Another thing I keep thinking about is the undercurrent of punishment and retaliation from the state. Like, Beetee rebelled by himself and lost his son.
Then he rebelled again with Haymitch and lost his wife and 2nd child. Even after that he decided to rebel again. He lost everything to the state, over and over again, and kept going because he needed to see the end of the empire in his lifetime.
Wiress and Mags were tortured and permanently disabled for rebelling. Years later, after being physically destroyed by the state, they decided to rebel again. They went into the quarterly quell knowing that they must likely would die. And Mags truly took the biggest step in sacrificing herself for the movement.
As much at she probably wanted to see the end of the empire in her lifetime, and knew her sacrifice would end it for future generations. She placed the movement above her own life. The state was so destructive that giving her life was one of the greatest additions she could give to the rebellion.
And Haymitch. Our poor Haymitch. Pulled into an ongoing rebellion, believing that he would be the one to end the empire and losing everything in the process. The quintessential young patriot who is unprepared for the backlash of the empire. Who felt a blowback that the older generation constantly faced.
His hope dashed by being directly targeted by the empire. Suffering under the empire is different from being targeted by it and Haymitch learned that the hard way. Yet, the connections he made during his effort set the stage for the next generation.
The strength of the rebels laid in generational ties. It also laid in the linking of arms with those who are apart of the empire. Alongside this, is the acknowledgement that the oppressed cannot defeat the empire by itself. They need the support of oppressors who know the inner workings of the empire and hate it. The oppressed do not know the hands of the oppressors, who know everything about the oppressed through surveillance.
All of these things are a reflection of the real world. Those who have sacrificed knowing that they won't see the end of the empire.
Those who join the rebellion and are unprepared for the depths of its evil.
Those who lose everything and persist.
This is so important to me. Generations of resistance and rebels have been wiped out by state propaganda and we feel so alone. All we know is how the state retaliates. And we are paralyzed by fear that we will be targeted.
But the past and efforts of those before us should bolster us. There are elders still alive. We have the materials of the elders who have passed and given their lives for the end of the state.
This is why Suzanne Collins dropped this book y'all. Every time something crazy in the world is happening, she publishes another Hunger Games book to say, "We have to try". Each book gets more forward. That's why this book opens with back to back quotes about propaganda and rebellion. Suzanne Collins is sowing the seeds for younger generations to see that the empire can be destroyed. It just takes time.
janainaart
yousharknotpass
theartofmadeline
dededos
