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Friday, December 11, 2015

About What Happens with Finnick . . . (Spoilers)


SPOILERS

Anonymous said: I really liked that post you made about Prim. Her death really contributed to the plot, if it weren't for Prim dying, Coin wouldn't be dead too. Katniss actually realized that Snow and Coin were pretty much the same after she realized that Coin was behind the bombs. Finnick's death though, was pointless. I mean he wasn't that unnecessary of a character that you just kill him and everyone moves on.

Name withheld: Then why . . . why did Finnick die? Can you explain that to me?

Along with lots of other comments online about my posts. So many people have brought up Finnick's death.




For me, pointless is a strong word for Finnick’s death, but I’ll say that his death wasn’t necessary, at least not in the same way Prim’s was. Finnick is my favorite character in the whole series, so I’m sad he died, and I think he could have lived, but I respect Collins’s choice to kill him. I don’t feel like she killed him for no reason at all though. I think it’s similar to what the first person said--I don’t think Collins meant for him to just get killed and everyone move on. I feel like his death was realistic and accurate as to what happens in war. Often people you care about get killed very fast, and you have to move on and keep going, because this is war. Sure, the other characters from District 13 died, but as a reader, we’re closer to Katniss, Gale, Peeta, and Finnick, so when it happens to Finnick, we are more shocked and upset than when say, Homes, dies.



We love Finnick, and if he has to die, we want it to honor him and the kind of person he is in the process. We want it to be epic at least. But reality isn’t like that. And like I said before, these books are about reality, not some epic Absolute story (even though I do love those stories too).

It wasn’t necessary to the plot or overall theme like Prim’s, but Collins still made a point by it, and I feel like it still goes with the feel of the book. Also, even though Finnick doesn't get an epic death moment, it’s tragic Finnick died right after he finally got to marry Annie.


While I’m sad Finnick died, I have to respect that Collins picked him over anyone in the love triangle, which is what you see a lot of writers do. They don’t see a satisfying way to fix the love triangle, so they just kill off one of the members. It’s an easy way out. In fact, I love that she even touched on this method when Gale and Peeta are talking, and Gale says it’s unlikely all three of them will come out alive--while that’s true for war, it’s also common in storytelling.

Anyway, if you’re upset that Finnick died (and really, who isn’t?), you are totally justified to feel that way. His death didn’t fully honor him. It wasn’t vital to the plot and theme, but Collins did make a point with it, and the result is we feel like a lot of people who survived a war did: Cheated that our loved one died. It's not fair, and it’s cruel, and Finnick deserved more, and that’s exactly how so many others feel too.

Anyway, those are my thoughts. Feel free to take them or leave them.

Have a question for September on writing, The Hunger Games, or anything else? Send it in!

4 comments:

  1. Augh, this was the main reason I hated Mockingjay! I was just getting to like Finnick when he went and DIED! It felt so wrong that the first time I read it, I had to go back and make sure I hadn't read wrong.

    Which is your point...

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  2. The way I see it, Finnick was very conflicted. There were only 2 choices to resolve his conflict. He could get married and live happy ever after, but still deal with all the emotional trauma from the games. (As awesome as true love is, it cannot erase the effects of such extensive trauma.) Or he could be released from that trauma through death and find true peace. The sucky part of that is those who are left behind and their grief. If you look just at Finnick (not taking into account the others affected), he got to experience the fulfillment of his true love, then the complete release from all of the traumatic pain. To my mind, he got the best of it all. If really shucked for everyone else though.

    ReplyDelete
  3. The way I see it, Finnick was very conflicted. There were only 2 choices to resolve his conflict. He could get married and live happy ever after, but still deal with all the emotional trauma from the games. (As awesome as true love is, it cannot erase the effects of such extensive trauma.) Or he could be released from that trauma through death and find true peace. The sucky part of that is those who are left behind and their grief. If you look just at Finnick (not taking into account the others affected), he got to experience the fulfillment of his true love, then the complete release from all of the traumatic pain. To my mind, he got the best of it all. If really shucked for everyone else though.

    ReplyDelete

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