Mockingjay Theme Of Rebellion

Everyone has been in a situation where they’ve felt it necessary to defy something. Whether it was against what a parent or teacher told you, or against some sort of government law, we have all rebelled; all because we felt a change needed to occur. In both Catching Fire and Mockingjay, Suzanne Collins displays rebellion through her main character, Katniss, as she sets on a mission to destroy the government and rid it of its dictator, President Snow.

Catching Fire portrays the theme that rebellion--or when we connect it to the real world, change--begins with one action. This theme is shown all throughout the book. One of the most significant places this theme is shown is at Katniss’ interview with Caesar Flickerman, where she attempts to stop

In this same interview with Caesar Flickerman, something else occurs; the other tributes who are a part of the Quarter Quell call out the Capitol in an attempt to stop the games. “Cashmere starts the ball rolling with a speech about how she just can’t stop crying when she thinks of how the people in the Capitol must be suffering because they will lose us. Gloss recalls the kindness shown here to him and his sister. Beetee questions the legality of the Quell in his nervous, twitchy way, wondering if it’s been fully examined by the experts of late...By the time I’m introduced, the audience is an absolute wreck. People have been weeping and collapsing and even calling for change.” (Catching Fire 250-251) By using the audience’s love and empathy for the tributes, the tributes themselves were able to convince many of the audience members that the games should not go on. Whether those audience members realized it or not, they were the beginning of a change in the districts. Many of their actions were minor, and some may argue that they were not rebellious actions. If rebellion, in this case, is defined as going against the beliefs of the Capitol, then some of these audience members were rebelling. “Calling for change” is a

One common way these books show rebellion is through unity among characters. In Catching Fire, this is displayed at the end of the interviews between the tributes and Caesar Flickerman, a TV personality in Panem. After being directed to line up on stage, Peeta grabs Katniss’ hand, starting a chain reaction. “Up and down the row, the victors begin to join hands. Some right away...Others unsure but caught up in the demands of those around them...all twenty-four of us stand in one unbroken line in what must be the first public show of unity among the districts since the Dark Days.” (Catching Fire 258) In this case, the cause for their unity was the one thing they all wanted--to stop the Hunger Games from occurring. Even though many of the tributes were not allies, none of them wanted to experience the Hunger Games again, especially since their chances of dying were much higher than they had been before. So instead of focusing on their differences, at this moment, they focused on the one thing they had in common. Something similar to this occurs in Mockingjay when Katniss and her squad realize that President Snow sent “muttations” to come and kill her. “‘It might be a good time to split up.’ ‘But we’re your guard,’ says Jackson. ‘And your crew,’ adds Cressida...We [all] leave the room free of everything but our scent.“ (Mockingjay 305) Instead of splitting up as Katniss