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Why did Katniss put flowers around Rue after she died? What do Rue’s flowers symbolize?
Katniss covered Rue’s body & hair in flowers because she wanted to hold someone accountable for the little girl’s death and give her a proper funeral. She wanted people to FEEL that Rue’s death was awful and wrong...that no child should be put through this--no matter what their ancestors did 74 years ago in a rebellion.
Katniss hates the Capitol for forcing the Games on the district citizens and she hates the viewers for loving that form of entertainment, so she wants them to feel SHAME for their actions.
The flowers symbolize that Rue was a real person, one who should have been given a proper burial, and one who should have died a normal death, not a forced death for someone else’s entertainment. They symbolize respect for her and all the citizens of the districts who feel they are helpless and hopeless.
Katniss is telling the viewers that Rue and she are MORE than pieces in their Games (as Peeta said earlier). They are human, and worthy, and have feelings, just as the viewers do.