#ballad is less about implicit submission anyhow

[justafewberries]

Themes of Implicit Submission in Mockingjay

I’ve finally finished re-reading Mockingjay before the release of SOTR, and as expected, there’s absolutely themes of implicit submission on both sides of the rebellion. While the other two books largely focused on the ways the Capitol enforced submission, d13 is guilty of the same crime. This is a continuation of my two previous posts about implicit submission: The Hunger Games (Book One) and Catching Fire. The following is a list of tactics either the Capitol or d13 employs to govern the many. 

Timing of Information

A key factor in swaying public opinion is timing. In d13, both Katniss and Coin know this. Katniss attempts to use it to her advantage by forcing Coin to solidify the terms of their agreement in front of an audience. She thinks this will ensure Coin is held accountable for her side of the conditions. Instead, Coin uses this request to attempt to sway d13’s opinion on Katniss.

Katniss, who has not been following her schedule, attending to her duties, or socializing with d13 citizens up until that point, has lacked the conformity d13 desires. Coin emphasizes this fact and uses it to single her out in a place where uniformity is the standard. 

“She has been the quickest to determine that I have an agenda of my own and am therefore not to be trusted. She has been the first to publicly brand me as a threat.” (p. 59)

In turn, she brands Katniss as different, as other, as not to be completely trusted. In the eyes of d13, this strengthens Coin's status, as it cements the idea that she is working to serve the people without condition, while Katniss is working to serve herself.

2. Permitting Only One Story

As known from Catching Fire, Katniss avoids the television in her house, as it usually only broadcasts propaganda. Interestingly, we get more intel into what kind of content is permitted on the airways:

“An anti-Capitol statement. There’s never been anything like it on television. Not in my lifetime, anyway.” (p. 106)

This correlates with how they refused to air the interviews in Catching Fire. The Capitol does not want to present opposing ideologies. To the capitol citizens, there is only one answer, and there can only be one answer. They are constantly fed the same programming on their televisions and any media source they acquire. The capitol cannot present any form of opposition, as it could lead to anti-Capitol thoughts. It’s the same reason why Octavia believes shrimp is impossible to get because of storms in District Four, when it’s actually due to the rebellion. There can be no other side, only the narrative they know, or the Capitol risks losing its omnipotent image.

3. Illusion of Safety

This point is more symbolic than a specific, implementable tactic, but I still think it belongs to this list. The Capitol citizens’ reactions to being told to gather in the city center is particularly interesting under the lens of panic.

When Katniss arrives, she describes it as people “milling around, wailing, or just sitting and letting the snow pile up around them.” (p. 345).

When contrasted with the chaos of the fall of the Nut in District Two, where people were “slamming, shoving, scrambling like ants as the hill presses in,” Collins juxtaposes true panic from human instinct to the lulled reaction of the capitol citizens (p. 207). 

In this way, it seems the capitol citizens, who still transport valuable items with them, believed Snow would protect them. Some had even seen what the rebels could do from the gunfire on the roof, but, similar to the Games, much of their exposure to the rebels came from their televisions. The Games had conditioned them to have a heightened sense of protection. Take Fulvia Cardew’s reaction to seeing wounds: 

“I swear, the sight of [my scar] triggers Fulvia’s gag reflex. For someone who works with a Gamemaker, she’s awfully sensitive. But I guess she’s used to seeing unpleasant things only on a screen.” (p. 62).

The conditioning of capitol people through years of watching violence on a screen, only to be shown clean, polished victors on stage after the games, created a disconnect between real violence and televised violence. Because the capitol relied on televisions to warn the citizens of the intruders, they instinctively did not render it as a panic-inducing threat. Instead of scurrying to safe havens like ants, they grabbed their valuables and walked.

In the end, the glamorization and dissonance of the consumption of games crippled the Capitol.