Tuesday, March 11, 2014

The Hunger Games: The End?

27 chapters later and The Hunger Games is over for our heroes... or is it?
I think everyone knows that there is more than one book in the trilogy so obviously this is not the end of Katniss's "adventure" (if that's what you would like to call it). 
Thinking back on what she and the other characters went through throughout the last couple chapters, though, one wonders how any person could handle any more of the Capital's antics. 

After it is announced that there could be more than one winner from the same district, where we left off, Katniss goes in search of Peeta and finds him injured. The "star crossed lovers" act is officially back. But it seems to be an act for only one of them, which leaves the reader aching a little bit for Peeta since he his feelings for Katniss appear to be so real...
Anyways, Katniss helps Peeta heal up in a cave, and even risks her life in order to get him medicine from the Cornucopia (another Capital trick to force everyone together by presenting them something they need). The only reason she is not killed is because Thresh, the guy who came from the same district as Rue, felt a small amount of respect for her for being so kind to Rue.

Another big moment in the final chapters occurred after Peeta was finally well enough to walk around. He is scavenging for berries while Katniss hunts. She starts freaking out when he doesn't respond to her signal (whistle) and when he finds him, scolds him for moving too far away. Peeta tries to soothe her by offering her strange berries and as she is looking at them and realizing that they are nightlock berries (very deadly), they hear a canon. Foxface had apparently been sneaking their food and died after she unknowingly ate the poisonous berries. Katniss keeps some of the berries just in case she finds a way to use them against Cato - her keeping the berries foreshadows the way the games abruptly end.

Fast forward to Katniss, Peeta, and Cato being forced together onto the Cornucopia by the Capital's mutant mutts (which disturbingly resemble the other fallen tributes). A brief struggle leads to Cato falling and landing among the mutts. Katniss is swayed with pity by his screams and shoots him with an arrow from her safe height to put him out of his misery.

When the mutts finally leave, Peeta and Katniss are the only ones left. They won. They're the last two victors and they're from the same district. It should have been over. But the Capital does not play fair and announces that the rules have changed, again, and there can only be one winner. 

Neither of them wants to kill the other. As Peeta is telling Katniss all the reasons he should be the one to die, she realizes that if they both died "the whole thing would blow up in the Gamemakers' faces.."
So, making it look like a real 'Romeo & Juliet' moment, Katniss hands Peeta some of the nightlock berries and, right as they are both about to eat them, the Games are ended and they are pulled out. 
It's over! Oh Joy! They survived! Or so it seems... President Snow does not like to be outsmarted and he holds grudges. He should really learn to compromise.

5 comments:

  1. I found this book to be interesting but I'll go ahead and say that I won't be reading any others.. I may be in the minority here but this story just wasn't by "cup of tea."

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  2. Excellent summary, Lyndsie! I'm curious: why do you think Katniss responds the way she does to Peeta not answering her whistle? I must admit, I felt for Peeta, too, when he realizes that at least some of Katniss's affection was just for the cameras.

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    1. Thanks! I think the reason she gave, of her going through the same experience of losing track of Rue and then Rue dying, was a big part of the reason she was so frantic in her search for him. But I also think that time in the cave made her care for him a lot more, even though I think she cared for him a least a little the whole time. It's understandable why she's so scared to care for people too much, though, because their lives are always so at risk.

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  3. I hope to find time to read the whole trilogy to find out the "rest" of Katniss's "adventure."

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  4. Ugh! I can't stand President Snow either I wish he would just leave Katniss alone especially in Catching Fire!

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