From Steve Barkmeier, some challenging thoughts on the story relationship of Buttercup, Primrose Everdeen’s cat, and Primroses’ sister, Katniss:

Prim’s cat, Buttercup, doesn’t have many appearances in the first two books of The Hunger Games trilogy. However, his involvement comes at key points in the series. In addition, he plays a pivotal role in Mockingjay. I believe that Buttercup serves a purpose in the series as Katniss’s alter ego and points towards Katniss’s relationship with herself throughout the series. [Read more…]

Three quick questions for serious readers of Mockingjay, the finale of Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games trilogy, a week after its publication:

(1) How many times have you re-read or re-visited this story after your first reading?

(2) Has your thinking about the book or series changed in major ways in that time? minor ways?

(3) Mockingjay was clearly meant to be a knock-out blow kind of reading experience. Did you find it a powerful or painful blow? A painfully powerful head shot?

Thank you in advance for sharing your answers to these questions — and for joining us here for our discussion of the Panem Saga’s closer (Here is a collection of the 25 HogPro Mockingjay posts). I hope to post tomorrow on the literary alchemy of Mockingjay; see you then for the allegorical and anagogical artistry of the book with some thoughts on how it did and didn’t work!

From Hogwarts Professor Louise Freeman in Virginia:

The assembly of the Council of Victors to vote on whether or not to punish the Capitol with a final (yeah, right!) Hunger Games is a pivotal scene of Mockingjay.  The obvious question we are supposed to ask is “Why did Katniss vote yes?” Was she still so bitter over Prim’s death and convinced that the Capitol was responsible that she would go along with the act of vengeance?  Or did she instantly have an “Animal Farm” style realization that Coin was no different than Snow and give the Yes vote as her best chance to kill her?  I have my own idea, but I can see how there would be differing opinions.  It might be more beneficial to ask two other questions:  1) Why did Coin call for the vote?  2) Why did the other Victors vote the way they did? [Read more…]

From Hogwarts Professor Louise Freeman in Virginia:

In case anyone’s forgotten, the New York Times gave Hunger Games a “Notable children’s book”  award. Two years and two sequels later, we have Mockingjay, which I speculate will be deemed ineligible in that category. As Elizabeth put it, we have “the biggest body count since Gettysburg,” not to mention Finnick’s description of his sex slavery, brutal slaying of young children and descriptions of battles, killings, war crimes and torture that make even adults cringe, not all of which were committed by the Bad Guys.  Can readers who were put off by Harry’s brief uses of Unforgivable curses stomach this?  Especially in a series welcomed by teens and even pre-teens in midnight release celebrations?  [Read more…]