Background Image
...
Flight Is Essential, But I Can't Let My Fear Show.
-Suzanne Collins
...
Please Wait....
Translating....

Flight Is Essential, But

Suzanne Collins
...
Flight Is Essential, But I Can't Let My Fear Show.

Understanding the Quote: "flight is essential, but i can't let my fear show...."

This quote by Suzanne Collins reflects deeply on the theme of essentials. It connects to the universal human journey of purpose, motivation, and reflection. Often categorized under Essentials, Flight, Hunger, the quote offers insight, emotional clarity, and intellectual inspiration to readers worldwide.

Whether you’re a student exploring new ideas, a leader trying to motivate your team, or someone seeking direction in life — this quote provides value. It resonates because it’s more than words — it’s a bridge between experience and wisdom. It shows how Suzanne Collins interprets life's core challenges and triumphs.

Lessons From the Quote

This quote teaches resilience and focus. It reminds readers that no matter where they stand in life, reflection and self-awareness lead to growth. Each word has meaning, and when studied, it becomes clear how impactful thoughtful language can be.

About Suzanne Collins

Suzanne Collins is celebrated for insightful thoughts on essentials and flight. Their legacy lives on through writings that guide, comfort, and inspire. Discover more on their profile page.

Actionable Takeaways

  • Reflect on how this quote applies to your current life path.
  • Share the message with someone who needs inspiration.
  • Write your thoughts on this quote in a journal or blog post.
  • Use it as a daily affirmation or reminder.

Closing Thoughts

Quotes like this endure because they capture universal truths. They comfort us in solitude and empower us in groups. Carry this quote forward — live by its wisdom, share its message, and keep its essence alive.

Views: 6
Topic
Essentials
Flight
Hunger
More From Suzanne Collins
I Must Have Loved You A Lot.
Mockingjay
Peeta
The Anguish I Always Feel When She's In Pain Wells Up In My Chest And Threatens To Register On My Face.
Sister
Pain
Faces
Here, Cover Yourself With This And I'll Wash Your Shorts." "oh, I Don't Care If You See Me," Says Peeta.
Care
Shorts
Ifs
I Miss Home Badly Sometimes. But Then I Remember There's Nothing Left To Miss Anymore. I Feel Safer Here.
Home
Missing
Remember
I Realize, For The First Time, How Very Lonely I've Been In The Arena. How Comforting The Presence Of Another Human Being Can Be.
Lonely
Comforting
Firsts
Hey, Finnick, Come On In! We Figured Out How To Make You Pretty Again!
Hey
Finnick
So People Really Do Tear Out Their Hair And Beat The Ground With Their Fists
Hair
People
Tears
I Can See The First Apple Teetering When I Let The Third Arrow Go, Catching The Torn Flap And Ripping It From The Bag. For A Moment, Everything Seems Frozen In Time. Then The Apples Spill To The Ground And I'm Blown Backward Into The Air.
Air
Apples
Arrows
Don't Let Him Take You From Me.
Katniss And Peeta
Katniss Peeta
Mockingjay
Mutually Counting On Each Other, Watching Each Other's Backs, Forcing Each Other To Be Brave.
Brave
Be Brave
Counting
Yes, They Have To Have A Victor. Without A Victor, The Whole Thing Would Blow Up In The Gamemakers' Faces. They'd Have Failed The Capitol. Might Possibly Even Be Executed, Slowly And Painfully, While The Cameras Broadcast It To Every Screen In The Country.
Country
Blow
Might
I Carefully Lay Out The Provisions. One Thin Black Sleeping Bag That Reflects Body Heat. A Pack Of Crackers. A Pack Of Dried Beef Strips. A Bottle Of Iodine. A Box Of Wooden Matches. A Small Coil Of Wire. A Pair Of Sunglasses. And A Half-gallon Plastic Bottle With A Cap For Carrying Water That's Bone Dry. No Water. How Hard Would It Have Been For Them To Fill Up The Bottle?
Sleep
Iodine
Water
Vikus Looked At Luxa And Opened His Arms. She Stood, Still Frozen, Staring At Him As If He Were A Complete Stranger. "luxa, It's Your Grandpa," Said Gregor. It Seemed Like The Best And Most Important Thing To Say At The Moment. "it's Your Grandpa." Luxa Blinked. A Tiny Tear Formed At The Corner Of Her Eye. A Battle Took Place On Her Face As She Tried To Stop The Feelings Rising Up Inside Her. The Feelings Won, And To Gregor's Great Relief, She Ran Into Vikus's Arms.
Eye
Rising Up
Grandpa
When I Break Into The Clearing, She's On The Ground, Hopelessly Entangled In A Net. She Just Has The Time To Reach Her Hand Through The Mesh And Say My Name Before The Spear Enters Her Body.
Hands
Names
Body
I Drink In His Wholeness, The Soudness Of His Body And Mind. It Runs Through Me Like The Morphling They Give Me In The Hospital, Dulling The Pain Of The Last Weeks.
Running
Pain
Giving
Finnick?" I Say, "maybe Some Pants?" He Looks Down At His Legs As If Noticing His Outfit For The First Time. Then He Whips Off His Hospital Gown Leaving Him In Just His Underwear. "why? Do You Find This" -- He Strikes A Ridiculously Provocative Pose -- "distracting?" I Laugh. Boggs Looks Embarrassed And Finnick Looks More Like The Guy I Met At The Quarter Quell
Laughing
Guy
Leaving
Remember, Girl On Fire,” He Says, “i'm Still Betting On You.
Girl
Fire
Remember
Katniss Everdeen, The Girl Who Was On Fire, You Have Provided A Spark That, Left Unattended, May Grow To An Inferno That Destroys Panem," He Says.
Girl
Fire
Catching On
I Can Hear Him Weeping But I Don't Care. They Probably Won't Even Bother To Question Her, She's So Far Gone. Gone Right Off The Deep End Years Ago In Her Games. There's A Good Chance I'm Headed In The Same Direction. Maybe I'm Already Going Crazy And No One Has The Heart To Tell Me. I Feel Crazy Enough.
Crazy
Heart
Years
I Take Peeta's Face In My Hands. "don't Worry. I'll See You At Midnight.
Hands
Worry
Midnight
My Lips Are Just Forming His Name When His Fingers Lock Around My Throat.
Names
Locks
Lips
Want A Sugar Cube?" He Asks In His Old Seductive Voice. That's How We Met, With Finnick Offering Me Sugar. Surrounded By Horses And Chariots, Costumed And Painted For The Crowds, Before We Were Allies. Before I Had Any Idea What Made Him Tick. The Memory Actually Coaxes A Smile Out Of Me. "here, It Improves The Taste," He Says In His Real Voice, Plunking Three Cubes Into My Cup.
Horse
Memories
Real
I Mourn My Old Life Here. We Barely Scraped By, But I Knew Where I Fit In, I Knew What My Place Was In The Tightly Interwoven Fabric That Was Our Life. I Wish I Could Go Back To It Because, In Retrospect, It Seems So Secure Compared To Now, When I Am So Rich And Famous And So Hated By The Authorities In The Capitol.
Wish
Fabric
Retrospect
You're Punishing Him Over And Over For Things That Are Out Of His Control. Now, I'm Not Saying You Shouldn't Have A Fully Loaded Weapon Next To You Round The Clock. But I Think It's Time You Flipped This Little Scenario In Your Head. If You'd Been Taken By The Capitol, And Hijacked, And Then Tried To Kill Peeta, Is This The Way He Would Be Treating You?" Demands Haymitch. I Fall Silent. It Isn't. It Isn't How He Would Be Treating Me At All. He Would Be Trying To Get Me Back At Any Cost. Not Shutting Me Out, Abandoning Me, Greeting Me With Hostility At Every Turn.
Fall
Taken
Thinking
You Know, You Could Live A Thousand Lifetimes And Not Deserve Him.
Catching On
Catching Fire
Lifetime
Positioned On My Dresser, That White-as-snow Rose Is A Personal Message To Me. It Speaks Of Unfinished Business. It Whispers, I Can Find You. I Can Reach You. Perhaps I Am Watching You Now.
Unfinished Business
President Snow
White
Since Mags Seems To Have No Ill Effects From The Nuts, Peeta Collects Bunches Of Them And Fries Them By Bouncing Them Off The Force Field.
Force Fields
Nuts
Mags
I Wish She Was Dead,' He Says. 'i Wish They Were All Dead And We Were, Too. It Would Be Best.
Wish
Would Be
Finnick
I Search His Eyes For The Slightest Sign Of Anything, Fear, Remorse, Anger. But There's Only The Same Look Of Amusement That Ended Our Last Conversation. It's As If He's Speaking The Words Again. "oh, My Dear Miss Everdeen. I Thought We Had Agreed Not To Lie To Each Other." He's Right. We Did. The Point Of My Arrow Shifts Upward. I Release The String. And President Coin Collapses Over The Side Of The Balcony And Plunges To The Ground. Dead.
Lying
Eye
Arrows
It's There. The White Rose Among The Dried Flowers In The Vase. Shriveled And Fragile, But Holding On To That Unnatural Perfection Cultivated In Snows Greenhouse. I Grab The Vase, Stumble Down To The Kitchen, And Throw Its Contents Into The Embers. As The Flowers Flare Up, A Burst Of Blue Flame Envelops The Rose And Devours It. Fire Beats Roses Again.
Flower
Fire
Blue
Yes, And I’m Sure The Arena Will Be Full Of Bags Of Flour For Me To Chuck At People.
People
Bags
Arena
Tuck In Your Tail, Little Duck.
Ducks
Tails
Littles
Let Them Go, I Tell Myself. Say Good-bye And Forget Them. I Do My Best, Thinking Of Them One By One, Releasing Them Like Birds From The Protective Cages Inside Me, Locking The Doors Against Their Return.
Thinking
Doors
Bye
My Mother Just Wanted Me To Forget It. So, Of Course, Every Word Was Immediately, Irrevocably Branded Into My Brain.
Mother
Brain
Forget
Oh, Well. At Least My Blood Is Flowing.
Blood
Oh Well
Wells
Winning The Games Will Make You Famous, Losing Will Mean Death.
Mean
Winning
Games
And Then, When He’s Been Underwater So Long I Feel Certain He’s Drowned, His Head Pops Up Right Next To Me And I Start. “don’t Do That,” I Say. “what? Come Up Or Stay Under?” He Says. “either. Neither. Whatever
Long
Underwater
Next
If It's True, Why Do They Leave Us To Live Like This? With The Hunger And The Killings And The Games?" And Suddenly I Hate This Imaginary Underground City Of District 13 And Those Who Sit By, Watching Us Die. They're No Better Than The Capitol.
Hate
Games
Cities
You're Not Afraid I'll Kill You Tonight?" "like I Couldn't Take You.
Tonight
Not Afraid
You Could Do A Lot Worse.
I’ve Stopped Talking Because There’s Really Nothing Left To Say And There’s This Piercing Sort Of Pain Where My Heart Is. Maybe I’m Even Having A Heart Attack, But It Doesn’t Seem Worth Mentioning.
Pain
Heart
Talking
As The Alcohol Overcomes My Mind, I Hear The Glass Bottle Shatter On The Floor. This Seems Appropriate Since I Have Obviously Lost My Grip On Everything.
Glasses
Alcohol
Mind
I Flee What I Can't Fight. What Can Only Do Me Harm.
Fighting
Harm
I Can
The Main Thing I Feel Is A Sense Of Relief. That I Can Give Up This Game. That The Question Of Whether I Can Succeed In This Venture Has Been Answered, Even If That Answer Is A Resounding No. That If Desperate Times Call For Desperate Measures, I Am Free To Act As Desperately As I Want.
Giving Up
Desperate Measures
Games
Not Daring To Flee Since My General Location Has Just Been Broadcast To Any Killer Who Cares. I Mean, I Know It's Cold Out Here And Not Everybody Has A Sleeping Bag.
Mean
Sleep
Who Cares
I Trusted Him. I Put What Was Precious In Haymitch's Hands. & He Has Betrayed Me
Hands
Betrayed
Trusted
Desperate, Yet No Longer Alone After That Day, Because We'd Found Each Other.
Desperate
Found
There's Plenty Of Blame To Go Around.
Blame
Plenty
We Have To Joke About It Because The Alternative Is To Be Scared
Alternatives
Scared
Jokes
No, It Happened. And Right When Your Song Ended, I Knew - Just Like Your Mother - I Was A Goner,' Peeta Says.
Mother
Song
Katniss
We Had To Save You Because You're The Mockingjay, Katniss," Says Plutarch. "while You Live, The Revolution Lives.
Katniss
Revolution
Mockingjay
It Means Thanks, It Means Admiration, It Means Good-bye To Someone You Love.
Mean
Games
Bye
Each Time I Wake,i Think, At Last, This Is Over, But It Isn't.
Thinking
Lasts
I'm Not Allowed To Bet, But If I Could, My Money Would Be On You.
Games
Would Be
If I Could
But In School I Remember Hearing That For The Second Quarter Quell, The Capitol Demanded That Twice The Number Of Tributes Be Provided For The Arena. The Teachers Didn't Go Into Much More Detail, Which Is Surprising, Because That Was The Year District 12's Very Own Haymitch Abernathy Won The Crown.
Teacher
School
Years
He Never Lets Go Of Annie's Hand. Not When They Walk, Not When They Eat. I Doubt He Ever Plans To.
Letting Go
Hands
Doubt
Deep In The Meadow , Under The Willow , A Bed Of Grass , A Soft Green Pillow
Bed
Green
Grass
It'd Be Better If He Were Easier To Hate.
Hate
Easier
Ifs
Ripred Sighed. 'i Suppose So. You And I Seem To End Up Doing Everything. Shall We Say Four Members For Each Delegation?' 'why Not?' Luxa Said. 'four Can Be As Stupid As Ten. No Need To Crowd The Room.' Ripred Laughed. 'you Know, I Think You An I Are Going To Get On Famously.
Stupid
Thinking
Needs
It's Funny, Because Even Though They're Rattling On About The Games, It's All About Where They Were Or What They Were Doing Or How They Felt When A Specific Event Occurred. . . . Everything Is About Them, Not The Dying Boys And Girls In The Arena
Girl
Boys
Games
Rue, Who When You Ask Her What She Loves Most In The World, Replies, Of All Things, “music.
World
Rue
All Things
Something Inside Me Twists As I Remember Another Voice. Rue. In The Arena. When I Gave Her The Leg Of Groosling. “oh, I've Never Had A Whole Leg To Myself Before.” The Disbelief Of The Chronically Hungry.
Voice
Twists
Legs
My Sleep Wasn't Peaceful, Though. I Have The Sense Of Emerging From A World Of Dark, Haunted Places Where I Traveled Alone.
Sleep
Dark
Peaceful
Ladies And Gentlemen....." His Voice Is Quiet, But Mine Rings Through The Room. "let The Seventy-sixth Hunger Games Begin!
Games
Voice
Gentleman
Because I'm Selfish. I'm A Coward. I'm The Kind Of Girl Who, When She Might Actually Be Of Use, Would Run To Stay Alive And Leave Those Who Couldn't Follow To Suffer And Die.
Girl
Running
Selfish
I Look Down At Our Linked Fingers As I Loosen My Grasp, But He Regains His Grip On Me. “no, Don’t Let Go Of Me,” He Says.
Letting Go
Looks
Fingers
But After Several Hours, I Go Anyway, Walking In Silent Sock Feet, So As Not To Awaken The Ghosts.
Feet
Ghost
Silent
I Turn And Put My Lips Close To Peeta's And Drop My Eyelids In Imitation... "he Offered Me Sugar And Wanted To Know All My Secrets," I Say In My Best Seductive Voice.
Voice
Seductive
Secret
The Sun Persists In Rising, So I Make Myself Stand
Rising
Sun
Persist
Come On And Eat With Him. I Promise, I Won't Let Him Kiss You Again.
Kissing
Promise
I Promise
A Spark Could Be Enough To Set Them Ablaze.
Sparks
Enough
Yeah, We Wouldn't Want To Lose Our Little Mockingjay When She's Finally Begun To Sing.
Want
Littles
Yeah
Courage Only Counts When You Can Count.
My Words Hang In The Air. I Look To The Screen, Hoping To See Them Recording Some Wave Of Reconciliation Going Through The Crowd. Instead I Watch Myself Get Shot On Television.
Air
Watches
Looks
Don't You See, Katniss, This Will Decide Things. One Way Or The Other. By The End Of The Day, They'll Ether Be Dead Or With Us. It's...it's More Than We Could Hope For! Well, That's A Sunny View Of Our Situation.
Views
Katniss
The End Of The Day
In Stark Contrast To Two Nights Ago, When I Felt Peeta Was A Million Miles Away, I'm Struck By His Immediacy Now. As We Settle In, He Pulls My Head Down To Use His Arm As A Pillow; The Other Rests Protectively Over Me Even When He Goes To Sleep. No One Has Held Me Like This In Such A Long Time. Since My Father Died And I Stopped Trusting My Mother, No One Else's Arms Have Made Me Feel This Safe.
Mother
Father
Sleep
But Don't Worry; As I've Been Saying - And This Has Been Very Clever Of Me, I'm Sure You'll Agree - If You Put Enough Pressure On Coal, It'll Turn To Pearls!
Clever
Worry
Coal
Haymitch In My Head Full-time. Horrifying
Haymitch
I Don't Know What It Is With Finnick And Bread, But He Seems Obsessed With Handling It.
Bread
Obsessed
Finnick
Something Small And Quiet, Like A Match Being Struck, Lights Up The Gloom Inside Of Me.
Depression
Light
Quiet
I’m In Pain. That’s The Only Way I Get Your Attention
Pain
Attention
Way
Remember, We're Madly In Love, So It's All Right To Kiss Me Anytime You Feel Like It.
Humor
Kissing
Hunger For Love
I Roll My Eyes. "so When Did I Become So Special? When They Carted Me Off To The Capitol?" "no, About Six Months Before That. Right After New Year's. We Were In The Hob, Eating Some Slop Of Greasy Sae's. And Darius Was Teasing You About Trading A Rabbit For One Of His Kisses. And I Realized...i Minded.
New Year
Eye
Kissing
What Will Break Me Into A Million Pieces So That I Am Beyond Repair, Beyond Usefulness?
Pieces
Break
Millions
Cleaning Me Up Is Just A Preliminary Step To Determining My New Look. With My Acid-damaged Hair, Sunburned Skin, And Ugly Scars, The Prep Team Has To Make Me Pretty And Then Damage, Burn, And Scare Me In A More Attractive Way.
Team
Hair
Skins
They're A Little Strange, But I'm Pretty Sure Neither Of Them Is Going To Try To Make Me Uncomfortable By Stripping Naked.
Trying
Naked
Littles
What Does This Mean? It Means I Get To Spend The Morning Having The Hair Ripped Off My Body While Peeta Sleeps In.
Morning
Mean
Sleep
No Wonder I Won The Games. No Decent Person Ever Does.
Catching On
Games
Catching Fire
You'd Have Thought We Planned It," Says Peeta, Giving Me Just The Hint Of A Smile. "didn't You?" Asks Portia. Her Fingers Press Her Eyelids Closed As If She's Warding Off A Very Bright Light. "no," I Say Looking At Peeta With A New Sense Of Apreciation. "neither Of Us Even Knew What We Were Going To Do Before We Went In." "and Haymitch?" Says Peeta. "we Decided We Don't Want Any Other Allies In The Arena." "good. Then I Won't Be Responsible For You Killing Off Any Of My Friends With Your Stupidity," He Says.
Light
Giving
Stupidity
I'm Trying To Think Of A Witty Comeback, When Boggs Says Brusquely, “well, Don't Expect Us To Be Too Impressed. We Just Saw Finnick Odair In His Underwear.” I Decide To Go Ahead And Like Boggs.
Witty
Thinking
Trying
All I Can Think Of Is The Emaciated Bodies Of Children On Our Kitchen Table As My Mother Prescribes What The Parent's Can't Give. More Food.
Mother
Children
Thinking
The Ones I Loved Fly As Birds In The Open Sky Above Me. Soaring, Weaving, Calling To Me To Join Them. I Want So Badly To Follow Them, But The Seawater Saturates My Wings, Making It Impossible To Lift Them. The Ones I Hated Have Taken To The Water, Horrible Scaled Things That Tear My Salty Flesh With Needle Teeth. Biting Again And Again. Dragging Me Beneath The Surface.
Taken
Sky
Wings
Tonight. After The Reaping, Everyone Is Supposed To Celebrate. And A A Lot Of People Do, Out Of Relief That Their Children Have Been Spared For Another Year. But At Least Two Families Will Pull Their Shutters, Lock Their Doors, And Try To Figure Out How They Will Survive The Painful Weeks To Come.
Children
Doors
Years
And Then It Happens. Up And Down The Row, The Victors Begin To Join Hands. Some Right Away, Like The Morphlings, Or Wiress And Beetee. Others Unsure But Caught Up In The Demands Of Those Around Them, Like Brutus And Enobaria. By The Time The Anthem Plays Its Final Strains, All Twenty-four Of Us Stand In One Unbroken Line In What Must Be The First Public Show Of Unity Among The Districts Since The Dark Days. You Can See The Realization Of This As The Screens Begin To Pop Into Blackness. It's Too Late, Though. In The Confusion They Didn't Cut Us Off In Time. Everyone Has Seen.
Cutting
Dark
Hands
So We Both Strip Off Our Boots And Socks And, While There’s Some Improvement, I Could Swear He’s Making An Effort To Snap Every Branch We Encounter
Effort
Encounters
Boots
As Coal Pressured Into Pearls By Our Weighty Existence. Beauty That Arose Out Of Pain.
Pain
Coal
Pearls
What Do You Think?" I Whisper To Peeta. "about The Fire?" "i'll Rip Off Your Cape If You'll Rip Off Mine," He Says Through Gritted Teeth.
Rip
Thinking
Fire
I Don't Have A Talent, Unless You Count Hunting Illegally, Which They Don't. Or Maybe Singing, Which I Wouldn't Do For The Capitol In A Million Years. My Mother Tried To Interest Me In A Variety Of Suitable Alternatives From A List Effie Trinket Sent Her. Cooking, Flower Arranging, Playing The Flute. None Of Them Took, Although Prim Had A Knack For All Three. Finally Cinna Stepped In And Offered To Help Me Develop My Passion For Designing Clothes, Which Really Required Development Since It Was Non-existent.
Mother
Flower
Passion
Buttercup, Miserable Even With Prim’s Constant Attention, Huddles In The Cube And Exhales Cat Breath In My Face.
Cat
Attention
Cubes
So I Only Say, "so What Should We Do With Our Last Few Days?" "i Just Want To Spend Every Possible Minute Of The Rest Of My Life With You," Peeta Replies.
Catching Fire
Want
Lasts
How About You, Mockingjay? You Feel Totally Safe?” “oh, Yeah. Right Up Until I Got Shot,” I Say.
Safe
Yeah
Shots
Remember, Heads High. Smiles. They're Going To Love You!
Love You
Remember
Cinna
By The End Of The Session, I Am No One At All. Haymitch Started Drinking Somewhere Around Witty, And A Nasty Edge Has Crept Into His Voice. "i Give Up, Sweetheart. Just Answer The Questions And Try Not To Let The Audience See How Openly You Despise Them.
Witty
Giving Up
Drinking
It's As If I'm Finnick, Watching Images Of My Life Flash By. The Mast Of A Boat, A Silver Parachute, Mags Laughing, A Pink Sky, Beetee's Trident, Annie In Her Wedding Dress, Waves Breaking Over Rocks. Then Its Over.
Rocks
Sky
Waves Breaking
Roses. Wolf Mutts. Tributes. Frosted Dolphins. Friends. Mockingjays. Stylists. Me. Everything Screams In My Dreams Tonight.
Dream
Rose
Dolphins
Kind People Have A Way Of Working Their Way Inside Me And Rooting There.
People
Way
Kind
But There's Food If You Know How To Find It. My Father Knew And He Taught Me Some Before He Was Blown To Bits In A Mine Explosion. There Was Nothing Even To Bury. I Was Eleven Then. Five Years Later, I Still Wake Up Screaming For Him To Run.
Running
Father
Years
Stupid People Are Dangerous.
Stupid
Stupid People
People
Ll I Can Think About, Every Day, Every Waking Minute Since They Drew Prim's Name At The Reaping, Is How Afraid I Am.
Thinking
Names
Waking
Peeta Smiles At Me, Sad And Mocking. "okay. Thanks For The Tip, Sweetheart.
Thanks
Sweetheart
Okay
The Raw Hunk Of Meat That Used To Be My Enemy Makes A Sound, And I Know Where The Mouth Is. And I Think The Word He's Trying To Say Is 'please'. Pity, Not Vengeance Sends My Arrow Flying Into His Skull.
Thinking
Skulls
Arrows
It Takes Ten Times As Long To Put Yourself Back Together As It Does To Fall Apart.
Life
Fall
I Hate You
Listen Up. You're In Trouble. Word Is The Capitol's Furious About You Showing Them Up In The Arena. The One Thing They Can't Stand Is Being Laughed At And They're The Joke Of Panem
Arena
Hunger
Trouble
Taking The Kids From Our Districts, Forcing Them To Kill One Another While We Watch – This Is The Capitol’s Way Of Reminding Us How Totally We Are At Their Mercy.
Kids
Watches
Way
If I'm Going To Die, I Want To Still Be Me
Want
Stills
Dies
Then I Dive Into My Tent Before I Do Something Stupid Like Cry.
Stupid
Tents
Cry
It's Meant To Be Pretty," Whispers Octavia, And I Can See The Tears Threatening To Spill Over Her Lashes. Posy Considers This And Says Matter-of-factly, "i Think You'd Be Pretty In Any Color." The Tiniest Of Smiles Forms On Octavia's Lips. "thank You.
Thinking
Color
Tears
You Know, I Think This Is The First Time We've Ever Done Anything Normal Together.
Thinking
Together
Done
Never Having Been In Love, This Is Going To Be A Real Trick. I Think Of My Parents. The Way My Father Never Failed To Bring Her Gifts From The Woods. The Way My Mother's Face Would Light Up At The Sound Of His Boots At The Door. The Way She Almost Stopped Living When He Died.
Mother
Father
Real
But I Feel As If I Did Know Rue, And She'll Always Be With Me. Everything Beautiful Brings Her To Mind. I See Her In The Yellow Flowers That Grow In The Meadow By My House. I See Her In The Mockingjays That Sing In The Trees. But Most Of All, I See Her In My Sister, Prim.
Beautiful
Flower
Yellow
I'm Almost There, Almost To The Barricade, When I Thinks She Hears Me. Because For Just A Moment, She Catches Sight Of Me, Her Lips Form My Name. And That's When The Rest Of The Parachutes Go Off.
Thinking
Sight
Names
I Can't Argue That Finnick Isn't One Of The Most Stunning, Sensuous People On The Planet. But I Can Honestly Say He's Never Been Attractive To Me. Maybe He's Too Pretty, Or Maybe He's Too Easy To Get, Or Maybe It's Really That He'd Just Be Too Easy To Lose.
People
Arguing
Easy
Every Day When I Wake I Tell Myself That It Will Be My Last. If You Are Not Trying To Hold On To Time, You Are Not So Afraid Of Losing It... And Then, If You Make It To Bedtime, You Feel The Joy Of Cheating Death Out Of One More Day.
Cheating
Joy
Trying
Whatever The Opposite Of Fine Is, That's What I Am.
Opposites
Fine
They Recognize Me. Of Course They Recognize Me. My Face Is Uncovered And I'm Standing Here Outside Of District 12 Pointing An Arrow At Them. Who Else Would I Be?
Arrows
Faces
District 12
What? My Head Doctor Says I'm Not Supposed To Censor My Thoughts. It's Part Of My Therapy.
Doctors
My Thoughts
Therapy
I Think We Put Our Children At An Enormous Disadvantage By Not Educating Them In War, By Not Letting Them Understand About It At An Early Age.
Children
War
Thinking
I Pull An Arrow, Whip The Notch Into Place, And Am About To Let It Fly When I'm Stopped By The Sight Of Finnick Kissing Peeta. And It's So Bizarre, Even For Finnick.
Kissing
Sight
Arrows
In Really Bad Times, The Hungriest Would Gather At His Door At Nightfall, Vying For The Chance To Earn A Few Coins To Feed Their Families By Selling Their Bodies. Had I Been Older When My Father Died, I Might Have Been Among Them. Instead I Learned To Hunt.
Father
Doors
Coins
Warmblood Now A Bloodborne Death, Will Rob Your Body Of It's Breath Mark Your Skin And Seal Your Fate The Underland Becomes A Plate
Fate
Skins
Body
Director Gary Ross Has Created An Adaptation That Is Faithful In Both Narrative And Theme, But He's Also Brought A Rich And Powerful Vision Of Panem, Its Brutality And Excesses, To The Film As Well. His World Building's Fantastic, Whether It Be The Seam Or The Capitol.
Powerful
Faithful
Vision
Sometimes Things Happen To People And They're Not Equipped To Deal With Them.
Catching On
People
Catching Fire
I Cover My Face With My Arms Because This Isn't Happening. It Isn't Possible. For Someone To Make Peeta Forget He Loves Me . . . No One Can Do That.
Arms
Faces
Forget
And So I'm Stupid For Thinking They Might Be Useful. Because Of Something Johanna Mason Said While She Was Oiling Her Breasts For Wrestling.
Stupid
Wrestling
Thinking
Aren't They The Very Reason I Have To Try To Fight? Because What Has Been Done To Them Is So Wrong, So Beyond Justification, So Evil That There Is No Choice? Because No One Has The Right To Treat Them As They Have Been Treated?
Fighting
Evil
Choices
The More Likable He Is, The More Deadly He Is.” -katniss Everdeen
Katniss
Hunger Games Book
Capitol In Hunger Games
The Glue Of Mutual Need That Bonded Us So Tightly Together For All Those Years Is Melting Away. Dark Patches, Not Light, Show In The Spaces Between Us.
Dark
Space
Light
As We Trudge Back Through The Woods, We Reach A Boulder, And Both Gale And I Turn Our Heads In The Same Direction, Like A Pair Of Dogs Catching A Scent On The Wind. Cressida Notices And Asks What Lies That Way. We Admit, Without Acknowledging Each Other, It's Our Old Hunting Rendez-vous Place. She Wants To See It, Even After We Tell Her It's Nothing Really. Nothing But A Place Where I Was Happy, I Think.
Dog
Lying
Thinking
Let The Hunger Games Begin!
Games
Hunger
One More Time? For The Audience?" He Says. His Voice Isn't Angry. It's Hollow, Which Is Worse. Already The Boy With The Bread Is Slipping Away From Me. I Take His Hand, Holding On Tightly, Preparing For The Cameras, And Dreading The Moment When I Will Finally Have To Let Go.
Letting Go
Boys
Hands
We Fight, We Dare, We End Our Hunger For Justice.
Fighting
Justice
Hunger
Just Give Him The Medicine!" I Scream At Her. "give It To Him! Who Are You, Anyway, To Decide How Much Pain He Can Stand!
Pain
Medicine
Giving
Yes, Frosting. The Final Defense Of The Dying.
Humor
Dying
Finals
No One Will Forget Me. Not My Look, Not My Name. Katniss. The Girl Who Was On Fire.
Girl
Fire
Names
You're Still Trying To Protect Me. Real Or Not Real," He Whispers. "real," I Answer. "because That's What You And I Do, Protect Each Other.
Real
Katniss
Trying
Since My Father Died And I Stopped Trusting My Mother, No One Else's Arms Have Made Me Feel This Safe.
Mother
Father
Safe
"i Don't Know How To Say It Exactly. Only... I Want To Die As Myself. Does That Make Any Sense?" He Asks. I Shake My Head. How Could He Die As Anyone But Himself. "i Don't Want Them To Change Me In There. Turn Me Into Some Kind Of Monster That I'm Not."
Monsters
Doe
Want
I Think Of The Snarling, Cruel Exchange Back On The Hovercraft. The Bitterness That Followed. But All I Say Is "i Can't Believe You Didn't Rescue Peeta." "i Know," He Replies. There's A Sense Of Incompleteness. And Not Because He Hasn't Apologized. But Because We Were A Team. We Had A Deal To Keep Peeta Safe. A Drunken, Unrealistic Deal Made In The Dark Of Night, But A Deal Just The Same. And In My Heart Of Hearts, I Know We Both Failed. "now You Say It," I Tell Him. "i Can't Believe You Let Him Out Of Your Sight That Night," Says Haymitch.
Team
Believe
Heart
They Don't Know That I'm Already Asking For The Moon.
Moon
Asking
Knows
Not Like This. He Wanted It To Be Real.
Love
Real
Wanted
At The Moment, The Choice Would Be Simple. I Can Survive Just Fine Without Either Of Them.
Simple
Choices
Would Be
Just The Perfect Touch Of Rebellion," Says Haymitch "very Nice." Rebellion?
Nice
Perfect
Rebellion
I Don’t Want Anyone With Me Today. Not Even Him. Some Walks You Have To Take Alone.
Want
Today
Walks
I Raise My Left Arm And Twist My Neck Down To Rip Off The Pill On My Sleeve. Instead My Teeth Sink Into Flesh. I Yank My Head Back In Confusion To Find Myself Looking Into Peeta’s Eyes, Only Now They Hold My Gaze. Blood Runs From The Teeth Marks On The Hand He Clamped Over My Nightlock. “let Me Go!” I Snarl At Him, Trying To Wrest My Arm From His Grasp. “i Can’t,” He Says.
Running
Rip
Eye
I Can’t Fight The Sun. I Can Only Watch Helplessly As It Drags Me Into A Day That I’ve Been Dreading For Months. Katniss Everdeen
Fighting
Katniss
Watches
Beetee Is Still Messing Round The Tree, Doing I Don't Know What. At One Point He Snaps Off A Sliver Of Bark, Joins Us, And Throws It Against The Force Field. It Bounces Back And Lands On The Ground, Glowing. In A Few Moments It Returns To Its Original Color. "well, That Explains A Lot," Says Beetee. I Look At Peeta And Can't Help Biting My Lip To Keep From Laughing Since It Explains Absolutely Nothing To Anyone But Beetee.
Color
Land
Force Fields
No Matter What I Do, I'm Hurting Someone." - Katniss Everdeen
Hurt
Katniss
Matter
Then, In My Most Careful Handwriting, Come All The Details It Would Be A Crime To Forget. Lady Licking Prim's Cheek. My Father's Laugh. Peeta's Father With The Cookies. The Colour Of Finnick's Eyes. What Cinna Could Do With A Length Of Silk. Boggs Reprogramming The Holo. Rue Poised On Her Toes, Arms Slightly Extended, Like A Bird About To Take Flight. On And On. We Seal The Pages With Salt Water And Promises To Live Well To Make Their Death Count.
Father
Eye
Water
You’ve Got About As Much Charm As A Dead Slug.
Slugs
Hunger
Charm
How Did Rue End Up On That Stage With Nothing But The Wind Offering To Take Her Place?
Offering
Wind
Rue
Peeta Smiles And Douses Haymitch's Knife In White Liquor From A Bottle On The Floor. He Wipes The Blade Clean On His Shirt Tail And Slices The Bread. Peeta Keeps All Of Us In Fresh Baked Goods. I Hunt. He Bakes. Haymitch Drinks. We Have Our Own Ways To Stay Busy, To Keep Thought Of Our Time As Contestants In The Hunger Games At Bay.
Knives
Games
White
When I Wake, I Have A Brief, Delicious Feeling Of Happiness That Is Somehow Connected With Peeta. Happiness, Of Course, Is A Complete Absurdity At This Point, Since At The Rate Things Are Going, I'll Be Dead In A Day. And That's The Best-case Scenario, If I'm Able To Eliminate The Rest Of The Field, Including Myself, And Get Peeta Crowned As The Winner Of The Quarter Quell. Still, The Sensation's So Unexpected And Sweet I Cling To It, If Only For A Few Moments. Before The Gritty Sand, The Hot Sun, And My Itching Skin Demand A Return To Reality.
Sweet
Reality
Feelings
Whose Is It, Do You Think?" I Say Finally. "no Telling," Says Finnick. "why Don't We Let Peeta Claim It, Since He Died Today?
Thinking
Today
Claims
We Could Do It, You Know.
Gale Hawthorne
Knows
I Send A Silent Thank-you To Dalton For Suggesting I Wash Off The Makeup. How Ridiculous, How Perverse I Would Feel Presenting That Painted Capitol Mask To These People. The Damage, The Fatigue, The Imperfections. That's How They Recognize Me, Why I Belong To Them.
Makeup
People
Imperfection
I Clench His Hands To The Point Of Pain. "stay With Me." His Pupils Contract To Pinpoints, Dialate Again Rapidly, And Then Return To Something Resembling Normalcy. "always," He Murmurs.
Pain
Hands
Normalcy
Enobaria Smiles At Johanna. 'don't Look So Smug,' Says Johanna. 'we'll Kill You Anyway.
Looks
I Swing My Arms To Loosen Myself Up. Place My Fists On My Hips. Then Drop Them To My Sides. Saliva's Filling My Mouth At A Ridiculous Rate And I Feel Vomit At The Back Of My Throat. I Swallow Hard And Open My Lips So I Can Get The Stupid Line Out And Go Hide In The Woods And-that's When I Start Crying.
Stupid
Swings
Mouths
The Bird, The Pin, The Song, The Berries, The Watch, The Cracker, The Dress That Burst Into Flames. I Am The Mockingjay. The One That Survived Despite The Capitol's Plans. The Symbol Of The Rebellion.
Song
Catching On
Flames
I Look At Peeta And He Gives Me A Sad Smile. I Hear Haymitch's Voice. "you Could Do A Lot Worse." At This Moment, It's Impossible To Imagine How I Could Do Any Better. The Gift...it Is Perfect. So When I Rise Up On My Tiptoe To Kiss Him, It Doesn't Seem Forced At All.
Kissing
Voice
Giving
Something Inside Me Shuts Down And I'm Too Numb To Feel Anything. It's Like Watching Complete Strangers In Another Hunger Games. But I Do Notice They Omit The Part Where I Covered Her In Flowers. Right. Because Even That Smacks Of Rebellion.
Flower
Games
Down And
The Question Is, What Are You Going To Do?" It Turns Out The Question That's Been Eating Away At Me Has Only Ever Had One Possible Answer. But It Took Peeta's Ploy For Me To Recognize It. What Am I Going To Do? I Take A Deep Breath. My Arms Rise Slightly - As If Recalling The Black-and-white Wings Cinna Gave Me - Then Come To Rest At My Sides. "i'm Going To Be The Mockingjay.
Black And White
Wings
Answers
All Around The Dining Hall, You Can Feel The Rejuvenating Effect That A Good Meal Can Bring On. The Way It Can Make People Kinder, Funnier, More Optimistic, And Remind Them It's Not A Mistake To Go On Living. It's Better Than Any Medicine.
Mistake
Optimistic
Medicine
The Rules Of The Hunger Games Are Simple. In Punishment For The Uprising, Each Of The Twelve Districts Must Provide One Girl And One Boy, Called Tributes, To Participate. The Twenty-four Tributes Will Be Imprisoned In A Vast Outdoor Arena That Could Hold Anything From A Burning Desert To A Frozen Wasteland. Over A Period Of Several Weeks, The Competitors Must Fight To The Death. The Last Tribute Standing Wins.
Girl
Fighting
Winning
"what's Going On Down There, Katniss? Have They All Joined Hands? Taken A Vow Of Nonviolence? Tossed The Weapons In The Sea In Defiance Of The Capitol?" Finnick Asks. "no," I Say. "no," Finnick Repeats. "because Whatever Happened In The Past Is In The Past. And No One In This Arena Was A Victor By Chance." He Eyes Peeta For A Moment. "except Maybe Peeta."
Taken
Eye
Past
And We Must Fight Back! President Snow Says He's Sending Us A Message? Well, I Have One For Him. You Can Torture Us And Bomb Us And Burn Our Districts To The Ground, But Do You See That? Fire Is Catching! And If We Burn, You Burn With Us!
Fighting
Fire
President Snow
Anyway, Even If She's Sugarcoating My Good Points, I Appreciate It. Frankly, I Could Use A Little Sugarcoating.
Appreciate
Use
Littles
I Mean I Know It's Cold Out Here And Not Everybody Has A Sleeping Bag. But When You Grit Your Teeth And Stick It Out Until Dawn!
Mean
Sleep
Dawn
Are You, Are You Coming To The Tree? Wear A Necklace Of Rope, Side By Side With Me. Strange Things Did Happen Here. No Stranger Would Let It Be If We Met Up At Midnight In The Hanging Tree.
Tree
Midnight
Rope
Caesar Flickerman Asks If The President Has A Date In Mind. "oh, Before We Set A Date, We Better Clear It With Katniss's Mother," Says The President. The Audience Gives A Big Laugh And The President Puts His Arm Around Me. "maybe If The Whole Country Puts Its Mind To It, We Can Get You Married Before You're Thirty." "you'll Probably Have To Pass A New Law," I Say With A Giggle. "if That's What It Takes," Says The President With Conspiratorial Good Humor. Oh, The Fun We Two Have Together.
Mother
Country
Fun
It's The First Gift That's Always The Hardest To Pay Back.
Pay
Firsts
Hardest
We Follow Instructions To My Destination, A Chamber For My Preparation.
Preparation
Instruction
Destination
Scores Only Matter If They’re Very Good, No One Pays Much Attention To The Bad Or Mediocre Ones.
Attention
Pay
Matter
She's Really Gone, Then. The Little Girl With The Back Of Her Shirt Sticking Out Like A Duck Tail.
Girl
Ducks
Tails
I Guess There Isn’t A Rule Book For What Might Be Unacceptable To Do To Another Human Being.
Book
Might
Humans
It’s Not Wondering What I Breathe In, But Who, That Threatens To Choke Me.
Wonder
Breathe
Choke
Some Walks You Have To Take Alone.
Walks
Mockingjay Book
Mockingjay
I'm Not Prepared For Rue's Family. Her Parents, Whose Faces Are Still Fresh With Sorrow. Her Fiver Younger Siblings, Who Resemble Her So Closely. The Slight Builds, The Luminous Brown Eyes. They Form A Flock Of Small Dark Birds.
Sibling
Eye
Dark
But I Don't Know What To Him About The Aftermath Of Killing A Person. About How They Never Leave You.
Aftermath
Killing
Persons
Remembering From Last Year How Haymitch's Gifts Are Often Timed To Send A Message, I Make A Note To Myself. Be Friends With Finnick. You'll Get Food.
Years
Lasts
Messages
I Don't Care If You Got Knocked Up. I Can Still Rip Your Throat Out
Rip
Knocked Up
Care
Upon This Crown My Pledge I Give, To My Last Breath,i Hold This Choice, I Will Your Unjust Deaths Avenge, All Here Who Died Without A Voice.
Voice
Giving
Choices
Trapped For Days, Years, Centuries Maybe. Dead, But Not Allowed To Die. Alive, But As Good As Dead. So Alone That Anyone, Anything No Matter How Loathsome Would Be Welcome.
Years
Would Be
Alive
Peeta And I Had Adjoining Cells In The Capitol. We're Very Familiar With Each Other's Screams.” Annie, Who's On Johanna's Other Side, Does That Thing Where She Covers Her Ears And Exits Reality. Finnick Shoots Johanna An Angry Look As His Arm Encircles Annie. “what? My Head Doctor Says I'm Not Supposed To Censor My Thoughts. It's Part Of My Therapy,” Replies Johanna.
Reality
Doctors
Cells
I Wonder If Effie Will Still Be Wearing That Silly Pink Wig, Or Is She'll Be Sporting Some Other Unnatural Color Especially For The Victor Tour.
Silly
Color
Wigs
I Also Want To Tell Him How Much I Already Miss Him. But That Wouldn't Be Fair On My Part.
Missing
Want
Fairs
Finnick:" Good To See You, Peeta." Peeta:" You Be Nice To Her, Finnick. Or I Might Try And Take Her Away From You." It Could Be A Joke, If The Tone Wasn't So Cold. Everything It Conveys Is Wrong. The Open Distrust Of Finnick, The Implication That Peeta Has His Eye On Annie, That Annie Could Desert Finnick, That I Do Not Even Exist. Finnick:"oh Peeta," Says Finnick Lightly. "don't Make Me Sorry I Restarted Your Heart.
Sorry
Nice
Heart
And When Again It's Morning, They'll Wash Away. Here It's Safe, Here It's Warm Here The Daisies Guard You From Every Harm.
Morning
Safe
Daisies
But Mockingjays Were Never A Weapon," Said Madge. "they’re Just Songbirds. Right?" "yeah, I Guess So,” I Said, But It’s Not True. A Mockingbird Is Just A Songbird. A Mockingjay Is A Creature The Capitol Never Intended To Exist. They Hadn’t Counted On The Highly Controlled Jabberjay Having The Brains To Adapt To The Wild, To Thrive In A New Form. They Hadn’t Anticipated Its Will To Live.
Brain
Songbirds
Weapons
"if I Could Grow Wings, I Could Fly. Only People Can't Grow Wings," He Say's. "real Or Not Real?" "real," I Say. "but People Don't Need Wings To Survive." "mockingjays Do."
Real
Wings
People
Trending Author
Barry Gibb
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Antonio Machado
Peter Hammill
Bob Iger
Jennifer Egan
Category
Information