Hunger Games: Mockingjay Ending (SPOILERS)

[2Friendly]

I never really had a problem with the ending of Mockingjay (if by the ending we're talking about the epilogue) but the first time I read the book I was very disappointed by the fact that had Katniss stayed at District 13, and not gone and tried to kill President Snow, things would've panned out pretty much the same, except that Finnick and about a bazillion other people would never have died. The second time I read it, though, I definitely appreciated it a lot more, since I began to understand the point that Susanne Collins was trying to make about war and suffering, and how you can never know the impact your choices have on your life until you make them. My favourite book of the series is still definitely Catching Fire though.

[colemaba]

I love this series. I just recently reread the series. What I was upset with in Mockingjay was how dead Katniss was in the end. I mean I understand that Prim is gone, and that was her main ray of light, but it was so disappointing that after she was strong for so long, she could break down into nothing. I mean I know she has a breaking point, and that she reached it, but it still made me sad to watch a character that I had grown to love for her strength deteriorate.

[Norma_Rudolph]

Some great food for thought here. I had just written the end off as a disappointment, but now I want to go back and give it another look.

[quill_begotten]

I heard a lot of people complaining about the ending, and I didn't really understand why. Now that I've read this post, their complaints make more sense, but I still think the ending was satisfying. Maybe and Katniss and Peeta didn't get a happily ever after, but this series wasn't a romance series. It had romance in it, but it was (to me, at least) much more about the struggle to survive. After going through so much and losing so many, I don't think either of them could really have a proper happily ever after. That would have thrown me off, while seeing the two of them broken but still surviving fit more with the feeling of the series. After all, a theme I found in the books was about trying to survive the worst because there's the hope that there will be a better future but also because surviving is just what humans do.

And in the end, there was hope. Katniss made a better world for her children, and in the final scene, the children are dancing and carefree in a way she and Prim (and Peeta and Gale and Rue and all the others) were never able to be. The ending can be depressing, but there's still hope in it.

Knowing myself, I probably did get a little more wrapped up in the romance part more than the struggle to survive (though that was a huge reason I liked the series so much as well.) It's true about the children dancing and seeming so carefree, I guess it is all a matter of perspective. I think I can wrap my head around that because then everything they went through doesn't seem to have been in vain.

-- Tue Jul 15, 2014 10:59 am --

I thought it was a perfect ending. Like the ending to 'Breaking Bad'. I, personally, wouldn't change a thing. However it was a very... emotional book, to say the least. I can certainly see where you are coming from, though. Nice review of the book by the way, very well written

Thanks I was an avid watcher of Breaking Bad but was unable to see the last 2 episodes until a couple nights ago. I wasn't completely satisfied with everything in the end but I did like it for the most part, though I wouldn't pair it in the same category as Mockingjay because I definitely wasn't depressed about the ending. I spent my childhood living with a stepfather that was very similar to Walt, and I found the ending to the show very fitting. Jesse's part was great, it was my favorite aspect. I did have some small qualms with some events and there were some things I disliked and probably would have changed but overall I thought it was pretty well done! Mockingjay was disappointing at the time I finished it, however. A second read is in order for me though, and I feel like my mind will be more at ease this time!

-- Tue Jul 15, 2014 11:03 am --

I never really had a problem with the ending of Mockingjay (if by the ending we're talking about the epilogue) but the first time I read the book I was very disappointed by the fact that had Katniss stayed at District 13, and not gone and tried to kill President Snow, things would've panned out pretty much the same, except that Finnick and about a bazillion other people would never have died.

I didn't catch that the first time around, that's a crushing thought. That probably pained Katniss very much if/when she realized it.

-- Tue Jul 15, 2014 11:07 am --

I love this series. I just recently reread the series. What I was upset with in Mockingjay was how dead Katniss was in the end. I mean I understand that Prim is gone, and that was her main ray of light, but it was so disappointing that after she was strong for so long, she could break down into nothing. I mean I know she has a breaking point, and that she reached it, but it still made me sad to watch a character that I had grown to love for her strength deteriorate.

I definitely see your point, this was something else that seriously bothered me. That must be what it's like to see family members who are so changed and effected by war. Knowing now that the author has some family history with Vietnam will help me see the book in a new light when I reread it.

[AryanaMender]

I actually really enjoyed Mockingjay. Suzanne Collins has even said that The Hunger Games was meant to portray what life is like for people during times of war. Anyone who has ever studied wartimes in history will see that even the strongest may break down into nothing after being subjected to severe trauma. And, let's not forget that Katniss didn't just lose Prim--she watched it happen. The only reason she joined the Hunger Games in the first place was gone right before her eyes.

I will actually actually be disappointed if the movie changes the ending, because I feel it needs to be realistic to get the point across. However, I also understand that people read in order to escape reality and sometimes a strong character who can survive anything is just what we need.

[quill_begotten]

@AryanaMender good points!

[hconnellstill]

I truely loved Gale's character and felt the love Katniss had for him. And, like all really good book serise I was sad when the end came, but when it came to Katniss and Peeta ending up together I think it was the right fit. Katniss and Peeta formed a bond in the first book that is hard to break. They experienced so many things together that no one else could really understand besides those who partook in the Hunger Games. Then, there will always be this tension between Gale and Katniss ... Even though Gale didn't mean for Prim to die it happened during his bombing. That isn't something that is soon forgotten. Deep down Gale will always have that guilt and Katniss will always have that resentment. Prim was her reason to live and it was taken away. The Gale/ Katniss relationship would have sadly never worked.

[allesha]

I really enjoyed Mockingjay, including the ending. Yes, it made me cry but I just thought it fit perfectly with the book. I felt like I had closure with the book as well, unlike other series where I feel like the author just wanted to wrap things up.

[hughesj]

Really did not care for the ending. It was weak and did not end this amazing series well. I wish it had finished better

[phases]

I felt the ending was lacking only because in the books it had been building up to only stall. Great ending I think but I felt a little anticlimactic? But having said that, LOVED these books and found it ironic that their children played over the graves of all of those who died.

[gnewburn50]

I thought the Hunger Games book series were very sad and I also felt that the last book in the series left the ending open and kind of hanging. Did you know that Suzanne Collins (Arthur) based her Hunger Games series on the Roman gladiator games and the ruthless practices of the government of Rome? Interesting.....

[quill_begotten]

I thought the Hunger Games book series were very sad and I also felt that the last book in the series left the ending open and kind of hanging. Did you know that Suzanne Collins (Arthur) based her Hunger Games series on the Roman gladiator games and the ruthless practices of the government of Rome? Interesting.....

I actually assumed this while I was reading the books! Especially when I came to the part when Katniss and Peeta are at a party and everyone is taking pills so they can throw up and keep eating more, like the Romans would. The parallels to ancient Rome were partly why I liked the series so much, it had a very real aspect to it. I guess that was why the ending bothered me like it did-the fact that I could see events in the book happening in the real world. If someone survived through so much opposition and so many violent circumstances it's sad to feel like they're never going to be able to fully come to terms even though they overcame it all. Maybe it's silly to think that they even could.

[Ekta75]

I read that book again thinking I might have missed something out that twisted the ending from that what I thought it would be.. guess I am not the only one..

[Books_are_Life]

The ending was very much bitter sweet and heavy on the bitter. While all those tragic things happen and it will always be remembered but the way to honor the memory was sweet. No matter the ending their is always hope for a better life but the horribleness that had happen may happen once again.

[karenj113]

Katniss entered into the Hunger Games in order to save her sister from her likely death if she were to compete. That being said, what I took from the ending (or Prim's death) was that Katniss did everything to save her sister and still lost her, which was why she became a shell of what she once was. Katniss lost her purpose for being a leader and therefore retreated back with Peeta to live out her life which was what Prim could not do.