Catching Fire

In The Hunger Games, Katniss wears a gold pin with a “mockingjay flying in a circle of gold” (41). The pin was a gift from a District 12 friend, and although Katniss does not initially attach much meaning to the pin, it becomes a symbol of her rebellious act against the Capitol.

Mockingjays are the result of a failed genetic experiment from the Capitol. The Capitol created jabberjays to spy on the people of Panem, but lost control of the birds and abandoned them to the wild. The jabberjays bred with mockingbirds, which led to a new species: mockingjays. Mockingjays symbolize defiance against the Capitol and how the weapon of a fascist government can evolve into a tool that can be used against them.

Katniss initially associates the mockingjay symbol with Rue and says that “the pin was the reason [Rue] decided to trust me” (41). Katniss begins having dreams about a mockingjay and believes that it is really Rue, trying to lead her somewhere and tell her something. Over time, Katniss grows to understand that the mockingjay is actually a symbol of her own destiny as a symbol of defiance against the Capitol. Rue’s death was the catalyst for Katniss to begin her rebellious behavior in The Hunger Games, and Rue’s four-note song becomes a symbol of allegiance to Katniss in the districts.