Mockingjay Epilogue - Tumblr Posts
well in the epilog katniss didnt really seem to want the children or feel anything for them but went through with it becuase "peeta wanted them so badly" so theyre sort of right becuase "woman pushed into having children she didnt want , possibly traumatising hermore becuase of someones desires" is a very anti choce stance.
See, that’s the prevailing viewpoint, but I’ve always had a problem with it. It’s so widely accepted by the fandom, but it ignores that the birth of those children fulfills both the character and thematic arcs of the series.
Let’s look at the entire quote.
They play in the Meadow. The dancing girl with the dark hair and blue eyes. The boy with blond curls and gray eyes, struggling to keep up with her on his chubby toddler legs. It took five, ten, fifteen years for me to agree. But Peeta wanted them so badly. When I first felt her stirring inside of me, I was consumed with a terror that felt as old as life itself. Only the joy of holding her in my arms could tame it. Carrying him was a little easier, but not much.
At first glance, it looks kind of bad. Like Peeta pushed her into having children despite her bone-deep terror. But this overlooks the fact that Peeta waited those five, ten, fifteen years for her to be ready. If he wasn’t concerned about Katniss’ choice, Peeta could have been more forceful in taking what he wanted. He could have left her and found a woman more willing to provide children. But he didn’t. And that heavily suggests that Katniss, in the end, is the one who made the choice.
Katniss feared having children because she feared for their future--feared a world where they’d starve to death, feared a world where they could be ripped from her arms and thrown to the slaughter of the Hunger Games. Katniss fears, more than even her own death, losing those she loves--look at how she was devastated by the loss of her father. Of course she’d be afraid to bring children into a world that’s designed to kill them. But the struggles of the series wouldn’t have much point if Katniss remained trapped in that fear, if her world remained a place hostile to new life. So the end of the series has to show that growth and change.
Of course it’s Peeta who helps her to move beyond her fear. Never forget that for Katniss, Peeta always represents hope. A new chance at life. When she was starving, at her lowest point of despair, he provided, at the cost of pain to himself, the bread that gave her hope. When they were in the Hunger Games, he gave her hope that the world could be transformed into something better by choosing to look beyond their own fears for survival and putting someone else’s needs above their own. Acting, not out of fear or self-interest, but for the good of the other could--and did--change the world. That changed world is one that welcomes children, and makes it possible, eventually, for Katniss to do so, too.
Giving birth to children doesn’t add to Katniss’ trauma. It shows her healing from it. Choosing to hope despite her fear. And what is her reward for it? Joy. Not mere happiness that ignores the pain, but joy that transcends it. Joy that does not erase the fear but makes the fear worthwhile. Joy that heals her enough to face a second pregnancy. And the joy of having two children who don’t know what it means to live in fear.
I appreciate that having children doesn’t magically erase Katniss’ trauma. Children are not a magical balm that will heal all ills and will bring fulfillment to every woman’s life, and the series isn’t arguing that it does. As the passage above shows, she will continue to live with her fears and regrets. But with Peeta and her children around her, she will also live with new life. And love. And always, always, hope.