Mockingjay (Final Post)

Right now I am reading Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins. I am almost done with the book; I have about 45 or so pages left.

After Katniss gets saved by the District 13 rebels from her second Hunger Games, she decides to be the "Mockingjay," or the leader for the rebellion against the Capitol. After Katniss sees the Capitol bomb a hospital full of helpless people in District 2, she makes a propaganda video against the Capitol and airs it for all of Panem to see. Then Peeta reveals that the Capitol is going to bomb District 13 on camera. This results in him being tortured (Katniss even sees it on camera). Peeta's early warning allows everyone to get to the bunker safely. After the bombing, no one got hurt, but District 13 has suffered some damage. The rebels get Peeta and the other tributes from the Capitol. When Katniss reunites with Peeta, he tries to kill her because the Capitol used a form of torture that distorted his memories of Katniss and made them bad. This is very hard for Katniss because she realizes that she loved Peeta all along and he may never be the same again. Katniss decides she wants to fight in battle, so she goes through training and is sent to the Capitol. Katniss' unit and her film crew is sent of to film a propaganda video, but the Capitol attacks them and they are killed off until only Katniss, Gale, Peeta, and some of her crew are left. When the Capitol attacks, they are forced not to turn back so Katniss turns the mission into one to kill President Snow. Katniss eventually gets to the president's mansion where she sees Prim who is a medic. Katniss somehow catches on fire and and her sister tries to save her, but Prim dies in the process (sad face). When she wakes up, Katniss is at the hospital and she finds out that President Snow has been captured and awaits trial and the rebels are now in charge of Panem. This is where I last left off.

I'm not getting much enjoyment out of the book right now. It almost seems like Suzanne Collins wrote Mockingjay just so everyone could find out what happens in the end. I guess she didn't even have to write a fantastic book because people will still read it just for that reason. I think a theme the author wanted us to think about when she wrote this book is society. So many people die in this book, it makes you really think about how lucky we are to live somewhere that is relatively non-violent. Other people around the world are not so lucky. I think the reason that places around the world are so different in this aspect is because of how they are raised. This brings up the point of Nature vs. Nurture, which is the question of: Does how people are raised affect how someone acts, or are they born like that? I think Finnick is a very interesting character in this book. He is really funny, but he also is just a really good friend to Katniss. He knows exactly what she is going through because they both went to the Hunger Games twice and they both had someone they loved who was being held hostage in the Capitol.

My question: Why did the author have so many of the good characters die? Is is that essential to the story?