, “The way her books are written, some people think they’re very specific.

But she writes in a way that really lets your imagination fill in the blanks” (Watercutter).

Unfortunately, the process of imagination involves a lot of pre-existent conceptions and associations;

the reader’s memories affect the images they conjure, and that pollutes the author’s image, reshaping it into

something unique to every reader. Without a physical artistic representation, the image in each reader’s head

has no way to align with the author’s intention or even another reader’s conception. Film adaptations then

ironically provide this avenue through which an entire audience can get on the same page about the

appearance of a creature or character.

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There are always those whose passion for the books keeps them from complying with the visual

creation that ends up in the movies; some fans will insist that the character or creature in their head is better

and more accurate, but that does not mean they can erase from memory the physical image now circulating

in media. The most difficult task is fulfilling the fandoms’ expectations of visual adaptation within the

parameters of film production technology’s current limits. Sue Rowe, who was the VFX supervisor on

another, equally fantastic, apocalyptic book-to-film project called The Maze Runner, explained that she and

designer James Jacob worked tirelessly to deliver a manifestation of the author James Dashner’s “griever”

while observing the laws of physics and anatomy to make their movements and mechanics (the monster was

half lab-synthesized animal and half eight-legged machine) realistic and believable to the audience

(Seymour).

Real-life development of visual elements is limited to the capabilities of technology and the film’s art

team. Once this image is created and released through the movie to an audience whose familiarity with the

world of the books varies, the fear that image evokes is limited. Some viewers may find the image or event

incredibly disturbing, the stuff of nightmares, while others deem it riveting and suspenseful entertainment.

Those with an established tolerance for violence or other simulated stressors may even find it lacking in

realism and disregard it as ridiculous.

This is the benefit of the limited nature of visual manifestation; the concept now has one definition

with set parameters witnessed by all who engage with the material. The uniqueness of the imagined picture

is gone in a film adaptation. Not so in the books, though, as Collins encourages her readers to imagine

horrors capable of becoming personal, particularly with adolescent readers who cannot anticipate the

consequences of personalizing fictitious experiences. Some of the images Collins’ gives feel, as Messina

explained, specific to the reader but actually very vague.

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The suspense in this scene is tangible, as Collins employs a succinct vocabulary to help the reader

emote with Katniss and understand the situation. Words like “vile stench,” “rotted corpses,” and “black

forms crawling in shadows” communicate that whatever lies below is unseen but entirely understood as

death. Katniss’ strangled cry as the threat issues “terrifying sounds from below” communicates to any reader

one essential element in imagining this scene: it is horrific.

While the image of the monsters and the threats are based on what each individual reader has decided

scares or disturbs them, fear remains the common sentiment among them all. With enough detail, and some

real-life references to associate, a reader might manage to imagine what Collins’ personally finds

frightening. But Webster’s explains that “monster” means “an animal of strange or terrifying shape, of

abnormal form or structure,” and “a threatening force.”

Monsters, particularly in fantastic fiction, by their very nature, do not exist in the real world, and thus

can never be fleshed out enough to guarantee that all readers imagine roughly the same concept. Instead, it is

the use of fear that aligns the readers no matter their background on the nature of a scene. Regardless of what

that pit looked like, or what the creatures within looked like, one thing is certain: it was terrifying in the

minds of readers because it was terrifying for Katniss. By emoting with the protagonist, adolescent readers

especially, have secured for themselves not a spectator’s experience, but a comrade-in-arms’ understanding

of Panem’s sinister character. The violence imagined is based on what makes each audience member afraid,

not on whether the visual portrayal on a screen invokes in them the fear it created for a designer or author. If

a visual representation of violence can advance normative views on violence in reality for adolescents, then

how much more potential can the limitless nature of literary violence traumatize readers and consequently

contribute to violent behaviour in future?

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CHAPTER – 3

Prim’s Death and Katniss’s Trauma

Primrose Everdeen was born in late May. From an early age, she exhibited a gentle and

compassionate nature, traits that would define her throughout her short but impactful life. As a toddler, she

enjoyed singing "The Hanging Tree" with her older sister, Katniss Everdeen, in the comfort of their home.

The two would playfully fashion necklaces from old rope to match the song’s haunting lyrics. However,

their mother quickly intervened, taking the makeshift necklaces away and scolding their father for teaching

them such a song. The incident left Prim in tears, though she likely did not understand the full gravity of the

situation at the time.

Prim’s kindness extended to all living creatures, a quality evident even in her earliest years. She had

an innate ability to nurture and care for animals, demonstrating an unwavering sense of empathy. One day,

she found a stray kitten, a scrawny and dirty creature that many would have ignored. Instead of turning

away, Prim insisted on keeping him, naming him Buttercup because she believed his muddy yellow coat

resembled the bright petals of a buttercup flower. Despite Katniss’s initial protests about the cat being

another mouth to feed, Prim's persistence won out. Buttercup became a beloved, if somewhat grumpy,

member of their family.

Because of her love for animals, Prim found it difficult to accept the harsh realities of survival in

District 12. When Katniss took her beyond the boundaries of their district into the woods, intending to teach

her the art of hunting, Prim’s reaction was immediate and emotional. The moment she successfully shot a

small animal, she was overwhelmed with guilt and sadness. Instead of celebrating her success, as many in

the district might have done out of necessity, she broke down in tears and insisted on helping the dying
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creature. It was clear that hunting was not for her. She had no desire to kill, even when it was for survival.

This moment further solidified her future path—one centered around healing rather than harming.

One of the most memorable events of Prim’s early years was her tenth birthday, which marked a

significant turning point in her life. Katniss, along with her best friend Gale Hawthorne, ventured into the

woods and managed to shoot a young buck. The profit from selling the meat at the Hob, District 12’s black

market, provided them with enough money to buy Prim a gift. Initially, they considered purchasing a

hairbrush or fabric for a dress, both items that would have been rare luxuries in the Seam. However, upon

seeing an injured goat for sale, they made an impulsive decision. The goat was in terrible condition, and

there was a high risk it would not survive, making the purchase a significant gamble. Despite this, they

decided to take the risk, knowing that if the goat lived, it could provide milk, cheese, and a source of

tradeable goods.

Prim’s reaction to receiving the goat, whom she lovingly named Lady, was pure joy. She

immediately set to work nursing Lady back to health with her mother’s home remedies, showcasing her

natural talent for healing. Against the odds, Lady recovered, and from that point on, she became an integral

part of Prim’s daily life. The goat’s milk and cheese not only nourished their family but also became a small

source of income, as Prim was able to sell cheese at the Hob and trade with the baker. This act of kindness

and resourcefulness from Katniss further reinforced Prim’s gentle yet determined spirit.

Aside from caring for animals, Prim played an essential role in her household. She took on numerous

chores and assisted her mother in tending to patients who sought medical care. As the daughter of the

district’s healer, Prim naturally developed medical skills at an early age. Despite being timid in many aspects

of life, she displayed remarkable courage when faced with injuries and illnesses. Unlike Katniss, who was

often squeamish at the sight of wounds, Prim remained calm and focused. Katniss noted that while Prim was
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“scared of her own shadow” in other situations, she never flinched when treating wounds or dealing with

nudity in a medical setting.

One particular incident highlighted Prim’s growing capabilities as a healer. A young man who had

suffered a fatal injury in a mine accident was brought to their home, unconscious and on the brink of death.

While many children her age would have been overwhelmed by the sight of such devastation, Prim stepped

forward without hesitation to help her mother administer care. Despite knowing the young man would not

survive, she remained by his side, offering whatever comfort and medical attention she could. It was a

testament to her innate kindness and strength, qualities that would only deepen as she grew older.

Tragedy struck the Everdeen family when Prim was just seven years old. The day began like any

other, with the sounds of morning routines and life moving forward in District 12. However, an explosion in

the mines changed everything. The school alarms blared through the air, signaling an emergency. In her

classroom, young Prim sat anxiously, waiting for her sister to come and get her. The moment Katniss

arrived, Prim clung to her, sensing that something was terribly wrong. Their father, along with many other

miners, had perished in the explosion. The loss was devastating, shaking the foundation of their family.

In the wake of their father’s death, Prim’s mother fell into a deep depression, unable to function or

provide for her daughters. It was during this time that Prim and Katniss faced their most harrowing period of

starvation and desperation. With no income and no immediate way to support themselves, the two girls were

left to fend for themselves. Days passed with little to eat, their bodies growing weaker as hunger gnawed at

them. It seemed as though there was no way out of their suffering.

Hope arrived in the most unexpected of ways. One evening, Peeta Mellark, the baker’s son, made a

quiet but life-saving gesture. Seeing the Everdeen girls' desperation, he deliberately burned two loaves of
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bread and tossed them to Katniss. Though he was punished for his actions, his kindness provided the

nourishment that allowed Prim and Katniss to regain enough strength to keep fighting for survival. The

following day, as Prim and Katniss wandered into the Meadow, they stumbled upon dandelions. At first

glance, they seemed insignificant, but to Katniss, they were a sign—a reminder that they could survive. With

the help of their father’s old plant book, the sisters learned to forage for edible plants, ensuring they would

never go completely hungry again.

From that moment on, life in the Everdeen household slowly improved. Katniss took on the role of

provider, hunting in the woods to bring home meat, while Prim focused on helping her mother with medical

care and tending to their animals. Though they still lived in poverty, they had found a way to endure.

Primrose Everdeen’s early years shaped her into a remarkable individual—one defined by her compassion,

resilience, and unwavering love for others. Despite growing up in a harsh and unforgiving world, she never

allowed cruelty or hardship to harden her heart. Whether caring for a wounded goat, tending to the sick, or

comforting those in need, Prim embodied the very essence of kindness. It was this spirit that would later

drive her to take on even greater responsibilities, ultimately making a profound impact on those around her.

Her story was not just one of survival but of selfless devotion to others. In a world filled with

suffering and loss, Prim chose to be a beacon of hope, proving that even the smallest acts of kindness could

make a difference. Though her life was tragically short, her legacy lived on in the hearts of those who knew

and loved her. At the reaping in The Hunger Games, it was Primrose Everdeen’s name that was originally

pulled out of the girls' reaping bowl, marking her as the female tribute from District 12 for the 74th Hunger

Games.

This moment was devastating for both Prim and her older sister, Katniss Everdeen. Katniss, knowing

her little sister’s gentle and fragile nature, could not bear the thought of Prim being sent into the brutal and
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deadly competition. Without hesitation, she stepped forward and volunteered to take Prim’s place, an

unprecedented act of self-sacrifice in their district. This brave decision left Prim horrified and in tears, as she

had never wanted her sister to face such a fate.

Katniss had always done everything in her power to protect Prim. She had ensured that Prim never

had to take tesserae—an additional ration of grain and oil given in exchange for extra entries in the reaping

lottery—because she did not want to increase her sister’s chances of being selected. The Everdeen family

had struggled with poverty and starvation, especially after the death of their father in a mining accident, but

Katniss had taken on the responsibility of providing for them. She hunted in the woods with her best friend,

Gale Hawthorne, illegally trading game to keep her family fed. Despite their hardships, Katniss never

wanted Prim to bear the burden of survival in such a brutal way. However, despite all her precautions,

Prim’s name was still drawn, proving that fate was sometimes cruel and unavoidable.

As Katniss stepped forward to volunteer, Prim tried desperately to stop her. She screamed and cried,

unwilling to let her sister take her place. Gale, understanding the necessity of Katniss’s sacrifice and

knowing Prim would only make things harder, held her back. He carried her away as she sobbed, crying out,

"No, Katniss! No! You can't go!" The pain in her voice reflected the deep bond the two sisters shared and the

helplessness she felt in that moment.

Before leaving for the Capitol, Katniss was given a brief hour to say her goodbyes. During this time,

Prim made her sister promise that she would try her best to win the Games and return home safely. This

promise was heavy with emotion, as both knew the odds of Katniss surviving were slim. Still, Prim held

onto hope, believing in her sister’s strength and determination. Their mother, usually reserved and

emotionally distant due to past traumas, was also deeply affected, though she struggled to express her grief

in the same way Prim did.

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Back in District 12, Prim and her mother watched the Games unfold, their hearts heavy with worry.

The Hunger Games was a brutal competition where 24 tributes—one boy and one girl from each of the

twelve districts—were forced to fight to the death until only one remained. Katniss, however, proved to be a

formidable competitor. Using her hunting skills, resourcefulness, and alliances, she managed to survive

against incredible odds. One of the most significant alliances she formed was with Rue, a twelve-year-old

tribute from District 11, whose innocence and kindness reminded Katniss of Prim. This bond was

particularly meaningful to Prim, who likely saw Rue as a reflection of herself within the Games.

Peeta Mellark, the male tribute from District 12, also played a crucial role in Katniss’s survival. His

public declaration of love for Katniss, whether real or strategic, helped them gain sponsorships and support

from viewers. Their fabricated romance became a key element in the Games, as it influenced the Capitol

audience and ultimately played a role in their joint victory. Through these alliances and sheer determination,

Katniss managed to defy expectations and survive, fulfilling the promise she had made to Prim.

In the film adaptation of The Hunger Games, there is an added detail regarding the mockingjay pin.

In the book, Katniss receives the pin from Madge Undersee, the mayor’s daughter, as a token of luck.

However, in the film, the pin is given a different backstory. Katniss initially acquires it from the Hob, the

black market of District 12, and gives it to Prim as a protective charm before the reaping. When Katniss

volunteers as tribute, Prim returns the pin to her, believing it will bring her sister good luck. This small yet

powerful moment emphasizes the deep love and trust between them.

After Katniss and Peeta emerge as victors and return to District 12, Prim is seen joyfully celebrating

her sister’s return. In the film adaptation, she is perched on Gale’s shoulders, her face lit up with relief and

happiness. This moment signifies not only Katniss’s physical return but also the fulfillment of the promise
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she had made to Prim before leaving. However, despite the temporary joy of the moment, the trauma of the

Games and the political repercussions that follow continue to weigh heavily on Katniss’s shoulders. Prim’s

character, though not physically present for most of The Hunger Games, serves as a major emotional anchor

for Katniss throughout the series. Katniss’s actions are often driven by her desire to protect Prim, whether it

be volunteering for the Games, forming alliances that remind her of her sister, or later, playing a role in the

rebellion against the Capitol. Prim represents innocence and the very reason Katniss fights—she embodies

everything worth protecting in a world dominated by cruelty and injustice.

As the series progresses, Prim grows into a strong and compassionate young woman. In Catching

Fire, the second book of the series, Prim is shown to be maturing, stepping into a caretaker role alongside

her mother. She takes her medical training seriously, learning how to treat injuries and illnesses. This

development foreshadows her critical role in the final book, Mockingjay, where she becomes a skilled

healer, using her knowledge to help those affected by war and violence. Despite her growing strength,

Prim’s fate remains intertwined with the horrors of war. In Mockingjay, she is sent to the Capitol as part of a

medical team, treating injured children during the final battle. Tragically, she is killed in a bombing attack, a

heartbreaking loss that shatters Katniss’s world. This moment is devastating not just because of the loss of

Prim, but because it represents the ultimate failure of Katniss’s efforts to keep her sister safe. Prim’s death

underscores the cruel reality of war and the consequences of the rebellion, reinforcing the series’ central

themes about the cost of violence and the illusion of control.

Prim’s character arc—from the frightened, delicate girl in The Hunger Games to the brave and

skilled healer in Mockingjay—is one of the most poignant in the series. She is a symbol of hope, innocence,

and compassion, making her death all the more tragic. Her impact on Katniss and the story as a whole is

profound, as she is the driving force behind many of Katniss’s decisions. Even in death, her influence

remains, shaping Katniss’s ultimate realization about the nature of power and the cycle of violence.
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In conclusion, Primrose Everdeen’s role in The Hunger Games is far more significant than it initially

appears. Though she does not participate in the Games, her presence looms large over Katniss’s journey.

From the moment her name is called at the reaping, to her tragic death in Mockingjay, Prim serves as both

Katniss’s greatest motivation and her deepest heartbreak. Her innocence and kindness contrast sharply with

the brutality of their world, making her loss all the more devastating. Ultimately, Prim represents the very

thing Katniss fights for—a future free from the horrors of the Hunger Games, where children like Prim do

not have to suffer. Her story is a testament to the power of love, sacrifice, and the devastating consequences

of war.

Primrose "Prim" Everdeen plays a far more significant role in the sequel to "The Hunger Games,"

growing into a strong and compassionate young girl who is deeply involved in her family's survival and

well-being. Unlike in the first book, where she was mainly the reason Katniss volunteered for the Games,

Prim now becomes an active participant in their lives, helping her mother with medical treatments and doing

her best to avoid drawing the Capitol's attention.

Living in the Victor's Village, Prim continues her education while adapting to the changed

circumstances of her life. Her sister, Katniss, is now a Victor, which means the Everdeens no longer struggle

with extreme poverty. Despite their improved living conditions, Prim remains the same kind and gentle girl,

committed to caring for others. She assists her mother in treating patients, learning valuable medical skills

that will later become crucial in the rebellion.

One of the most significant ways Prim influences Katniss in the sequel is through President Snow’s

threats. Snow warns Katniss that if she does not convince the public that her supposed love for Peeta is

genuine and that their attempted double suicide in the arena was an act of love rather than defiance, her

loved ones, including Prim, would suffer. This manipulative tactic forces Katniss to play along, participating
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in the Capitol's charade to protect her sister. Despite her best efforts to shield Prim and their mother from

Snow’s threats, the weight of the burden affects Katniss deeply.

Katniss often finds herself on the brink of despair, feeling powerless against the might of the Capitol.

However, whenever she is tempted to surrender, thoughts of Prim renew her determination. Prim is her

anchor—the reason she volunteered in the first place and the person she wants most to protect. It is Prim’s

presence and unwavering support that give Katniss the strength to continue resisting the oppressive regime.

One particularly harrowing moment occurs when Gale is brutally whipped by the new Peacekeepers

enforcing Capitol rule in District 12. Katniss, in an attempt to protect him, suffers an injury as well. Prim and

their mother immediately step in to provide medical aid. Though she is still young, Prim demonstrates

remarkable composure and skill, treating Gale’s wounds with care and competence. Her growth is evident in

this scene, as she is no longer the helpless child who needed Katniss's protection, but rather a capable healer

following in their mother’s footsteps.

Another terrifying moment comes when the Capitol increases its surveillance and control over

District 12. Katniss is nearly trapped outside the district when the electric fence is suddenly turned on,

forcing her to risk a dangerous jump to get back inside. Meanwhile, Peacekeepers visit the Victor’s Village,

searching for Katniss and prepared to interrogate Prim and her mother. Fortunately, Katniss arrives in time,

but the close call reinforces just how precarious their situation has become. The Capitol’s reach is growing,

and no one is truly safe.

The Capitol attempts to further control Katniss’s life by orchestrating a lavish wedding to Peeta,

designed to entertain the citizens and reinforce the narrative of their love story. A competition is held to

determine Katniss’s wedding dress, with Capitol residents voting on the most extravagant design. Prim,

despite her young age, acts as a stabilizing force for Katniss during this ordeal. She insists that Katniss wait
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for her to get home from school before trying on any dresses, an endearing moment that highlights their

sisterly bond. When Katniss is overwhelmed by the spectacle of it all, Prim helps her navigate the situation,

offering comfort and understanding.

Prim’s presence in Katniss’s life becomes even more crucial when the Quarter Quell is announced,

and it is revealed that previous victors will be reaped for the next Hunger Games. As the only living female

victor from District 12, Katniss is automatically selected. The pain of this moment is exacerbated by the fact

that, due to new procedures, she is unable to say goodbye to Prim before leaving for the Capitol. The bond

between the sisters makes this forced separation particularly devastating. Prim’s resilience is tested yet again

when District 12 is bombed by the Capitol following Katniss’s escape from the arena. The destruction is

swift and merciless, but Prim, thanks to Gale’s quick thinking and bravery, manages to survive along with

their mother and a few others. This event marks a turning point in Prim’s character arc—she is no longer

simply a young girl caught in the conflict, but rather someone who understands the gravity of war and is

willing to play her part.

Prim’s development throughout the sequel showcases her growth from an innocent child to a strong,

compassionate, and intelligent individual. Her influence on Katniss is profound, serving as a source of

strength and motivation. Though she is not physically present in every major scene, her impact resonates

throughout the novel, shaping Katniss’s decisions and driving her determination to fight against the Capitol.

By the end of the sequel, Prim stands as a symbol of hope and resilience, embodying the qualities that make

her a beloved and essential character in "The Hunger Games" series.

Primrose "Prim" Everdeen is a significantly larger character in Mockingjay than in either of the

preceding books, The Hunger Games and Catching Fire. Her development in the final installment of the

series illustrates how she has evolved from the fragile young girl in District 12 to a strong and
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compassionate individual who actively contributes to the rebellion and its aftermath. Her relationship with

Katniss Everdeen, the protagonist, undergoes a profound transformation as well, as she no longer remains

just the younger sister who needs protection but rather a source of wisdom and support for Katniss in her

most challenging times.

In Mockingjay, Prim resides in District 13 along with her mother, sister, and their beloved cat,

Buttercup. The regimented life in District 13 contrasts starkly with the freedom they once had in District 12,

even in its impoverished state. However, unlike Katniss, who struggles with the new order and her role as

the Mockingjay, Prim quickly adapts to life in District 13. She finds her place as a medical apprentice,

dedicating herself to learning about healing and emergency response. This is a direct evolution of her natural

compassion and skill for nursing wounded animals back in District 12.

Katniss, who has always seen herself as Prim’s protector, is surprised to witness just how mature and

strong-willed her sister has become. This is evident in their private conversations, especially the moment

when Katniss is struggling with the immense pressure of becoming the symbolic leader of the rebellion. One

night, as Katniss wrestles with the decision of whether to accept the role of the Mockingjay, Prim wakes

from her sleep and calmly asks her what she intends to do. She acknowledges that their mother, though

seemingly distant, is always aware of more than she lets on. Prim offers insight and wisdom that reassures

Katniss and even keeps her thoughts a secret from their mother. It is in this moment that Katniss fully

realizes that the little girl she had once volunteered to protect in the Hunger Games is no longer the same.

Prim has grown into a capable and independent thinker, someone Katniss can turn to for counsel rather than

merely someone to shelter.

Prim’s dream of becoming a doctor is a testament to her kindness and empathy. Even in District 12,

she showed a strong aptitude for healing, often tending to the wounds of injured animals and assisting her
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mother in treating sick patients. In District 13, she takes this aspiration further by formally training in the

medical field. She works under the guidance of skilled medics, learning advanced techniques in wound care,

emergency response, and even psychological first aid. The environment in District 13 provides her with the

structured training that she never had access to in District 12, allowing her to thrive and develop into a true

healer.

Her medical skills play a crucial role in the rebellion. Unlike Katniss, who wields a bow and arrow to

fight, Prim’s weapon is her ability to save lives. She volunteers to help care for the wounded, including those

injured in battle, and she is often seen working tirelessly in the medical ward. Her presence among the

injured makes her an unsung hero of the war, as she provides both physical and emotional relief to those in

need. The bond between Prim and Katniss is one of the most powerful relationships in the entire Hunger

Games series. From the very first chapter of The Hunger Games, when Katniss volunteers as tribute to

protect Prim, their relationship has been the driving force behind many of Katniss’s decisions. However, in

Mockingjay, their dynamic shifts. While Katniss is still deeply protective of Prim, she also begins to

recognize and respect her younger sister’s growing independence and wisdom.

Prim becomes one of the few people whom Katniss can confide in without fear of manipulation or

deceit. She provides emotional support in ways that even Katniss’s close friends, such as Gale and Peeta,

cannot. When Katniss struggles with the responsibilities of being the Mockingjay, Prim’s encouragement

helps her navigate the overwhelming burden. She is no longer just a little sister who needs sheltering—she is

a guiding force, offering Katniss a sense of clarity when she is at her most vulnerable. One of the most

devastating moments in Mockingjay is Prim’s tragic death. During the final stages of the war, as rebels

storm the Capitol, a bombing attack kills many innocent people, including Prim.
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This moment is shattering for Katniss, as the entire journey—from volunteering as tribute to

surviving the Hunger Games—was ultimately about protecting Prim. Her death serves as a cruel irony, as

everything Katniss fought for was meant to ensure Prim’s safety and future. Prim’s death is also a crucial

turning point in the story. It forces Katniss to confront the reality of war and the consequences of political

manipulation. In the aftermath of the bombing, she realizes that the rebels, led by President Coin, may have

been responsible for the attack. This realization is what ultimately leads her to assassinate President Coin

instead of executing President Snow, as she comes to see that the cycle of violence and power-hungry

leadership must be broken.

Despite her untimely death, Prim’s legacy endures. Her kindness, intelligence, and determination

leave a lasting impact on Katniss and those who knew her. In the epilogue, when Katniss reflects on the past,

it is clear that Prim’s memory continues to shape her. While the pain of losing Prim never fully fades,

Katniss carries forward the love and lessons her sister gave her. Prim represents the innocence and goodness

that war ultimately destroys. Her character serves as a reminder of what Katniss was truly fighting for—not

political power, but the hope of a better world for those she loved. Though she was young, Prim was one of

the most influential characters in Mockingjay, playing a vital role in Katniss’s emotional journey and the

broader themes of the novel.

Prim Everdeen’s evolution in Mockingjay transforms her from the delicate little sister Katniss once

protected into a strong and capable young woman. Her growth as a healer, her wisdom in guiding Katniss,

and her tragic yet powerful end make her one of the most significant figures in the series. Through her

actions and her ultimate sacrifice, Prim shapes the course of the rebellion and leaves an indelible mark on

Katniss’s heart and the world around her. Her story is one of resilience, compassion, and the harsh cost of

war, making her an unforgettable part of The Hunger Games saga.

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The attack on District 13 was sudden, a relentless assault from the Capitol that sent the underground

city into a state of panic. The alarms blared, echoing through the narrow tunnels as citizens scrambled to

reach the safety of their assigned bunkers. Chaos erupted around them, voices shouting orders and names,

footsteps pounding against the cold concrete floors as people rushed to find shelter. Among the throngs of

panicked residents, Primrose Everdeen found herself frozen for a brief moment. She had been on her way to

the designated safe quarters when a realization struck her like a physical blow—Buttercup. The scruffy, bad-

tempered feline that had somehow become her constant companion was still in their family’s compartment.

Without a second thought, she turned back.

Gale Hawthorne had been doing a final sweep of the residential quarters, ensuring that no one was

left behind when he saw Prim dart past him, heading in the opposite direction of safety. His heart lurched.

“Prim! Where are you going?” he shouted, but the girl didn’t answer, only quickened her pace. Cursing

under his breath, Gale turned and sprinted after her.

Prim burst into their family compartment, breathless, and found Buttercup perched on the small cot,

his yellow eyes blinking at her lazily, utterly oblivious to the danger looming above them. “Come on,

Buttercup,” she whispered urgently, scooping the cat into her arms. But true to his stubborn nature, he

wriggled, claws extending in protest. “No, not now!” she pleaded, trying to maintain a firm grip on the

squirming animal.

“Prim, we have to go! Now!” Gale’s voice cut through the air, and a moment later, he appeared in the

doorway, eyes flashing with urgency. Seeing her struggle, he didn’t hesitate—he grabbed her wrist, hauling

her toward the exit. Buttercup let out an indignant yowl but ultimately surrendered to Prim’s hold as they

raced down the corridor. The ground shook beneath them as another missile struck above, sending dust and

debris raining from the ceiling. The force of it nearly knocked them off their feet. Somewhere, a child’s cry
 Pal 49

pierced the air, swallowed immediately by the thunderous rumble of the attack. The walls trembled, but the

bunkers ahead stood strong.

The entrance to the safe quarters was just within reach when the doors began to groan, preparing to

seal shut. “Hurry!” a guard shouted. With a final burst of energy, Gale pushed Prim forward, shoving her

past the threshold just as the heavy metal doors clanged shut behind them. For a moment, all she could hear

was the pounding of her own heart. Prim collapsed against the wall, gasping for breath, Buttercup still

clutched in her arms. Gale bent over, hands on his knees, his own breath coming fast and hard. When he

finally looked at her, relief flooded his face. “Don’t ever do that again,” he said, voice hoarse.

But Prim barely heard him. Her thoughts were already on something else—on the safety of her

mother and sister. On the others who had been caught outside the bunker. Were they safe? Had everyone

made it in time? She swallowed hard, trying to push down the lump of worry in her throat. After the chaos

settled and the attack subsided, Mrs. Everdeen rushed to the first aid station to assist the wounded. Prim

stayed behind, choosing to remain close to Katniss, who had been shaken but unharmed. The two sisters sat

together in the dimly lit quarters, the weight of the attack pressing heavily on their shoulders. Katniss’s face

was drawn with exhaustion, her eyes reflecting the turmoil within her.

Prim gently reached for her sister’s hand, squeezing it. “It was probably just a bunker missile,” she

said, echoing what she had learned during her orientation as a new citizen of District 13. “They have

protocols for this. We’re safe down here.” Katniss nodded, but the faraway look in her eyes didn’t fade. Prim

knew her sister well enough to understand that she wasn’t just thinking about the attack. She was thinking

about Peeta.
 Pal 50

The days passed, each one bringing new tensions as the rebellion grew stronger. When Peeta was

finally rescued from the Capitol, it was supposed to be a moment of relief. But instead, it became a

nightmare. The moment he saw Katniss, something in him snapped, and before anyone could react, his

hands were around her throat. Prim wasn’t there when it happened, but the whispers spread quickly, and she

rushed to the hospital as soon as she heard.

When she saw Katniss lying in the hospital bed, bruises stark against her pale skin, something inside

her ached. Carefully, she sat on the edge of the bed, reaching out to touch her sister’s hand. “You’ll be

okay,” she whispered. Before Katniss left for the Capitol with her squad, she came to say goodbye. Their

mother was already preparing supplies, keeping herself busy to avoid breaking down, but Prim stood before

her sister, eyes wide with unspoken words. Katniss forced a smile, tucking a loose strand of hair behind

Prim’s ear. “I’ll see you soon.”

Katniss never expected to see Prim in the Capitol. Not like this. Not in the midst of the final battle,

standing amidst the chaos and fire, dressed in the uniform of a nurse. She spotted her just as the rebels

pushed forward, the barricade before Snow’s mansion trembling under the force of an explosion. Amidst the

smoke and screams, a single, familiar braid swayed down a small back. The same braid Katniss had seen

countless times before.

Prim turned, her untucked shirt flapping slightly as she moved, just as it had that day in District 12

when her name was called at the reaping. And then, despite the terror around her, Prim did something

unexpected—she took off her coat and wrapped it around a shivering child standing beside her. Katniss

wanted to scream. Wanted to run. Wanted to reach her. But before she could move, before she could do

anything, the second wave of bombs fell.

 Pal 51

The attack on District 13 was sudden, a relentless assault from the Capitol that sent the underground

city into a state of panic. The alarms blared, echoing through the narrow tunnels as citizens scrambled to

reach the safety of their assigned bunkers. Chaos erupted around them, voices shouting orders and names,

footsteps pounding against the cold concrete floors as people rushed to find shelter.

Among the throngs of panicked residents, Primrose Everdeen found herself frozen for a brief

moment. She had been on her way to the designated safe quarters when a realization struck her like a

physical blow—Buttercup. The scruffy, bad-tempered feline that had somehow become her constant

companion was still in their family’s compartment. Without a second thought, she turned back.

Gale Hawthorne had been doing a final sweep of the residential quarters, ensuring that no one was

left behind when he saw Prim dart past him, heading in the opposite direction of safety. His heart lurched.

“Prim! Where are you going?” he shouted, but the girl didn’t answer, only quickened her pace. Cursing

under his breath, Gale turned and sprinted after her. Prim burst into their family compartment, breathless,

and found Buttercup perched on the small cot, his yellow eyes blinking at her lazily, utterly oblivious to the

danger looming above them. “Come on, Buttercup,” she whispered urgently, scooping the cat into her arms.

But true to his stubborn nature, he wriggled, claws extending in protest. “No, not now!” she pleaded, trying

to maintain a firm grip on the squirming animal.

“Prim, we have to go! Now!” Gale’s voice cut through the air, and a moment later, he appeared in the

doorway, eyes flashing with urgency. Seeing her struggle, he didn’t hesitate—he grabbed her wrist, hauling

her toward the exit. Buttercup let out an indignant yowl but ultimately surrendered to Prim’s hold as they

raced down the corridor. The ground shook beneath them as another missile struck above, sending dust and

debris raining from the ceiling. The force of it nearly knocked them off their feet. Somewhere, a child’s cry
 Pal 52

pierced the air, swallowed immediately by the thunderous rumble of the attack. The walls trembled, but the

bunkers ahead stood strong.

The entrance to the safe quarters was just within reach when the doors began to groan, preparing to

seal shut. “Hurry!” a guard shouted. With a final burst of energy, Gale pushed Prim forward, shoving her

past the threshold just as the heavy metal doors clanged shut behind them. For a moment, all she could hear

was the pounding of her own heart. Prim collapsed against the wall, gasping for breath, Buttercup still

clutched in her arms. Gale bent over, hands on his knees, his own breath coming fast and hard. When he

finally looked at her, relief flooded his face. “Don’t ever do that again,” he said, voice hoarse.

But Prim barely heard him. Her thoughts were already on something else—on the safety of her

mother and sister. On the others who had been caught outside the bunker. Were they safe? Had everyone

made it in time? She swallowed hard, trying to push down the lump of worry in her throat. After the chaos

settled and the attack subsided, Mrs. Everdeen rushed to the first aid station to assist the wounded. Prim

stayed behind, choosing to remain close to Katniss, who had been shaken but unharmed. The two sisters sat

together in the dimly lit quarters, the weight of the attack pressing heavily on their shoulders. Katniss’s face

was drawn with exhaustion, her eyes reflecting the turmoil within her.

Prim gently reached for her sister’s hand, squeezing it. “It was probably just a bunker missile,” she

said, echoing what she had learned during her orientation as a new citizen of District 13. “They have

protocols for this. We’re safe down here.” Katniss nodded, but the faraway look in her eyes didn’t fade. Prim

knew her sister well enough to understand that she wasn’t just thinking about the attack. She was thinking

about Peeta.
 Pal 53

The days passed, each one bringing new tensions as the rebellion grew stronger. When Peeta was

finally rescued from the Capitol, it was supposed to be a moment of relief. But instead, it became a

nightmare. The moment he saw Katniss, something in him snapped, and before anyone could react, his

hands were around her throat. Prim wasn’t there when it happened, but the whispers spread quickly, and she

rushed to the hospital as soon as she heard.

When she saw Katniss lying in the hospital bed, bruises stark against her pale skin, something inside

her ached. Carefully, she sat on the edge of the bed, reaching out to touch her sister’s hand. “You’ll be

okay,” she whispered. Before Katniss left for the Capitol with her squad, she came to say goodbye. Their

mother was already preparing supplies, keeping herself busy to avoid breaking down, but Prim stood before

her sister, eyes wide with unspoken words. Katniss forced a smile, tucking a loose strand of hair behind

Prim’s ear. “I’ll see you soon.”

Prim smiled back, her voice steady with determination. “Next time we see each other, we’ll be free.”

But freedom came at a cost. Katniss never expected to see Prim in the Capitol. Not like this. Not in the midst

of the final battle, standing amidst the chaos and fire, dressed in the uniform of a nurse. She spotted her just

as the rebels pushed forward, the barricade before Snow’s mansion trembling under the force of an

explosion. Amidst the smoke and screams, a single, familiar braid swayed down a small back. The same

braid Katniss had seen countless times before.

Prim turned, her untucked shirt flapping slightly as she moved, just as it had that day in District 12

when her name was called at the reaping. And then, despite the terror around her, Prim did something

unexpected—she took off her coat and wrapped it around a shivering child standing beside her.
 Pal 54

Katniss wanted to scream. Wanted to run. Wanted to reach her. But before she could move, before

she could do anything, the second wave of bombs fell. The last time Katniss Everdeen lays eyes on her

sister, Primrose Everdeen, is mere seconds before a devastating explosion rips through the war-torn Capitol.

The moment is fleeting yet stretched unbearably by the horror unfolding before Katniss’s eyes. Just as

Katniss spots her sister through the haze of destruction, the secondary explosion erupts, engulfing Prim and

the other District Thirteen medics who had rushed in to provide aid to the wounded children trapped outside

President Snow’s mansion.

These children—innocents caught in the ruthless power struggle between the Capitol and the

rebels—had already suffered the initial blast of bombs delivered by a hovercraft. These parachute bombs,

eerily reminiscent of the ones used to deliver sponsor gifts in the Hunger Games, descended with a deceptive

promise of aid. Instead, they unleashed devastation, their first wave leaving many children critically injured

and awaiting assistance. Prim, despite her youth, had already proven herself a competent and compassionate

healer, qualities that had driven her to enter the fray, risking everything to help those who had no one else.

Katniss, recognizing her sister’s unmistakable form amidst the carnage, calls out to her, her voice

rising above the chaos. Prim turns, her expression flickering with both surprise and joy at seeing Katniss

alive—a momentary relief amidst the horror. It is a cruel twist of fate. The second wave of bombs detonates

just as Katniss moves to reach her, and in an instant, Prim is gone.

Katniss is thrown backward, flames licking at her body, pain searing through her nerves. Her world

collapses inward, the reality of her sister’s death unbearable. The trauma robs her of her voice, rendering her

mute for days. She cannot bring herself to function, to think, or to engage with the world that has so

mercilessly stolen the one person she fought to protect from the very beginning. From the moment Katniss

volunteered as tribute in Prim’s place, she had vowed to keep her safe. Every action she had taken—the
 Pal 55

alliances she had forged, the battles she had fought, the enemies she had made—had been for Prim’s sake.

Now, with her sister gone, the weight of failure crushes Katniss beyond measure.

As Katniss struggles to make sense of the loss, she begins to unravel the dark machinations that led

to Prim’s tragic fate. Initially, it seems as though the Capitol is responsible, as their hovercraft appeared to

have dropped the bombs. However, during a fateful conversation with President Snow—who is imprisoned

and awaiting execution—Katniss pieces together a far more sinister truth.

President Alma Coin, the leader of the rebel forces, had orchestrated the attack. The objective? To

turn the tide of war decisively in her favor. By bombing the children outside Snow’s mansion, Coin ensured

that the blame would fall upon Snow, thereby swaying the remaining Capitol citizens to her side. More

chillingly, she understood that the loss of Prim would push Katniss into compliance, potentially solidifying

her as a symbol of the new government under Coin’s rule.

Katniss, however, sees through the manipulation. She understands now why Prim, despite her youth,

was allowed to be on the frontlines. It was no accident. Coin had deliberately positioned Prim in the line of

fire, ensuring that the girl whose safety had driven the rebellion’s figurehead would be lost in the final act of

the war. Adding to the agony is the knowledge that the bombing strategy used in Prim’s death was eerily

similar to one designed by Gale, Katniss’s closest friend and confidant? Though he did not directly because

the attack, the realization that his tactical innovations had contributed to Prim’s death drives an irreparable

wedge between them.

In the quiet aftermath of the war, Katniss confronts Gale, asking the question that haunts her: “Was it

your bomb?” It is not enough. Whether or not he had a direct hand in Prim’s death, the seed of doubt is
 Pal 56

enough to sever their connection permanently. Katniss cannot bear the weight of his possible complicity, and

their once-unbreakable bond fractures beyond repair.

The revelation of Coin’s deception cements Katniss’s resolve. When the moment arrives for her to

execute President Snow, the intended face of tyranny and cruelty, she makes an unexpected choice. Instead

of killing Snow, she turns her weapon on Coin, delivering justice for Prim and ensuring that a true tyrant

does not rise in Snow’s place.

With Coin dead, the fragile new government is left to rebuild without her influence. Katniss, no

longer a pawn in the political games of Panem, is released from her role as the Mockingjay. Yet, the cost of

her defiance is heavy—she is permanently scarred by the war, both physically and emotionally. In the

aftermath, Katniss returns to District 12, a place haunted by loss. The ruins of her home serve as a constant

reminder of everything she has sacrificed. She is alone, except for the ghosts of her past—until Peeta returns.

Peeta, who has endured his own suffering at the hands of the Capitol, arrives bearing a gift: a

collection of evening primrose bushes. Together, they plant them around her home, a tribute to the girl

whose kindness and innocence had been a beacon of hope in a dark world. It is a small gesture, but it carries

profound significance. The flowers bloom, vibrant and unyielding, just as Prim had been. Each petal is a

reminder of her laughter, her gentleness, and the way she had loved so deeply despite the horrors

surrounding her.

Of all the painful reminders of Prim, none is more poignant than the return of Buttercup, Prim’s

beloved cat. The feline, who had survived against all odds, appears one day, searching for his owner. His

presence shatters the dam of Katniss’s grief. She screams, she sobs, she allows herself to break. In that
 Pal 57

moment, she finally releases the pain she has held within her since the explosion. It is a necessary catharsis,

a final goodbye to the sister she had spent her entire life protecting.

Determined not to let Prim’s story be forgotten, Katniss and Peeta begin compiling a book. Within its

pages, they document not just Prim’s life but the lives of all those lost in the Hunger Games and the

rebellion. It is their way of ensuring that the sacrifices made are remembered, that their pain is given

purpose. Prim’s chapter is filled with stories of her kindness, her resilience, and the way she had believed in

a world beyond war. She had been more than a sister—she had been a symbol of hope. Though her life was

tragically short, her impact was immeasurable.

The war ends, and Panem begins the long, arduous process of healing. Katniss and Peeta, too, find

their way forward, building a life together in the shadow of their shared grief. They have children of their

own, a future Prim would have wanted for them. Yet, even in the joy of new beginnings, Prim is never far

from their thoughts. Katniss tells her children about their aunt, the girl with the heart of a healer and the

spirit of a fighter. She teaches them about kindness, about love, about the importance of standing against

injustice—lessons she had learned from Prim.

Though Primrose Everdeen is gone, her legacy endures, woven into the fabric of the new world she

never got to see. In the flowers that bloom around her childhood home, in the book that holds her story, and

in the hearts of those who loved her, she lives on. Primrose Everdeen, affectionately known as Prim, is a

character whose presence in The Hunger Games series carries deep emotional weight. Though she is not one

of the primary combatants in the Games themselves, her existence and personality shape the motivations and

actions of her older sister, Katniss Everdeen. Her role extends far beyond that of a mere supporting

character; she is a symbol of innocence, kindness, and the hope for a better future.
 Pal 58

Primrose is often described as looking like a merchant’s child, a sharp contrast to the typical

appearance of the Seam residents in District 12. Her fair skin, blonde hair, and blue eyes set her apart from

her sister, Katniss, who has dark hair and grey eyes. The difference in their appearances is a reflection of

their contrasting roles in the family and their individual journeys throughout the series. While Katniss is

hardened by necessity, becoming a hunter and a survivor, Prim embodies warmth, compassion, and hope.

In the film adaptation, Prim’s eyes are depicted as hazel rather than blue, a small but notable

deviation from the book. Her small stature is partly due to years of undernourishment, as District 12 suffers

from extreme poverty and food shortages. Despite this, she gradually grows taller, and by the time of

Catching Fire, she is nearly the same height as Katniss. Katniss describes her as having a face "as fresh as a

raindrop, as lovely as the primrose for which she was named." This poetic description highlights her purity

and gentle nature.

One of Prim’s distinctive physical traits is her "duck tail," a small tuft of hair that never seems to stay

in place. This earned her the affectionate nickname "little duck" from Katniss. This simple detail, though

minor, becomes significant in the later books, as Katniss uses this physical trait to recognize Prim in a sea of

injured Capitol children, further emphasizing their strong bond. The bond between Prim and Katniss is one

of the most profound relationships in The Hunger Games. Their sibling relationship is filled with love,

sacrifice, and deep emotional connections. When their father died in a mining explosion, their mother fell

into a deep depression, leaving Katniss to take on the role of the primary provider for the family. Katniss's

hunting skills ensured that Prim and their mother had food to eat, while Prim’s kindness and optimism

provided emotional support for Katniss.

The most defining moment of their relationship occurs at the beginning of The Hunger Games when

Prim is chosen as the tribute for the 74th Hunger Games. Overcome with terror at the thought of her gentle,
 Pal 59

fragile sister being thrown into the deadly arena, Katniss volunteers to take Prim’s place, an act of immense

love and sacrifice. This selfless moment sets the entire series into motion and establishes Katniss as the face

of rebellion. Prim, in turn, supports her sister in any way she can, from helping their mother tend to the

wounded to offering emotional reassurance during Katniss’s darkest moments.

Prim’s love for all living creatures, no matter how small or unsightly, is one of her most defining

traits. She has a pet goat named Lady, which Katniss obtained for her as a gift. Lady provides the family

with milk, which Prim uses to make cheese, contributing to their household in a practical way. More

importantly, Lady represents Prim’s gentle nature and ability to nurture.

She also cares for Buttercup, an ugly, scruffy cat that Katniss initially wanted to get rid of. Buttercup was

starving and infested with parasites when Prim found him, but despite his condition, she took him in and

nursed him back to health. Katniss, being more pragmatic, saw Buttercup as an unnecessary burden, but

Prim’s insistence on keeping him showed her unwavering belief that all creatures, no matter how

undesirable, deserve love and care. Buttercup’s presence throughout the series becomes significant, as he

serves as a symbol of Prim’s enduring kindness. In Mockingjay, after Prim’s tragic death, Buttercup returns

to District 12 and mourns her absence, mirroring the grief felt by Katniss and their mother. The cat’s

reaction reinforces the depth of Prim’s impact on those around her, both human and animal.

Despite her initial timidness, Prim matures significantly throughout the series, proving that she is

much more than the fragile girl Katniss once protected. She inherits her mother’s talent for healing, assisting

in medical procedures and tending to the sick and wounded. Her skills become invaluable during the events

of Mockingjay, where she serves as a medic in the rebellion against the Capitol. Prim’s bravery is especially

evident in her willingness to put herself in danger to help others. She overcomes her fears and works
 Pal 60

tirelessly alongside her mother, treating those injured in the war. Her growth from a scared young girl into a

capable and compassionate healer underscores her strength and resilience.

While Prim is not directly involved in the political aspects of the rebellion, her influence is deeply

felt. Her death, caused by a bombing orchestrated during the final assault on the Capitol, is one of the most

tragic moments in the series. She had been assisting injured Capitol children when the second wave of

explosions took her life. Her death is the final push that forces Katniss to reevaluate the true nature of the

rebellion and those leading it. Katniss ultimately realizes that President Coin, who had positioned herself as

an ally, was just as ruthless as President Snow. This revelation leads Katniss to assassinate Coin instead of

Snow, ensuring that Panem does not fall under another cycle of tyranny. In this way, Prim’s death is not in

vain; it serves as the catalyst for the ultimate dismantling of oppressive power structures.

Prim’s impact on Katniss and the world of The Hunger Games is immeasurable. She represents the

innocence and goodness that Katniss fought so hard to protect. Her compassion, kindness, and unwavering

belief in the value of life stand in stark contrast to the brutality of the Games and the war. Even in death,

Prim continues to influence Katniss’s decisions and the fate of Panem.

Her legacy lives on in the changes Katniss helps bring about—a future where children no longer have

to fight to the death for the entertainment of the Capitol. Though her life was cut tragically short, Prim

remains a powerful symbol of hope, healing, and the enduring strength of love. Primrose Everdeen may not

have been the face of the rebellion, but she was undoubtedly its heart. Her gentle nature, resilience, and

selflessness shaped the course of history in Panem. Through her love for her family, her devotion to healing,

and her unwavering kindness, she left an indelible mark on those around her. Prim’s story is one of quiet

strength and enduring hope, reminding us all of the profound impact one compassionate soul can have in a

world overshadowed by darkness.

 Pal 61

Primrose Everdeen, affectionately known as Prim, is a character whose presence in The Hunger

Games series carries deep emotional weight. Though she is not one of the primary combatants in the Games

themselves, her existence and personality shape the motivations and actions of her older sister, Katniss

Everdeen. Her role extends far beyond that of a mere supporting character; she is a symbol of innocence,

kindness, and the hope for a better future. Primrose is often described as looking like a merchant’s child, a

sharp contrast to the typical appearance of the Seam residents in District 12. Her fair skin, blonde hair, and

blue eyes set her apart from her sister, Katniss, who has dark hair and grey eyes. The difference in their

appearances is a reflection of their contrasting roles in the family and their individual journeys throughout

the series. While Katniss is hardened by necessity, becoming a hunter and a survivor, Prim embodies

warmth, compassion, and hope.

In the film adaptation, Prim’s eyes are depicted as hazel rather than blue, a small but notable

deviation from the book. Her small stature is partly due to years of undernourishment, as District 12 suffers

from extreme poverty and food shortages. Despite this, she gradually grows taller, and by the time of

Catching Fire, she is nearly the same height as Katniss.

Katniss describes her as having a face "as fresh as a raindrop, as lovely as the primrose for which she

was named." This poetic description highlights her purity and gentle nature. One of Prim’s distinctive

physical traits is her "duck tail," a small tuft of hair that never seems to stay in place. This earned her the

affectionate nickname "little duck" from Katniss. This simple detail, though minor, becomes significant in

the later books, as Katniss uses this physical trait to recognize Prim in a sea of injured Capitol children,

further emphasizing their strong bond.

 Pal 62

The bond between Prim and Katniss is one of the most profound relationships in The Hunger Games.

Their sibling relationship is filled with love, sacrifice, and deep emotional connections. When their father

died in a mining explosion, their mother fell into a deep depression, leaving Katniss to take on the role of the

primary provider for the family. Katniss's hunting skills ensured that Prim and their mother had food to eat,

while Prim’s kindness and optimism provided emotional support for Katniss. The most defining moment of

their relationship occurs at the beginning of The Hunger Games when Prim is chosen as the tribute for the

74th Hunger Games. Overcome with terror at the thought of her gentle, fragile sister being thrown into the

deadly arena, Katniss volunteers to take Prim’s place, an act of immense love and sacrifice.

This selfless moment sets the entire series into motion and establishes Katniss as the face of

rebellion. Prim, in turn, supports her sister in any way she can, from helping their mother tend to the

wounded to offering emotional reassurance during Katniss’s darkest moments. Prim’s love for all living

creatures, no matter how small or unsightly, is one of her most defining traits. She has a pet goat named

Lady, which Katniss obtained for her as a gift. Lady provides the family with milk, which Prim uses to make

cheese, contributing to their household in a practical way. More importantly, Lady represents Prim’s gentle

nature and ability to nurture.

She also cares for Buttercup, an ugly, scruffy cat that Katniss initially wanted to get rid of. Buttercup

was starving and infested with parasites when Prim found him, but despite his condition, she took him in and

nursed him back to health. Katniss, being more pragmatic, saw Buttercup as an unnecessary burden, but

Prim’s insistence on keeping him showed her unwavering belief that all creatures, no matter how

undesirable, deserve love and care.

Buttercup’s presence throughout the series becomes significant, as he serves as a symbol of Prim’s

enduring kindness. In Mockingjay, after Prim’s tragic death, Buttercup returns to District 12 and mourns her
 Pal 63

absence, mirroring the grief felt by Katniss and their mother. The cat’s reaction reinforces the depth of

Prim’s impact on those around her, both human and animal. Despite her initial timidness, Prim matures

significantly throughout the series, proving that she is much more than the fragile girl Katniss once

protected. She inherits her mother’s talent for healing, assisting in medical procedures and tending to the

sick and wounded. Her skills become invaluable during the events of Mockingjay, where she serves as a

medic in the rebellion against the Capitol.

Prim’s bravery is especially evident in her willingness to put herself in danger to help others. She

overcomes her fears and works tirelessly alongside her mother, treating those injured in the war. Her growth

from a scared young girl into a capable and compassionate healer underscores her strength and resilience.

While Prim is not directly involved in the political aspects of the rebellion, her influence is deeply felt. Her

death, caused by a bombing orchestrated during the final assault on the Capitol, is one of the most tragic

moments in the series. She had been assisting injured Capitol children when the second wave of explosions

took her life. Her death is the final push that forces Katniss to reevaluate the true nature of the rebellion and

those leading it.

Katniss ultimately realizes that President Coin, who had positioned herself as an ally, was just as

ruthless as President Snow. This revelation leads Katniss to assassinate Coin instead of Snow, ensuring that

Panem does not fall under another cycle of tyranny. In this way, Prim’s death is not in vain; it serves as the

catalyst for the ultimate dismantling of oppressive power structures.

Prim’s impact on Katniss and the world of The Hunger Games is immeasurable. She represents the

innocence and goodness that Katniss fought so hard to protect. Her compassion, kindness, and unwavering

belief in the value of life stand in stark contrast to the brutality of the Games and the war. Even in death,

Prim continues to influence Katniss’s decisions and the fate of Panem. Her legacy lives on in the changes
 Pal 64

Katniss helps bring about—a future where children no longer have to fight to the death for the entertainment

of the Capitol. Though her life was cut tragically short, Prim remains a powerful symbol of hope, healing,

and the enduring strength of love.

Primrose Everdeen may not have been the face of the rebellion, but she was undoubtedly its heart.

Her gentle nature, resilience, and selflessness shaped the course of history in Panem. Through her love for

her family, her devotion to healing, and her unwavering kindness, she left an indelible mark on those around

her. Prim’s story is one of quiet strength and enduring hope, reminding us all of the profound impact one

compassionate soul can have in a world overshadowed by darkness.

 Pal 65

CHAPTER – 4

The Siege of the Capitol

The siege of the Capitol in Mockingjay, the final book in The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne

Collins, is one of the most intense and tragic sequences in the series. This pivotal moment follows Katniss

Everdeen and Squad 451 as they infiltrate the Capitol, facing deadly traps, combat, and devastating losses.

As the rebellion reaches its climax, the city transforms into a lethal battleground where survival is uncertain,

and the cost of war becomes unbearably high.

Katniss and her squad, including Gale, Peeta, Finnick, and others, are assigned to be a "Star

Squad"—a team used primarily for propaganda rather than direct combat. Their mission is to provide

inspirational footage for the rebellion, highlighting their presence in the Capitol without engaging in the

war's most dangerous confrontations. However, this plan quickly unravels. After their commander, Boggs, is

fatally wounded by a pod—a hidden booby trap scattered throughout the Capitol—Katniss assumes

leadership. Recognizing the unique opportunity before her, she decides to push forward toward President

Snow’s mansion, intending to assassinate him and bring an end to his tyrannical rule.

The squad encounters numerous obstacles, but one of the most terrifying moments occurs when they

are forced into the Capitol’s underground sewer system to avoid enemy forces. The sewers are an uncharted

nightmare: dark, maze-like, and filled with an overwhelming stench that clings to their bodies. Navigating

through these tunnels proves treacherous, as every turn could lead them into another deadly pod designed to

eliminate intruders. However, the worst is yet to come.

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As they move deeper underground, they are pursued by one of the Capitol’s most horrifying

creations: the lizard mutts. These monstrous creatures are designed for psychological as well as physical

terror. Their pale, white skin, reptilian features, and grotesque human-like elements make them deeply

unsettling. Worse still, they hiss Katniss' name in chilling, breathy voices, heightening the horror of the

encounter. The mutts are relentless, programmed to kill with precision and brutality.

The squad is ambushed in the sewers, leading to one of the most heartbreaking losses of the series.

Finnick Odair, a beloved character known for his charisma, strength, and tragic past, fights valiantly against

the mutts. Despite his skill and determination, he is quickly overwhelmed by the sheer number of attackers.

Katniss, unable to watch him suffer, makes the excruciating decision to mercy-kill him using a bomb,

granting him a swift death rather than allowing him to be torn apart. Finnick’s death is devastating, leaving

an emotional void not just in the squad but in the hearts of readers as well.

The squad also loses Castor and Homes in the sewers, further dwindling their numbers. The weight

of their deaths hangs heavily over the survivors, but they have no choice but to push forward. The remaining

squad members—Katniss, Gale, Peeta, Cressida, and Pollux—emerge from the underground labyrinth,

exhausted and traumatized. Their objective remains unchanged: reach Snow’s mansion. Above ground, they

find the Capitol in chaos. The rebellion has reached the city's heart, and both civilians and Peacekeepers are

caught in the crossfire. Desperate for a way to infiltrate Snow’s stronghold, Katniss disguises herself as a

Capitol refugee, blending into the masses of people being herded toward the mansion. The strategy seems to

work—until horror unfolds before her eyes.

As they approach the mansion’s gates, bombs suddenly drop on the gathered children, instantly

killing or maiming many. The explosion is catastrophic, sending shockwaves of confusion and terror through

the crowd. In a heartbreaking moment, rebel medics rush in to help the wounded, among them Katniss’
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beloved sister, Prim. Just as Katniss spots her, another explosion detonates, killing Prim in an instant. The

sight of her sister engulfed in flames and debris shatters Katniss, leaving her in a state of unbearable grief

and trauma.

Katniss regains consciousness in the Capitol’s hospital, her body burned and her mind barely able to

process the horror she has witnessed. As she recovers, a grim revelation emerges: the bombs were not

dropped by Snow’s forces, but rather by the rebels—part of a ruthless strategy orchestrated by President

Coin. The truth sends Katniss into a spiral of anger and disillusionment. She had fought for the rebellion

believing it was a force for good, but now she sees that Coin is just as manipulative and power-hungry as

Snow. Snow is captured and sentenced to death, but before Katniss executes him, he reveals a chilling truth:

the final bombing, the one that killed Prim, was not his doing. He laughs, knowing that Coin has

orchestrated the attack to consolidate her power and eliminate any future opposition. Katniss, reeling from

this knowledge, faces an agonizing choice. When the moment comes to kill Snow, she instead turns her bow

on President Coin and shoots her through the heart, ensuring that the cycle of tyranny does not continue.

Katniss is immediately arrested, but the rebellion’s leaders recognize that executing her would turn

her into a martyr. In the aftermath, the Capitol undergoes massive restructuring, with Paylor becoming the

new leader of Panem. Katniss, broken and numb, is sent back to District 12, where she struggles with the

weight of everything she has lost. Primrose Everdeen, Katniss’ younger sister, was more than just a character

in the story—she was the heart of Katniss’ motivation from the very beginning. Gentle, intelligent, and

compassionate, Prim played a crucial role in Mockingjay. She was the reason Katniss volunteered for the

Hunger Games in the first place, setting the entire story in motion. Even in District 13, Prim’s intelligence

shone through. She provided Katniss with the idea to negotiate with President Coin, ensuring that the rebel

leader met Katniss’ demands before she agreed to become the Mockingjay.
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Despite her delicate nature, as Katniss once described—"the community home would squash her like

a bug"—Prim possessed incredible inner strength. Her kindness extended to all, from patients in the

makeshift hospital to Buttercup, the family cat. Every morning, she would carefully clean their dead father’s

shaving mirror, removing the layer of coal dust that settled overnight because he had hated the dust. She

maintained a quiet sense of order in their household, braiding her motionless mother’s hair each morning

before heading to school. These small but significant actions showcased her love, patience, and dedication to

those around her. Prim’s death is arguably the most devastating moment in Mockingjay, symbolizing the

senselessness of war and the ultimate cost of power struggles. Katniss had fought for her sister’s safety from

the very beginning, yet in the end, Prim became a casualty of the very conflict Katniss sought to end. This

tragedy cements Katniss’ realization that there is no true victor in war—only survivors left to pick up the

pieces.

The siege of the Capitol is a masterfully written sequence, filled with tension, horror, and heartbreak.

It encapsulates the themes of The Hunger Games trilogy: the brutal cost of war, the corruption of power, and

the resilience of the human spirit. Through Katniss’ journey, Suzanne Collins delivers a powerful message

about the consequences of violence and the true nature of leadership. Even after the war ends, the scars

remain—both on the physical landscape of Panem and on the souls of those who survived.

Ultimately, Mockingjay is not just a story about rebellion; it is a cautionary tale about the cyclical

nature of power and the sacrifices made in the pursuit of freedom. Katniss’ story does not end with a

triumphant victory but rather with the quiet resilience of someone who has endured unimaginable loss and

still finds a way to live on. The siege of the Capitol, with all its horrors and tragedies, remains one of the

most unforgettable moments in modern young adult literature. The rebellion has reached its boiling point.

The once-mighty Capitol, a city of opulence and cruelty, is now under siege by a force determined to topple

the regime that has long oppressed the districts. In the heart of this rebellion is Katniss Everdeen—a

reluctant heroine burdened by personal grief and a growing disillusionment with both sides of the conflict.
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As the rebel forces prepare to storm the Capitol, tension and anticipation are in the air. The city’s towering

spires, neon-lit billboards of propaganda, and carefully manicured public spaces hide the deadly traps that

await the insurgents.

The rebel leadership has fashioned a plan that is as much about propaganda as it is about military

strategy. Katniss and her Star Squad—a group originally chosen for their marketable “faces” for the

rebellion—are thrust into a situation where their roles shift from symbols of hope to active combatants.

Though unprepared for the full brutality of a direct assault, the squad must navigate the Capitol’s

labyrinthine defenses. Their objective is clear: reach the mansion of President Snow and bring the tyrant to

account. Yet, as they step into enemy territory, the true cost of their mission is foreshadowed by the ominous

technology hidden throughout the city.

With each step forward, the rebellion encounters horrors designed to demoralize and destroy them.

Pods—lethal traps scattered across the streets—activate with merciless precision. Some unleash torrents of

gunfire, while others trigger explosions or summon genetically engineered beasts that tear through the ranks

of the insurgents. The air, thick with smoke and the acrid scent of burning metal, is punctuated by the cries

of the wounded and dying. The squad's carefully planned route is rendered obsolete as the cityscape shifts

into a deadly maze designed for their extermination. Despite the chaos, Katniss remains the symbol of the

rebellion. Cameras capture her every move, broadcasting her struggle to the remaining districts as a reminder

of their fight for freedom. Yet, the burden of being the Mockingjay weighs heavily on her. She watches

comrades fall, their lifeless bodies stark against the blood-stained pavements of the Capitol. The realization

dawns upon her that she is not merely a warrior but a pawn in a game much larger than she ever anticipated.

As the squad inches closer to Snow’s mansion, the psychological warfare intensifies. The Capitol broadcasts

messages designed to shake their resolve. Familiar voices, distorted by technology, whisper words of doubt

into their ears. Giant screens replay moments of suffering, reminding them of the cost of their insurrection.
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For some, these tactics work; fear begins to fracture their unity, and paranoia festers within their ranks. But

Katniss, fueled by loss and vengeance, presses forward, her resolve hardening like steel.

The squad's numbers dwindle as the journey turns increasingly perilous. Peeta Mellark, struggling

with the lingering effects of Capitol-induced brainwashing, fights both his inner demons and the external

threats around them. His moments of lucidity are fleeting, and Katniss finds herself both wary of him and

desperate to reach the boy who once anchored her in the midst of chaos. The love triangle that once

preoccupied her thoughts is now a distant memory; survival and justice are the only priorities that remain.

Every street they traverse is a battlefield. Mutts—horrifying genetic hybrids bred for slaughter—are

unleashed in the sewers, forcing the rebels into a frantic escape through the darkness. One by one, members

of the squad are lost, their screams echoing in the tunnels before being swallowed by silence. By the time

they emerge into the city again, the squad has been reduced to a desperate handful, haunted by the ghosts of

those left behind. Finally, the mansion looms before them, pristine and untouched amidst the destruction.

The contrast is sickening; while the rest of the Capitol crumbles, Snow's sanctuary remains an unyielding

monument to his reign. The rebels push forward, driven by the promise of an end to tyranny. But as Katniss

reaches the mansion’s gates, a final, unspeakable tragedy unfolds. Bombs detonate over the gathered crowd

of Capitol children—a calculated act of destruction that shatters any illusions of a clear moral victory.

Katniss, reeling from the carnage, locks eyes with Snow. Amidst the wreckage of his empire, he

offers her a truth more terrifying than any battlefield confrontation: the realization that her side is just as

capable of cruelty, manipulation, and sacrifice. The rebellion has won, but at what cost? As she raises her

bow, the weight of every decision, every death, and every betrayal settles upon her shoulders. In that

moment, she makes a choice not dictated by strategy or expectation but by her own sense of justice. With a
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steady hand, she lets the arrow fly, not toward the deposed tyrant, but toward the new leader who would

continue the cycle of control and oppression.

The rebellion is over. The Capitol has fallen. But Katniss knows that true freedom is more elusive

than any battlefield victory. As she fades into obscurity, no longer the Mockingjay but merely a survivor, she

carries with her the knowledge that war does not end with a single arrow—it lingers in the scars left behind.

The rebellion has reached its boiling point. The once-mighty Capitol, a city of opulence and cruelty,

is now under siege by a force determined to topple the regime that has long oppressed the districts. In the

heart of this rebellion is Katniss Everdeen—a reluctant heroine burdened by personal grief and a growing

disillusionment with both sides of the conflict. As the rebel forces prepare to storm the Capitol, tension and

anticipation are in the air. The city’s towering spires, neon-lit billboards of propaganda, and carefully

manicured public spaces hide the deadly traps that await the insurgents.

The rebel leadership has fashioned a plan that is as much about propaganda as it is about military

strategy. Katniss and her Star Squad—a group originally chosen for their marketable “faces” for the

rebellion—are thrust into a situation where their roles shift from symbols of hope to active combatants.

Though unprepared for the full brutality of a direct assault, the squad must navigate the Capitol’s

labyrinthine defenses. Their objective is clear: reach the mansion of President Snow and bring the tyrant to

account. Yet, as they step into enemy territory, the true cost of their mission is foreshadowed by the ominous

technology hidden throughout the city.

With each step forward, the rebellion encounters horrors designed to demoralize and destroy them.

Pods—lethal traps scattered across the streets—activate with merciless precision. Some unleash torrents of

gunfire, while others trigger explosions or summon genetically engineered beasts that tear through the ranks
 Pal 72

of the insurgents. The air, thick with smoke and the acrid scent of burning metal, is punctuated by the cries

of the wounded and dying. The squad's carefully planned route is rendered obsolete as the cityscape shifts

into a deadly maze designed for their extermination. Despite the chaos, Katniss remains the symbol of the

rebellion. Cameras capture her every move, broadcasting her struggle to the remaining districts as a reminder

of their fight for freedom. Yet, the burden of being the Mockingjay weighs heavily on her. She watches

comrades fall, their lifeless bodies stark against the blood-stained pavements of the Capitol. The realization

dawns upon her that she is not merely a warrior but a pawn in a game much larger than she ever anticipated.

As the squad inches closer to Snow’s mansion, the psychological warfare intensifies.

The Capitol broadcasts messages designed to shake their resolve. Familiar voices, distorted by

technology, whisper words of doubt into their ears. Giant screens replay moments of suffering, reminding

them of the cost of their insurrection. For some, these tactics work; fear begins to fracture their unity, and

paranoia festers within their ranks. But Katniss, fueled by loss and vengeance, presses forward, her resolve

hardening like steel. The squad's numbers dwindle as the journey turns increasingly perilous. Peeta Mellark,

struggling with the lingering effects of Capitol-induced brainwashing, fights both his inner demons and the

external threats around them. His moments of lucidity are fleeting, and Katniss finds herself both wary of

him and desperate to reach the boy who once anchored her in the midst of chaos. The love triangle that once

preoccupied her thoughts is now a distant memory; survival and justice are the only priorities that remain.

Every street they traverse is a battlefield. Mutts—horrifying genetic hybrids bred for slaughter—are

unleashed in the sewers, forcing the rebels into a frantic escape through the darkness. One by one, members

of the squad are lost, their screams echoing in the tunnels before being swallowed by silence. By the time

they emerge into the city again, the squad has been reduced to a desperate handful, haunted by the ghosts of

those left behind. Finally, the mansion looms before them, pristine and untouched amidst the destruction.

The contrast is sickening; while the rest of the Capitol crumbles, Snow's sanctuary remains an unyielding

monument to his reign. The rebels push forward, driven by the promise of an end to tyranny. But as Katniss
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reaches the mansion’s gates, a final, unspeakable tragedy unfolds. Bombs detonate over the gathered crowd

of Capitol children—a calculated act of destruction that shatters any illusions of a clear moral victory.

Katniss, reeling from the carnage, locks eyes with Snow. Amidst the wreckage of his empire, he

offers her a truth more terrifying than any battlefield confrontation: the realization that her side is just as

capable of cruelty, manipulation, and sacrifice. The rebellion has won, but at what cost? As she raises her

bow, the weight of every decision, every death, and every betrayal settles upon her shoulders. In that

moment, she makes a choice not dictated by strategy or expectation but by her own sense of justice. With a

steady hand, she lets the arrow fly, not toward the deposed tyrant, but toward the new leader who would

continue the cycle of control and oppression.

The rebellion is over. The Capitol has fallen. But Katniss knows that true freedom is more elusive

than any battlefield victory. As she fades into obscurity, no longer the Mockingjay but merely a survivor, she

carries with her the knowledge that war does not end with a single arrow—it lingers in the scars left behind.

Every trap is a calculated work of technological terror, an intricate design of death crafted with cold

precision. The Capitol, in its relentless pursuit of control and spectacle, has engineered these mechanisms

not just as obstacles but as expressions of dominance. The pods that line the war-torn streets and hidden

corridors are more than just hazards; they are symbols of oppression, reminders that even in the midst of a

rebellion, the Capitol still exerts its lethal influence. Each one has been programmed to unleash devastation

without hesitation.

The mere presence of a living, breathing body within their radius triggers an unrelenting assault—

machine guns emerging from hidden compartments, automated turrets sweeping across corridors, and pools

of incendiary liquid spilling forth to engulf entire squads in flame. These traps are devoid of mercy, designed
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not for combat but for slaughter, their only purpose being to reinforce the Capitol’s authority through sheer

terror.

For Katniss, each deadly encounter underscores the inhumanity of their enemy. The city itself has

become an elaborate maze of death, every street laden with silent sentinels waiting for a misstep. With each

passing moment, the squad faces the daunting reality that they are walking into a battlefield where their

enemies need not lift a finger—where machines do the killing for them. The brutality of it all is suffocating.

It is one thing to fight an enemy you can see, another to be hunted by an unseen force. The traps are

relentless, programmed with an almost malevolent intelligence. In some places, the air is thick with the scent

of burning flesh, the remnants of those who fell victim to the Capitol’s machinations. Each smoldering ruin

of a body is a warning: hesitation means death, a single wrong step means obliteration.

As the squad presses on, casualties mount. The first few losses are shocking, though not unexpected.

In the beginning, the squad members steel themselves, clinging to the notion that they are soldiers, prepared

for the inevitable cost of war. But as more and more of their ranks are cut down, that stoic veneer begins to

crack. The losses begin to feel personal, each death a devastating blow not only to their numbers but to their

spirits. Katniss watches as comrades fall in brutal, sometimes senseless ways. A single miscalculation leads

to an explosion that tears through the ranks, leaving nothing but echoes of screams in its wake. A trap

disguised as a safe house locks in its victims, filling the space with toxic gas, leaving those outside

powerless to help as their friends suffocate behind reinforced walls.

The psychological toll of this unending slaughter is immense. With each loss, the squad grows more

desperate. There is no time to mourn, no time to bury the dead. They must press on, leaving behind the

bodies of those they fought beside, their remains left in the ruins of a Capitol-designed graveyard. Katniss’s

inner monologue is laced with despair. She tries to remain focused, to push forward, but the weight of each
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death presses upon her like an anchor. The faces of the fallen haunt her—some she barely knew, others she

had fought alongside for months. Each one had their own dreams, their own reasons for fighting. Now, they

are gone, their lives snuffed out not in battle, but by the silent cruelty of machines.

Gale, ever the pragmatist, tries to keep the squad moving, his voice firm but not unfeeling. He knows

the cost of war, understands that lingering on grief will only make them more vulnerable. Yet even he cannot

ignore the strain on the remaining fighters. The death of a friend, a comrade, is not something that can

simply be cast aside. Every step forward feels heavier, each new obstacle a cruel reminder of those who will

never walk again. Finnick, usually a source of levity, grows quieter with each loss. His jaw is tight, his hands

gripping his weapon as if it is the only thing keeping him grounded. The war has already taken so much from

him, and now it continues to strip away what little remains.

Amid the whir of deadly machinery and explosions, the intimate grief of loss becomes all-

consuming. The lines between duty and personal anguish blur. Each step forward feels like a betrayal to

those who have fallen behind. The squad moves through the Capitol’s deadly streets, but they are not the

same people who set out on this mission. They are haunted, burdened by the weight of survival. What was

once a mission of defiance has become a desperate struggle to stay alive. The Capitol’s traps do not just kill;

they erode hope, stripping away the will to fight. It is not just the bodies they leave behind, but pieces of

themselves, lost with every friend who falls to the merciless grip of an unseen enemy.

Katniss Everdeen never aspired to be a leader, yet here she was, at the forefront of a rebellion that had

spiraled beyond her control. Thrust into a position of immense responsibility, she bore the weight of

countless expectations upon her shoulders. She had been forced into this role, a reluctant symbol of defiance

against the Capitol, and now she was leading her squad through the treacherous urban battlefield, where

every step could mean life or death. Her mind was a tempest of emotions—fear, guilt, determination, and a

deep-seated rage that had been smoldering since the day she first stepped into the arena. Memories from her
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past clung to her, some comforting, others agonizing. The faces of those she had lost haunted her every

move, urging her forward, reminding her that the fight was far from over.

The streets of the Capitol, once symbols of excess and luxury, had become a warzone. Buildings

stood tall, adorned with opulence, but beneath their grandeur lurked deadly traps designed to decimate any

who dared enter. Every decision Katniss made was a gamble, each step a calculated risk. Her comrades

relied on her instincts, trusting that she would lead them to their objective: the seat of power, the place where

President Snow ruled with an iron grip. As they advanced deeper into the Capitol, the atmosphere grew more

suffocating. The city's architecture, once dazzling with extravagance, now felt like an elaborate cage,

trapping them in a web of danger.

Her squad moved with precision, trained for moments like this. Yet, despite their skill, the reality of

war was inescapable. The ever-present threat of Capitol traps made progress agonizingly slow. They had

seen the horrors firsthand—mutts designed to eviscerate, hidden pods filled with lethal surprises, and

technology that turned the very environment into a weapon against them. The enemy was ruthless, and

Katniss knew that hesitation could mean the difference between survival and annihilation. The weight of

command pressed heavily upon her; each decision held consequences that could cost lives. She could not

afford to falter, not now.

The destruction of the outer defenses had granted them access to the Capitol’s inner sanctum, but the

battle was far from won. The deeper they ventured, the more treacherous the journey became. The

grandiosity of the Capitol, with its towering structures and intricate embellishments, masked the horrors that

lay in wait. The halls, gilded in gold and marble, were silent witnesses to the atrocities committed within

their walls. The Capitol had always been a paradox—a place of beauty built upon the suffering of others, a

city of splendor dripping with blood. Katniss could feel the tension in the air, the unspoken fear that clung to
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her squad like a second skin. They had come so far, endured so much, yet the final stretch felt

insurmountable. Her heart pounded against her ribcage, a relentless drum of anxiety and resolve. Every

shadow felt like a threat, every breath a potential last. She knew they were being watched, that their every

move was being calculated by an unseen enemy.

The Capitol was not just a city; it was a living, breathing entity, a monstrous creation that would stop

at nothing to crush those who dared challenge its reign. Her thoughts often drifted to the past, to the people

who had brought her to this moment. Prim’s innocent smile, Peeta’s unwavering kindness, Gale’s steadfast

loyalty—each memory a reminder of why she fought. She was more than just a soldier; she was a symbol, a

beacon of hope for the oppressed. But hope came at a price, and she had paid dearly. The pain of loss was a

constant companion, a ghost that whispered in her ear, urging her forward while reminding her of the cost of

war.

As they neared their final destination, the gravity of their mission became undeniable. This was more

than just an attack; it was a reckoning. The Capitol had spent years wielding fear as a weapon, controlling

the districts through intimidation and brutality. But now, the tide had shifted. The oppressed had become the

warriors, the hunted had become the hunters. Katniss knew that the path to victory was lined with sacrifice,

that freedom was never won without loss. Yet, she pressed on, driven by an unyielding fire that burned

within her.

The Capitol's defenses were relentless. The city's technological advancements, once the marvel of

Panem, had become instruments of war. Automated sentries, genetically engineered monstrosities, and

booby traps so sophisticated they blurred the line between reality and nightmare. Katniss and her squad

moved like phantoms through the war-torn streets, their movements synchronized, their senses sharpened to

detect the slightest sign of danger. But no amount of preparation could shield them from the horrors that
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awaited. One by one, the Capitol claimed its victims. Comrades fell, their deaths swift and merciless. Katniss

felt every loss like a dagger to the heart, but she could not afford to grieve, not yet. The mission demanded

her focus, her resolve. She would mourn when the battle was over, if she lived to see the dawn of a new

Panem. Each step forward was a testament to their resilience, a defiance against the tyranny that had

governed their lives for far too long.

The closer they got to the heart of the Capitol, the more resistance they encountered. The enemy

fought with desperation, knowing that their rule was crumbling. Soldiers clad in the Capitol's signature

armor emerged from the shadows, weapons drawn, eyes filled with fear and fury. The battle raged on, a

symphony of gunfire and screams echoing through the once-pristine streets. Blood stained the marble floors,

a stark contrast to the city's former elegance. Katniss knew that their mission extended beyond mere

survival. They were not just here to fight; they were here to end an era of oppression. The world was

watching, waiting for a sign that change was possible. The Mockingjay had become more than a symbol; she

was a promise, a whisper of a future unshackled from the chains of tyranny. And so, she fought, with every

ounce of strength she had left, knowing that the fate of Panem rested upon her shoulders.

The Capitol was crumbling, its walls no longer invincible, its people no longer untouchable. Katniss

could feel the shift, the inevitable collapse of a regime built on fear. But victory was not yet assured. The

final confrontation loomed ahead, the moment that would define the future of Panem. As she stood on the

precipice of history, she took a deep breath, steeling herself for the battle to come. She was ready. She had to

be. For Prim. For Rue. For Peeta. For all those who had suffered under the Capitol’s rule. The fight was not

just for survival; it was for justice. And Katniss Everdeen, the girl on fire, would see it through to the end.

The moment the rebels stepped into the inner confines of the Capitol, they quickly realized that the

enemy they faced was not solely comprised of human adversaries armed with guns and bombs. The Capitol
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had meticulously designed a new form of warfare—one that attacked not the body, but the mind. It began

with a cascade of searing lights that blinked in unholy rhythms, synchronized with a barrage of deafening

sounds that seemed to emanate from every corner of the city. For the rebels, and especially for Katniss, it

was as if the very air they breathed was imbued with the Capitol’s determination to break them, layer by

layer, until nothing remained but hollow shells.

The lights were not the gentle glow of a sunrise or the soft luminescence of a city at night; they were

harsh, clinical bursts that stung the eyes, leaving them raw and desperate for relief. In some areas, the lights

were so bright that it felt as though the sun had been harnessed and unleashed in a concentrated beam,

burning through the fabric of darkness and exposing every hidden fear. Alongside these, the sounds—

ranging from mechanical whirrs and high-pitched alarms to booming explosions that vibrated through the

ground—formed a relentless symphony of terror. Each note of this cacophony was designed to unsettle, to

erode the rebels’ resolve until they could no longer distinguish between friend and foe, past and present.

For Katniss, who had spent so much of her life in environments where nature itself was a quiet

companion, the onslaught was jarring. The sensory overload was not just an external assault—it was an

invasion of her very being. Every flash of light forced her eyes to betray her, every resounding crash

threatened to shatter the delicate balance of her mind. She could feel her heartbeat pounding in tandem with

the relentless percussion of sounds, each thump echoing like a death knell. In those moments, time lost its

meaning, and every second felt stretched into an eternity of dread.

As the rebels pressed forward through the war-torn corridors of the Capitol, the sensory

bombardment transformed the very architecture of the city into an instrument of psychological warfare. The

halls, once adorned with opulent murals and gleaming surfaces, now served as conduits for a carefully

orchestrated onslaught of stimuli. The corridors twisted and turned unpredictably, as if designed by a mind

intent on disorientation. Walls that seemed to move subtly in the peripheral vision, floors that undulated
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imperceptibly, and ceilings that occasionally flickered with unnatural patterns—all conspired to warp the

rebels’ sense of spatial orientation.

The deliberate design of these structures was a testament to the Capitol’s commitment to

psychological dominance. The spatial distortions were not random; they were calculated to confuse and

isolate. In one moment, a rebel might find themselves in a narrow passage with walls closing in ever so

slightly, and in the next, they could be thrust into an open hall where echoes of their own footsteps seemed

to multiply exponentially. The shifting geometry of the environment forced them to constantly reassess their

surroundings, draining them of the mental energy needed to focus on the battle itself. For Katniss, every step

became a challenge—not only to navigate the treacherous physical terrain but also to resist the inner pull of

panic that threatened to unravel her carefully guarded determination.

This environment—hostile, mutable, and unyielding—gradually assumed the role of a silent, yet

omnipresent adversary. It was as if the Capitol itself had taken on a persona, one that was both cruel and

capricious. The city’s layout, once a source of pride for its inhabitants, now revealed its true nature as an

instrument of control. For every rebel who managed to decipher one pattern, another bewildering twist

emerged, ensuring that the fight was never simply against the enemy’s soldiers, but against the very essence

of the Capitol’s meticulously crafted reality.

For those on the frontlines, the sensory overload was an ongoing, unrelenting torment. Each flash of

blinding light, each surge of piercing sound, acted as a drop of acid on the psyche. The experience was akin

to being trapped in a never-ending storm of stimuli, where every element sought to erode the mind’s

defenses. Over time, the cumulative effect was devastating. The constant barrage left the rebels not only

physically exhausted but mentally frayed—each sensory attack chipping away at their ability to remain

coherent, to think clearly, and to act decisively.

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Katniss, in particular, felt the weight of these assaults with every fiber of her being. She had faced

many horrors before—the brutalities of the Hunger Games, the loss of loved ones, the pervasive fear of an

oppressive regime—but the psychological warfare waged by the Capitol was something altogether different.

It was as if the enemy had discovered a new battlefield: the human mind. Every burst of light was a reminder

that there was no safe haven, no respite from the Capitol’s calculated cruelty. Each shockwave of sound

served to dislodge the remnants of sanity that Katniss fought so hard to preserve.

In the midst of this maelstrom, Katniss’s internal dialogue became both her shield and her prison.

Memories of home, of moments of quiet strength in the midst of chaos, surfaced intermittently—brief

flashes of what life once was, now rendered almost surreal by the constant barrage of disorienting stimuli.

Yet, even as she clung to these memories, the environment around her seemed determined to rewrite every

notion of comfort and safety. The sensory onslaught forced her to confront her vulnerabilities in a way that

was both brutal and unyielding. It was a struggle not just for survival in the physical sense, but for the very

essence of who she was—a battle against the creeping influence of despair and the creeping erosion of hope.

In many ways, the psychological tactics employed by the Capitol were a reflection of their broader

strategy: to maintain control through fear and manipulation. The overwhelming sensory experience was

designed to induce a state of hyper-arousal, where the mind is perpetually on edge, incapable of relaxing

even for a fleeting moment. In such a state, every noise, every flash of light, becomes a potential threat—a

harbinger of further violence or an omen of impending doom. The cumulative effect of this constant

vigilance was a profound sense of isolation and despair.

For Katniss, each moment in the Capitol’s war zone became an unending test of endurance. The

mind, normally a sanctuary of thoughts and memories, was invaded by a relentless barrage of stimuli that
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left little room for self-reflection or rational thought. Every nerve ending seemed attuned to the next

potential attack, every moment a potential trigger for panic. It was as if the Capitol had discovered a way to

turn fear itself into a weapon—one that was deployed with precision and cruelty. As the minutes turned into

hours, the constant sensory bombardment began to blur the lines between reality and illusion. The once-clear

boundaries of time and space dissolved into a haze of flickering images and echoing sounds. Katniss found

herself questioning the very nature of her surroundings—were the shifting walls a manifestation of her own

inner turmoil, or were they a deliberate construct of the Capitol’s warped reality?

This dissonance between perception and reality was more than disorienting; it was debilitating. In

moments of rare stillness, when the barrage subsided just long enough for her to catch a breath, the

disconcerting realization would set in: that her mind was no longer her own. The psychological warfare was

not solely aimed at breaking the body through exhaustion; it sought to fracture the spirit, to reduce even the

strongest of wills to a state of perpetual vulnerability. Every sensory assault chipped away at the rebels’

confidence, replacing it with an ever-growing uncertainty about their own strength and purpose. The

relentless nature of this warfare ensured that even when the physical dangers subsided, the mental scars

remained—an invisible but enduring legacy of the Capitol’s cruelty.

As the relentless onslaught continued, Katniss found herself locked in an internal battle far more

vicious than any physical combat she had faced. The psychological warfare waged by the Capitol was a

cunning adversary—one that sought to exploit the deepest fissures in her soul. Every flash of light, every

burst of sound, was a reminder of past traumas, of the faces of those she had lost, and of the seemingly

endless cycle of violence that had defined her existence. Her mind became a battlefield where memories of

childhood and the horrors of the Games collided with the stark reality of the present. In the midst of the

chaos, Katniss’s thoughts would dart back to moments of relative peace—quiet afternoons in District 12, the

gentle murmur of the wind through the trees, the warmth of a loved one’s embrace.
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These memories, however, were quickly overwhelmed by the sensory barrage. The harsh brightness

of the Capitol’s traps would yank her back to the present, and the deafening sounds would drown out even

the faintest echoes of those simpler times. In these moments, the psychological warfare felt insidious—a

slow, creeping poison that seeped into every crevice of her mind. The constant disorientation made it

increasingly difficult for her to hold onto a coherent sense of self. The relentless assault blurred the

boundaries between what was real and what was a figment of her imagination. Were the voices she heard in

the silence merely echoes of the past, or were they sinister manifestations of the Capitol’s design? Could she

trust her own senses, or were they betraying her in subtle, almost imperceptible ways?

The strain was immense, and each day became a struggle to reclaim fragments of sanity in a

landscape designed to obliterate them. Katniss’s inner monologue grew more urgent with each passing

hour—a desperate plea for clarity amid a maelstrom of noise and light. Her thoughts, once a source of

strength and resilience, now oscillated between determination and despair. In the quiet moments of brief

respite, she would try to meditate, to center herself, but even then the memories of the sensory overload

would return, unbidden and relentless. The Capitol had succeeded in turning her own mind against her—a

constant reminder that in this war, there were no safe spaces, no sanctuaries immune to the enemy’s reach.

In many ways, the Capitol’s deployment of psychological warfare transformed the very city into a

living, breathing enemy. The environment was no longer a passive backdrop to the conflict; it became an

active, malevolent force—one that was determined to crush hope and reduce every spark of resistance to ash.

Every street, every corridor, was imbued with a sense of foreboding, a latent menace that pulsed beneath the

surface of its carefully constructed facade. The architectural grandeur of the Capitol, with its soaring pillars

and intricate mosaics, took on a sinister quality under the influence of sensory manipulation. The bright,

almost garish colors that once celebrated the Capitol’s wealth and excess were now weaponized—each hue a

reminder of the emptiness and brutality that lay beneath the veneer of civilization. The flickering neon signs
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and digital billboards that adorned the city’s facade did not merely display propaganda; they served as

conduits for an endless stream of visual stimuli, each one calibrated to provoke an emotional response. The

images shifted and morphed, sometimes showing scenes of past glory and other times depicting nightmarish

visions of destruction and despair. For the rebels, these were not mere distractions; they were deliberate

attempts to rewrite reality, to ensure that the horrors of the present were inescapable.
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CHAPTER – 5

Conclusion: The Hunger Games in Mockingjay

The conclusion of The Hunger Games trilogy presents cruelty not as an isolated incident but as a

systemic, pervasive force that corrupts all layers of society. In Suzanne Collins’s dystopian narrative, the

brutality of the Capitol—its use of violence, humiliation, and psychological torture—is shown to be both a

tool for maintaining power and a reflection of the inherent darkness within human institutions. Over the

course of the series, the mechanisms of cruelty evolve from the grotesque spectacle of the Games to a

multifaceted system of oppression that inflicts both physical and mental wounds on its subjects. This essay

explores, in exhaustive detail, how cruelty functions as an engine of domination, how the cycle of violence

permeates the rebellion itself, and how the psychological aftermath of oppression continues to haunt even

those who survive. Ultimately, it considers whether redemption is possible when the scars of cruelty have

run so deep.

In what follows, we will examine several key dimensions of cruelty as depicted in the narrative’s

final chapters. We will analyze the deliberate cruelty of the Capitol, the moral dilemmas that arise when

rebellion adopts violent tactics, the psychological toll of living under constant threat, and the broader

implications for power and societal change. The discussion is organized into thematic sections that

collectively reveal how cruelty becomes an inescapable part of the human condition—and yet, also how the

possibility of hope and redemption may still emerge from even the darkest circumstances.

At its very inception, the Capitol’s cruelty is laid bare in the design and execution of the Hunger

Games. Here, cruelty is not an accidental byproduct of a savage regime; it is a meticulously planned and

public event. The Games are conceived as a televised spectacle where children, the most vulnerable
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members of society, are forced to kill one another for the amusement of the elite. This macabre form of

entertainment is a constant reminder that in the world of Panem, suffering is not only expected—it is

sanctioned. The spectacle is meant to subjugate the districts, to remind them that their lives are expendable

and that any hope for rebellion will be met with overwhelming force.

By broadcasting these brutal contests, the Capitol ensures that the idea of cruelty becomes

normalized. The images of death, despair, and the struggle for survival are seared into the collective memory

of the districts. This normalization of violence serves a dual purpose: it distracts the populace with grim

entertainment while simultaneously instilling a pervasive sense of fear and powerlessness. In effect, the

Games become a ritualistic form of social control—a mechanism by which the Capitol reinforces its

dominance and dissuades dissent. Beyond the physical spectacle, the Capitol’s cruelty is deeply embedded in

its use of psychological warfare. The regime’s deliberate deployment of fear, humiliation, and psychological

torture ensures that the terror inflicted is both visible and insidious. The constant threat of violence, coupled

with the public shaming of dissenters, creates an atmosphere where obedience is achieved not through

voluntary compliance but through a perpetual state of terror.

The psychological dimension of the Capitol’s cruelty can be observed in the way it leverages

propaganda and public punishment. The leaders use these tools to communicate an unspoken but

omnipresent message: any challenge to authority will be met with devastating retribution. This fear of

punishment is not confined to the physical realm but penetrates deeply into the mental and emotional lives of

the people. For those who live under such constant threat, the boundary between physical danger and

psychological suffering blurs, leaving indelible scars that persist long after the immediate wounds have

healed.
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In the final chapters of the trilogy, the full extent of the Capitol’s cruelty is revealed not only in its

overt violence but also in the degradation of the very institutions that are meant to safeguard society. The

system that once purported to bring order and prosperity becomes a vehicle for systemic degradation, where

cruelty is embedded in the laws, the media, and even the cultural norms of Panem. The Capitol’s institutions,

far from being neutral arbiters of justice, are instead active participants in the perpetuation of cruelty. They

work collectively to ensure that any hint of rebellion is crushed before it can fully take root. This deliberate

intertwining of cruelty and governance is a stark reminder that cruelty is not merely an aberration; it is a

deliberate strategy for maintaining control. The institutions designed to serve and protect the people instead

reinforce the cycle of suffering, contributing to a legacy that is as much about psychological domination as it

is about physical violence.

In the narrative’s later stages, the rebellion against the Capitol is born out of the desire to overthrow a

system steeped in cruelty. Yet, as the uprising intensifies, a disquieting irony begins to emerge: the methods

of resistance, though intended to liberate, increasingly mirror the very cruelty they seek to destroy. As the

rebels resort to tactics such as strategic bombings, assassinations, and mass mobilizations, the lines between

oppressor and liberator start to blur. This moral ambiguity is best exemplified by the character of Katniss

Everdeen. Throughout the series, Katniss is portrayed as a reluctant hero—a figure who is forced into a role

of resistance despite her deep-seated aversion to violence. Yet, in the final confrontation, every victory is

tainted by the heavy cost of lives lost and ethical compromises made. The rebellion’s reliance on violence

becomes a double-edged sword: it serves as a means to dismantle the old regime, but it also lays the

groundwork for a future where similar patterns of cruelty could reemerge.

One of the most profound—and disturbing—aspects of the trilogy’s conclusion is the way in which

cruelty begets more cruelty. The cycle of violence is self-perpetuating: as the Capitol’s brutal methods force

the districts into rebellion, the ensuing conflict forces even the rebels to adopt methods of cruelty. Every act

of retribution, every instance of bloodshed, further normalizes violence and entrenches a cycle that is
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difficult to break. This destructive cycle is evident in the transformation of societal values during the

uprising. The once clear-cut moral distinctions between right and wrong become muddled as both sides

commit atrocities in the name of survival and justice. The rebellion, despite its noble goals, becomes

embroiled in the same kind of moral compromise that characterized the Capitol’s reign. In this sense, the

struggle for freedom becomes a cautionary tale about the dangers of adopting the tactics of one’s enemies,

highlighting the paradox that the pursuit of justice can sometimes lead to outcomes that are just as

oppressive as the regime being fought.

The internal conflicts that arise from the use of violent methods in the rebellion are not limited to

strategic or political considerations—they also raise profound ethical questions. The narrative forces both the

characters and the readers to confront the uncomfortable reality that even well-intentioned acts of rebellion

carry inherent moral ambiguities. Every decision made in the heat of battle becomes fraught with ethical

consequences. For Katniss, each act of violence is a personal tragedy—a painful reminder that even the tools

of liberation are stained with blood. The internal struggle that she faces is emblematic of the broader moral

dilemmas that define the rebellion. Can true freedom ever be achieved when the means of attaining it are

themselves morally compromised? Is it possible to dismantle a system of cruelty without inadvertently

reproducing its darkest elements? The conclusion of the trilogy leaves these questions hanging in the air,

challenging the reader to ponder whether the ends can ever justify the means.

While the physical manifestations of cruelty are the most visible aspects of the Capitol’s tyranny, the

psychological wounds it inflicts are far more insidious. The state-sanctioned cruelty is designed not only to

subdue the body but also to break the spirit. For the survivors of the Hunger Games and the subsequent

rebellion, the trauma is a constant companion—a silent, haunting reminder of the cruelty that has been

inflicted upon them. The psychological warfare employed by the Capitol is comprehensive. The deliberate

use of sensory overload, disorienting environments, and relentless propaganda is intended to fracture the

mind, leaving behind an indelible sense of despair. Even after the physical battles have ended, the emotional
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scars persist, manifesting as nightmares, flashbacks, and an overwhelming sense of vulnerability. The trauma

is not merely a personal burden; it becomes a shared condition, affecting entire communities and shaping the

collective memory of the districts.

For characters like Katniss, the emotional toll of systemic cruelty is compounded by the weight of

personal loss and the constant reminder of past horrors. The experiences of the Games and the brutal

suppression of dissent leave deep psychological scars that are not easily healed. Every act of violence, every

public execution, reinforces the notion that cruelty is an ever-present force—one that continues to haunt

even the survivors. These invisible wounds are a testament to the enduring impact of oppression. The

survivors find that their lives are forever altered by the trauma they have experienced, and the process of

healing is slow and arduous. The narrative suggests that while the physical structures of tyranny can be

dismantled, the psychological damage inflicted by systemic cruelty lingers, affecting the ability of

individuals and societies to fully recover. The enduring trauma serves as both a warning and a call to

action—a reminder that any new order must address not only the external symbols of oppression but also the

internal scars left behind by years of suffering.

Memory plays a dual role in the aftermath of cruelty. On one hand, the act of remembering is

essential for preserving the truth and ensuring that the lessons of the past are not forgotten. On the other

hand, these memories can become a source of ongoing pain and retraumatization. For many in Panem, the

memories of the Capitol’s cruelty are inescapable, resurfacing at the most unexpected moments and

disrupting the fragile peace that follows the rebellion. This complex relationship with memory is central to

the narrative’s exploration of healing and reconciliation. The survivors are caught in a struggle between the

need to remember—in order to prevent history from repeating itself—and the desire to move on from the

trauma. The process of reckoning with the past is portrayed as both a painful and necessary step toward

recovery, highlighting the challenges of breaking free from the cycle of violence. Ultimately, the narrative
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leaves us with the sobering realization that while physical liberation is an important first step, true healing

requires a long, deliberate process of confronting and integrating these painful memories.

At the heart of the Capitol’s cruelty lies the dangerous concentration of power. The regime’s ability

to impose its will on the districts is rooted in a system where power is unchecked and absolute. The Capitol’s

lavish displays of wealth and excess are a direct contradiction to the poverty and suffering experienced by

the majority of Panem’s citizens. This stark disparity is not accidental; it is a deliberate strategy to

emphasize the subjugation of the districts and to reinforce the notion that the people are at the mercy of an

omnipotent authority.

The cruelty of the Capitol is thus both a means and a manifestation of its power. The regime’s

willingness to employ violence, humiliation, and psychological torture is not simply about maintaining

order—it is about reshaping social values and dehumanizing the populace. The institutions that were once

meant to protect and serve are subverted into tools of control, ensuring that the Capitol’s dominance remains

unchallenged. This concentration of power, and the cruelty that accompanies it, sets the stage for the

rebellion—a struggle not just against an external enemy, but against the very idea that power can be wielded

without accountability.

Even as the rebellion succeeds in overthrowing the Capitol, the narrative is careful to underscore that

the danger of tyranny is never truly eradicated. In the aftermath of the uprising, new power structures begin

to emerge—structures that, if unchecked, may carry within them the seeds of the very cruelty they sought to

eliminate. Figures such as President Coin, who initially appear as liberators, come under scrutiny for their

willingness to employ ruthless tactics in the name of stability. This unsettling continuity raises a profound

question: Can true liberation ever be achieved when the struggle against oppression is itself mired in the use

of violence?
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The emergence of a new order in Panem serves as a cautionary tale about the corrupting influence of

power. The narrative suggests that even well-intentioned acts of rebellion can give rise to systems that

perpetuate cruelty if they fail to address the underlying human impulses that drive such behavior. The

transition from one regime to another is fraught with the risk that the oppressive mechanisms of the past will

simply be repurposed for a different political agenda. In this light, the conclusion of The Hunger Games is

not a definitive victory over cruelty; it is a reminder that the struggle for justice and humanity is an ongoing

process—one that requires constant vigilance and a commitment to reform the very values that underlie our

social institutions.

Despite the overwhelming presence of cruelty throughout Panem, the conclusion of the trilogy leaves

room for a fragile—but essential—hope. This hope is not born of naivety; it is a product of the unyielding

resilience of the human spirit. Characters like Katniss Everdeen embody this resilience, as they struggle to

reclaim their identity and humanity even in the midst of unrelenting violence. The hope that emerges in the

narrative is a testament to the possibility of change—that even in a world defined by brutality, the seeds of

compassion and solidarity can still take root.

For Katniss, every act of defiance, every moment of tenderness amidst chaos, is a small yet powerful

statement against the dehumanization wrought by the Capitol. The quiet bonds formed between survivors,

the shared memories of loss and resistance, and the determination to build a better future all serve as

counterpoints to the pervasive cruelty. It is this paradox—that hope can be found even in the darkest

circumstances—that gives the conclusion its emotional complexity. The narrative does not offer a simplistic

resolution but rather challenges us to consider the arduous road to healing and the importance of retaining

our humanity even in the face of overwhelming despair.

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Reconciliation in the aftermath of systemic cruelty is not an instantaneous process. The scars—both

visible and invisible—serve as constant reminders of the atrocities committed by the Capitol. The road to

transformation involves not only dismantling the structures of oppression but also addressing the deep

psychological wounds left in its wake. The survivors of Panem are tasked with the monumental challenge of

rebuilding a society where human dignity is restored and the cycle of violence is broken. This journey

toward reconciliation is fraught with setbacks, as the memories of cruelty linger and the temptation to revert

to old patterns remains ever-present. Yet, it is precisely through this struggle that the narrative finds its most

profound expression of hope. The act of remembering, of bearing witness to past horrors, becomes a catalyst

for change. By confronting the past head-on, the survivors begin to forge a future that honors the sacrifices

made and the lessons learned. The conclusion of The Hunger Games ultimately suggests that while cruelty

may be an enduring part of the human condition, the possibility for redemption lies in our capacity to reflect,

to remember, and to choose a path that values justice and empathy above all else.

The hope that underpins the rebellion is inextricably linked to the vision of a future free from the

chains of oppression. Yet, this future is not achieved by simply toppling one regime and installing another.

Instead, it requires a profound transformation of societal values—a reimagining of what it means to live in a

community that cherishes life, dignity, and mutual respect. The narrative challenges us to consider whether

true liberation is possible if the methods employed in the struggle for freedom are themselves tainted by the

legacy of cruelty. The path forward, as suggested by the conclusion of the trilogy, lies in a constant process

of self-examination and reform. It is a path that demands not only political change but also a deep,

introspective reckoning with the ways in which cruelty has been internalized by individuals and

communities alike. Only by embracing this dual challenge—of external transformation and internal

healing—can society hope to break free from the cycle of violence that has defined Panem for so long.

At its most fundamental level, the conclusion of The Hunger Games is a meditation on the nature of

power and its capacity to corrupt. The systemic cruelty of the Capitol is both a symptom of its unbridled
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authority and a deliberate strategy designed to maintain its dominance. In overthrowing the Capitol, the

rebels expose the inherent dangers of concentrated power—that when left unchecked, it transforms not only

political institutions but also the moral fabric of society. The narrative forces us to grapple with

uncomfortable questions about the ethics of power: How can a society ensure that its leaders remain

accountable? Can true justice ever be achieved in a system where the methods of maintaining order are

inextricably linked to cruelty? These questions resonate far beyond the confines of Panem, inviting readers

to consider the challenges faced by contemporary societies in balancing authority with compassion and

accountability with freedom. Another critical dimension of the conclusion is its exploration of the duality

inherent in human nature. The capacity for both cruelty and compassion lies within every individual, and the

extreme conditions of the Capitol’s regime force this duality into sharp relief.

The same impulses that drive acts of brutality are also those that inspire acts of heroism and

solidarity. This inherent contradiction lies at the heart of the narrative’s moral complexity, as characters

struggle to reconcile the darkest parts of themselves with their innate desire for connection and justice.

Katniss’s journey, in particular, is a poignant illustration of this duality. Her internal conflicts—torn between

the need to survive and the yearning to preserve her humanity—mirror the broader struggle of a society

caught between the forces of oppression and the hope for liberation. In this light, the conclusion of The

Hunger Games is not only a critique of external systems of power but also an invitation to reflect on the

ways in which internalized cruelty can undermine the very foundations of a just society. Although set in a

dystopian future, the themes explored in The Hunger Games have a timeless quality that continues to

resonate with contemporary audiences.

The interplay of cruelty, power, and resistance reflects enduring concerns about the nature of

authority and the human cost of oppression. In an age where media spectacles, state surveillance, and

political polarization are ever-present, the cautionary lessons of Panem remain deeply relevant. The narrative

challenges us to remain vigilant against the forces that would normalize cruelty and to recognize that the
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struggle for freedom is both external and internal—a battle that must be fought on every front. In

summation, the conclusion of The Hunger Games trilogy offers a stark meditation on cruelty as a multi-

dimensional force—one that is externally imposed by tyrannical regimes and internally perpetuated through

cycles of violence and retribution. The narrative exposes the deliberate cruelty of the Capitol, reveals the

moral ambiguities inherent in the struggle for freedom, and underscores the enduring psychological toll of

systemic oppression.

It presents cruelty as not only a means of maintaining power but also as an insidious element that

corrodes the very fabric of society. Yet, amid this pervasive darkness, there emerges a fragile hope—a

testament to the resilience of the human spirit. The journey of characters like Katniss Everdeen reminds us

that even in the face of overwhelming cruelty, the capacity for compassion, solidarity, and transformation

remains. True liberation, the narrative suggests, is not achieved solely by toppling tyrants but by confronting

and healing the deep psychological wounds that cruelty inflicts. It is through remembering the past,

reflecting on its lessons, and forging a new path of empathy and justice that a society can break free from the

chains of oppression.

Ultimately, The Hunger Games challenges its readers to ask difficult questions about power,

morality, and the human condition. It compels us to consider whether true redemption is possible in a world

where cruelty is endemic and to recognize that the fight against oppression is an ongoing process—one that

demands constant vigilance, introspection, and a commitment to building a future that honors both justice

and humanity. The legacy of cruelty, while heavy and enduring, is not immutable. In every act of defiance,

every shared moment of tenderness, and every effort to reclaim dignity, there exists the possibility of

redemption—a chance to transform the scars of the past into the foundation for a more compassionate

tomorrow.
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In reflecting on the conclusion of the trilogy, we are left with a profound understanding: that while

cruelty may be an enduring part of the human condition, it is also through our ability to remember, to reflect,

and to act with empathy that we carve out the possibility for a future free from the cycles of violence. The

story of Panem, with all its brutal contradictions, ultimately becomes a testament to the indomitable strength

of the human spirit—a call to forge ahead, even when the weight of history seems insurmountable. The

journey toward a just society is never complete. The scars of cruelty, though hidden beneath the surface,

continue to shape the lives and attitudes of individuals and communities. As we close the final chapter on

Panem’s dark legacy, we are reminded that the struggle for liberation must be an ongoing endeavor—one

that requires continual reflection, honest dialogue, and an unwavering commitment to change. By engaging

with the harsh realities depicted in The Hunger Games, we are invited to examine not only the structures of

power that have historically subjugated us but also the internal battles we face in resisting cruelty in all its

forms.

The narrative serves as a timeless reminder that while the forces of oppression may be formidable,

the capacity for hope, resilience, and transformation is equally potent. It is this delicate balance between

confronting the darkness and nurturing the light that offers us a way forward—a way to build a future where

the legacy of cruelty is not a chain that binds us but a lesson that empowers us to choose compassion and

justice above all. In this comprehensive exploration—spanning roughly 5,000 words—we have delved into

the multifaceted portrayal of cruelty in the conclusion of The Hunger Games. From the systematic brutality

of the Capitol to the moral ambiguities of rebellion, from the enduring psychological trauma to the hope that

persists amid despair, the narrative challenges us to confront the pervasive nature of cruelty and to recognize

that the path to true freedom lies in our ability to transform both our external circumstances and our inner

lives.
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The message is clear: while cruelty may be an enduring element of human existence, our capacity to

remember, reflect, and ultimately choose a path of empathy and justice holds the promise of redemption—a

promise that calls on each of us to be vigilant, compassionate, and resolute in the face of oppression.
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Ahmed Abdelsattar Abdelaziz Keshk , Ain Shams University ;Back to the Future in Suzanne
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O’Connor, Erin. “The Role of Media in Depicting Cruelty: A Study of The Hunger Games.”
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Rodd, Sarah. “Survival, Morality, and Cruelty: Analyzing Katniss Everdeen’s

Transformation in Mockingjay.” Children’s Literature Review, 2020.

Smith, Jessica. “Cruelty as a Catalyst for Change in Dystopian Literature: A Comparative

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