Strawberry Connections: Why Mags Sends Ice Cream Into the Arena and Trilogy Tie-ins

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD for Sunrise on the Reaping, and the Trilogy!

Upon first scan, readers of Sunrise encounter some apparently meaningless strawberries, embedded within Mag’s ice cream treat for our District 12 tributes. Those with little memory of the original trilogy could be forgiven for dismissing this otherwise mundane fact. While Prosperina — Effie’s sister — has a meltdown about failing her prep team duties, Mags “corrals” the D-12 tributes and Vitus into the kitchen to enjoy some strawberry ice cream. Prosperina takes some herself and eventually repeats her sister’s upbeat message, that “a positive attitude is ninety-seven percent of the battle” (SOTR 170). While Haymitch contemplates in silence how self-absorbed this is, Maysilee jumps in with some well-placed sarcasm, responding, “I’ll try to keep that in mind in the arena. More ice cream?”

Not only does this exchange introduce us to Effie’s legendary if thoughtless positivity, but the ice cream returns later during one of the story’s most emotional scenes. Haymitch is saying goodbye to Maysilee upon her death and reflects on his journey with her. Just then a parachute arrives for Haymitch, quite grateful that it does not contain his favorite bean and ham hock soup that he could not stomach right now. Instead he finds a mug of steaming black coffee and none other than a basin of strawberry ice cream. He recognizes the coffee as Maysilee’s “beverage of choice,” but the ice cream stumps him. One of his thoughts, however, is likely the most correct — that is, it honors the memory of Maysilee’s “sass” with Properina and more generally her distinctive personality. Readers can presume that Mags has sent Haymitch two special foods to recognize his newfound sibling-like relationship, and foods that Maysilee clearly enjoyed. And we know that Mags had been amused by Maysilee’s retort to Prosperina, because she gave Haymitch a subtle glance and grin in response. In any case, her act of kindness works well. Haymitch breaks down, convincing himself that it’s “okay to cry around Mags” (308-309).

While tempting to simply dismiss the mention of strawberries, this is Suzanne Collins we’re talking about. Everything in her narrative is strategic or meaningful in some way. Those who recall the trilogy well enough to finish respectably in a Hunger Games trivia contest will tell you this is not the first reference to strawberries in Collins’ saga. Nor is it likely a coincidence. Early in the first novel, Katniss describes the hunting and gathering skills that she and Gale have practiced of late. She tells us about one such outing: “By late morning, we have a dozen fish, a bag of greens and, best of all, a gallon of strawberries. I found the patch a few years ago, but Gale had the idea to string mesh nets around it to keep out the animals” (HG 11). What fans have noted more curiously, however, is what she does with them. Katniss continues, “When we finish our business at the market, we go to the back door of the mayor’s house to sell half the strawberries, knowing he has a particular fondness for them and can afford our price.”

It is Madge herself, however, who receives Katniss and Gale secretively at the mayor’s back door. Like any other trading in Twelve, this transaction is highly illegal, and Mayor Undersee is satisfied to have Madge be the go-between. This is also our first introduction to Maysilee’s future niece, and Merrilee’s daughter. Madge happens to show up somewhat spontaneously in the trilogy’s storyline more often than many of us might remember. Funny thing as well, Katniss continues, “She’s in my year at school. Being the mayor’s daughter, you’d expect her to be a snob, but she’s all right. She just keeps to herself. Like me.” This could easily be a description of Maysilee in a nutshell as well, expecting stuck-up behavior but learning later she’s not so bad after all. Further, Madge has blonde hair tied with a pink ribbon, which sounds familiar to her three counterparts in Sunrise. When Gale sarcastically compliments Madge on her “pretty dress,” Madge “shoots him a look” and responds, “Well, if I end up going to the Capitol, I want to look nice, don’t I?” (HG 12). This sounds like something her aunt would have said 24 years earlier, perhaps another case of Collins’ clever habit of imbuing family members with similar traits.

And returning to those strawberries, Katniss brings them up at least one more time after Madge delivers the morphling for Gale’s treatment in Catching Fire. Peeta expresses his own surprise that Gale and Madge actually knew each other, to which Katniss responds, “We used to sell her strawberries” (CF 115). Haymitch then makes a snarky and admittedly unnecessary comment that “she must have quite a taste for them,” implying there’s “something going on” between Gale and Madge. We can safely agree with Katniss that this is ridiculous, even for Haymitch, given Gale’s clear disdain for Madge’s privilege back in the first novel. The main point, however, is that here we go again with the strawberry references.

So, what to make of this running strawberry theme between the trilogy and Sunrise? Those familiar enough with Collins’ trend to embed subtle clues and Easter eggs (i.e. meaningful, hidden connections) throughout her stories would be hard-pressed to call this a coincidence. The ice cream which Mags offers at the apartment and later sends into the arena could have been any flavor. But this particular choice provides a direct tie-in to Mayor Undersee and Madge’s family from the trilogy. Furthermore, while we can assume from Katniss as a somewhat “unreliable narrator” that the mayor himself is the sole consumer of the tasty fruit, it is not unreasonable to presume that Madge and Merrilee partake as well. And Katniss only tells us he has a “fondness” for them, not that he eats them. This is what occurs with Peeta’s family in a similar case. While it was his father who traded with Katniss for her squirrels, Katniss is surprised to learn that Peeta has eaten them too. If follows that perhaps Mayor Undersee is only fond of strawberries because he’s happy to pass them along to Merrilee or Madge.

We should therefore probably not dismiss a strawberry connection between Maysilee’s and Merilee’s respective families some 24 years apart. We already know that Madge plays the piano at the mayor’s house, likely the very same piano found at the Mayor Allister’s home in Maysilee’s time (see this post about that). Perhaps one more question should be asked. Do the strawberries hold an even deeper meaning than this? If Merrilee was watching the Games when her sister was killed, she likely witnessed Haymitch receiving the coffee and strawberry ice cream, followed by Haymitch’s emotional response. Since Mags had ordered the strawberry ice cream for the apartment treat, she likely had special “intel” that this was one of Maysilee’s favorite foods. Though unconfirmed, this seems likely, given that Mags also knew of Haymitch’s passion for bean and ham hock soup (itself a direct parallel to Katniss’ adoration for lamb stew with dried plumbs in the first novel — yes, yes, of course!). If Maysilee liked strawberries, certainly Merrilee did too. Haymitch had already told us that she tends to follow along with whatever Maysilee does, not to mention that they already have that special connection as identical twins. If this logic holds water, it is Merrilee who is likely the strawberry fan in Madge’s family, and perhaps even Madge and the Mayor help her to silently remember Maysilee in this way. Sure, this could be reaching, because Katniss and Gale had only been collecting strawberries for a few years. But otherwise, a lot of this makes decent sense — in the least for Collins to use strawberries as another connective thread between her novels. Disclaimer: Aside from the apparent strawberry connection with the trilogy, I have not seen this possible deeper meaning discussed anywhere. I take full responsibility if the Merrilee theory ends up being “full of hot air.” In the meantime, I’m going to remain positive. More ice cream, anyone?

Source of Featured Image: Strawberry Ice Cream, collabkitchen.com