Bird Symbolism (warning Hunger Games spoiler alert!)

Symbolism can be seen in the tiniest things, like a white rose bush outside a prison.  Or symbolism can be staring you in the face and you have no idea the first or fifth time you look at it.  This was the case with the cover of the Hunger Games books.  But each of the pictures on these covers has symbolism.

For the Hunger Games the cover picture is not only the pin given to Katniss before she leaves for the Capitol but it is shown as a bird trapped, yet beginning to stretch its wings,  inside a circle.  This symbolism shows how Katniss believes that she is trapped in District 12.  She believes in the power of the Capitol and so limits herself to what is "safe".  The Hunger Games just adds to her feelings of being trapped.  All in all Katniss never feel as if she is safe or in control of her life.

On the cover of Catching Fire the bird begins to escape its prison.  Just so is Katniss beginning to feel some freedom and perhaps a bit of power.  Knowing that she and her sister are as safe as they can be from the Hunger Games gives her confidence.  But the Capitol reasserts its control in a few ways.  The first is to have President Snow the leader of Panem come personally to her house to warn her about causing uprisings. The second is to have a new group of Peacekeepers running District 12, these men and women are harsher and more loyal to the Capitol, making it harder for Katniss to act as she would if the last group were still in charge.  And third is putting her back into the games with the Quarter Quell.  So while Katniss feels at least a little bit more free she cannot truly gain her independence in District 12.

Finally Mocking Jay has a picture of a bird flying away from its former home. AKA its prison.  This symbolizes how in the end Katniss is allowed to be completely free, back home in the ruins of District 12.  But first she has to survive life in District 13, a high-jacked Peeta, and a war.  And not only does she do all this but she kills Coin, the leader of District 13.  While at first this act earns her a nice quiet cell, in which she attempts to kill herself, the new government sends her back to District 12 where she can live her own life so long as she doesn’t make trouble.  And so in perhaps the worst ending of a book/series ever Katniss Everdeen is free.

Being a cover designer must be hard work if you haven't read the book.  I'm sure that who ever designed the covers for these books really understood the huge role this symbol, the Mockingjay, has in the books.  It represents the people's hope for freedom, and this is shown through this man or woman's creativity.