Mockingjay Summary: Plot, Characters and Ending
In Mockingjay, Katniss Everdeen agrees to become the face of the rebellion against the Capitol from District 13's underground base. As war spreads, she fights to rescue Peeta, joins the assault on the Capitol and learns that the rebel leaders may be no better than President Snow.
It is the final book of The Hunger Games trilogy.
| Character | Who they are |
|---|---|
| Katniss Everdeen | The Mockingjay |
| Peeta Mellark | Captured and brainwashed by the Capitol |
| Gale Hawthorne | Katniss's friend, now a soldier |
| President Alma Coin | Leader of District 13 |
| President Snow | Leader of the Capitol |
| Prim Everdeen | Katniss's little sister |
| Finnick Odair | Victor and rebel soldier |
| Boggs | Coin's trusted commander |
| Plutarch Heavensbee | Rebel strategist |
What is District 13 like?
District 13 is a military society living underground, run by the strict President Coin. Katniss agrees to be the Mockingjay, the symbol of the rebellion, on condition that Peeta and the other captured victors receive pardons. She films propaganda clips, which work only when she is unscripted, such as after a Capitol hospital bombing she witnesses in District 8.
↑ Back to the topWhat has the Capitol done to Peeta?
Peeta appears on Capitol television calling for a ceasefire, looking thinner each time. A rescue mission brings him back, but when Katniss runs to him, he tries to strangle her. The Capitol has hijacked his memories with tracker jacker venom, making him believe she is a monster. Slowly he begins to sort real memories from false ones.
↑ Back to the topWhat happens in the Capitol?
As the rebels push into the Capitol, Katniss joins a propaganda squad, the Star Squad. Coin sends Peeta along, hoping, Katniss suspects, that he will kill her. The city is full of deadly traps called pods. Boggs dies and gives Katniss a holo map. Katniss secretly plans to kill Snow. Finnick is torn apart by lizard-like mutts in the sewers.
↑ Back to the topWhat happens to Prim?
Katniss reaches Snow's mansion, where Capitol children have been placed as a human shield. A hovercraft with the Capitol seal drops silver parachutes on them, which explode. Rebel medics rush in, among them Prim, and a second explosion kills her. Katniss is badly burned.
↑ Back to the topHow does Mockingjay end?
Snow tells Katniss that Coin ordered the bombing to end the war and turn everyone against him, and Katniss recognizes the trap as Gale's design. Coin proposes a final Hunger Games using Capitol children. At Snow's execution, Katniss turns her arrow and shoots Coin instead. Snow dies in the chaos. Katniss is sent home to District 12. Gale takes a job in District 2. Peeta returns, plants primroses, and in time they come together. Years later, with two children, Katniss copes with her nightmares by listing every good thing she has seen someone do.
↑ Back to the topMore about Mockingjay
This summary reveals the whole plot, including the ending.