Orb Review- Mockingjay

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins    

Review by Daphne Michaud

                 Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins is the thrilling third book in the well- known series, the Hunger Games. Katniss has survived two of the hunger games. This time, she isn’t just fighting for her life. She’s fighting to save all of Panem.

                     Mockingjay is set in a post- apocalyptic earth, where there are thirteen districts run by a corrupt central government, the Capitol. Every year they force children to enter the “games” in order to display how much power they have over the thirteen areas. Katniss was one of these, a fearless young girl who beat her way through the games twice, showing her anger toward the crooked government, and its leader, President Snow, along the way. Now captured by rebels going against the Capitol, she is asked to represent all that she has stood for and the revolution she has begun. Katniss agrees to be the Mockingjay figurehead for the rebels. She then resolves to rescue her love, Peeta, a boy from the games, just to discover that the Capitol has brainwashed him. Angered by this, the action begins, and Katniss makes a gripping mission to the Capitol to kill her nemesis, President Snow. It is a long and dangerous trek, with many unexpected twists and turns.

                     I found this book to be very good. One thing that stood out to me as quite exceptional was the way Collins portrays the characters of the book. She makes them each so vivid that they seemed to come alive. The way that it is written puts you in the place of the character, so that as I went along reading the book, I felt as if I was feeling the emotions that Katniss was feeling. An example of this was when Peeta, the boy she loved, attempted to kill her. “My lips are just forming his name when his fingers lock around my throat.” (pg 177). This moment in the book evoked fear and was very surprising.

                    Something I did not like about the book was the ending. First of all, I do not think it resolved all the issues and questions that came up through the book. I thought it was very weak and did not hold any information on Katniss’s future. Secondly, I thought the epilogue was so vague it wasn’t quite necessary to have it, and I believe Suzanne Collins should have left it to the reader’s imagination instead of putting so little knowledge of what was to come for Katniss. “My children, who take the words of the song for granted. My children, who don’t know they play on a graveyard.” (pg 389). This leaves so many questions, such as ‘What children? What are their names?’

                   Over all, I thought it was a very well- written action packed book. Full of surprises and plot twists, it had me always wanting to read the next chapter. There were only a couple downsides, such as the ending, but they were outweighed by the number of good things Suzanne Collins put into the book, such as character development. Another positive element was the way it was written; easy without being childish, just enough to get the point across with good descriptions and imagery. I think this book was a satisfying ending to a great series, and I recommend reading it.

Collins, Suzanne. Mockingjay. Scholastic Press, 2010

Malcolm Gladwell Response

                          What stood out to me in Warren Harding’s chapter was the formality of it. I thought it stood out to be very informational with no opinions whatsoever, which made it sound more professional, and I liked that seriousness to it. The takeaway message to this writing is that judging based on looks is inevitable and at many times automatic, we all do it without meaning to. The way a person looks can change how successful they are, and can change how their life turns out. I think what it is trying to say is that one should try to look and act their best, so people will make the assumption that they are what they portray themselves as.

                          I think we should take this chapter into consideration in terms of leadership, because I believe that a person should not become leader because of how they appear. Obviously, someone weak and frail looking would not be a good choice, because they do not represent the ideals portrayed in which others would want to follow in their footsteps. We cannot undo our unconscious biases, because, well, they are unconscious, we don’t control them anyway. They are set there in our brains, put in there by false stereotypes and precepts established by society. We should try and push these out of our minds and look for other qualities when it comes to a leader, such as selflessness, confidence, optimism, trustworthiness, and most important of all, intelligence.

                           I took two tests, the one based on race, and the one based on insects and flowers. They did reveal that I was unconsciously biased. On the first test, my results stated that I strongly preferred European- Americans over African- Americans, which really surprised me because I am not racist whatsoever, and do not believe that anyone is better than any other person, especially not based on the color of their skin. On the second test, my results said I strongly preferred flowers over insects, which is partially true, and not very surprising, because even though I’m not very much of a flower person, I absolutely hate insects.