Birds, Bows, and Believing
You have to admit that in Chapter 5, when Katniss and Gale go to the Special Defense level and find Beetee sitting in a manmade meadow with hummingbirds flying around, you’d find that pretty cool. We do. A little piece of beautiful in the dank cavernous levels of District 13 is a relief at this point in Mockingjay.
Collectively we’ve decided that we’ll take the bow that Beetee makes for Katniss over the hovercraft that Gale was in in Chapter 1. Katniss’ bow is special in that it recognizes her voice—and only her voice; to deactivate the bow, she need only say, “Good night.” Her special arrows that Beetee has designed include razor sharp, incendiary, and explosive varieties. Nice.
As the Mockingjay being manipulated, it’s apparent that Katniss can’t fake her emotions when it comes to filming. At least Haymitch realizes this. That’s why Katniss and her camera crew go to District 8 for a propo in Chapter 6. A nice, safe trip. Right…
The bombing of the hospital in Chapter 7 is horrifying. Seriously, how sick is Snow? But his major adversary—Katniss, not Coin—steps up and emotionally says to Snow on film, “Fire is catching! And if we burn, you burn with us!” Katniss starts believing in herself and her desire to take part in the rebellion against the Capitol. She can’t fake emotions, which is why the earlier propo back in District 13 was lousy. Put her in a real situation like after the hospital is bombed, and she’s on fire. Illusion versus Reality…remember this.