Katniss rarely sings because it reminds her of her father, but she now remembers a morbid song that her father taught her: “The Hanging Tree.” This moment in the story is significant in multiple ways.
After realizing this, Katniss uses "The Hanging Tree" as a remedy for Peeta's "Capitol-implanted hatred". She reminds herself of the song once more after Peeta tells her to kill him, in an effort to prevent himself from harming members of their rescue team due to how the Capitol "reprogrammed" him.
Why is it ironic that the mockingjays repeat the song that Katniss has sung to Rue?
The mockingjays repeat Rue's four note song when Katniss leaves Rue's body, as she hears a hovercraft arriving. This is ironic as the song was meant to mean that Rue was safe, but as Katniss says she is “good and safe” (pg. 287) but only because she is dead and no longer has to fight for survival in the Hunger Games.
Coriolanus Snow, her mentor in the games who falls in love with the tribute, finds her. It's their first reunion since he was excommunicated from the Capitol and managed to get stationed in District 12 as a Peacekeeper. After hearing her sing “The Hanging Tree,” he comes to associate it with her forever.
Katniss didn't really have the time to consider romance when she was worried about survival. When Peeta and Gale both made their feelings clear, Katniss wasn't entirely receptive despite caring for them both. In the end, her feelings for Peeta and Gale diverged, with Peeta ultimately winning her heart.
The TRUTH About Katniss and Lucy Gray | Hunger Games Film Theory
What did Gale do to Prim?
Before the Capitol battle, Gale had explained to Katniss his series of bombs designed to feed off human compassion: a small bomb would go off, and then when medical aid rushed in, a second bomb would go off, killing those people as well. Incidentally, it's this exact type of bomb that took Prim's life.
Although she will never know for sure, Katniss does recognize that she cannot be with Gale. She will never be able to forgive him for his idea — the parachute bombs — that killed Prim.
Katniss is rendered deaf in one ear after she blows up the Careers' supplies, and she doesn't regain any hearing on her left side until afterwards when the Capitol gives her a hearing aid.
In a pivotal scene, Katniss Everdeen, played by Jennifer Lawrence, sings the haunting “The Hanging Tree.” Despite her discomfort with singing, Lawrence herself performed the song, and the single was a surprise smash, charting as high as 12 on Billboard's Hot 100.
Snow can't stand to see a young woman betray a young man's affection—his view of what happened 65 years ago. And so he takes out his old, festering wound on Katniss.
Was the hanging tree written for The Hunger Games?
As sourced in Suzanne Collins' prequel novel, Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler) wrote “The Hanging Tree” inspired by historical events in District 12, which she and Coriolanus Snow (Tom Blyth) both witnessed.
Rue and Katniss' whistle represents the powerful bond the two characters develop and plays a major role in the rebellion. In The Hunger Games, Rue and Katniss Everdeen's whistle captures the powerful bond between these two characters and a song of redemption that gets echoed by the rebellion.
Rue makes Katniss promise that she'll win for both of them, and then asks Katniss to sing her a song. Katniss sings a lullaby from her district, and when she's finished, the mockingjays pick up her song.
Katniss comes close to crying, something she knows she mustn't do because it would indicate weakness to the other tributes and make her look vulnerable; thankfully, Haymitch distracts the crowd and the cameras by stumbling off stage.
2. Jennifer Lawrence's Katniss Wig Was Stolen! The natural blonde had to wear a brunette wig in the final two installments of the franchise due to hair damage after dying her tresses for the first two films. It turned out that one of her castmates was all about Katniss' wig, too.
Although Jennifer did dye her natural blonde hair for the first two film installments, she wore wigs for Mockingjay — Part 1 and Part 2 due to hair damage. Linda rented $30,000 worth of wigs — five wigs stamped at $6,000 each — ranging from light brown to dark brown, with a hint of red.
Many actresses auditioned for the role of Katniss before Lawrence, fresh off of her first Oscar nomination for Winter's Bone, was chosen. When she landed the coveted part, she was 20 years old.
“The Hanging Tree” is mentioned periodically in the Mockingjay book as a song that was taught to Katniss by her father. But because of the song's haunting lyrics—(“Are you coming to the tree / Where they strung up a man they say murdered three”)—her parents banned her from singing it as a child.
How Katniss Deals with Her PTSD. It's no surprise that Katniss becomes traumatized—after all, the Hunger Games are the perfect breeding ground for PTSD. Severe, life-threatening, interpersonal violence as well as witnessing atrocities and killing enemies in combat are particular risk factors for the disorder.
Peeta urges Katniss to run and stays to fight fellow tribute Cato while she escapes. He survives the encounter with Cato but suffers a stab wound on his leg. He camouflages himself into the rocks and mud alongside a riverbank, slowly dying of blood poisoning until Katniss finds him days later.
Gale does not marry anyone in The Hunger Games. He and Katniss talk about running away together and starting a new life in the wilderness, but they never officially marry.
Katniss speculates that Coin deliberately sent Prim to die in the Capitol bombing in order to fully gain her trust, but it's never outright confirmed or denied.
It's only implied that they get it on via snuggling and other affectionate acts in close quarters — but if you have read the book, they really imply that they took their relationship to the next level.
