I think it’s interesting that the Mockingjay in the cover is perched, rather than in flight like all the other covers in the hunger games series. Could this indicate stagnation or a period of rest in the districts and rebellion?
There’s also the tree branches surrounding them, which I think ties into part of the synopsis saying that this book explores the state of nature. Will climate change and pollution be a significant conflict the characters struggle with? If you notice, the tree branches are completely bare.
Then there’s the snake, which has never appeared in any of the previous covers. The most prominent image associated with a snake in the books is president snow. Could this book involve his rise to power? Or someone adjacent to him? Perhaps the perspectives shift between those in the districts and those in the Capitol?
If you notice, the Songbird and the snake aren’t grappling, aren’t fighting, seem largely unaware of each other, but they are looking in opposite directions, outside of the circle. In the hunger games series, the Mockingjay’s gaze is always directed within the circle, (until the third book) which I believe symbolizes the games, the arena.
Could it be that the games weren’t originally intended to carry on forever? That people hadn’t resigned themselves to endure them for generations? That there were plans to shut them down? Who knows.
I also find the design in the background, that kind of evokes the image of a bullseye, interesting. This pattern is also seen in the previous covers, though in those the pattern repeats, you can see other bullseye patterns that are joined with the central one. I think that these circular patterns also symbolize the games, and that the joined ones represent a long unbroken chain of them. Then, in Mockingjay’s cover, the pattern is shattered into pieces as the Mockingjay spreads its wings.
I think that the pattern stands alone in this book because the games have not yet been normalized. At ten years, chances are that everyone at the reaping remembers a time where the games didn’t exist. It would not yet have ingrained itself in the culture of Panem. There might not even be career districts yet.
Finally, I wonder if the golden material the central symbol is shown in is significant, that’s not something we’ve seen since the pin on the cover of the first book. Could we possibly see the person who makes the pin? The timing would line up, as it couldn’t have been made before the dark days, because Mockingjays wouldn’t exist otherwise.
