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How Peeta as a jabberjay made Katniss a mockingjay and together they birthed a nation of mockingjays

There is quite a chunk of the fandom out there who compare Peeta to a jabberjay and I've always agreed with that. This whole passage jumped out at me in a completely different way this reread, I started noticing parallels to what happened with the jabberjays and what happened to Peeta. I'm going to try and go in order of this passage but know that we are time jumping a bit.

Peeta was turned against the districts by the Capitol and sent home loaded with lies in order to kill Katniss. When Coin figures this out, she essentially deems him a lost cause and decides that he will be left for dead, using him to kill Katniss which in any scenario will lead to his death.

Now the extinction in the wild is during squad 451's time infiltrating the Capitol, we see Peeta eventually overcome the mutt in him (with Katniss's help) and that's the real start of his recovery. It could include his time post war in the Capitol but I'm seeing the wild as a euphemism for war because we see him begin to protect her during that time and when she attempts suicide after assassinating Coin.

So how did Peeta turn Katniss from a mockingbird to a mockingjay? Let's break down that final paragraph. I used to associate that very last line (couldn't highlight, cropped too close) about not anticipating it's will to live with mockingjays but now I see it's meant in association with jabberjays as well. If you examine the sentence structures it's something within the jabberjay that they are passing on to the mockingjay. Peeta literally gives Katniss her will to live, over and over again by giving her hope, that's his genetic code. The very first time is with the bread. Katniss may have been a mockingbird initially but we see a rebirth of her as a mockingjay after Peeta gives her the bread. Katniss tells us she is giving up and ready to die right there against that apple tree (and how many times do we see this happen with Katniss only for Peeta to change that?). She becomes renewed and inspired to fight for her life by receiving the bread. She finds a way to carry on the very next day. The mockingjay symbol is fluid. I don't believe a symbol has to be fixed to one person and when talking about things we see that some symbols in the series often represent more than one thing or idea. Katniss is a mockingjay, Rue is a mockingjay, toastbabies are mockingjays, the people of panem are mockingjays. These are all people who were not intended to exist in the capacity we see them and that the Capitol believed they could stamp out their will to live or very existence.

So what's this about them mating and birthing a nation of mockingjays!? Well, what happened when Everlark pulled out those berries? What did they spend the whole Victory tour trying to do? Together Katniss and Peeta had sparked a nation of people determined to live. Peeta's genetic code is hope. He gives that to Katniss and in turn they produce a nation of mockingjays, ready to fight back. So even if you still don't believe Katniss is a mockingjay, she as a mockingbird and Peeta as a jabberjay still have the potential to create a nation of mockingjays.

The line about jabberjays having the brains to adapt to the wild had me thinking a lot. My interpretation is that Peeta grows up in not only an abusive society but an abusive home. He has one of the bleakest situations, the absence of parental love is mental starvation. We need love an affection to thrive. Physical harm inflicted by the person who is supposed to be your absolute safety warps your entire world view. Somehow Peeta is able to adapt to these things. We know he has struggles from it but it certainly didn't warp him the way Mr. Everdeens death and Mrs. Everdeens neglect warped Katniss.

Of all the things that drives home Peeta is the jabberjay the last line is it imo. Peeta's will to live isn't about staying alive. It's him fully experiencing life and what legacy he leaves behind. On the rooftop he tells Katniss he is sure he will kill like everyone else but he doesn't say it in a way that indicates it's on the offensive. It's presented in a way that it's only natural instinct to go down swinging. Peeta just wants his life to mean something more than the circumstances he was born into, that's his will to live. We see it in the bread incident, he accepts a beating in exchange for his life bringing something to someone else. So if his death can make his life meaningful then he will accept it.

This is such an interesting passage. Does anyone know if there is meta for it? Or want to take a crack at it?

#toastedthg #thg #the hunger games #catching fire #cf 7 #galey bird #katniss #katniss everdeen

And now a Galey bird + Katniss (not so) mini rant

Someday I'm gonna write a whole ass meta on The Fight at the Cabin. That day is not today because spoons, I've been up since 3 am plus the Jabberjay post wiped me out. Kinda wish I had waited it out a little and fleshed things out more. There's so much more I could have said. Anyway, here we go.

This whole interaction is sad. Gale melts pretty quickly and it gets soft, warm, and familiar. It's quite tricky because she's waxing on about his hands, we see him toasting bread and making a whole meal with apples, but then she pairs the scent with smoke(!), (a false) sense of warmth from him sitting at the fire. Yes Gale is angry and frustrated but the miscommunication, again falsely, makes us think things are all right, the solution has been found. Just as quickly as Katniss feels some of that weight shifted to his shoulders, it comes slamming back down on her. If anyone in this series can he described as selfish and cold it would be Gale. This whole scene is absolutely cringeworthy. This is what I meant when I answered that @toastcon Q&A ask about when I started shipping Everlark and mentioned that I kept waiting for Gale to act in equal measure to Peeta. This is the moment that absolutely clinched it for me that they would never be together. His treatment of Katniss is so cruel here. The way he tries to paint her into a corner makes my skin crawl. Then we have this sweet moment where it seems like maybe Gale does care about what happens to other people

"'Safe to do what?' he says in a gentler tone. 'Starve? Work like slaves? Send their kids to the reaping? You haven't hurt people-youve given them an opportunity. They just have to be brave enough to take it..."

And he does with exceptions, which is not ok. Then just as quickly it's gone. And the ensuing dialogue is the moment SC essentially tells us this friendship is going to fall apart, we are already seeing how diametrically different their minds operate. That's still not the exact moment Ev*rthorne is crushed though.

"Gale pushes me roughly away from him. 'You leave, then. I'd never go in a million years."

Juxtapose this with Peeta pushing the peacekeeper in 11 away from Katniss and their conversation on the rooftop. Peeta would never put his hands on Katniss like this (we aren't talking about the hijacking) and can discuss their differing ideas without resorting to screaming at her and trying to shame her. There's also the simple comparison of her conversation with Peeta immediately following this. He gets Katniss and knows immediately that it wouldn't just be them, his rueful smile is an acknowledgement of how it will hurt Katniss if Gale stays behind, and he knows that she will never follow through because like I said yesterday Katniss has a rebel heart. Rebellion is in her blood.

#toastedthg #thg #the hunger games #hunger games #catching fire #cf 7 #galey bird #katniss #katniss everdeen #peeta #peeta mellark #everlark

"'She'll understand. I watched a lot of the Games with her and Prim. She won't say no to you.'"

Gale Hawthorne, Catching Fire pg 97

This quote has always irked me because I so badly want to know what he watched with Mrs. Everdeen and what she had to say about everything. How she felt about each event that happened to Katniss in the arena aside from the obvious fear. I want to know what Gale knows. What did Mrs. Everdeen tell him that leads him to say this. She must be so proud of Katniss, not because she won the Games but because of who she is. Because she volunteered for Prim. Because of how she befriended Rue, how she sang her to sleep and covered her in flowers. Of how she nursed Peeta and saved his life. How she never offensively took a life. Mrs. Everdeen must want to protect Katniss so much, even more now than ever before. I want to know how she endured watching her daughter in the Games.

#toastedthg #thg #the hunger games #catching fire #galey bird #cf 7 #mrs. everdeen meta #katniss #katniss everdeen #mrs. everdeen #cf quote #thg quote

"The jabberjays were mutations, genetically enhanced male birds created by the Capital as weapons to spy on rebels in the districts. They could remember and repeat long passages of human speech, so they were sent into rebel areas to capture our words and return them to the Capitol.

Katniss Everdeen, Catching Fire pg 91

The first thing that stood out to me here is Katniss says "to capture our words". She includes herself as rebel. I don't think it is intentional but it could mean two things, she does consider herself as rebel whether that's actively or passively (due to the berries or even her internal beliefs about the Capitol). I'm trying to remember if she uses inclusive terms during other mentions of the Dark Days, I wish I had time to look it up right now.

I think this indicates something about her that gets missed when discussing her unwilling role as a rebellion leader. Yes, Katniss just wanted to protect Prim. Yes, Katniss did not want to truly be the Mockingjay. But you know what? Katniss has a rebel heart. It is in her blood. We see it in the glimpses of her childhood memories. We see it in the actions of her every day life. We hear it in her thoughts. We see it in her choices in the arena. We see it when speaks in meaningful moments. Her desire to protect Prim is rebellion within the world of Panem. No, Katniss did not want to lead a rebellion and no she didn't want a war but she absolutely would have been part of it if someone else had started it. I'm not saying she'd choose to be in combat but she would find a way to contribute to free Panem.