Jayson’s Reviews > Mockingjay > Status Update

That death makes me sad for the series. It's kind of a point of no-return for Katniss and the reader. It wasn't a necessary death in my opinion and that's what makes it all the more sadder. Would you agree?

Kadi wrote: "That death makes me sad for the series. It's kind of a point of no-return for Katniss and the reader. It wasn't a necessary death in my opinion and that's what makes it all the more sadder. Would y..."

I agree that it wasn't a necessary death, and I agree that being unnecessary made it all the more sad. My biggest bone of contention with it is how it retroactively changes the entire series. (view spoiler)[The reason for the entire adventure in the first place, the inciting incident, was that Katniss heroically stepped in and volunteered for the Games to save her sister. So when Prim dies at the end of it all, it literally makes the entire effort not matter.

Katniss ends up living the same sort of life she would have had she not volunteered for the Games, except she's married to Peeta not Gale, and she suffers severe PTSD. Swapping Gale for Peeta may be a big upgrade for a lot of people, but the fact is she's worse off because of her heroism, and I don't like that message one bit. Nothing she did mattered at all, her sister still died, and life isn't appreciably better because of anything that she did. In fact, things are worse.

Perhaps I'll gain something during the end of this reread that I didn't get last time around, but, this moment still made the books inherently depressing. (hide spoiler)] There's no shortage of books that further an uncompromising "war is hell" message, this didn't need to be one of them.

Hahaah the first one made me laugh out loud 😂

Zara wrote: "Hahaah the first one made me laugh out loud 😂"

Happy to hear that, Zara 😁👍

That's the death that made my friend hate the series with every fiber of her being XDDD And I just found it really sad and realistic at the same time. I mean, every death in war is pointless. I thought that was a really good way to portray that to choose to let a fan favourite character die. Though I'm still not over his death 😥

Sana wrote: "That's the death that made my friend hate the series with every fiber of her being XDDD And I just found it really sad and realistic at the same time. I mean, every death in war is pointless. I tho..."

Glad you could see the positive aspects of it! For me, it did make me hate this book, not the series, but at the same time I recognized the quality of the storytelling and the effect that the author wanted to get across, which you mentioned. So, I have begrudging respect for this book, for accomplishing its intention well.

@Jay I 100% agree with your view. The death renders the entire purpose of the series useless. But of course that depends on what your view of the purpose of the series is. Was it to (view spoiler)[save Prim or save Panem? (hide spoiler)] In both cases I'd say she failed. She left everything and everyone worse off than if she'd just rolled over and allowed herself to be killed in the first Games. She never could just do what she was told though, could she?

The death gives it all a bittersweet ending. I feel like I understand what Suzanne Collins was trying to do but that doesn't mean I liked it although I can in some part appreciate it. I know some people argue another angle saying the death was needed in order to combat a "happily-ever-after" ending that too many YA dystopias seem to suffer from, but already other characters that were fan favourites and big players died and there was enough destruction and change in Katniss' life to say that however it ended it certainly wouldn't be happily ever after for Katniss.

I guess the core of the issue is that the death makes you realise how reflective of real life this fantasy book is. That's why I don't like it, because it reflects how unfair life is and if the book was being fair then the death should never have occurred because Katniss had suffered enough and she didn't deserve to suffer this too. At least that's what I understood from it and why I appreciate but don't like what Suzanne Collins was trying to do with this death.

Kadi wrote: "@Jay I 100% agree with your view. The death renders the entire purpose of the series useless. But of course that depends on what your view of the purpose of the series is. Was it to [spoilers remov..."

I don't think Katniss wanted to save Panem at all. I think she had a personal vendetta against Snow that gave her motivation to work with the rebels, but otherwise she's not really a political character in the least. In all seriousness, the only politics she engages in is the politics of kissing and how kissing's used to affect character motivations and public perception.

Plus, I don't think there's a "saving" Panem. She's anti-Games and anti-Snow, but I think Katniss would have been fine with the current government structure, uneven economically as it was. (view spoiler)[In the end, she finds Coin just as much a dictator as Snow and nearly as bad. (hide spoiler)] It's not like she could have done anything in that regard anyway, apart from becoming President herself. Which brings me back to the initial point, (view spoiler)[that the whole thing was about saving Prim (hide spoiler)].

Also, to me, the ending wasn't so much bittersweet as much as it was just bitter. (view spoiler)[Yes, they won the war, and, yes, Katniss has family and a modicum of peace at the end (hide spoiler)], but the entire book was just grim on top of grim on top of grim. There's some upbeat banter between Johanna and Katniss, and Finnick and Katniss, but otherwise, there's wasn't really any moment that made me feel good. Perhaps I'm just a glass-half-empty guy, but the book didn't resonate like the previous two did.

I agree. The death changes everything, and I was close to tears. Back home, when Peeta was (view spoiler)[planting the primroses (hide spoiler)], that was the part where I teared up because it had this whole eerieness and symbolism to it. Be it before or after war, fair or not, life is always unfair and after the lengths that Katniss reached to (view spoiler)[save Prim (hide spoiler)] only makes it worse.

True, Aarja :(

Aarja wrote: "I agree. The death changes everything, and I was close to tears. Back home, when Peeta was [spoilers removed], that was the part where I teared up because it had this whole eerieness and symbolism ..."

Yeah, it's a depressing book, not one to read if you're needing a pick-me-up. I think regardless of different interpretations of the ending, everyone agrees that it's terribly sad.

Amanda Artist Cat wrote: "True, Aarja :("

😥👍

Amanda Artist Cat wrote: "True, Aarja :("

😔

#2 - Before I started reading this, I made some predictions and that was my first one. I just couldn't see how it wouldn't happen. 😓

Linda ~ they got the mustard out! ~ wrote: "#2 - Before I started reading this, I made some predictions and that was my first one. I just couldn't see how it wouldn't happen. 😓"

I don't mind it happening, I just wish it would've been done better and for a different purpose.

@Jay very depressing, agreed. Not something to read if you want to escape your life to a better one, that’s for sure! Luckily I don’t need to reread this one as I felt like I read it along with you and reading your responses and your updates has reminded me about all the finer details of the book without me having to endure the long depressing books! It was great reading your thoughts on whether Katniss wanted to save Panem or not, you definitely have a better insight having recently read the books/are reading them

Agreed, that death made me very angry with this book. (view spoiler)[ Also, when Finnick died too... (hide spoiler)]

Kadi wrote: "@Jay very depressing, agreed. Not something to read if you want to escape your life to a better one, that’s for sure! Luckily I don’t need to reread this one as I felt like I read it along with you..."

Glad to have along for the ride! Always a pleasure to have people chime in and add their thoughts :)

May wrote: "Agreed, that death made me very angry with this book. [spoilers removed]"

Yeah, (view spoiler)[Finnick's was a little more bittersweet for me, because he'd just gotten married and at least got to experience a little joy following all his PTSD. Plus, he died a hero, making sure Katniss could get away first (hide spoiler)]. I'm all for heroic, noble deaths in books.

Jayson wrote: "Kadi wrote: "That death makes me sad for the series. It's kind of a point of no-return for Katniss and the reader. It wasn't a necessary death in my opinion and that's what makes it all the more sa..."

(view spoiler)[I can't agree that nothing she did mattered. If Katniss hadn't volunteered and provided the spark the rebellion needed, then it's unlikely the revolution would have happened at all and the President and the Capital would've remained in power longer. If she had died at the end of the first or second book, the revolution wouldn't have had a rallying point and it would have been more difficult to get the other districts to sign on, and would have been more likely to fail. But if the revolution had succeded, then Coin would be in power and just as bad as Snow. So Katniss does save Panem by killing Coin. She just doesn't save her sister. It would've been like soldiers coming home after WWI to discover their family all died of the flu, or coming home after WWII and finding out they died in a bomb raid.

I also can't agree that Katniss would have been better off or that her life would've been more or less the same if she'd done nothing at all, since I think knowing she could have saved her sister but did nothing would have slowly driven her crazy. She would have ended up just like their mother after their dad died, if not worse.

She was screwed the moment her sister's name was pulled, no matter what. (hide spoiler)]

Linda ~ they got the mustard out! ~ wrote: "Jayson wrote: "Kadi wrote: "That death makes me sad for the series. It's kind of a point of no-return for Katniss and the reader. It wasn't a necessary death in my opinion and that's what makes it ..."

That's fine. We don't all need to hold exactly the same opinions about everything. I welcome alternative points of view. We can agree to disagree. 😁👍