Katniss has her first sane reaction yet as she runs off in a bit of general “WTF, I can’t even”ness.

I have to admit I didn’t see it coming. I saw a multitude of other things. Being publicly humiliated, tortured, and executed. Fleeing through the wilderness, pursued by Peacekeepers and hovercraft. Marriage to Peeta with our children forced into the arena. But never that I myself would have to be a player in the Games again.

Until this, of course.

Let’s talk about melodrama, since this book is chock full of it.  Melodrama is an exaggerated and theatrical reaction to a situation.  Emphasis on theatrical.  In this case, that means that it’s there for the sake of the plot/reader, and screw everything else.  Torture?  She’s not worried.  Purusit through the woods?  Eh, that idea got dropped while you weren’t looking.  But going into the games?  WELL, HERE’S SOMETHING TO BE CONCERNED ABOUT!  LOOK, LOOK, READERS!  GET WORRIED!  THIS TIME IT’S ACTUALLY IMPORTANT!

When a character has an established pattern of not giving a fuck about shit, then having her suddenly burst forth with a profusion of FEELZ makes it seem overdramatic, even if said reaction is actually appropriate.  It’s the suddenness and the level in comparison to the rest of her actions that make it feel like she’s throwing a hissy fit.

And no, don’t tell me it’s because she’s got PTSD from going the first time.  See, I would buy that as a reason for why she goes nuts over this but not over torture.  Human brains are weird like that.  But Katniss doesn’t have PTSD.  She’s had a very few throwaway lines, not any actual reactions to trauma.  One single flashback – which was just included for backstory purposes anyway – does not PTSD make. 

 And her nightmares, for all they’re overused, don’t count either.  People get nightmares for a variety of reasons.  I don’t like seeing them in literature as ‘proof’ of trauma because they’re cheap and lazy.  So you had a nightmare?  So what.  Show me that you’re staying up all night to avoid going to sleep for fear of nightmares.  Show me that you’re irritable, snappish, and poorly functioning the next day from lack of sleep.  Show me a change in actions and behaviors.  Don’t just throw nightmares at me; I have nightmares about high school, ffs.

That’s really the key to make trauma portrayals stick.  Don’t tell me about the character’s feelz.  Tell me what they’re doing, because the key part of “life changing event” is CHANGING.

Alternatives I would accept as evidence of PTSD:

Shunning her family

Being clingy over her family and/or especially over Prim

Shunning the community

Hoarding her wealth bitterly because she “earned it”

Giving away her wealth obsessively because she “doesn’t deserve it”

Substance abuse

Avoiding sleep, solitude

Obsessively preparing for another game/similar situation in case it happens again (it doesn’t have to be logical)

Avoiding hunting/the woods because it’s too evocative of the games

Attacking people when startled

Notice, some of those options are contradictory to each other.  Because there’s many ways to react, and you can go one way or the other.  Or even both.  It’s not uncommon to seek out companionship because you’re terrified of being alone, but having no idea what to do afterwards, so you just kind of sit awkwardly in the same room with someone, not talking, avoiding engaging with them, but unable to leave.  People do weird shit when they’re traumatized.

It’s also fine to not be horrifically traumatized and changed by events, but in that case, you’re not traumatized and therefore you don’t get to have blackouts and cry in abandoned houses.

It’s just too perfect an answer for the troubles that face the Capitol today. Getting rid of me and subduing the districts all in one neat little package.

I understand how it gets rid of you, but how would it subdue the districts?  If killing their children didn’t forestall a revolt then how would killing their adults do it?

Yes, victors are our strongest. They’re the ones who survived the arena and slipped the noose of poverty that strangles the rest of us. They, or should I say we, are the very embodiment of hope where there is no hope.

…Oh, this book and The Selection both just don’t understand the hope embodied in ‘rags to riches’ stories.  See, for those to be hopeful, there has to be a chance for it to happen to the listener.  Winning a contest that no one else has a chance of entering (or that no one else wants to enter) doesn’t count.

This would be a lot different if the victors were supposed to be leaders or pillars of the community, but as we see later, they’re basically left to be this world’s version of washed-up child actors.

I’m glad I won only last year. Otherwise I’d know all the other victors

Oh, awesome, we’re back to the idea that the only problem Katniss has with killing people is that she might like them.  If she’s not friends with you, watch out!  She’ll murder you and not blink an eye.

Good to know that killing Marvel, Cato, Glimmer, and Sarah didn’t change her, her morals, her attitude, or her actions in any way.

He mimics my voice. “ ‘Take his place, Haymitch, because all things being equal, I’d rather Peeta had a crack at the rest of his life than you?’ ”

I bite my lip because once he’s said it, I’m afraid that’s what I do want. For Peeta to live, even if it means Haymitch’s death.

You know, all things being equal…things aren’t equal.  Peeta’s just as much of a sociopath as Katniss and has a good chance of recovering from their deaths and going on to marry some other girl with a pretty singing voice and no morals.  He’ll be able to live a long life, which by the way means that many more years of getting paid oodles of money and spending it within the district.  Haymich, on the other hand, has been drunk for 25 years.  He’s going to die soon anyway.

I’m not saying it’s okay to kill him, but when you have to pick one or the other…

I run my sleeve across the top and take a couple gulps before I come up choking.

Yeah, I really doubt she’d get as far as ‘a couple gulps’ before that happened.

While I was wallowing around on the floor of that cellar, thinking only of myself, he was here, thinking only of me. Shame isn’t a strong enough word for what I feel.

Oh, fuck off.

You know who Peeta clearly wasn’t thinking about?  His family.  I mean, you sure as hell aren’t going to provide for them if he dies.  The fact that the boy keeps trying to protect you because he loves you isn’t as noble as you seem to think since 1) it’s not altruistic, 2) his love is entirely based on your singing voice, and 3) every time he does this you end up in a situation where you are forced by threat of death to make out with him.

You really shouldn’t be ashamed for not being as utterly selfish and creepy as Peeta is.

“You could live a hundred lifetimes and not deserve him, you know,”

And fuck you, too, Haymich.

I should go see Peeta now, but I don’t want to. My head’s spinning from the drink, and I’m so wiped out, who knows what he could get me to agree to?

I know the author doesn’t want me to think “ya know, he totally would rape her while she’s drunk and not think of it that way,” but that’s where my brain went.  It’s not like he’s balked at using any other type of coercion.

“It’s not too late,” he says.

Over his shoulder, I see my mother and Prim clutching each other in the doorway. We run. They die. And now I’ve got Peeta to protect.

Well wait a minute.  The original plan was to take all of them along.  But now it’s too late…to take them with you?

I open my mouth, planning to start off with some kind of joke, and burst into tears.

So much for being strong.

This whole ‘morning after’ scene is a lot more accurate than the rest of the book has been so far.  In fact, if this and the drinking scene had been her reaction instead of all that flailing and running around, I’d be perfectly happy. 

But nope, that’s not enough melodrama.

I pause at the top of the stairs, feeling slightly embarrassed about the way I’ve handled the news of the Quarter Quell. My erratic flight, drinking with Haymitch, weeping. Given the circumstances, I guess I deserve one day of indulgence. I’m glad the cameras weren’t here for it, though.

I just don’t even know what the book is saying.  First she’s not as good as Peeta because she’s actually concerned about her own death, now she’s embarrassed about being concerned over her own death?

What I’m getting from this is that girls shouldn’t be worried about their own death?

“What’s done?”

 “I’ve poured all the liquor down the drain,” says Peeta.

Well, fuck you too, Peeta.

Someone as drunk as Haymich is has a real chance of going into shock as he detoxes, which means that going cold-turkey can literally kill him. 

“Don’t worry, I’ll get you more liquor.”

 “Then I’ll turn you both in. Let you sober up in the stocks,” says Peeta.

I swear to god, it’s like Peeta just wants to do Snow’s job for him.  He’s going to kill Haymich with the DTs and Katniss with stocks.

Because, despite the number of funny pictures of tourists putting their heads in the things, stocks are not to be toyed with.  Being locked in one puts a lot of strain and stress on the body and on top of that keep a person out and exposed to the elements, which can result in injury, shock, and death. Even when they’re not deadly, they’re still often used as an example of TORTURE and CRUEL AND UNUSUAL PUNISHMENT.

But Peeta, oh he of the “you could live a thousand lifetimes and not deserve him,” is perfectly willing to send his lady-love there for a few days.

Fun fact: punishments can be combined, such as whipping + locked in the stocks, which just ups your chances of severe injury/death.  If all this really is to get back at Katniss, there’s no reason to assume they’d go easy on her given the chance.

We’re going to watch their Games and learn everything we can about how they fight. We’re going to put on weight and get strong. We’re going to start acting like Careers.

Even though they will intentionally act just like the Careers, it will never be seen as ‘evil,’ Katniss will never face any hesitation or moral dilemma over this…and yet at the same time the other Careers will still be cruel, evil bad guys.

This is known as “a perfect, textbook case of Protagonist Centered Morality.”

Haymitch says the last thing President Snow would’ve wanted was to show Peeta and me — especially me — bonding with other victors in potentially rebellious districts. Victors have a special status

She keeps saying this, and then she keeps failing to explain it.  Forget showing it, she doesn’t even tell us the wherefores.  The only example we get of victors within the context of their own district is Katniss, Peeta, and Haymich, and they’re pretty well removed from the actual community.  Peeta only goes to see his family, Katniss only has a handful of contacts, and Haymich intentionally isolates himself.  No one has ever made a suggestion that they should be more involved or pressured them to do so, so there’s no hint that they’re failing in some sort of expected duty.

So…what?  Is the idea here that the victors are just so special that everyone naturally admires and cares—

Oh.  Of course that’s the answer.  Silly me.

Officially, tributes aren’t supposed to train, but no one tries to stop us. Even in regular years, the tributes from Districts 1, 2, and 4 show up able to wield spears and swords.

Well if they’re not supposed to, but it’s obvious people do it, then why is it allowed to continue?  You could easily enforce this rule by just taking out the option of volunteers. 

Check your brains at the door, people.  Just listen to Narrator Katniss, because that’s the only way to know what’s going on.

And you’d think a guy who sleeps every night with a knife might actually be able to hit the side of a house with one,

Actually, there’s no correlation between sleeping with a knife and skill with a knife.  Keeping around a weapon to feel safe doesn’t mean it’ll actually work, or else we wouldn’t have so many accidental gun deaths in America. 

My mother puts us on a special diet to gain weight.

But all those starving people, psh, fuck em.

Madge sneaks us her father’s Capitol newspapers. Predictions on who will be victor of the victors show us among the favorites.

Wait.  Your getting Capitol news and that’s all you care about?  Rebellion?  People dying?  Districts in revolt?  Possibility of doing the same here?  Ring any bells?

Well, we’re officially back in the first book now, complete with the habit of dropping plot lines once we’re doing with them.  The author is bored with that whole ‘start a rebellion’ thing, so it’s no longer a factor.

“Tell me about it,” I say. “If I could’ve just hated him in the arena, we all wouldn’t be in this mess now. He’d be dead, and I’d be a happy little victor all by myself.”

You did hate him.  At one point, you wished him dead because you didn’t even want the extra food for your sister if it came at the price of his survival.

Gale knows I chose him over Peeta when I didn’t make a run for it.

She didn’t choose rebelling over running.  She didn’t choose improving the lives of everyone over saving her own skin.  Nope, nothing like that.  She chose a boy, and that boy-choice made all her subsequent decisions for her.

Because this book is feminist, and don’t you forget it!

I’m afraid, anyway, that any kind of emotional scene with Gale might cause him to do something drastic. Like start that uprising in the mines.

God, heaven forbid he do the thing that you said you wanted him to do a few chapters ago.  I mean, really, we’re so over that rebellion thing.  It’s all about Katniss being special in the Games now, duh.