Wiress - a genius or a fool?

[aurali1988]

Dear all,

as I do have a mentally disabled friend, who was very happy about the appearance of a tribute with a cognitive disability in "Catching Fire", I was asking myself how you perceived Wiress, who first seems to be kind of crazy, but turns out to recognize the arena to be a clock. Is she a genius or a fool? Did her appearance in the book change your perception of mentally disabled persons? Is she adorable to you? Would you respect her or team up with her if you were a tribute?

I am looking forward to read your answers

[Hijacked]

I knew she was really clever and perceptive, but merely hindered by a mental disability. Probably a consequence of being a tribute and victor I imagine.

[Cathy904]

SPOILERS FROM CATCHING FIRE
Now I need to check the passages, I've given myself a month to immerse myself in Katniss' world, May 24th will be my mandatory time out. *Cheerfully retrieves book for page reference*

If Katniss hadn't taken time with them in the training arena, she wouldn't have discovered vital information about the Game.

[SPOILER=Catching Fire]"The woman, Wiress, is probably about my mother's age and speaks in a quiet, intelligent voice. But right Away I notice she has a habit of dropping off her words in mid-sentence, as if she's forgotten you're there."........."Wiress and Beetee make decent company. They seem friendly but don't pry.....Wiress brings up some sort of stitching device she's working on. 'It senses the density of the fabric and selects the strength,' she says, and then becomes absorbed in a bit of dry straw before she can go on." pg 273[/SPOILER=Catching Fire] YooHoo, Spoiler Tags......

I'm not qualfied to label her lapses. But it's got to be a communication disability. She reminded me of a family member struggling to talk post-stroke. But her cognitive abilities are at least what the other tributes' are. It's sweet she devoted herself to Beetee, they spoke like one person, and she wanted to help him get the bloody wire clean.

Wiress is a genius, along with Beetee. While Peeta paints and Cinna indulges Katniss with 'new' fashion designs Katniss was supposed to have done, Beetee and Wiress invent things. Beetee's alliance not a moment too soon. I did get a chuckle out of the pre-Game ally request. Beetee, Wiress, and Mags. Whew!

[iHEARThungergames]

Dear all,

as I do have a mentally disabled friend, who was very happy about the appearance of a tribute with a cognitive disability in "Catching Fire", I was asking myself how you perceived Wiress, who first seems to be kind of crazy, but turns out to recognize the arena to be a clock. Is she a genius or a fool? Did her appearance in the book change your perception of mentally disabled persons? Is she adorable to you? Would you respect her or team up with her if you were a tribute?

I am looking forward to read your answers

For me, at first i thought of her as smart for she is from district three and that the way she can't finish her sentences is just an aftermath of her experience in the arena. yes, her appearance in the book did change my perspective. if i were a tribute i would team up with her. because of her witts.

[Cathy904]

That's probably a good point, Wiress was damaged in her previous Arena encounter. But, she won. Did she win with Beetee, who calmly electrocuted his foes.

Wiress would have developed her own method to win against those the other side. A little funny, since there was no 'love story' to undermind the wholesales slaughter