CATCHING FIRE Digital Reading Party discussion

5. What is the significance of the mockingjay image?

The Rebellion.

Katniss' status as the image of the Rebellion

Katniss is the mockingjay and the only hope of the rebels. I think?

Something I really love about Catching Fire is that we get to hear (read) more about Madge's mom and her mom's sister, Maysilee Donner, who went to the Games with Haymitch. I like to pretend that the mockingjay pin goes all the way back to the arena with Maysilee.

The Mockingjay I always understood was a bird unintentionally created by the Capitol. In its purest form the Jabberjay was created to act as a spy and deliver information during the rebellion. As it was discovered, the rebels then in turn fed the Jabberjay false information. After this was discovered, the Capitol abandoned them leaving them to mate with mockingbirds. The result, a Mockingjay that could only then repeat a learned tune.

The Mockingjay is very much like Katniss as she is taught to speak what others teach her to, not her own words. Ultimately, Mockingjays were never supposed to exist, yet they do. Through the will to survive, both the rebels and the Mockgjays do. And they make a perfect symbol for rebellion

I agree. The mockingjay is actually a big part of the meaning of the story, even though it is sometimes overlooked. The symbol has a lot behind it and it resembles so much of the world Katniss lives in. It sure does resemble rebellion and Barb explained it perfectly. A very meaningful story and I look forward for the release of the movie. =)

Somehing that was never meant to exist...therefore a rebellion.

well thank you! =)

The Mockingjay represents something born to survive and not to adhere to the Capital's rules of staying down and not being wanted.
It all comes down to the basic instinct of survival and thus Katniss becoming the symbol of the Rebellion and the Mockingjay image because of her instincts of survival and not letting the Capital keep her down.
Mockingjays came to being because of their environment because during the first rebellion, Jabberjays were created to spy on people and once they were discovered they were let loose and began breeding with the mockingbirds. In a way Mockingjays are a product of the Capital gone wrong.

The mockingjay symbol itself is a symbol of hope - of solidarity among the districts in opposition to the capitol.

It becomes the symbol because Katniss' stunt with the berries shows that the Capitol's power is not absolute. Similarly, the story of how the mockingjays came to exist from jabberjays breeding with mockingbirds shows that the Capitol can't control everything. Their existence is proof that the Capitol can't control everything, and that survival is possible without the Capitol, which gives hope to the rebellion.

It's a stab in the heart for the Capital: the Jabberjays represent the endurance of the Districts. They mated in the wild (which was unlikely and unpredictable for the Capital) that formed another symbolic win for the districts. And now Katniss. Her mockingjay became unintentionally a symbol for the rebellion when she just wanted to survive.
Like Brianna said: The mockingjays are a product of the Capital gone wrong. Like Katniss was.