4. Further Absence Of Characters
As well as the missing Avox girl from the previous point, there are also several other characters missing in the film that played minor but important roles in the books. The first of these missing characters is Darius, a kind-hearted peacekeeper who steps in when Gale is being whipped in the book. As reward for speaking out, he is himself beaten and has his tongue cut out, being turned into an Avox in the process. The second of these missing characters is actually a duo, namely Twill and Bonnie. Early on in Catching Fire, Katniss meets Twill and Bonnie during a hunting trip to the woods. She learns that they have ran away from their district and are seeking refuge in District 13, which most people believe no longer exists. Both of these absences are important for separate reasons. By leaving out Darius, the viewers are not really aware that not all of the peacekeepers are evil, nor are they aware that there is mild resistance to the way the Capitol goes about things. As we have mentioned already, the filmmakers seem to have wiped away any ideas of existing resistance to the Capitol. By leaving out Twill and Bonnie, the movie loses the foreshadowing of events to come and Katniss herself loses the hope that District 13s potential existence gives her. Ultimately, neither change is too drastic nor a bad decision as the overall story is more cohesive without their existence and its likely we may see the duo in the Mockingjay films at some point.