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Mockingjay, the final installment of the Hunger Games trilogy, elicits mixed reactions from readers. Some loved it, some hated it, and there seems to be no in-between. That's why I'm here. Personally, I loved it. I wish more people loved it. I'm here to try to convince the haters at least not to hate it, because if there's one thing Mockingjay doesn't deserve, it's hate.
So, let's get this out of the way: Mockingjay is sad. It is more brutal than the other books, and more heartbreaking. But you know what? So is the last Harry Potter book. The final book of a series usually has to be the most emotionally draining, because it has the job of filling you back up again and making your love for the series last forever. So yeah, people die. People who shouldn't die, and people who should. But, strangely, it's not the rightful deaths that made me love Mockingjay; it's the heartbreaking ones, because they all served a purpose. They all emphasized the cruelty and injustice that caused, well, everything. They all died in the fight to eliminate that cruelty and injustice. It's not fair that Finnick doesn't get to see his son born. It's not fair that Prim (who finally got some real character development in this book) doesn't get to grow up in a world without the Hunger Games, even though the whole point of Katniss volunteering in the first place was to keep Prim safe. It's not fair that the good guys die. But that's war. The Hunger Games never, ever skirted around the hard stuff-- so why should it start now?
I love Mockingjay because of both the reading experience of it and the critical analysis of it. President Snow, in his never-failing evil, has created the perfect Catch-22 for Katniss. Show him she loves Peeta, and he'll let her off the hook. Show him she loves Peeta, and that love becomes a weapon Snow can use against them both. It's brilliant. And tragic. Not only does what happens to Peeta in Mockingjay make Katniss feel responsible for him-- she carries around the pearl "as if it's Peeta's life, and no one can take it away as long as I guard it"-- but also makes her realize how simple the choice between Peeta and Gale really is. Their relationship is developed so much more in Mockingjay than I thought it was in the first two books, because Katniss finally has the chance to long for Peeta the way he was, as he's always longed for her. She takes it upon herself to make him Peeta again, because she loves him. Because Peeta is what she needs in her life.
Which brings me to my next point: Gale. People are sad that Gale didn't get a better ending, that his friendship with Katniss seems a little shaky by the end of the book. They are 10 districts apart (figuratively), and it makes you wonder how much they can really keep in contact. I, too, wish they could've been the same-- but nothing is the same. Nothing. Gale's similarity to Katniss, that fire inside him, is what kept her from being able to stay with him. They need to let each other be who they are, Gale fighting at all costs for what he believes in, and Katniss trying to move on with her life, trying to appreciate things like dandelions in the Spring.
Mockingjay may be harder to get through than the first two books, but it is certainly more rewarding. It doesn't have the same structure-- there is no arena, there are no tributes, and there are no Gamemakers-- but if you really look, it is noticeably parallel. The arena is the Capitol. The rebels and innocent Capitol citizens are the tributes. Snow and his cohorts, and maybe even Coin and hers, are the Gamemakers.
So, my personal suggestion is that the haters should read Mockingjay again, with these things in mind. Maybe they still won't like it, but there is a dandelion of hope in my mind telling me that maybe, just maybe, they won't hate it anymore either.
And if that didn't work, some things to consider: The Hanging Tree song, Finnick in his underwear, Boggs, the head shackle, Buttercup, the awesome weaponry,...)
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