this uncompromising storytelling makes the complete trilogy stronger as a result
Why were the people angry at the release of the novel by Martin?
The third and final book in Suzanne Collins'sThe Hunger Gamestrilogy completes Katniss's story by taking her experiences to the next logical (and inevitable) step. In hindsight, the progression of the three-book storyline is obvious: Katniss goes from a tribute in a gladiatorial death-match, to getting caught up in the revolution that follows, to this: her participation in a full-scale war.Rescued from the arena at the conclusion ofCatching Fire, Katniss now finds herself recovering in District 13, a place long thought to have been destroyed by the Capitol, but in actuality existing as a vast underground complex. Her teammate and would-be love interest Peeta was not so lucky, for he was captured by the Capitol and is now being used as an instrument of propaganda by the sinister President Snow. Due to their home in District 12 being bombed, Katniss and other survivors/refugees from the mining community have joined forces with District 13's resistance fighters, though it would seem that their every act of kindness is hedged with self-interest.Katniss, her mother and sister, and her childhood friend Gale are moderately safe in the extensive underground bunkers of District 13, where schedules are tattooed in impermanent ink on everyone's arm each day and wasting food or other resources is tantamount to a criminal offense. Naturally, Katniss chaffs under the imposition of these strict rules, but luckily for her, she's got some leverage. Having made herself infamous through her actions in the Hunger Games, the resistance wants her to become a symbol of the uprising, using her status as the Mockingjay to unite the remaining eleven districts.She agrees, but not before laying down a few conditions of her own. It's at this point that we see Katniss finally become more aware of her own power as well as (paradoxically) her inherent helplessness. On the one hand, she's a valuable asset and thus has a certain amount of say in District 13's decision-making; on the other, District 13 is just as capable of manipulation, cruelty and exploitation as the Capitol, and Katniss sees firsthand the lengths to which they'll go to in order to destroy the totalitarian regime of President Snow and the Capitol. Can she be a part of it without compromising herself?Once again she finds herself in the Hunger Games - though of a slightly different sort this time. Now the cameras are trained on her as she visits hospitals, rallies the districts, and consoles her wounded compatriots. She's become a part of the propaganda machine, and struggles to maintain her own agency and personality in the progress. Clearly suffering from the first signs of PTSD (complete with concussions, drug-use, on-going injuries and nightmares) Katniss also struggles with the knowledge that everything she does to rile the Capitol may be putting the captive Peeta into danger.It all comes to a head in a nail-biting game of cat and mouse with in the streets of the Capitol itself, and in the climactic final gambit played out by Katniss.It was with interest that I read some of the other reviews for "Mockingjay", particularly the ones that gave it a lower rating. Notably, there seems to be a definite disconnect between what people were expecting, and what Collins delivered. Is this a dark but ultimately uplifting story about a girl who becomes a hero and leads a rebellion to victory at a large but ultimately necessary cost? Or is it a story about the effect that war and death have on young people, how both sides of the conflict can be morally grey, and how people have only so much strength in them before they break? It's the latter, but lot of people wanted the former, and it's clear that they're judging "Mockingjay" not on what it is, but what they wanted it to be. Naturally everyone will have a series of expectations whenever they crack open any book (especially one as anticipated as this one), but I also think that Collins had a specific message to impart, and ignoring it is to miss the very point of the trilogy.For example, Collins makes some very interesting storytelling decisions throughout. For the last two books President Snow has been set up as Katniss's primary antagonist; the ultimate foe that she will one day face (it's even foreshadowed in their names: Snow versus the Girl on Fire). Yet without giving too much away, their confrontation is not what you'd expect. Likewise, there is a rather unconventional resolution to the love triangle that many may not find satisfactory. Personally, I was never in any doubt as to which of the two boys Katniss would chose, but the way in which is occurs is hardly what you'd call a "fairytale ending."However, there are some parts of "Mockingjay" where I can understand why readers were a bit disgruntled. The death toll is extremely high; I wasn't keeping count, but there's a good chance that more named characters (I'm including the minor ones in this) end up dead than the living. In this case, Collins's gift is also her curse: by creating characters that you care about so quickly and so deeply, it is gut-wrenching when several of them not only die, but do so in a swift and anti-climactic manner. Sure, she's trying to make a statement about the randomness of war, but it's hard not to think that some characters deserved more - if not their lives, than at least a meaningful death.Although the writing is still as strong as ever in terms of its pacing and clarity, there are times in which Collins trips up. About halfway through the book, Katniss sings a haunting (and highly symbolic) song called "The Hanging Tree". Instead of Collins simply leaving the reader to interpret its meaning, she has Katniss internally analysis it for the benefit of the reader (taking up two pages!), thus robbing it of all its mystery. There are a couple of times in which she breaks the "show, don't tell" rule, breaking down various situations instead of letting the reader figure it out for themselves. (Though ironically, the most crucial gambit that Katniss plays toward the end of the novel seems to have been *too* subtle, given that many readers have expressed confusion over it. Or maybe most readers are used to being spoon-fed answers, thus justifying Collins's early attempts to spell things out. Who knows). Yet Collins's strength in writing is still apparent: her ability to maintain a riveting pace, in which everything flows smoothly from chapter to chapter, and suspense builds as the story goes on.Having a dig around some of the other reviews, I was disappointed (though hardly surprised) at the criticisms leveled at Katniss's characterization. Generally speaking, it's immensely difficult to write female characters, especially protagonists, as they will always be held to a higher standard than male characters. If she's too competent, too loved, too successful, she'll be deemed a Mary Sue. If she's too flawed, too fallible, or makes too many mistakes, then she's a bad role model and an affront to feminism.It feels as though that's what happened here. Many wanted her to step up as a hero and take control of every situation. Others dismiss her as "fickle" or "selfish" due to her interactions with Peeta and Gale (claims that baffle me considering her devotion to her sister and willingness to die for others). Others think she spent too much time under sedation, or gunning people down, or making the wrong decisions; and of course, with so much attention placed on the love triangle (not so much in the book, but certainly in on-line fan discussions - one can't help but feel that Stephenie Meyer's endorsements drew in the Twilight crowd) there were inevitably going to be disappointed shippers who would accuse Katniss of making "the wrong choice" no matter what boy she chose. So what was she: too good to be true, or a disappointing female character?Actually, she was neither. She was a seventeen year old girl who goes through a devastating ordeal, and the crux of this trilogy is that the reader shares in her terror, her self-loathing, her mental collapse, and her gradual crawl back to some degree of normality. It's a grueling experience, but one that's unflinching in revealing the true cost of war.So thank you Suzanne Collins for giving me Katniss: a three-dimensional, fully developed character who was nothing like me, and yet who I could relate to completely. Sometimes she failed, sometimes she succeeded, but she's embroiled in a story that is complex without being convoluted, and which raises difficult questions about the world without providing any sort of simplistic answer. The character development reflects this, for Collins doesn't make it easy: not for Katniss and not for the reader, and in my opinion, this uncompromising storytelling makes the complete trilogy stronger as a result. Will it be a classic? Only time will tell, but were I to place money on it, my bet would be yes. 