Johanna Mason Character Analysis in Catching Fire

A young, wily Hunger Games victor who returns to the Games to compete against Katniss. Johanna is aggressive and bold, and almost immediately Katniss dislikes her. Gradually, Katniss comes to respect her more after she openly criticizes the government in the middle of the Hunger Games, knowing full well that her words are being recorded. Ultimately, it’s revealed that Johanna is a rebel, working with Finnick and Haymitch, among others, to free Peeta and Katniss from the Hunger Games arena.

Johanna Mason Quotes in Catching Fire

The Catching Fire quotes below are all either spoken by Johanna Mason or refer to Johanna Mason. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

). Note: all page numbers and citation info for the quotes below refer to the Scholastic Press edition of Catching Fire published in 2013.

Kids in costumes are silly, but aging victors, it turns out, are pitiful. A few who are on the younger side, like Johanna and Finnick, or whose bodies haven’t fallen into disrepair, like Seeder and Brutus, can still manage to maintain a little dignity. But the majority, who are in the clutches of drink or morphling or illness, look grotesque in their costumes.

Related Characters: (speaker), , , ,

Page Number and Citation: 214

Explanation and Analysis:

My mouth drops open in shock. No one, ever, says anything like this in the Games. Absolutely, they’ve cut away from Johanna, are editing her out. But I have heard her and can never think about her again in the same way. She’ll never win any awards for kindness, but she certainly is gutsy. Or crazy.

Related Characters: (speaker),

Page Number and Citation: 346

Explanation and Analysis:

Johanna Mason Character Timeline in Catching Fire

The timeline below shows where the character Johanna Mason appears in Catching Fire. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

Surveillance and Manipulation Theme Icon

Women, Femininity, and Sexism Theme Icon

...elevators that take them to their rooms. Standing in the elevator with Peeta, Katniss notices Johanna Mason, a victor who won the Games by pretending to be weak and helpless, and... (full context)

Hidden Resistance vs. Direct Rebellion Theme Icon

Johanna walks off the elevator, still naked. Peeta, grinning, tells Katniss that the other competitors see... (full context)

Pain, Pleasure, and Self-Control Theme Icon

...in red paint. Finnick realizes that one of the members of the other group is Johanna, and he runs toward her. Katniss and Peeta run after him, seeing that the other... (full context)

The group meets up with Johanna, who explains that she, Beetee, and Wiress ran through a rainstorm of blood, hence the... (full context)

...lost Mags: Katniss wasn’t strong enough to carry her. Although Finnick is cool and calm, Johanna points out to Katniss that Mags was his mentor, and “half his family.” Katniss feels... (full context)

...how they survived the fog and the monkeys. Quickly, Katniss explains her clock theory to Johanna, Beetee, Finnick, and Peeta. As she explains, she remembers the watch Plutarch was wearing during... (full context)

...face challenges every hour. Beetee asks for his “wire.” No one knows what he means. Johanna says that Beetee took a wire from the Cornucopia to use as a weapon. She... (full context)

Katniss thinks ahead. She’ll have to kill Johanna—indeed, she’ll probably enjoy it, given everything Johanna has said to her. Beetee and Wiress will... (full context)

...the Cornucopia, where there are still a few weapons. Katniss gets more arrows, and notices Johanna picking up a heavy axe. She realizes that Johanna is from District 7, the lumber... (full context)

...a noise: a group of Careers has approached the Cornucopia and slit Wiress’s throat. Quickly, Johanna throws an axe into the chest of one Career, Cashmere, and Katniss kills the Career... (full context)

The group ventures back into the jungle, noting that it’s “monkey hour.” Johanna tells Katniss and Finnick to find water. Peeta will make another map of the arena.... (full context)

Katniss and Finnick turn to see Peeta, Beetee, and Johanna standing only a few feet away from them. There is another force field between them,... (full context)

...of their loved ones—there may not be any real torture involved. Beetee agrees with Peeta. Johanna points out that the entire country adores Prim—to hurt her would lead to an uprising.... (full context)

...rolls of bread. The group eats fifteen of the loaves, leaving the rest for tomorrow. Johanna jokes that whoever is still alive at breakfast can have the rest, and Katniss laughs. (full context)

...Peeta will go back to the lighting zone and tie more wire around the tree. Johanna and Katniss will continue unraveling the wire on the beach, eventually dropping the spool of... (full context)

Johanna and Katniss unwind the wire on the beach. Johanna hands Katniss the wire so that... (full context)

When Katniss comes to, Johanna is sitting on top of her. Johanna stabs Katniss in the forearm and then rubs... (full context)

...and lurches through the jungle. She hears Finnick, running through the jungle and calling for Johanna and Katniss, and hides from him. After Finnick has passed, Katniss resumes her path to... (full context)

...Plutarch. He closes Katniss’s eyes, and Katniss realizes that she’ll soon bleed to death from Johanna’s wound. She loses consciousness. (full context)

...Peeta because they knew it was the only way to keep Katniss in their alliance. Johanna wasn’t trying to kill Katniss by cutting her arm—she was removing the tracking device from... (full context)

Haymitch then tells Katniss that the Capitol has kidnapped Peeta, Johanna, and Enobaria. Katniss is furious at this news, and she screams at Haymitch, until she’s... (full context)