The effect on the Gamemakers is immediate and satisfying. Several let out small shrieks. Others lose their grips on their wineglasses, which shatter musically against the ground. Two seem to be considering fainting. The look of shock is unanimous.

 Just to recap:  Katniss hung a dummy and painted the last head game maker’s name on it.  These people – who spend all their time sitting around planning out how to make the murder of children more entertaining – are shocked by the hanging of a dummy.  More than that, though.  These people already know what happened to Seneca Crane.  He fucked up, now he’s gone, and if they didn’t know he’s dead, then they should have guessed.  I mean, if anyone is going to be clued in on the fact that they live under an evil despotic government, it should be these people.  They should know that the noose is also over their heads, because killing fuck ups seems to be the government’s go-to method for dealing with disappointment.  Except for Katniss, because she’s special.

So why is this so damn shocking to them?  Did they not realize that the same people who kill kids every year would maybe be okay with killing them too?

 Leave your brains at the door.  There isn’t any point in trying to figure this out.  Just accept that these live with an evil despotic government and yet somehow didn’t know that it was an evil despotic government.  Don’t bother trying to figure out how much they know, how much the average capitol citizen is in danger, if the killing of this class of people is normal or not.  The book doesn’t care about such things so long as Katniss can randomly be awesome.  

“Actually, I painted a picture of Rue,” Peeta says. “How she looked after Katniss had covered her in flowers.”

So …that did make it on air, then?  Even though Katniss was pretty sure that it wouldn’t?  And even though it’s supposedly so rebellious and inflammatory, and even though these people have total control over what gets shown or not?

If it’s so bad that they’re freaking out now, then why did they let it get shown in the first place?  Or did Katniss just tell him about it after the fact? 

Fuck it.  The reader doesn’t need to know these things.  They’re not supposed to be figuring out the world or setting or anything like they.  Right?

 And I’m still confused on why these people – who spend all their time sitting around planning out how to make the murder of children more entertaining – are so shocked by seeing a murdered child.  Covered in flowers no less!  Were they upset that it wasn’t more gory?

“I’m not sure. I just wanted to hold them accountable, if only for a moment,” says Peeta. “For killing that little girl.”

How…does that even…what?

Did you think they were unaware that they killed her?

Pictures of all the dead tributes and their bloody demises are shown throughout the year.  How is one more picture ‘holding them accountable’?

“This is dreadful.” Effie sounds like she’s about to cry. “That sort of thinking … it’s forbidden, Peeta. Absolutely. You’ll only bring down more trouble on yourself and Katniss.”

[…]

Effie leaves the table with her napkin pressed to her face.

[…]

We gather around the television set and a red-eyed Effie rejoins us.

 Poor Effie.  It’s like she’s the only one that actually cares about Peeta and Katniss and their impending, stupidity-induced deaths.

 But she’s a girl and wears wigs and is having emotions, so let’s treat her like a child and patronize her and make fun of her.  Because having emotions a weak.  Doesn’t she know that good people always sit around and make jokes about death?

In fact, last year I was rewarded for my brashness.

[…]

Peeta and I each pull a twelve, we make Hunger Games history. No one feels like celebrating, though.

“Why did they do that?” I ask.

“So that the others will have no choice but to target you,” says Haymitch flatly.

 Damn it, book, make up your mind.  Are high scores good or bad?  It’s hard enough when you can’t keep it straight from book to book, but this is within the same chapter!

“No worse than I did. Why did you do it, anyway?” he says.

“I don’t know. To show them that I’m more than just a piece in their Games?” I say.

 Well, you did that.  You showed them that you are a fly in the ointment and mildly annoying.  Because, let’s face it, you’re still going to play the games just the same as you did last year.

He laughs a little, no doubt remembering the night before the Games last year. We were on the roof, neither of us able to sleep. Peeta had said something of the sort then, but I hadn’t understood what he meant. Now I do.

 Well good for you, because I’m still in the dark on what you meant.  You know, seeing as how you both played the games exactly as the game makers intended.

And for the first time, I distance myself from the personal tragedy that has consumed me since they announced the Quell. I remember the old man they shot in District 11, and Bonnie and Twill, and the rumored uprisings.

 Yes, for the first time in months, Katniss remembers the thousands of other people in the world who are suffering.

 Our hero, ladies and gentlemen.

If I can make it clear that I’m still defying the Capitol right up to the end, the Capitol will have killed me … but not my spirit. What better way to give hope to the rebels?

 If the author can realize this, why doesn’t she think that her characters can realize this, too?  Does she just think that she’s so smart figuring this out, and that no one in on entire government will pick up on the same idea?

The beauty of this idea is that my decision to keep Peeta alive at the expense of my own life is itself an act of defiance. A refusal to play the Hunger Games by the Capitol’s rules.

Yes!  That’s true!  It’s also the first time anyone’s even brought this up, the fact that NOT DOING WHAT THEY WANT IS THE WAY TO DEFY THEM.  It doesn’t apply to the last book at all, because she was happy to keep herself alive.  Even when she paired up with Peeta, it was at the Capitol’s prompting.

Because I will be more valuable dead. They can turn me into some kind of martyr for the cause and paint my face on banners, and it will do more to rally people than anything I could do if I was living. But Peeta would be more valuable alive, and tragic, because he will be able to turn his pain into words that will transform people.

Yes!  That is also true!  Too bad it gets dropped like a hot potato in the next book.

 And then they spend all day sitting on the roof and wasting time.  While it is pretty cute and unoffensive, I can’t really tell why it’s there.  They’re about to die, but hey, cute romance break!  The actions are fine, it’s the presentation I can’t quite come to terms with.  It really is a break from the rest of the story.  She doesn’t do anything with it; it just hangs there.

I’m left alone with Venia and Flavius. The usual chatter has been suspended. In fact, there’s little talk at all, other than to have me raise my chin or comment on a makeup technique. It’s nearly lunch when I feel something dripping on my shoulder and turn to find Flavius, who’s snipping away at my hair with silent tears running down his face.

 Why is it the only people who show overt emotions are the “decadent” capitol people?  The “good” people are either stoic or have private blackouts in abandoned houses.

 What do you have against crying, book?

“Well, it’d be a shame to waste such a pretty dress” is all I say.

 But the other five wedding dresses that didn’t get picked, those can be thrown out, no problem.

“Now, Katniss, because this bodice is so fitted, I don’t want you raising your arms above your head. Well, not until you twirl, anyway.”

 This makes no sense.  If she can raise her arms to twirl, then show can raise her arms, period.  I know why he’s saying this, I just don’t know why he can’t say “I planned something special for the audience, so don’t raise your arms until you twirl.”  People are much more likely to follow instructions if they know the logical reason behind them, and there’s no reason to lie to Katniss here.  Especially with such a trance parent lie.

 Oh, who are we kidding.  Katniss isn’t astute enough to pick up on that.  And I guess the book thinks the audience isn’t either.  Isn’t it nice, knowing what the author thinks of your intelligence level?

I realize everyone’s staring daggers at my wedding dress. Are they jealous of its beauty?

 I love how Katniss assumes that everyone is “just jealous.”

I’m confused because, while they all are angry, some are giving us sympathetic pats on the shoulder, and Johanna Mason actually stops to straighten my pearl necklace.

“Make him pay for it, okay?” she says.

 When in fact, it seems like they’re just more upset in general.

 But Katniss is the center of the whole world.  How can they possibly be upset about her dress without it being directed at her, specifically?

Cashmere starts the ball rolling with a speech about how she just can’t stop crying when she thinks of how much the people in the Capitol must be suffering because they will lose us. Gloss recalls the kindness shown here to him and his sister. Beetee questions the legality of the Quell in his nervous, twitchy way, wondering if it’s been fully examined by experts of late. Finnick recites a poem he wrote to his one true love in the Capitol, and about a hundred people faint because they’re sure he means them. By the time Johanna Mason gets up, she’s asking if something can’t be done about the situation. Surely the creators of the Quarter Quell never anticipated such love forming between the victors and the Capitol. No one could be so cruel as to sever such a deep bond. Seeder quietly ruminates about how, back in District 11, everyone assumes President Snow is all-powerful. So if he’s all-powerful, why doesn’t he change the Quell? And Chaff, who comes right on her heels, insists the president could change the Quell if he wanted to, but he must not think it matters much to anyone.

Awww, look at them!  All getting along and working together and actually being defiant.

Shall we recap again?  Fighting in the games and only teaming up when specifically prompted: playing by your own rules.

Standing up and publically questioning the legality of what’s going on, then suggesting that it be stopped: forgotten by the next chapter.

My voice trembles as I speak. “Only that I’m so sorry you won’t get to be at my wedding … but I’m glad you at least get to see me in my dress. Isn’t it just … the most beautiful thing?”

Aaaand then Katniss comes up and talks about clothes.  But don’t worry, she’s not like “those other girls” who always talk about “boys and fashions.”

 Our hero, ladies and gentlemen.

When I hear the screams of the crowd, I think it’s because I must look stunning.

I…just…how…how does someone even get that self centered?

Then I notice something is rising up around me. Smoke. From fire.

And how do you not notice that YOU’RE ON FUCKING FIRE?

Wonderingly, I lift my long, flowing sleeves into the air, and that’s when I see myself on the television screen.

I swear to god, if she looks at herself in a television screen one more time, I’m going to find a way to punch this fictional character.