you know that argument that Haymitch’s personality in sotr doesn’t make sense because of what he’s like in the OT?
well I have a counter argument.
a criticism I’ve seen of sotr is that Haymitch’s loverboy personality contradicts his character in the original trilogy of books, and minimizes the character we see of him at 16 (you know, clever and calculating ect ect) when Katniss and Peeta watch his Games.
but here’s the thing. The Games are Capitol propaganda. That’s sotr’s whole theme. That they control the narrative and that whatever they say happens is the truth and nothing but the truth.
and before anybody comes at me like “oh Alder, but that’s JUST sotr, and it’s a bad book and doesn’t make sense anyway so that doesn’t matter!” or whatever other stupid argument, lemme point at someone you all know and love:
Darling of the Capitol. Player boy. Seen on a different lover’s arm daily.
or so goes the Capitol propaganda. We all know what the truth is — but only after Finnick peels back the blinds.
Finnick has established that the Capitol controls the narrative since Mockingjay. And we believe him, don’t we? We believe that the Capitol twisted and lied about how he was used and abused.
So my question is, why is it so hard to accept that the calculated teenager we see in Catching Fire was nothing more than Capitol propaganda too? That he always has been.
And why have we never considered that Haymitch’s story could have more to it (prior to SotR).
I never once thought about how that little blip we saw of the 50th Games could be hiding so much, but that is exactly what happened. What was always happening, because the Capitol was always in control.
also, Haymitch is still the clever boy we know! He’s smart! He doesn’t have to be cold about it to be calculating! He’s also just extremely warm and caring about other people too <3
