Gentle as Mockingjays: Haymitch as a Holy Spirit Figure in The Hunger Games

Many of us in Panem eagerly await the new Hunger Games prequel from Suzanne Collins, Sunrise on the Reaping, which covers pivotal moments in the backstory of everyone’s favorite high spirited curmudgeon, Haymitch Abernathy. Though this new installment is sure to place Haymitch at the forefront of the story, showing an even more heroic side to the gruff exterior readers have grown to love, there is a unique way for Christian readers especially to appreciate his many small moments in the first three books of The Hunger Games trilogy. 

While much has been said about the Christological presence of the two main characters—Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark, especially Katniss in her self-sacrifice and fight for justice—much can be said about their uncomfortably honest overseer. Though Haymitch provides less of a Christ-like presence in The Hunger Games, one could argue that he acts in many ways like a Holy Spirit figure for the two protagonists as they fulfill their sacrificial journeys toward freedom and love. 

Our Advocate

To establish this point, we should go over a few verses that discuss the presence and work of the Holy Spirit from the words of Jesus. Cryptically, Christ tells the apostles at the Last Supper in John 14:16 that he will be leaving them soon, but, “I will send you an Advocate.” In the moment, this seems to provide little consolation for them, and the impending events of Good Friday provide little comfort. It is not until they receive this spirit in the form of Jesus’s breath in John 20:22 that peace returns. 

In the series, Haymitch stands as the only surviving past winner of the annual Hunger Games from his home district. With this distinction comes the responsibility to mentor the two tributes who must compete each year. Haymitch is the only mentor discussed in the books, making him archetypical for the series. He is the primary person to give advice of any kind to the tributes. In fact, Katniss learns quickly that, “Haymitch can well be the difference between your life and your death!” In the unexpected way that God’s grace tends to operate, it is often despite appearances that, “Haymitch is actually bent on keeping us alive.” While it is not a direct parallel to the Holy Spirit, who may allow for the martyrdom of God’s servants, there is a clear advocacy for what is best in both figures. 

Mentors advise their tributes as part of their role. This advice could include survival skills for the arena. However, it is established that the most important advice is that which secures sponsors. The wealthy “invest” in stronger tributes more likely to win, so materials can be given during the games. Besides the tributes themselves, it is their mentor who helps secure this support: “Once we’re in the arena, [Haymitch is] all we’ve got.” He would be the one highlighting the abilities of the tributes while they are unable to communicate with those on the outside of the arena. 

The more a tribute can impress, or charm, the right people, the better their odds. There are moments where Katniss, who is not as adept in her showmanship skills as she is in survivalist skills, is saved by the actions of Haymitch: when Katniss was “truly in danger of crying, but fortunately Haymitch chooses this time to come staggering across the stage” to congratulate her. Later, he diverts attention away from her when, “As if on cue, Haymitch falls off the stage, and they groan comically.” These moments show unexpected support in an unlikely way that could have hurt her chances later in the Games. Not only does this mentor advocate for his tributes, but he will guide them to improve their chances both in the games and after the games are complete. 

Teach You All Things

One of the worries the Apostles had at the Last Supper, as Jesus commissioned them with the new endeavor of sharing the Gospel, was where their support would come from. While these students had been following him for roughly three years, they knew the mysteries that had been shared with them would require more than a lifetime of wisdom. Fortunately, Jesus described how this “Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you” (John 14:26). The Holy Spirit continued to guide the Apostles, as evidenced throughout the book of The Acts of the Apostles, and is the Divine Author of the sacred Scriptures themselves. Even considering all of the division amongst Christians concerning doctrine in Christian history, nearly all would at least agree upon the Holy Spirit’s guidance in the composition of the Scriptures themselves. 

One is hard pressed to find a portion of any of The Hunger Games books where a character discussing strategy of some kind does not mention Haymitch’s advice. There are moments where he gives it directly: “I’ll tell you exactly how I want you to play it.” Most often though, it is the main character remembering “what Haymitch said…” or ironically referencing “Haymitch’s stupid instruction” and “direction.” This is why even after the Games it is Haymitch’s voice Katniss is looking for when she is entering into a war zone: “Haymitch [is] in my head full-time.” Just as Christians should heed the guidance of the Holy Spirit given to the Church, Katniss would benefit from the guidance of her mentor. 

Just like the Holy Spirit often directs through other conduits, Haymitch advises Katniss that she do “exactly what the stylists tell [her] to do.” He also acts as a force of reconciliation between the two temporarily estranged main characters, as it is Katniss’s “conversation with Haymitch” that moves her to “try to take the first tentative step in Peeta’s direction.” This highlights another important element of the Holy Spirit, which is that He is always moving us toward relationship, either to reconcile or to deepen our connection with both God and others. 

Wise as Serpents

The last example is not so obvious on the surface, but closer investigation clarifies things a little. When Jesus is warning his disciples about the effect their ministry will have, he gives them some poignant advice. He tells them to be “wise as serpents” and “simple as doves” (Matt. 10:16). One would not associate serpents with the Holy Spirit, but this advice is in the context of being brought before authorities and having “the Spirit” speak through them when they are on trial. Katniss undergoes a similar set of trials after she volunteers as tribute. Before tributes are brought to the arena for combat, they are publicly interviewed so that they can connect with the audience who will view the carnage. Tributes are in front of a camera from the moment they are selected until their violent deaths, and what Katniss learns after her improbable win is that the cameras never go away and the Games never end, even for the victors. 

It is at these moments that Haymitch, and his serpentine wise advice, often act as support in keeping her alive and sane. One of the best examples of this canniness is when he tells her to “just remember who the enemy is,” which were “Haymitch’s last words of advice” to Katniss before she began her second Games. It is in book two, Catching Fire, when the story becomes much bigger than one competition, and this sentiment will be echoed at a pivotal moment in the third book as well. Haymitch gives seemingly counterintuitive advice in the first book because it is an inopportune time. His wisdom shows itself again when “Hayitch grips my wrist as if anticipating my next move.” Later, this wisdom is described with foresight when, “As if anticipating my reaction, Haymitch is at my side.” While Katniss and Haymitch often bicker, she later acknowledges, “I have misjudged Haymitch.” Though he definitely does not qualify as a gentle dove, his wisdom is shrewd. 

Spiritual Shorthand

Christians may not have the voice of the Holy Spirit whispering in their earpiece like “Haymitch’s voice is in my earpiece”—or like Elijah in 1 Kings 19:12. However, Christians are temples of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 6:19) and this Holy Spirit speaks like He did to Philip in Acts 8:29. Not only is this Spirit capable of relationship, but He desires relationship and seeks the good of the Christian when that Christian is struggling in a world full of spiritual forces of evil. This Advocate provides help less in the form of direct confrontation and more in the form of empowerment and healing, so that the Christian can participate in this struggle and grow in faith and charity. 

Haymitch Abernathy, given as a mentor to the two young tributes with little hope of success, provided support and guidance as they survived in the face of insurmountable odds. This continued presence helped them as their struggles heightened and their mission intensified throughout The Hunger Games series.

Christians would do well to heed the reminder that Haymitch gives to Katniss in the third book, when the conventional Hunger Games had ended but the new battle had begun: “I’m still your mentor.” Just as they could eventually “speak in a kind of shorthand,” so too must Christians develop a similar familiarity with our Advocate and Guide in prayer. Haymitch’s wisdom is clever, but imperfect. He “loves” powerfully, but it is stunted. Christians have their own Mentor, Guide, and Advocate whose love is perfect and whose wisdom is all-seeing. May we entrust ourselves to Him accordingly.