Mockingjay

The hovercraft arrives in District 8, dropping off Katniss and Gale along with a bodyguard and a TV crew. All are connected to Haymitch via an earpiece. The wounded victims of the morning’s bombing are being treated in a warehouse-turned-makeshift-hospital overseen by a young woman named Commander Paylor.

Katniss is overwhelmed by the scenes of injury and death inside the hospital, but she pushes through her revulsion to comfort the wounded and dying, allowing them to touch her. The sense of hope her presence instills in the patients makes her aware of the power she holds in the war effort. For the people of the downtrodden districts, she “was their Mockingjay long before [she] accepted the role” (81).

The group exits the hospital. Cressida and Messalla, the leaders of the TV crew, are pleased with the footage they’ve gotten. Suddenly, Boggs orders everyone back to the hovercraft. Capitol bombers are heading toward District 8. As the group runs for the airstrip, Haymitch orders Katniss to stay hidden, but she rips out her earpiece and defies his order. Along with Gale, she takes up a post on a nearby rooftop and begins shooting at the bombers with her incendiary arrows. They manage to shoot down several planes but cannot prevent the hospital from being destroyed.

Katniss rushes to the ruins of the warehouse, where Cressida tells her that President Snow had the bombing aired live to send a message to the rebels. She trains her camera on Katniss and asks her if she has anything to say to the Capitol. Katniss describes the inhumane attack and reminds the rebels that the Capitol will treat them just as cruelly if they surrender. She makes an impassioned plea to the rebels to continue fighting, then points to the burning warehouse and shouts, “Fire is catching…if we burn, you burn with us!” (89).

On the hovercraft ride back to District 13, Katniss faints. She wakes up in the hospital, where her mother says that no one told her about Katniss’s trip to District 8. Katniss is wheeled to Command, where she meets the other two members of the TV crew, brothers Castor and Pollux. Pollux is an Avox, a person who has had their tongue cut out by the Capitol as a punishment.

Coin arrives with the other rebel leaders. The group watches Katniss’s first propo, a montage of the carnage in District 8 with Katniss’s speech edited over it. Even Katniss is pleased with the footage, which Beetee has managed to air everywhere except the Capitol. Coin congratulates Katniss, who realizes that no one told Coin she disobeyed her orders.

Katniss returns to the hospital, where Finnick visits her, still visibly suffering the effects of trauma. Together, they watch her propo air again on the hospital’s television. Suddenly, the broadcast switches to footage of Peeta being interviewed. Katniss is shocked by how frail Peeta looks. She realizes that the footage of him looking healthy was likely recorded soon after his capture; in the intervening time, the Capitol has been torturing him. Peeta addresses Katniss directly, saying that District 13 has “turned her into a weapon” (99). He urges her to call for a ceasefire and to question whether she trusts the rebels. When Fulvia and Plutarch arrive to assess Katniss’s reaction, she and Finnick pretend they haven’t seen the interview.

The following day, Katniss is hyper aware that no one is telling her or Finnick about Peeta’s interview. Her resentment builds until she lashes out at Gale, accusing him of conspiring with Coin. Their argument is interrupted by Cressida, who announces that the next propo will be filmed in District 12. On the way to District 12, Plutarch gleefully reports that the propos have inspired the rebels to rally. They have taken District 11, which supplies food to Panem.

In the woods of District 12, Katniss shows Pollux how the mockingjays mimic a whistled tune. She sings “The Hanging Tree,” a ballad from her childhood. Katniss recalls happy memories of her father singing to her and Prim. When she finishes, she realizes the TV crew has been filming her.

Katniss returns to the Victors’ Village to retrieve her mother’s stash of medical supplies. Gale appears in the kitchen and asks if Katniss remembers the night that she kissed him there. Seeing tears in his eyes, Katniss is moved to kiss him again. Gale laments that he can only hold her attention when he’s in pain.

The group returns to District 13, where Katniss sleeps through the rest of the day. Waking at dinnertime, she’s whisked away to Command for a spontaneous meeting. Beetee has found a way to access the Capitol’s television system. On screen, a haggard Peeta is being interviewed by Snow. Beetee hijacks the broadcast and begins airing clips of the newest rebel propo. When the feed cuts back to the interview, Peeta shouts out a warning that Katniss and the rebels in 13 will be “dead by morning,” (117) Snow swiftly orders the broadcast cut off, but not before Katniss sees several Peacekeepers brutally beating Peeta.

Haymitch interprets Peeta’s words as a warning that District 13 is about to be attacked. Coin initiates a security drill, and the District 13 residents are ushered into underground bunkers. Plutarch reminds Katniss to stay calm because the other residents look up to her.

Katniss’s mother arrives without Prim in tow. They realize that Prim has gone back up to their living quarters to retrieve Buttercup. Just as Katniss begins to panic, Gale arrives with Prim and Buttercup in tow. Moments later, missiles begin to fall. Coin confirms that Peeta’s warning was credible and says that District 13 owes him “a great debt of gratitude” (128).

Katniss and Prim talk during the long hours of the assault. Prim misses her home in District 12 but feels safer in 13. She hopes to start training to become a doctor. Katniss feels a flicker of hope at the idea of a future where Prim can follow her dreams. She confesses her fears for Peeta, but Prim responds that Snow won’t kill Peeta because he is the last piece of leverage Snow has over Katniss. However, she thinks he will do whatever it takes to break her.