The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

I finished with Catching Fire, the second book in The Hunger Games series on Thursday night, and I am now halfway through the third book. 

In the aftermath of the Games Katniss tries to be herself but she can't. The ease between her and her "cousin" Gale is gone and any chance of them getting those feelings back is futile. Gale is now working in the mines and Katniss is rich and relocated to the Victor's Village with her family in a fancy house that she neither wants nor cares for. Then there's the issue of her and Peeta and the stunt they pulled with the berries at the end of their Hunger Games. Now the Capitol is in danger of a revolt with Katniss at the heart of their rebellion - they viewed her final act in the Games as an act of defiance, and that makes President Snow pretty cranky. 

As Collins explores war and violence with our youth, Katniss takes center stage as not only a girl on fire but a girl seemingly damaged by it. Her romance with Peeta in the Games was their key strategy but now it has become something more permanent as they will have to once again present themselves as lovers to the world, and this makes her chest tighten and presents nothing but pain for Gale. President Snow despises Katniss and always will and is disbelieving of the ruse that her love for Peeta is real. Katniss "outsmarted his sadistic Hunger Games, made the Capitol look foolish, and consequently undermined his control." She had the audacity to challenge the Capitol's decree that only one victor could survive and now she has put herself and those she loves in danger. Snow challenges Katniss to prove her love for Peeta and quell the sensationalism rising about her coincidental rebellion. She is not a fan of ambiguous threats. She is chilled and elated at the thought of uprisings. But more than anything she learns that she is the spark that could lead to an inferno. She is the spark that makes all the districts catch on fire. She is singularly taking down the Capitol without meaning to. And as we learn in the third book, she is becoming Panem's mockingjay. 

In this second book we spend about two-thirds of it commiserating with her as her fake love affair seals her fate. We get more ensconced in the injustice of her world and her situation. We grow up with her as she slowly finds the courage to stand up. "Prim ... Rue ... aren't they the very reason I have to try and fight? Because what has been done to them is so wrong, so beyond justification, so evil that there is no choice? Because no one has the right to treat them as they have been treated? Yes. This is the thing to remember when fear threatens to swallow me up." Courage leads to opportunities. The only way to overcome injustice is to fight and that could mean the difference between survival, freedom, and slavery. 

Katniss faces confusion, debates running away, considers starting a revolt in District 12, but all her musings are cut short as it is announced that in the 75th Hunger Games she will be fighting again - with Peeta and other victors from previous years. This is basically a disgusting attempt to kill Katniss without making it look like the Capitol's sole responsibility. It is an opportunity for President Snow to remind Panem that even the victors are not above the Capitol - that even the victors can and will be humbled. It is a reminder that no one can beat the system. Once she gets thrown back into the preparations for the arena she faces countless speed bumps sent to her by President Snow to discombobulate her, to disorient her, to unnerve her. In this book the Games, to me, did not have as much weight to them as they did in the first book. They didn't feel as real, as scary, or as descriptive to me. There was not as much depth or seriousness carried with this Hunger Games. At times it was almost comical ... it felt like a farce and ... it was a farce, as we find out in the end. The entire time most of the tributes were faking their sincerity in the arena because behind the attempt to bring them all down to their knees (to bring them to their deaths), most of the tributes had their own agenda. 

This book is the end of one era and the start of a new one - the start of a war - a whole new kind of Hunger Games. Katniss is our symbol of hope. Of challenge. She is our mockingjay. This book did not disappoint me. I loved the focus on her aftermath once she survives her first experience in the arena. It was nice to see her try to adjust to the world after "victory." It was inspiring to get pulled into her fear and simultaneous bravery. And it was excruciating to experience her frustrations and losses, but once she hit that ridiculous arena it was all I could do root for her to win, hope that she would also save Peeta, and steady myself for the future as the new fight begins. In book three she has a whole new battle to fight - the battle against an unjust government and the many personal battles she'll have to fight with herself and the people around her that she loves. This is a great series and I feel stupid for not buying into them sooner. I look forward to seeing the second film this weekend.