Catching Fire

As I came to the conclusion of Catching Fire, I realize that I have dragged out this book and posts as long as possible. Books like The Hunger Games and Catching Fire are ones that you hope will never end. Ever flip of the page is a sweat-breaking thrill to find out what is going to happen next, but also is a pain-inducing agony at the thought of coming closer to the end. Now I have one more book, Mockingjay, until my true expedition through the adventurous life of Katniss will finally come to an end. Like before, I'll try not to bore you with my familiar summaries, but instead focus in on one of my favorite parts.
After President Snow announces that the Quarter Quell (75th anniversary of The Games) will contain the surviving victors from previous years, Katniss immediately knows she's headed back into the arena. Haymitch, her mentor, is chosen as the male tribute, but instead Peeta takes his place. Things start to heat up even more as Katniss secretly decides to sacrifice herself to save Peeta.

For the interview, Katniss wears one of the gowns that was chosen for her for the wedding between her and Peeta. But this time, she feels that something is different; it is heavier. Cinna, her stylist, instructs her to turn around and lift her hands up at the right time during the interview. When the time comes, she obeys and the dress catches fire (it's always a thrilling moment when you figure out the title of the book) and burns off of her body, making her appear as a mockingjay. The mockingjay is the object upon Katniss' pin that she wore as a token from her hometown. It was given to her by her friend, Madge, and it is later discovered that it belonged to Madge's aunt, Maysilee, who died in the second Quarter Quell games. The mockingjay acts as a symbol of Katniss' rebellion and is also a slap in the face to the Capitol as the mockingay was created as the Capitol's disastrous attempt of using jabberjays to spy and obtain crucial information from the districts. By once again bringing the prominence of the mockingjay forward for all of the Panem, including the Capitol, to see, Katniss not only stands out among the other tributes, but proves her bravery and strength going into the next Games. She is there to fight and she is not going to  fall under cruel, unjust influence of the Captiol.