Hijacking

Hijacking is a method of fear conditioning developed by the Capitol for torture and brainwashing.

Process

"Recall is made more difficult because memories can be changed... Brought to the forefront of your mind, altered, and saved again in the revised form."

—Beetee Latier explaining hijacking

Vials in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1, presumably containing tracker jacker venom.

In the process of hijacking, the victim would be made to remember an event, either by being asked or getting shown footage. They would then receive a small dose of tracker jacker venom. This induced terrifying hallucinations, altering the memory and introducing fear and doubt into the victim's mind. As a result, the false, frightening version of the event would be stored in their brain instead. These memories could be distinguished from the real ones by determining if they had a "shiny" quality to them.

History

Hijacking of Peeta Mellark

Peeta Mellark was the only known victim of hijacking. He was not the first person to ever endure it, though, since hijacking was a known technique by the time it was used on him. However, no one knew if rehabilitation had ever been attempted, and if it had, the data was not available.

Peeta tied to his bed after attacking Katniss.

Peeta was captured from the 75th Hunger Games arena by the Capitol and held in captivity for five or six weeks, during which time he underwent torture and hijacking. His memories of Katniss Everdeen were targeted and altered to the point that he would view her as a threat and try to kill her in self-defense. When he, Johanna Mason, and Annie Cresta were rescued and taken to District 13 for medical treatment, he strangled Katniss on sight until he was knocked out by Boggs.

Initial treatment

"Don't trust her, Delly... I did, and she tried to kill me. She killed my friends. My family. Don't even go near her! She's a mutt!"

—Peeta about Katniss

Peeta was only seen by doctors from District 13, and they screened people from District 12 who might have shared childhood memories with him, but nothing to remind him of Katniss. They chose Delly Cartwright and sent her in to speak with him. Peeta was initially confused, asking where they were and why his family had not been in to see him. Delly was under instruction not to say anything about Katniss or the Capitol, so she tried to redirect the conversation to happy childhood memories, and she struggled to explain what had happened to District 12. Peeta became agitated as he realized there had been a fire. He blamed Katniss for it, yelling that she was a muttation created by the Capitol. Delly was quickly pulled out of his room, and his recovery team took notes in their observation room behind the one-way glass. In The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2, Delly's role was fulfilled by Katniss's younger sister, Primrose Everdeen.

Re-hijacking

Prim suggested that the doctors try hijacking him back: calling up memories under the calming influence of morphling in order to associate them with positive emotions. On the first attempt, they showed Peeta footage from the 74th Hunger Games, when Katniss told him the story about getting Lady for Prim. He was very confused, and according to Haymitch Abernathy, "He lost the ability to speak for several hours. Went into some sort of stupor. When he came out, the only thing he asked about was the goat."

The next time this method was attempted, they showed Peeta the unaired propo footage of Katniss singing "The Hanging Tree", and Peeta said he recognized the song. When Peeta was six or seven, Mr. Everdeen sang it once when he came to trade at the bakery. Peeta recounted that was listening to see if the birds had stopped singing. This was the first time that recalling a connection to Katniss had not triggered Peeta.

Recovery

Peeta frosted the cake for Finnick and Annie's wedding under heavy guard, but he did not attend the wedding himself. Haymitch told Katniss that he had been able to speak with Peeta without triggering an episode, and although Peeta had been angry, it was for "all the right reasons". Haymitch then told her that Peeta had asked to see her, so she went to visit him at midnight. Peeta had three restraints on each of his arms, and he had a tube that could dose him with a sedative in case he lost control. Both he and Katniss were wary and hostile, but he remained calm throughout the interaction. They discussed his confusing memories and he questioned Katniss's motivations.

Peeta was eventually allowed to eat with the rest of District 13's population, albeit handcuffed and accompanied by a pair of guards. He sat next to Johanna and was kind towards Annie, though he showed hostility towards Finnick Odair and Katniss. After Katniss left the table with Gale Hawthorne, Delly lectured Peeta about how he'd treated Katniss, and according to Johanna, "he started arguing with himself like he was two people" before he was taken away by guards.

Battle of the Capitol

As Katniss, Gale, Johanna, and Finnick trained for the Battle of the Capitol, Peeta took part in their morning workouts so he could be filmed for propaganda purposes. His handcuffs were removed, though he was still under guard. Peeta remained in District 13 when Squad 451 was shipped out, but President Alma Coin directly assigned him to join them on their fifth evening in the Capitol, replacing the deceased Leeg 2.

After placing a call to Coin, Boggs ordered Jackson to organize a two-person, round-the-clock watch on Peeta. Katniss requested that Jackson put her on the rotation, and although Jackson was initially resistant, Boggs' word was enough to convince her. Peeta was instructed to sleep in full view of everyone, but rather than sleeping, he knotted a piece of rope that Finnick had given him. He and Katniss discussed the confusing state of their relationship, and Peeta expressed doubt in his ability to tell what was real. Finnick told Peeta that if he was unsure, he could ask, since that's what Annie did. Inspired by this, Jackson devised the game Real or Not Real the next morning, and Peeta played it with the rest of the squad in order to sort out his memories.

The following day, Boggs' legs were blown off by a pod, and the ensuing chaos triggered one of Peeta's episodes. When he tried to attack Katniss, Mitchell tackled Peeta and attempted to pin him to the ground, but Peeta threw him off into a mislabeled pod, killing him. The other soldiers managed to restrain Peeta and evacuate the area. Jackson got his handcuffs back on him, but this agitated him further, so he had to be locked in a closet. He kicked the door for a while before eventually passing out. The squad relocated again, and when Peeta came to, he was wrought with guilt over killing Mitchell. He even asked the squad to kill him.

Peeta demanded that they keep his handcuffs on because the pain of them digging into his wrists grounded him. He later insisted that Katniss shackle him to the stair supports in Tigris's cellar, but he allowed her to clean and bandage his wrists first. They played Real or Not Real, and he spoke calmly with the other remaining members of the squad. He was able to keep hold of himself once the cuffs were removed, and he did not take the nightlock suicide pill that was given to him in case of capture.

Post-Second Rebellion

After the end of the Second Rebellion, Peeta was mentally sound enough to vote on the proposal for a 76th Hunger Games. He maintained his old sense of morality; he immediately voted against it and implored the other victors to follow suit. He saw Dr. Aurelius for treatment in the Capitol before he was eventually allowed to return to District 12 in early spring. He still experienced traumatic flashbacks, but he was able to rekindle his relationship with Katniss.

Etymology

Hijacking means to seize or capture something, usually in reference to a vehicle or aircraft. It is a play on the in-universe term "tracker jacker," which itself comes from "yellowjacket".

Trivia

• In The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1, "The Hanging Tree" was used in propos and adopted by rebels as a protest song. It was not known to have been used in Peeta's treatment.