How to Write a Story that SINKS its Teeth Into Readers & Refuses to Let Go - The Hunger Games (Part 1) by Suzanne Collins

The Hunger Games series outsold Harry Potter in 2012.

I mean, in terms of Amazon sales figures. But it’s an incredible accomplishment, considering that HP has seven books in the series, and HG (at the time) only three. And the series accomplished this feat in only four years.

Sales are a complicated thing, of course. There are many factors that play a part in the success of any series. But it’s incredibly rare for any story to make it to the top without being, you know, good in some way.

The question is: WHY is it good?

WHY did the Hunger Games capture the imagination of millions of readers, spawn four movies, and crush the sales record of the previous reigning world champion book series?

WHY is the Hunger Games still a favorite of readers to this day, over a decade since it was first published?

And WHAT can we, as aspiring writers, learn from the skill of a successful author like Suzanne Collins?

In this article, I aim to zoom in on every aspect of the story and figure out the answers to these questions.

Who’s with me?

Who this book is for: Fans of action-adventure, dystopian with a dash of romance, fans of Roman culture reconfigured with a modern spin, survival stories (both physical and emotional survival), and anyone interested in learning to be a better storyteller.

Scylighter rating: to be revealed at the end of this review series.

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BOOK NOTES

PART I: “THE TRIBUTES”

Chapter 1.

In This Chapter

We are introduced to main character Katniss and her dystopian world.
Katniss meets up with childhood friend Gale in the forest to do some (illegal) fishing.
Then the two trade their catch as details about the imminent Reaping Day / Hunger Games are leaked out through their interactions and conversations.

Katniss wakes up and realizes her little sister Primrose (Prim for short) is not sleeping next to her. She finds Prim curled up with their mother, guarded by “the world’s ugliest cat,” Buttercup.

Katniss flashes back to how she’d tried to drown Buttercup…until Prim begged her to spare him.

Excellent character building and scene setting. In one paragraph, we learn:

Katniss is a jaded, pragmatic character whose major concern is simply survival.
Her only “weakness” is her love for her little sister.

On her relationship with Buttercup, Katniss reflects, in a somewhat-snarky narrative voice:

“Entrails. No hissing. This is the closest we will ever come to love.”

As Katniss dresses herself, grabs some cheese, and heads out, she narrates the setting — she lives in District 12, which is populated by coal miners and their families. Katniss and her mom and sister live near the chain-link fence that separates her district from the outside woods.

The fence is supposed to be electrically charged, but it usually isn’t, allowing Katniss to sneak into the woods to hunt and poach — something others don’t dare do, but she does, because her father taught her how.

Katniss also thinks about how she used to be more outspoken in her negative opinions about her country, Panem, and its Capitol. She only stopped when she considered that Prim might begin to echo her and get in trouble.

(Again, we’re establishing Prim’s central importance to Katniss, who otherwise is a cold, emotionless, sarcastic, survival machine.)

Katniss meets Gale, who has nicknamed her Catnip (Katniss briefly explains how she got this nickname), and Gale shares some fresh “real bakery bread” with her, which he got from trading a squirrel.

From their dialogue, readers get the sense that today is an important day, making everyone feel a little extra sentimental. They quote Effie’s line “may the odds be ever in your favor” sarcastically as they eat the food, and Katniss reflects on Gale’s physical appearance — he has dark hair, olive skin, gray eyes, like her, which contrasts with her mother and sister’s fairer coloring, which is out of place because her mom used to belong to the upper merchant class, and worked as an apothecary.

Gale proposes that they run away, but quickly takes it back, because both of them are older siblings of younger kids who depend on them. They get a little snappy with each other, as Katniss reflects:

“Leave? How could I leave Prim, who is the only person in the world I’m certain I love?”

(SERIOUSLY setting up Prim as Katniss’s biggest motivating factor, the energy that will propel this character through the rest of the story.)

Katniss is a bit dismayed by all this talk of kids, musing on how “there’s nothing romantic between Gale and me,” and then going on to observe that Gale would have no problem finding a wife if he wanted, that most of the girls at school want him.

“It makes me jealous but not for the reason people would think. Good hunting partners are hard to find,” Katniss says in her narration.

(Ha. You can see right here the author setting Gale up as a potential romantic lead right from the start. Can’t have YA without a dab of romance, I suppose. Haven’t seen any modern cases of such a thing being successfully pulled off, anyway…

Also, it’s probably necessary to set Gale up as early as possible because once Peeta comes on the scene, Gale is pretty much history. The triangle is more than a bit unbalanced.

Also, also — It seems Katniss here is being set up as (more than) a bit NOT-self-aware character. The fact that her mind immediately goes to romance and girls at school and her “being jealous not for the reason people would think” makes me think: “thou doth protest too much…”)

Katniss asks Gale what they should do, and he suggests fishing. Here, there’s another mental aside from Katniss about how people will be celebrating tonight, except for two families.

(Intriguing set up, makes the readers feel a sense of foreboding. Why will two families be locking themselves up tonight? If you’ve read the book jacket, you can probably guess. But it’s still nice foreshadowing.)

Katniss and Gale do their fishing, then swing by the black market at the Hob in an abandoned warehouse to trade their fish for bread and salt from Greasy Sae, an interesting character who is “the only one who can consistently be counted on to buy wild dog.”

(It’s little somewhat-gruesome details like this that help three-dimensional-ize this stark, depressing, dystopian world.)

Then they hop (okay, they don’t exactly HOP, but you get what I mean) over to the mayor’s house to sell some strawberries, and run into his daughter Madge, who is Katniss’ age. Katniss notes that Madge should be a snob, but she really isn’t.

Unfortunately, Gale gets a bit snippy with her, and the author uses this dialogue as a natural way to introduce the reaping (lottery) system —children enter the lottery starting at age 12, and each year their number of entries increase.

The poor can enter their names more often in exchange for more food, meaning both Katniss and Gale have dozens of entries in the lottery in order to support their families (this is called tesserae), while rich, privileged kids like Madge have the fewest entries in the lottery because they don’t need the food.

(Interestingly, Katniss is named after an (in-world) plant, and Gale’s name is reminiscent of wind. I wonder how much thought Collins put into naming each of these characters. Is Gale’s name supposed to represent his powerful, blustery, but ultimately empty/unfulfilling personality/character/role that he plays in relation to Katniss?

And why is tesserae the word used here? I looked it up and it has something to do with mosaics and Rome, and we know the story is largely influenced by ancient Rome [names, concepts, etc])

Katniss recalls how Gale has ranted to her in the past about how the tesserae system divides the populace against itself, which is to the Capitol’s advantage.

As they walk home, Katniss observes Gale’s smoldering anger and thinks to herself how useless this is. Not only does his anger not solve any problems, it also scares away the game. But, being practical, Katniss knows it’s better for him to blow off steam in the woods away from other people than not.

(Another great example of characterization, here. Katniss isn’t happy with the current system, but compared to Gale, she is far more practical.)

Gale and Katniss split their food and go back to their respective homes.

At home, Katniss bathes and dresses, and helps Prim to tuck her blouse into her skirt. This is Prim’s first reaping, and Katniss laments inwardly that she cannot protect Prim from this. During this scene, we also learn that Katniss resents her mother pretty seriously for something, but she’s learning to get over it.

They eat their lunch and head for the square. There are cameras everywhere, and we learn more about the constant surveillance-style world they live in. Katniss describes the scene — worried families holding each other’s hands, plus callous gamblers taking bets on human lives.

Katniss stands with the 16-year-olds and then the ceremony begins with the mayor reading the story of Panem, which is a place for the author to fill readers in on how this dystopian world got to be what it is, and what the Hunger Games are (basically, one girl and one boy from each of the 12 districts fight to the death on live TV every year. This is done in order for the Capitol to vaunt their superiority over the “rebellious” districts).

It’s mentioned that this is the 74th year of the Games (important, since the next book is predicated on the fact that that year’s games is a multiple of 25).

And it is ALSO mentioned that District 12 hasn’t had many Game victors. Only two, actually, and of those two, only one is still alive — an alcoholic ne-er-do-well named Haymitch Abernathy, who is theatrically drunk at the moment, making a fuss and interrupting the ceremony, which is being televised to the whole country.

And then, we come to the high point of this chapter:

It’s time for the lottery drawing, and cartoonishly made-up Capitol rep, Effie Trinket, reaches in to pick the first name — the girl who will represent District 12 in the Games.

(Side note. Effie Trinket is another fitting name. Effie makes you think of the word “ephemeral” like the bizarre beauty standards of the Capitol — their shallowness. And a trinket is a bauble that is not of high value, which pretty much sums up the “feeling” of Effie’s character. A cheap, temporarily gaudy bit of fluff who isn’t very serious and doesn’t have a whole lot of depth.)

As Effie scrounges for a slip of paper, Katniss silently and desperately hopes it’s not her. And she gets her wish. The person Effie picks is not Katniss.

It’s Primrose.

Quotes & Comments

Opening: When I wake up, the other side of the bed is cold.

Closing: Effie Trinket crosses back to the podium, smooths the slip of paper, and reads out the name in a clear voice. And it’s not me. It’s Primrose Everdeen.

PROMISES & PAYOFFS

Promises:

Based on the book jacket, blurb, advertising material, people know this book is going to be about the main character fighting to the death. So they want an exciting hook that introduces them to the world and gets the MC into the deadly games, but not one that is too obvious. (Which is the subject of the entire rest of this book)
We need to find out why Katniss resents her mom. (We find out pretty soon, in Ch 2)

Complications:

The setting and the gnarly situation is fairly well-described, enough to make most readers silence their more realistic, logical brains in order to enjoy the story.
Gale’s stormy personality makes Katniss’ life harder than it has to be, even as his companionship as her hunting buddy is arguably indispensible to her.
The author has Katniss really boxed in, with her poverty, the low status of District 12, the Hunger Games, the over-powered Capitol, and so on.

Payoffs:

The last line is kind of a payoff. The author set Prim up as Katniss’ Most Important Person, so threatening her life really gets this race off to an excellent start (narratively speaking).

OTHER COMMENTS

That last line is fire. It is da bomb. It’s pretty much genius. Collins did an excellent job of establishing the importance of Prim to Katniss, and the deadliness of the Games, so when the last line comes, it hits hard. It’s a great way to deliver something that the reader expects without making it boringly too-obvious.
It’s a bit like the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory problem. As soon as you know that Charlie MUST go to the chocolate factory (thanks to the title of the book), and that the golden ticket is the only way in, you know Charlie HAS TO find a golden ticket.
But if he finds it in the very first chocolate bar he opens, that would be boring. Hence the two other tries — with Grandpa Joe buying a secret bar (failure #2) and then Charlie “accidentally” finding money for one last bar (success at last).
Similarly, we know Katniss, as the main character MUST participate in the Hunger Games. The story demands it.
BUT it would be too boring for Katniss to just be directly chosen through the established method of the lottery. It’s much MUCH more interesting (and has the added bonus of establishing stakes and character and making prickly Katniss sympathetic both to the reader and to the other characters in the story-world) by having her beloved baby sister chosen initially, instead…
On another note, this chapter does a lot of worldbuilding and scene-setting, but without making it feel too info-dumpy. Part of this is how Collins delivers necessary info through arguments and conflict — Gale and Katniss getting snippy with each other, Gale getting snippy at Madge, etc. Another part is that Katniss’ narrative voice is somewhat snarky as well. There are some delicious lines in this chapter.
Katniss is also a fantastic character. She’s not all good or all bad, she’s the perfect blend of both positive and negative traits (with a stronger emphasis on the latter, so she’s not too goody-two-shoes), which makes her feel more like a real person than a two-dimensional archetype.
She’s plucky and sarcastic, pragmatic, intelligent and unsentimental, she holds grudges (against her mom), but also is fair (not resenting Madge for her luck of birth). And she has a real soft side for Prim, and an understanding side for Gale’s unproductive anger.

Chapter 2.

In This Chapter

Katniss volunteers for the Games to save her sister.
The male tribute is chosen, and it turns out to be Peeta Mellark, a boy who once (inexplicably, secretly, subtly) saved Katniss’ life when she most needed help.

Katniss has the wind knocked out of her when hearing that Prim has been chosen. Instinctively, she runs forward and volunteers to take her sister’s place.

Here, readers learn more about the volunteering protocol as Katniss is led on stage and Prim is pried away from her (by Gale), and her entire community solutes her sacrifice in silence.

This signature gesture — kissing the middle 3 fingers of their left hand then lifting it up — becomes a symbol that comes back later. Pretty clever of the author to come up with this gesture. It’s easy to describe and looks quite solemn and nifty on the mental screen AND the silver screen.

Katniss is saved from shedding tears at this show of solidarity by a drunk Haymitch crashing across the stage, which gives her a few seconds to collect herself and put on her stoic mask (so as not to allow fellow Game competitors watching her on TV to see her as a weakling).

Katniss thinks to herself:

“I know I was right about not running off. Because who else would have volunteered for Prim?”

(Ugh. That is just a heartbreakingly excellently-written line. Note: author really knows how to tug the heart strings.

Because here is love in one of its purest, most self-sacrificing forms. This is what makes Katniss, an otherwise cold and prickly character, so darn likable. The fact that she loves ONE person so well.)

Now, Effie goes to choose the boy “‘tribute” who will be sent to the Games with Katniss, and she selects Peeta Mellark.

Katniss has an instant recoil to this announcement (although readers don’t know why yet). She mentally comments on Peeta’s physical appearance (for the reader’s benefit) as he makes his way to the stage.

As the mayor starts reading another ceremonial (dull) document, Katniss reflects on what Peeta’s selection mean. And here we get a flashback to the worst time in Katniss’ life to date, right after her father’s death in a mine accident.

During this time, Katniss’ mother turned totally useless unable to do anything but sit mindlessly in her grief. Katniss was left to fight for herself and Prim — whom she describes with a few carefully selected (well, carefully selected by the author) details to show how pure a character Prim is and why Katniss loves her so much:

“Sweet, tiny Prim who cried when I cried before she even knew the reason, who brushed and plaited my mother’s hair before we left for school, who still polished my father’s shaving mirror each night because he’d hated the layer of coal dust that settled on everything in the Seam.”

Katniss recalls how despite her efforts, she and her family was starving to death. And it was at this point when Peeta, the baker’s son, seemingly-unintentionally threw some burnt bread in her direction, suffering his mother’s screaming abuse for his carelessness in burning the bread.

The burnt bread saved Katniss’ life, and it wasn’t until later that she realized he probably burned the bread on purpose so that he’d have an excuse to throw her the bread.

(This flashback/introduction to Peeta is another perfectly crafted piece. It makes readers feel for Peeta, instantly, and shows that although he technically comes from a higher social class than Katniss, in some ways he is more pitiable than her. He has an abusive, loveless mother. Katniss’ mother might be checked out, but she isn’t abusive and loveless.)

After this incident, Katniss notices Peeta staring at her across the yard at school, and when they break eye contact, she notices a dandelion, recalls all the stuff her father taught her about surviving off the land, and becomes a hunter-gatherer.

In other words, one of the most important positive turns in Katniss life was due to Peeta’s influence. So although he’s technically a stranger at this point in the story, he’s an important stranger.

Of course, Katniss feels conflicted about all this, never having thanked Peeta for what he did and now being forced to fight him to the death.

“…we’re going to be thrown into an arena to fight to the death. Exactly how am I supposed to work in a thank-you in there? Somehow it just won’t seem sincere if I’m trying to slit his throat,” Katniss observes in her grim-funny narrative voice.

Katniss and Peeta are told to shake hands, and then the ceremony ends.

Quotes & Comments

Opening: One time, when I was in a blind in a tree, waiting motionless for game to wander by, I dozed off and fell ten feet to the ground, landing on my back.

Closing: Odds are someone else will kill him before I do. / Of course, the odds have not been very dependable of late.

PROMISES & PAYOFFS

Promises:

Will Katniss ever be able to thank Peeta for what he did for her? (Sort of, because she saves his life later in the Games, in the Ch 20s+)
We need to figure out WHY Peeta chose to help Katniss back then. (See Peeta’s confession at the end of Ch 9, plus more on that confession in Ch 22)

Complications:

The biggest complication is the fact that Peeta is Katniss’ fellow tribute and competitor in the deadly Games. Ironic, given that he once saved her life, and now, officially, they will be trying to kill each other.

Payoffs:

Not much, besides: Katniss has officially entered the Games, as promised by the book jacket and summary.

OTHER COMMENTS

This chapter opens with one of the best emotional-punch scenes, and it is so well described: Katniss feeling like she has the air knocked out of her…Katniss noticing Prim’s blouse has gotten untucked as Prim tremblingly walks toward the stage, which wakes Katniss out of her stupor…Katniss rushing to the stage, unimpeded by her peers who instinctively get out of her way…Katniss shoving her sister protectively behind her and crying out “I volunteer as tribute!”
There’s a reason why this line has become a bit of a meme. It resonates. At our core, we are all arrested by a good depiction of selfless, loving, self-sacrifice, and that’s what makes Katniss such a sympathetic, compelling character. She doesn’t just SAY she loves Prim, she DEMONSTRATES it, by putting her own life down for her sister. THAT is real love. (Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. — John 15:13)
Next: Katniss’ snarky narrative voice is chef’s kiss. Although the subject matter of the story is pretty dark and depressing (children fighting to the death isn’t exactly most people’s idea of a light and airy literary romp), her gallows humor helps make it not-too-despairing.
Excellent intro to the character of Peeta, but you know that after this depiction of him, there’s no way Gale can hold a candle to the guy, not to mention all the other revelations that are coming down the pike…
(So I really don’t understand the attempted love-triangle in later books, except maybe Twilight made the trope a must-have…or perhaps Gale serves the same function as the little sisters in Pride & Prejudice — they’re there to make Elizabeth and Jane look better. Like Gale is here to contrast with Peeta and make him look better)
It’s like Prim. She is depicted as THE perfect little sister, to add fuel to the fire that is Katniss. In the same way, Peeta is basically THE perfect guy…not just perfect as a person, but the perfect balance for Katniss…if it turns out that all of his actions were sincere and not manipulative, which, in the case of his suffering punishment to give Katniss bread, must be — because he had no ulterior motive at the time (that we readers know of)

Chapter 3.

In This Chapter

Katniss says goodbye to her family and has a couple unexpected visits.
Katniss and Peeta are put on a train with Effie and Haymitch to go to the Games
We are introduced to the concept of muttations and mockingjays

Post-reaping ceremony, Katniss is shuffled into a fancy room where she gets to say her goodbyes to her mom and sister. Katniss instructs her mother to protect Prim at all costs, and that Gale will help out because they’d made a pact to help each others’ families if the worst came to the worst.

(This moment is another heartbreaking scene. If not for the plot armor and so on, you can really feel how this could very well be a loving big sister’s final words to her bereaved mother and beloved little sister. Again, Collins is fantastic at tugging heart strings.)

Finally, Katniss wraps up by grabbing her mother’s arm and ferociously insisting that she not tune out again like she did after Katniss’ father’s death.

“You can’t clock out and leave Prim on her own. There’s no me now to keep you both alive. It doesn’t matter what happens. Whatever you see on the screen. You have to promise me you’ll fight through it!”

Katniss shouts at her mom in her intensity, and Prim brings her back by saying: “You’re so fast and brave. Maybe you can win.”

Of course, they all know this is impossible (just as we readers know it is a 100% certainty, otherwise there wouldn’t be two more books after this one…three, if you include the prequel written about a decade after the success of the initial trilogy…), but Katniss tries to comfort Prim, who begs her to “try…really, really try?”

And Katniss swears to really, really try. And then time’s up, and Katniss’ mom and sister leave, and who comes in but Peeta Mellark’s father. He gives her some cookies and promises to keep an eye on Prim. Which is about all he says, and then he goes.

Katniss feels relief at this, thinking that the people’s goodwill toward Prim will help keep her alive.

(Okay, so Peeta Mellark’s dad coming to visit Katniss, one of his own son’s fight-to-the-death opponents, is a very suss thing to do. I have heard one online theory on the reason for this, which has a ring of plausibility to it, although it’s a pretty…how to say…Davidian theory [I’m referring to King David, from the Old Testament of the Bible].

Kind of hope it’s not “true,” because even though these are fictional people you’d like to think better of them than that, but it does make some sense. And if it were true, it would make ensuing events in the story quite ironical indeed.)

Katniss’ next visitor is the mayor’s daughter Madge, who gives her a golden mockingjay pin, and makes her promise to wear it in the arena.

We are not told yet that it is a mockingjay, but of course in retrospect, that’s what it is. Nor are we told why Madge is insistent about Katniss having the pin and using it in the arena, but that will be addressed at a later time.

(Also, how in the world did Peeta’s dad make it in to visit Katniss at all? And Madge? Does anybody who wants to say bye to the tributes get to pop in for a few minutes if they want to? Or is it that he swung by Katniss’ room after dropping cookies off for Peeta first, and Madge gets in because as mayor’s daughter she can do what she wants?)

And, finally, Gale comes in.

(Why he didn’t appear with her family or right after them is a bit of a mystery, but narratively, it’s a good tie-up to have him last.)

He gives her a hug and again Katniss notes that “there is nothing romantic between us.”

(Girl. Thou doth protesteth way too much. But I also get why the “protesting much” is necessary…Gale barely stands a chance against Peeta as it is, even given the brevity of Peeta’s character intro, so author has to introduce some subconscious inclination toward Gale on Katniss’ part early on or else this whole triangle thing just won’t be as much fun…for those who enjoy triangles)

Anyways. Gale gives Katniss some practical advice on what to do in the arena, like get a bow (her best weapon), and during this exchange, we readers learn a little more about how the Game arena works — how it changes from year to year and how tributes are given certain equipment, but the equipment is random.

Gale reminds Katniss that she knows how to kill.

“Not people,” I say.

“How different can it be, really?” says Gale grimly.

And Katniss mentally agrees with his summation of the situation.

(Seriously, though. Gale. Gale. You have no chance in this triangle. No chance.

I’m sorry, but in this modern-day Western-culture-influenced, non-treachery-celebrating society where even the bad guys have to at least pretend they’re on the side of the good, oppressed, and underdog in order to manipulate their audience…

The guy who braves punishment from a screeching mother to throw a dying girl some bread is always going to (morally) beat the guy who observes that killing humans for sport is not much different than hunting animals for survival.

Just like we know Katniss is going to survive Book 1, we know who’s going to win in the triangle before said triangle is even fully set up. What is even the point of the triangle??

…in other news, can you tell triangles are not my favorite fiction trope of all time?)

And then the author decides to play with the reader a little bit by having the Peacekeepers (police, basically) drag Gale out while he shouts to Katniss that he won’t let her family starve, and also: “Remember I — ”

Except: “They yank us apart and slam the door and I’ll never know what it was he wanted me to remember.”

(Man, don’t you hate when authors do that?

I suspect they do it in part because they themselves don’t know what should go after the dash, so might as well leave it shrouded in mystery for funsies, and to keep readers reading on the off chance that the mini mystery may be solved eventually…[it won’t. Not this time, at least]).

Next, Katniss is shoved on a train where swarming reporters are there to film her, and she takes pride in her ability to affect a stoic, almost-bored face for the TV, while Peeta, on the other hand “has obviously been crying and interestingly enough does not seem to be trying to cover it up.”

(Which, if you really thought about it, is actually the right thing to do.

Katniss doesn’t want to cry because she thinks it shows weakness. Maybe it does. But you know what shows even more weakness? Crying, and then trying — unsuccessfully — to hide it.

Might as well just let it be, which is another reason why Katniss doesn’t understand Peeta and why Peeta is the “perfect (authentic, genuine) guy”…maybe too much so, actually.

But this is fiction, not real life, so all good. Let’s keep going.)

Katniss hypothesizes that perhaps Peeta is pretending to be soft, just like Johanna Mason, a competitor from District 7 a few years ago. Johanna had pretended to be a “sniveling, cowardly fool” and then snatched victory from the duped fingers of her unwitting competitors when it turned out she was a pretty good killer, after all.

(This is our first intro to Johanna, who will come back in Book 2. Very nice way to seed and foreshadow things way early on!)

Then Katniss and Peeta are hustled onto their train and as the train rolls down the tracks, Katniss gives readers some more background on the setting — District 12 is located in the American Appalachian region — and then describes the luxury of the train’s innards.

As Katniss dresses for dinner, she remembers Madge’s pin, and here is where she recognizes that the birds are mockingjays, the result of a failed muttation breeding experiment by the Capitol.

According to Hunger Games lore, the super-spy jabberjays “created” by the Capitols bred with natural mockingjays on accident in this world, et voila, you get mockingjays.

(Of course, the mockingjay becomes a major symbol as the story goes on. It turns into Katniss’ unique “thing.” But more on that later.

Also, muttations come back at the climax of the book, so great idea introducing the gist of the concept way early on to make it feel at least somewhat familiar before you really use them.

Even so, muttations have always taken me out of the story, especially once you get to the human eyes stuff. Not to mention the name sounds just a little too unserious. Like a parody rather than a real in-world thing.

Well, you can’t have it all. Moving on — )

Here, Katniss remembers her father, who was a beautiful singer who made “all the birds…fall silent and listen” when he sang.

Katniss’ reminiscing is interrupted by Effie, and at the dinner table, Katniss is shocked by the richness and variety of the food. Effie makes a comment about how at least Katniss and Peeta have table manners, unlike last year’s tributes.

But this comment pisses Katniss off so much that she deliberately eats with her hands from that point on.

(Katniss has her petty moments as well. In this way she is like Gale. And it makes her as a character more relatable to us.

She may be surrounded by a few crucial “perfect characters” [at least they seem perfect at this stage of the story — Prim, Peeta], but Katniss herself isn’t perfect, which is good because otherwise as a main character, she’d get on your nerves.)

Next, Katniss and Peeta are “treated” (by Effie) to a TV recap of all the reapings across the 12 districts so they get an idea of who they’re going to go up against in the arena.

Katniss takes note of a little girl from District 11 who has dark skin and eyes, but reminds her very much of Prim.

(Aha, foreshadow! Rue has entered the chat…)

Then Katniss and Peeta see their own reaping ceremony, and how Haymitch “botched” the ending by falling off the stage, drunk. Peeta and Katniss both find Haymitch’s continual drunkenness funny, but Effie is not amused.

She snarls at them that Haymith is all they have as a lifeline in the games, and we readers learn more about the system —

In the Games, players can get “sponsors,” who are rustled up by their mentor (previous Game winners, in this case, Haymitch), which could help them stay alive.

(Very clever of Collins to wrap all these important details into plot points so gracefully rather than doing an awkward and boring info-dump.

Note, again, this important info is delivered during a cross exchange, a kind of one-sided argument. This seems to be a theme…potential writing tip to try out?)

At this moment, Haymitch arrives, very late, for dinner, and then he pukes all over the floor and falls over.

(Impeccable timing, Haymitch. The falling over on the reaping stage thing was possibly a feint designed to take attention away from Katniss. This one…well. What story purpose or inside-story purpose does it serve? Aside from great comedic timing…?)

Comments & Analysis

Opening: The moment the anthem ends, we are taken into custody.

Closing: “So laugh away!” says Effie Trinket. She hops in her pointy shoes around the pool of vomit and flees the room.

PROMISES & PAYOFFS

Promises:

This is a slight one, but readers may be slightly curious why Madge is so insistent about Katniss wearing a golden pin. I believe we find out in Book 2 that Madge’s aunt Maysilee Donner was killed in an earlier Hunger Games event and the original owner of the pin. So it’s insinuated perhaps Madge wanted to honor her aunt…or perhaps she was thinking even bigger and was encouraging rebellion?
And we want to see how the pin will play a role in the plot, will it help Katniss survive, or something else?
And of course Katniss promises Prim (and author subtly promises reader) that Katniss WILL survive, she will NOT die in these Games. Which, of course, does come to pass, see end of Book 1.
Readers will want to see Haymitch getting sponsors for Katniss and Peeta. They’ll be curious about how, exactly, this whole sponsorship thing works and why.
We see Peeta and Katniss sharing a chuckle (or a snicker) over Haymitch, and the question is…will this camaraderie last? Easy answer, yep. But with some mandatory ups and downs, obviously.

Complications:

Katniss’ and Peeta’s chances of survival hinge on a seemingly unreliable, perpetually drunk mentor who can’t even take care of himself, much less them, it appears…
Effie’s snobbishness brings out Katniss’ petty side.
Minor, but: Eating too much rich food can actually be harmful to one not used to it.

Payoffs:

Not much yet, we’re still in mostly setup/promise phases of the story. Most payoffs come later.

OTHER COMMENTS

It’s interesting re-reading this series as an adult. As a younger reader, you simply take Katniss’ word for it that she is stoic and emotionless (excepting Prim), and that this is good thing, that she totally knows what she’s doing, that her thoughts re: crying for the camera makes you seem weak, etc., etc. are true, strategic, and wise, and so on.
But looking back at this story again, you start to get the feeling that Katniss is more naive than she thinks. She doesn’t understand what she feels about Gale, nor does she recognize what kind of person Peeta is, although it’s pretty obvious to the reader from page one.
Katniss doesn’t see that Peeta does by instinct things that she attributes to deeply clever strategy, although he’s really not being strategic at all. He just knows what to do, how to be a genuine good guy without overthinking it.

Chapter 4.

In This Chapter

Katniss questions Peeta’s motives and flashes back to how she became a poacher/hunter.
Katniss and Peeta get Haymitch to agree to coach them. Finally.

Katniss and Peeta haul drunk Haymitch back to his room, and Peeta volunteers to take care of him, refusing even Katniss’ offer to send over some “Capitol people” (aka servants).

Katniss wonders at this, and realizes: “It’s because he’s being kind. Just as he was kind to give me the bread.”

This freaks her out because she knows herself well enough to know that kind people “have a way of working their way inside me and rooting there.”

(This is what makes Katniss a “worthy protagonist,” actually. The fact that she loves the good. And this is why I believe Collins turned up the “goodness” dial on both Prim and Peeta. Prim is Katniss’ motivation to enter the Games, so she has to be a real angel of a girl, and Peeta is Katniss’ future ally and a bit of a foil in the games, so he too has the “goodness dial” turned up to 10.

(Because we humans admire those who love goodness. Even if they themselves are not good, the fact that they love, respect, look up to goodness is what makes them characters we want to root for.)

Katniss decides to symbolically separate herself from the whole Peeta thing by throwing away the cookies his father gave her, but the cookies land next to a patch of dandelions.

This triggers a flashback/memory picking up right from the last one about Peeta throwing burned bread in her direction — Katniss had seen a dandelion and recalled what her dad taught her about edible plants. This inspires her to gather those plants and practice shooting rabbits with the bow and arrow he made her, and so began the life of Katniss the Poacher.

While she is thinking of this, Katniss also reflects: “Plants are tricky. Many are edible, but one false mouthful and you’re dead.”

And there’s also a thought about her selling to different “customers” (Very clever marketing lessons woven in here, as Katniss makes mental notes about keeping each “customer’s” personal preferences in mind so she knows what to sell to whom)

And finally there’s also a thought about her own name, Katniss, which is an unprepossessing potato-like root that grows in ponds. Oh, and it also has “leaves like arrowheads.” The symbolism is overwhelming. Which, come to think of it, is not a bad thing for MG/YA books.

(Man, I really admire Collins’ tight writing here. No scene or word or thought is wasted.

(Peeta’s kindness to Haymitch leads naturally to Katniss wanting to symbolically reject that kindness in self-preservation which leads smoothly to her flashback into the past, showing more about how she has made it thus far as a survivor, and sets up clues about how she will survive in the arena…plus a tip-off for how the climax is going to work, too, with all that talk about poisonous plants…

(So much necessary information packed into such a small space so skillfully. Brava, Collins)

The flashback ends with Katniss thinking about how her mother slowly “came back to life” at the sight of the food, but that Katniss never quite trusted her again, and how she regrets not really setting things right with her mom before she (Katniss) dies.

Katniss thinks about what her mom and Prim must be doing now, and is glad that she (Katniss) didn’t kill Buttercup the cat so that Prim has him for comfort.

(Throughout the story, Katniss often thinks of her mom and sister, which is a great way to keep reminding readers of her motivation and her human side, especially as she gets into an extremely inhumane situation…)

Katniss falls asleep without undoing the braid her mother made, and wakes up to Effie Trinket calling her. For breakfast, she has a huge spread laid out for her, and she makes a mental note about how she’s never had orange juice, and only an orange for a treat, once.

(Collins goes out of her way to describe the Capitol meals which is great for 1) setting the scene and showing what the Capitol lifestyle is like, and 2) bringing in the gustatory/olfactory and visual senses a bit more to make the reading experience more immersive. I’ve heard JK Rowling did this too, deliberately, inspired by a book she read which described the meals the characters ate.

(Also, this concept of not having had orange juice before is a good one for reminding people of Katniss’ background. It’s hard for the majority of the readers, who are most likely well-fed Western first world dwellers, to imagine what it’s like to have an orange only once a year, but it has happened, and it does still happen in certain countries and times.)

Katniss also has her first taste of hot chocolate, and then gorges herself on all the different foods until she’s very full. At this point, she sits back to observe her fellow diners and sees Haymitch drinking, which is a common occurrence for him.

“I realize I detest Haymitch. No wonder the District 12 tributes never stand a chance. It isn’t just that we’ve been underfed and lack training…But we rarely get sponsors and he’s a bit part of the reason why. The rich people…expect someone classier than Haymitch to deal with.”

Katniss asks Haymitch for advice, and he makes a joke of it: “Here’s some advice. Stay alive.”

Peeta suddenly lashes out and hits Haymitch’s glass of wine out of his hand. Haymitch punches Peeta in response and then Katniss stabs her knife into the table to block Haymitch from grabbing another bottle.

“Well, what’s this?…Did I actually get a pair of fighters this year?” Haymitch says to the two.

(A couple observations:

It’s interesting that PEETA is the one to lash out first, physically. Katniss is often seen as the tough fighting girl and Peeta the soft boy with the bread, but in fact there are many times where Katniss is uncertain or “weak” while Peeta is stronger than he appears, and no pushover at all. This is one of the reasons why the characterizations in this book works so well.
Although this may look like a simple brawl based on people losing their tempers, with the benefit of hindsight, we can interpret things differently. Perhaps Haymitch is testing their will to live. Perhaps Peeta is not so much fighting for himself, but even at this point, for Katniss. Who knows?

Anyways, a very interesting scene)

Immediately, Haymitch switches into coaching mode, telling Peeta to not ice the bruise (where Haymitch just hit him in the face) and let it show, in order to insinuate that Peeta has gotten into a(n illegal) tussle with another tribute and done so without getting caught. This will impress the audience, Haymitch says.

Then Haymitch makes a deal with the two: They don’t interfere with his drinking, and he will help them. They agree, and Haymitch’s next action as active mentor is to tell them not to complain or resist no matter what the Capitol stylists do to them.

(Here comes the next element of the Hunger Games that I think has helped it succeed so well in this age. Consider the obsession so many people have with Extreme Makeover-type shows…and how important fashion and style are to so many humans, it was really clever of Collins to include this in the story)

The train they are on passes through a tunnel (while Katniss drips in some backstory/history of the world by observing how these mountains provided a geographical advantage to the Capitol during the war) and then they are officially in the Capitol.

Katniss is amazed at the sight, from the city itself to its bizarrely “fashionable” inhabitants, and Peeta stands by the window, smiling and waving. When Katniss shoots him a look, he explains: “Who knows? One of them may be rich.”

Katniss thinks she’s misjudged him, that he is actually trying to survive, meaning he wants to win the Games, meaning he’ll have to wish for her death if not cause it outright. And that is how this chapter ends.

(This also makes readers doubt Peeta too. So far he’s been set up as a really good character, good in the sense that Prim is good — kind, with integrity. But we don’t know at this point whether or not the author is going to do a hard left turn and make Peeta a secret enemy or not. She’s keeping us guessing, which keeps up the intrigue and makes us want to turn the page…)

Comments & Analysis

Opening: For a few moments, Peeta and I take in the scene of our mentor trying to rise out of the slippery vile stuff from his stomach.

Closing: He is already fighting hard to stay alive. Which also means that kind Peeta Mellark, the boy who gave me the bread, is fighting hard to kill me.

PROMISES & PAYOFFS

Promises:

We’re going to either see Haymitch shape up and help Katniss in the Games, or else he will turn into a liability and complicate the plot in interesting ways. Maybe both.
The stylists are going to do something unpleasantly horrible (in Katniss’ view) to Katniss. This will probably provide a measure of entertainment to the reader.

Complications:

Sets up Haymitch as a questionable mentor / helper character. The opposite of Star Wars’ Obi-Wan or Yoda.
The beginning (Peeta helping Haymitch alone) makes us start to think Peeta’s really nice, or good, the middle (Peeta hitting Haymitch’s cup out of his hand) shows us that he’s not a pushover or so-called “nice-guy,” and the ending (Peeta being friendly to the self-centered Capitol people) makes us question his integrity. So is he a good guy or no?

Payoffs:

Haymitch getting his comeuppance for being a drunken boor when his two charges whom he has been woefully neglecting physically beat him up (or rather, beat up his wine glass?)
In the flashback, seeing HOW Katniss went from starving, fatherless girl to her family’s breadwinner via gathering and illegal hunting.
Still mostly setup so not as many payoffs here, but intrigue is high.

OTHER COMMENTS

There are several iconic scenes (scenes that readers will want to revisit) in this story, which is what makes it so successful. The one where Katniss volunteers for Prim of course is the most powerful one in the first part of the book. But the one where Katniss and Peeta team up to knock Haymitch to his senses and get him to take seriously his coaching job is also rather fun.
Also, I like how we are starting to see that Peeta is no mere bleeding-heart nice-guy. He didn’t just brave his mother’s slap to feed a dying Katniss because he was a big ole’ softie. There’s some strength to this guy, enough to stand up to Haymitch and his alcoholic ways, which is veerrry interesting.

Chapter 5.

In This Chapter

Katniss is made up, rather painfully.
Katniss meets Cinna, her mysterious genius stylist.
Katniss and Peeta enter the City Circle and are presented as tributes, unexpectedly showing up everyone else.

Katniss gets plucked like a chicken by her “prep team” a trio of colorful, highly-made-up, bubble-headed Capitol people who approve of her non-resistance to their painful beauty treatments.

Katniss forces herself to be polite to them:

“Thank you,” I say sweetly. “We don’t have much cause to look nice in District Twelve.”

(This is interesting. Katniss is, in some ways, not as independent as I remembered her being advertised to be. In a modern age where everyone is loudly talking about “being true to yourself” etc, Katniss would not exactly be the role model. She’s all about surviving, even if she has to lie and fake it to make it. However, as we will soon see, she’s not good at lying, exactly…and actually, even if we’re considering her previous mental monologue about how she’s not interested in Gale, we can see she’s not a great liar even internally)

Then Katniss meets her main stylist, a young man with green eyes and close-cropped brown hair, and simple black clothes.

(Very different from the movie Cinna in age, hair- and eye-color)

He compliments her mother’s work on her braid, and Katniss observes that he is new to the Games. Cinna acknowledges his newness but when Katniss notes that it must be why he was assigned to her district, Cinna says that actually he requested District Twelve, without elaboration.

Cinna has Katniss sit as he produces lunch with the click of a button. Katniss looks at the elaborate spread, realizing she could never replicate this one meal even with days of hunting and trading. Cinna reads her mind:

“How despicable we must seem to you,” he says.

(Cinna is an interesting character. Very perceptive, yet part of the “machine” that is the Capitol)

And here, we have a segue into a quick backstory about how the different districts all have their own industry (11 — agriculture, 4 — fishing, 3 — factories)

(The problem with dystopian fiction is that there has to be some simplification of the world. But this is definitely one of the areas that kicks me out of the story. It’s hard to believe that people can be that neatly organized into 12 districts with only 12 industries. Do you know how complicated the free market is? How many goods and products people need to just survive, let alone maintain a lifestyle as showy and luxurious as that of the people in the Capitol?

(I mean, it’s been tried. But communist countries that try too hard to control the market by dictating exactly what everyone produces and how much and so forth always inevitably fall on their faces. Which is why starvation is an inevitability for socialist economies — see the Ukrainian Holodomor, and the Great Leap Forward of mid-20th century China — and why even socialist/communist governments allow some degree of freedom in trade and the markets to just survive)

Each of the tributes are dressed based on the industries of their home districts. Since District 12 is coal mining, Katniss recalls how one year, the tributes “were stark naked and covered in black powder to represent coal dust.”

She braces herself as Cinna talks about making them “unforgettable.”

“I’ll be naked for sure, I think…

‘So rather than focus on the coal mining itself, we’re going to focus on the coal,’ says Cinna.

Naked and covered in black dust, I think.

(The way Collins intersplices Katniss’ fearful predictions of her costume with Cinna’s chatter about his ideas of how to dress them is hilarious. The rhythm of these lines is perfect.)

But, in fact, Cinna has put Katniss in a black leotard that he will light with synthetic fire just before the ceremony. Katniss is still nervous about being barbecued alive, but Cinna happily calls her “Katniss, the girl who was on fire.”

(Cinna is the one who pretty much names Katniss. Or at least her coming persona that she will grow into in the Games and so on)

Katniss’ response?

“It crosses my mind that Cinna’s calm and normal demeanor masks a complete madman”

(Haha, these humorous inner monologues are great for lessening the tension, adding some variety, and humanizing Katniss)

Katniss meets up with Peeta right before the opening ceremonies, and they share a nervous laugh about the plan to light them on fire, and the ceremonies begin.

Katniss observes the beauty of District 1’s tributes, and then in no time at all, it’s 12’s turn. She and Peeta are lit on fire and before they’re sent out, Cinna tells them to hold hands.

(Holding hands, now. Cue romance subplot moving forward one square.

Side note, I wonder why District Twelve was written out earlier, and now District 1 and 2 are numbered?)

Thanks to the fire, Katniss and Peeta immediately become the focus of everyone’s attention, and after they are paraded through the City Circle in their horse-drawn chariot, they enter the Training Center, where they are allowed to dismount and remove their flaming capes, etc.

Peeta thanks Katniss for holding on to him because he was feeling a little shaky, and then he compliments her for looking good “in flames.”

His smile makes Katniss feel an “unexpected warmth” toward him, which immediately sets off alarms in her head, because she thinks this is all a ploy to get her to trust him so he can kill her more easily later.

So Katniss decides to turn the tables by being nice to him, as well, and deliberately kisses Peeta on the cheek — on the spot where Haymitch punched him earlier.

(Collins is great at this not-saying-things-out-word-for-word-but-making-the-symbolism-so-obvious-you-can’t-miss-it-thus-allowing-readers-to-feel-smart thing.

(She nudges the romance subplot forward so that readers can see she’s signaling a love story of some sort, but keeps the main character in the dark about this due to her circumstances and her naturally suspicious personality, and then has Katniss think she’s being oh-so-clever by giving Peeta a friendly kiss…but it’s a kiss on the bruise that Haymitch gave him, meaning that she’s subtly signaling it’s all an act…or at least, she thinks it is…)

Comments & Analysis

Opening: R-i-i-i-p! I grit my teeth as Venia, a woman with aqua hair and gold tattoos above her eyebrows, yanks a strip of fabric from my leg, tearing out the hair beneath it.

Closing: But because two can play at this game, I stand on tiptoe and kiss his cheek. Right on his bruise.

PROMISES & PAYOFFS

Promises:

Why did Cinna choose District Twelve? Will we ever find out? (Answer: Not in this book)
What is Peeta and Katniss’ personality going to turn into? Is Peeta really a nice guy or is he a dastardly plotter like Katniss thinks?
When is Katniss going to develop a bit more self-awareness-slash-admit her actual feelings (about Gale, Peeta, even her mom) which she has been trying so hard to quash in order to just survive?

Complications:

Katniss and Peeta have earned the personal enmity of the other tributes because they really shown them up during the first stage of the Games.
Katniss has now acquired the symbolic identity and moniker of the “Girl on Fire” which is going to be a…problem for her in the future.

Payoffs:

Cinna’s work pays off, as does Katniss listening to Haymitch’s advice to let the stylists do whatever they want to her. She wins everyone’s attention with her “Girl on Fire” getup.
Underdogs are starting to win. Peeta and Katniss are from the lowest district, but right from the start they catch the most attention. Actually, this was true even from the reaping, when Katniss volunteered for Prim and Haymitch fell off the stage, drunk.

OTHER COMMENTS

Cinna is a great character. He somewhat participates in Capitol life with its egregious costuming, but is much more classy about it with his singular gold eyeliner and black outfit. He understands Katniss’ contempt for the Capitol people, but makes no apologies for them. He’s a genius with style yet appreciates the classic braid Katniss’ mom made. He’s mysterious and a bit contradictory and that makes him super interesting.
And at the same time, the others on the prep team (Venia, Octavia, and I forget the guy’s name) are more two-dimensional, as they need to be for this story, as un-individual and forgettable in the reader’s mind as in Katniss’.
In other words, Collins is great at portraying even the secondary / support characters. She knows who to bring out and how, and who to put in the background and blur a bit. It’s really a lot like what artists do on canvas.

Chapter 6.

In This Chapter

Katniss sees a girl from her past who causes her to feel guilt and shame.
Peeta and Katniss talk on the roof.
Katniss learns from Peeta that his family has been paying more attention to hers than she previously was aware of.

In the Training Center, Katniss rides the elevator and thinks about the last elevator she rode in — the one in the Justice Building in District 12, which she rode when receiving the medal for her father’s death and when she was saying goodbye to her family before leaving for the Capitol.

(Note: Collins weaves in Katniss’ memories from her childhood as she experiences her new world, which is really interesting, because in real life, we do that — compare new experiences to old ones. It makes Katniss as a character feel multidimensional and real)

Effie tells Katniss that she’s been talking up Katniss and Peeta, trying to win sponsors.

“Everyone has their reservations, naturally. You being from the coal district. But I said, and this was very clever of me, I said, ‘Well, if you put enough pressure on coal it turns to pearls!’”

Which, of course, isn’t clever of her at all, and Katniss makes a mental note of this. Pearls come from shellfish. She probably means diamonds, Katniss thinks, but even that is untrue, because diamonds come from graphite, not coal. So there are two layers of malapropisms here.

Effie is another bubblehead character, in other words, but not entirely a lost cause, as Katniss thinks, “Effie Trinket has a certain determination I have to admire.”

Then Kat describes the luxuriousness of her apartment, like the window that zooms in and out on different parts of the city, the menu with a mouthpiece that allows you to order whatever food you want, the blow-dry mat that sends a current through her hair to untangle and dry it instantly (Very sci-fi. Wish I had one of those)!

“I walk around the room eating goose liver and puffy bread until there’s a knock on the door. Effie’s calling me to dinner. // Good. I’m starving.”

(Haha. Aside from being a funny line, it’s also a good reminder that Katniss HAS spent most of her life starving, and is trying ferociously to catch up now. Oh, and that this is the HUNGER games, after all)

As Katniss notes, dinner is more about strategy than food. Also, Cinna and Portia (Peeta’s stylist) have shown up as well to help. For the first time, Haymitch is presentable and eating, which gives Katniss hope that he will really help them after all.

Katniss describes the delicious dinner and the silent young servants who wait on them, when she realizes that she recognizes one of the servants — a girl with dark red hair.

She is told that she must be mistaken, since the girl is an Avox, a criminal whose tongue was cut out as punishment.

(Okay. I have to say it. What is it about red hair? People with red hair are not that common in real life, why are they always showing up in fiction? The Little Mermaid, the Weasley family, and in this story we have two red-haired side characters — this Avox girl and later Foxface)

Peeta saves Katniss from her faux pas by pretending that the Avox girl is a dead ringer for a girl from home (she’s not), and the moment passes. They return back to strategy talk and Haymitch congratulates Cinna for proposing that Peeta and Katniss hold hands in the City Circle during the parade.

“Just the perfect touch of rebellion. Very nice,” he says. Katniss is a bit surprised by this but realizes that the other pairs (whom she calls “couples” which is very odd, and I wonder if it is to add some fuel to the romance subplot?) did not acknowledge each other, making Peeta and Katniss’ friendliness toward each other help them stand out.

After they are dismissed, Peeta more or less asks Katniss about that whole Avox situation at dinner. Katniss hesitates, trying to see if telling him might give him an advantage over her.

They go to the roof, where they are possibly less likely to be spied on, and Katniss finds out they cannot jump off the roof even if they tried, thanks to an invisible force field.

(Clever setup by Collin, heading off reader questions about potential attempted suicides, and also foreshadows an important element in future books in the series).

There, Katniss finally tells Peeta about where she saw the Avox girl: She had been in the woods with Gale (Here, Peeta assumes Katniss was with her father, until she corrects him. Very subtle nudge forward of love triangle subplot).

They saw the girl with a boy, running away, but getting picked up by a hovercraft. The girl made eye contact with Katniss, asking for help right before being caught.

Peeta notices Katniss shivering and gives her his jacket. At first Katniss resists, but then decides to let him because “a friend would do that, right?”

(She’s still in “turning-tables mode” thinking that he is strategically trying befriend her in order to make her vulnerable, so she wants to do the same back to him. Katniss is a very suspicious, self-protective, and possibly paranoid person.

But at this point in the story, she has every reason to be, and readers aren’t 100% sure they can trust Peeta, either, although so far he is shaping up to be a pretty reliable sort of guy…but then again, that also may be my retrospective glasses talking. If you were coming into this story cold, you might be more suspicious of Peeta, just like Katniss.)

“The wind and the story have blown all the warmth from my body.”

(First introduction of hovercrafts, which tells you something about this world, and also is an important element in the Games)

Peeta asks Katniss where she thinks they were going, and Katniss says she doesn’t know, while narrating to the reader that “District 12 is pretty much the end of the line” because the last district, District 13, has been utterly destroyed.

(Nice foreshadowing here, planting an early clue that won’t be unveiled until Book 3)

Katniss wonders what could have caused the Avox girl to rebel and “betray” the Capitol. Peeta starts to say he would leave himself…and then covers his tracks by saying he wants to go home, except “you have to admit, the food’s prime.”

(Clever of Peeta. And clever writing. Collins’ is hinting at Peeta’s integrity as a character, which will come out more clearly in a bit, but even here he is not fooled by the luxury and shiny exterior of Capitol life. He sees through the shallowness. At least, that’s what the narrative is hinting at. But he pretends, in case anyone is listening in, that he’s just talking about being homesick.)

As Peeta and Katniss head back, Peeta asks about Gale and Katniss reveals that Peeta’s father brought her cookies, which surprises Peeta. Katniss isn’t sure what to make of that surprise, given how easily he lied about the Avox girl while covering for Katniss earlier.

Then she is surprised when Peeta mentions that his father likes her and her sister, suspecting that his father would rather have a daughter than a bunch of sons. Also that his father had known her father when they were younger.

(Another setup for an interesting dramatic revelation down the line. Also it seems to answer the question about why Peeta’s father gave Katniss cookies before she left. Pity she threw them away. But it was a great narrative tool for getting her to flashback to the dandelions)

Katniss is a bit unsettled by the idea that her family has been discussed in the Mellark household, but they’ve arrived at their rooms, and Katniss returns his jacket and they split up.

In her room, Katniss sees the Avox girl cleaning up after her, and she feels a moment of awkwardness, and shame that she didn’t try to help the girl whens he was in trouble.

Katniss knows the girl hasn’t forgotten her, and suspects that the girl will be happy to watch her die in the Games.

(Another moment of characterization for Katniss. We see that she does have a strong sense of right and wrong, responsibility, guilt, shame. But also that she does not expect others to think at all well of her. She constantly assumes everyone is against her, no one is trustworthy and no one is a friend.

(Even when Peeta is being kind, Katniss thinks he’s buttering her up for the kill. And when the Avox girl hasn’t given her any reason to think so, she assumes the Avox girl hates her and wants her to die. Paranoid, definitely. But for a good reason in this case.

(And also, it has been said that people who are a little more pessimistic tend to be better at surviving. Those who are overly optimistic and trusting are easily taken advantage of. So Katniss’ attitude is true-to-life.)

Comments & Analysis

Opening: The Training Center has a tower designed exclusively for the tributes and their teams.

Closing: I wonder if she’ll enjoy watching me die.

PROMISES & PAYOFFS

Promises:

What does seeing the Avox girl have to do with Katniss’ story? What was the Avox girl running from and will we ever figure out who she is or who her partner, the boy, was?
Love triangle setup here: Peeta is now aware, if he wasn’t before, that Katniss has Gale as a hunting partner and friend.
What is the story of District 13? How and why was it destroyed?
How did Peeta’s father know Katniss’ mother? What’s the story?

Complications:

Now Katniss knows that not only Peeta was kind to her, but his father has been fond of her and her sister and known her mother for longer than she thought, which makes Peeta’s actions even more confusing. Is he lying to butter her up? Is he nice to her because his dad is, and why would they like her in the first place or even notice her and her family?

Payoffs:

We find out a little more about why Peeta’s father might have given Katniss the cookies.

OTHER COMMENTS

The main focus of this chapter is the Avox girl. What is her narrative function? I think it has something to do with positioning Katniss so that she isn’t merely an innocent victim. When she sees the Avox girl again, Katniss feels her sense of guilt that she watched the girl and boy get captured without lifting a finger to help her.
(Come to think of it, perhaps the reason why Collins had the girl running with a boy is not just because it’s unrealistic for someone from the capitol to run all the way to District 12 without help, but also because one girl and one boy being hunted by the Capitol is exactly the situation Katniss is in right now. She’s the girl, and Peeta’s the boy, and they’re about to be hunted).
In a sense, Katniss had no time and not much choice regarding helping the runaways, but she still feels like she should have done something, rather than just watch like a spectator as the boy was killed and the girl captured…like the spectators are about to watch while she and Peeta and the other tributes suffer and die in the Games.
It makes things more morally gray as you realize that not all victims are purely good or undeserving of their suffering, not in story-world, and not in life.

Chapter 7.

In This Chapter

During a conversation with Haymitch and Peeta about coaching, Katniss learns that Peeta and his family have been paying more attention to her than she realized.
Katniss and Peeta are told to stick together during the three days of training, during which they pick up various survival skills.
Katniss notices Rue, the 12-year-old from District 11 who reminds her of her little sister Prim.
Katniss loses her temper during her assessment before the Gamemakers.

Katniss has nightmares of the redheaded Avox girl and her family and wakes up screaming as she sees her father dying in the mine explosion. She drags herself to the shower and gets dressed in simple clothes that have been left for her.

(Side note: Would someone who is so hunger she is usually starving be in the habit of bathing every day? It seems like a possible waste of time, energy, and resources like water, soap, and fuel for heat. You’d think they only bathe once a week or something, and just scrub their hands and faces and feet in the meantime)

Katniss heads to the dining room and helps herself to food that is mostly recognizable to the reader (eggs, sausages, cakes, orange preserves), except for one “pale purple melon.”

(Nice worldbuilding tactic of making many things familiar, but throwing in something a little strange)

Katniss thinks of her mother and Prim and wonders what they thought of her “fiery debut at the Games.”

(Side note: An idea for a fanfic or for wringing more juice out of this franchise — not that I recommend doing that, per se — but it would be interesting to see this story from the perspective of Katniss and Peeta’s family and friends. I hear that the Kimi No Na Wa / Your Name writers did that with a collection of short stories from the POV of the secondary characters)

Katniss is irritated to find that Peeta is wearing the same type of clothes as her. She thinks to herself:

“This twins act is going to blow up in our faces once the Games begin. Surely, they must know this.”

(Oh, the dramatic irony…)

But Katniss decides to trust her stylists. She worries about the upcoming trainin, which will involve three days of practicing together with the tributes, culminating in a private showcase before the Gamemakers.

(I like how Collins drips out the information about how the world and the game works, bit by bit, just as much as you need to know, right before you need to know it).

Haymitch then has Katniss and Peeta decide if they want to be coached together or separately. Katniss asks what the point is in coaching separately, and Haymitch points out that if one had a secret skill s/he didn’t want the other to know, that would be a reason.

(It’s interesting how, although Katniss is paranoid and suspicious of everyone, she doesn’t immediately catch on to the utility of separate coaching. Of course, this is also for the benefit of the audience, but at the same time it shows that she is still young, with a touch of naivete)

Peeta starts off by saying he doesn’t have any secret skills and already knows Katniss’ — “I mean, I’ve eaten enough of your squirrels.”

This unsettles Katniss, who never imagined that Peeta was eating the squirrels she shot, imagining that he would have eaten regular butcher meat instead.

Katniss gives Haymitch the go-ahead to coach them together, and Peeta agrees, so Haymitch asks them what they can do.

Peeta talks up Katniss’s hunting skills, which surprises her because she never knew he paid attention, and also she’s not sure why he’s talking her up and of course that makes her suspicious. So she retaliates by saying that Peeta is strong, able to heave around hundred-pound bags of flour and wrestle.

Peeta is not impressed by himself. “What use is that? How many times have you seen someone wrestle someone to death?” he says in disgust.

Katniss retorts by saying she has no strength so if she’s jumped, she’s dead, which agitates Peeta into bursting out that she won’t be jumped, she’ll be living in the trees picking people off with arrows.

He mentions that when his mother came to see him off, she said that maybe District Twelve would finally have a winner — meaning Katniss, not Peeta. “She’s a survivor, that one,” were his mother’s exact words, according to Peeta.

Katniss “sees the pain in Peeta’s eyes” and knows “he isn’t lying.”

(It’s interesting that Peeta finally loses his temper at Katniss, after the way she’s treated him with — mostly — antagonism, suspicion, and false friendship so far. It’s a bit refreshing, and it makes sense.

(Even if he doesn’t particularly like his mom, all humans have part of them that wishes for their parents’ love, and to have a mom so callous as to hint that she’s happy someone else might live instead of you must be bone-crushing. Really makes you sympathize with Peeta.

(Also, here’s another deft buildup of Katniss’ character. The fact that this very minor character — the baker’s wife — actually knows Katniss well enough to say “she’s a survivor” means that EVERYONE knows this about Katniss, so we readers can also take it on good authority that, well, Katniss is a survivor.)

This takes all the air out of Katniss’ angry bubble and she says plaintively that she only survived because she was helped (remembering how Peeta threw her the bread when she was eleven).

Peeta’s reaction shows that he remembers what she is talking about, and he says that sponsors will be happy to help her. When Katniss says “no more than you,” Peeta rolls his eyes at Haymitch, then refuses to look at Katniss as he says:

“She has no idea. The effect she can have.”

(Loaded words! Collins is moving forward several things at once. Love story, recasting Katniss’ past, and also setting up her future as a symbol of the revolution — oops, spoiler).

Peeta’s comment makes Katniss feel uncertain. She was so sure no one helped her when she was starving besides Peeta, but now she starts to reconsider. What if all the people who gave her good deals when buying her game were only doing it because they pitied her? She doesn’t like the idea.

Haymitch finds this whole exchange interesting, then tells Katniss to hide her ability with archery during the training but only show it to the Gamemakers.

He also tells Peeta not to underestimate his strength, and not to reveal it in front of the other tributes. Instead, during training, the two of them should try to learn something they don’t yet know, like how to use a spear or mace, etc.

Then he wraps up by saying he wants the two of them to stick by each other’s side “every minute,” countering their objections by yelling at them:

“Every minute! It’s not open for discussion! You agreed to do as I said!”

Katniss hates this idea as she stalks back to her room, and she also thinks about the conversation and how much Peeta has noticed about her.

“And apparently, I have not been as oblicious to him as I imagined, either. The flour. The wrestling. I have kept track of the boy with the bread.”

(Well. That is some interesting introspection. Also, the nicknames — “Girl on Fire” and “Boy with the Bread.” Random thought — you need fire to bake bread. So in some sense the two go together. Fascinating…)

Peeta and Katniss enter the training gym and are told that there will be various stations they can learn at.

While the rules are read, Katniss looks over her fellow tributes, noting the differences between the Career Tributes from the primary districts (1, 2, 4) who are well-fed kids trained for this moment, versus everyone else who are all bigger than Katniss but underfed.

Peeta and Katniss are, in Katniss eyes, obviously objects of contempt to the others who don’t view them as competition at all. Peeta lets Katniss choose, and the two of them end up going around learning how to tie knots, do camouflage, etc.

(The idea is to make it seem weird and unusual for her to choose these activities instead of something related to weaponry, but it’s a good setup for later, when both knot tying and camouflage are going to come in handy.)

Peeta turns out to have a gift in the area of camo, and he jokes what if the arena is a gigantic cake…but Katniss cuts him off.

(Again, nice touch of faint humor here to cut through the heaviness and darkness of the story’s subject matter).

Over the next three days, the pair of them learn starting fires, knife throwing, shelter-making, and follow Haymitch’s instructions to hide their best skills from the others.

And then comes the day of the assessment. Twenty-or-so Gamemakers “dressed in deep purple robes” sit in the elevated stands around the gym watching all the tributes, although Katniss notices they seem to be watching her and Peeta specifically.

During lunch, the Careers sit together, the others sit alone, and Katniss and Peeta try to “keep up a friendly conversation” together. Peeta teaches Katniss about the different kinds of bread, including “the fish-shaped loaf…from District 4” and “the crescent moon roll dotted with seeds from District 11.”

(Very nice how Collins slips in this detail about the District 11 bread here. It’s not exactly a clue, but it is a setup for a particularly emotional moment later down the line…)

Later during the day, Peeta notices they have a “shadow,” and Katniss sees that the twelve-year-old from District 11 is watching them. This birdlike girl reminds Katniss of Prim, albeit of different coloring, and Peeta knows her name, it’s Rue.

Katniss realizes Rue is a yellow flower, just as Primrose is.

(I like how Collins introduces the bread from District 11 and then the girl from District 11 close together like this. It feels natural, but in retrospect is strategically clever. Also, here’s another character-building moment. The fact that Peeta knows her name shows that a) he’s observant and has a good memory and b) he sees people as people and doesn’t try to harden himself the same way Katniss does.

(Also, I looked it up, and Rue literally IS a yellow flower, just like Primrose. Like I said. The symbolism is right on the nose.)

When they are not training, Peeta and Katniss are being grilled by Haymitch and Effie who are no longer sniping at each other, but working somewhat as a team. Peeta is patient with the endless instructions, but it turns Katniss surly (as if she wasn’t already, ha ;D).

And when Peeta jokes about wishing Haymitch was drunk again, Katniss shuts him down. “Don’t let’s pretend when there’s no one around,” she says. Peeta exhaustedly agrees.

And yet when it’s time for Peeta and Katniss to face the Gamemakers (boys first), Katniss can’t help reminding Peeta to throw the weights as Haymitch instructed them. “I will,” he says. “You…shoot straight.”

Katniss can’t explain why she spoke up except she comforts herself by thinking if she can’t win, she’d rather Peeta did, because it’s “better for our district, for my mother and Prim.”

(Riiiight. That’s the only reason why you care at all that Peeta does well in the assessment. Sure, Katniss.

(She’s got more integrity and is less misanthropic than she likes to admit, really. But this is great, the way that Collins allows the softer side of Katniss to come out in spite of all her efforts to keep it back, makes it feel more realistic and doesn’t pound-readers-over-the-head-with-lack-of-subtlety like some less skilled storytellers do)

Then it’s Katniss’ turn and she realizes at once she’s at a severe disadvantage. She’s the last of 24 showcases and the Gamemakers are bored. When she shoots her first arrow, she’s not used to the bow, and she misses the dummy by a few inches.

After a little practice, she’s gotten the feel of the bow and shoots brilliantly, but no one pays attention to her.

Suddenly, Katniss is furious that the Gamemakers care so little about her life. She shoots the apple out of the mouth of the suckling pig on the table of the Gamemakers, to their shock. Then she says “thank you for your consideration” and marches out of the room without being dismissed.

(Shows how Katniss can be a bit impulsive, and yet her instincts have saved her quite a few times. Also, great ending hook.)

Comments & Analysis

Opening: My slumbers are filled with disturbing dreams.

Closing: “Thank you for your consideration,” I say. Then I give a slight bow and walk straight toward the exit without being dismissed.

PROMISES & PAYOFFS

Promises:

Why does both Cinna and now Haymitch insist on pairing Peeta and Katniss together? We will find out later (spoiler) that he wants to play the “young lovers” angle for the audience, but were they thinking that even at this point?
Just why has Peeta and his family been paying so much attention to Katniss and how is that going to play out once they’re in the arena?
Katniss and Peeta’s time spent learning to tie knots and do camouflage will pay off in the arena.
How will Katniss’ temper “tantrum” in the assessment help or hurt her in the future?
What is going to happen to Rue in the arena? How will Rue play a role in Katniss’ story and will there be a moral challenge revolving about whether or not to kill Rue?

Complications:

Although Katniss and Peeta had a good showing at the Opening Ceremony, now that they are face to face with their competitors, they realize they are at a distinct disadvantage, physically.
Haymitch insists on having them act friendly and stick together, despite Katniss hating this.
One of Katniss’ competitors is a little girl who reminds her of her little sister, Prim.

Payoffs:

The Gamemakers get a tiny taste of their own medicine when Katniss shoots their meal.

OTHER COMMENTS

I find it interesting how so much of this story is dealing with appearance versus reality.
This is why the stylists are really important to the games, as are the tips from Haymitch about how to present yourself in front of others (pretending to be friends, avoiding showing your best skills to your opponents) — because life or death literally depends on how people view you in the games.
If your competitors underestimate you, you could get one over them. More importantly, if sponsors like you, they can send life-saving gifts to their favored tributes. If a tribute gets no sponsor, s/he could die.
This isn’t THAT far from real life. All of adult occupation and making a living depends to some degree on how useful or well liked you are to how many people. (And there is a bit of a competitive element to this too). The more useful and well liked you are, in comparison to others, the better you are able to “succeed” in life.
Thing is, though — most people are of average usefulness. There are very few people who are irreplaceable in the work world. Which is where the “likability” factor makes a big difference. If you have a strong network of friends and family, even if you lose a job, you will be able to find something else rather quickly.
But if you have no one…you could end up homeless and possibly dead. Depending on how cruel a society you live in. In America, at least, there are churches and non-profit orgs that specialize in helping people in need. But there ARE places out there that have virtually zero social net for strangers, and if you have nobody who likes or loves you, you’re dead as a doornail.
Which is why although the Hunger Games premise seems, at a glance, to be super unrealistic (children fighting to the death for the entertainment of rich strangers), it’s actually not. There are several parallels to the real world…and that’s what makes it so entertaining, compelling, and even useful as a novel.

Chapter 8.

In This Chapter

Katniss finds out what score she gets after shooting “at” the Gamemakers in a fit of temper in the previous chapter.
Katniss recalls how she met Gale and compares him mentally to Peeta.
Peeta drops a bomb request.

After storming out of the gym, Katniss makes it up to her room and throws herself on her bed, sobbing.

(This is a very teenage girl thing to do, throw yourself on a bed and cry into the sheets. But after all Katniss has been through, it’s kind of new and refreshing for her to be actually acting like a teenage girl, because she’s been acting like a cynical woman most of the time)

She’s afraid that her performance in the gym just now might result in serious consequences — will they tear her tongue out? Worse, will they hurt her mother or Prim?

Katniss yells at Haymitch and Effie to leave, and as time passes and no guards come to arrest her, she starts to calm down.

She figures at best, she will have earned such a low score no one will sponsor her (the scores “give the audience a starting place for betting” and “signifies the promise of the tribute,” which can help or hurt them in terms of sponsorships, which is critical in survival).

Katniss decides to make an appearance for dinner, and when Haymitch asks “just how bad were you today?” Peeta jumps in first, saying that no one bothered to look at him because they were busy singing a drinking song, and all he did was throw some heavy objects until he was dismissed.

This makes Katniss feel better — that Peeta also noticed and was bothered by the Gamemaker’s lack of attention.

(Knowing what I do now about the consistency of Peeta’s character and that he is not, as Katniss suspects, a backstabber, I suspect Peeta jumps in first here out of sympathy for Katniss, to let her know that however bad her performance was, his wasn’t great either)

Then it’s Katniss’s turn and Haymitch prompts her by saying: “And you, sweetheart?”

The pet name galvanizes her into saying: “I shot an arrow at the Gamemakers,” which stops everyone in their tracks. And then she adds that she dismissed herself.

“Well, that’s that,” says Haymitch. Then he butters a roll.

(Haha. Haymitch is great comic relief, for the in-world people and for the out-world readers)

When Katniss asks if she’ll be arrested, Haymitch says he doubts it. “Be a pain to replace you at this stage,” he explains.

And also Haymitch says her family isn’t likely to be punished because they’d have to reveal what happened in the Training Center, but it’s supposed to be a secret, so if anything they’ll just torture her in the arena, which is what they already promised to do, says Peeta.

So Katniss is relieved. “I realize the impossible has happened. They have actually cheered me up.” And now they all have a laugh about how the Gamemakers reacted to nearly being shot. (All except Effie, who is trying not to crack a smile)

Katniss thinks: “It’s okay. My family is safe. And if they are safe, no real harm has been done.”

(This is another characterization thing about Katniss. She is paranoid and suspicious, but underneath all that, she’s not ultimately selfish. As long as her loved ones are okay, she doesn’t mind what happens to her. Selfish people are extremely unattractive, in fiction and in real life, but Katniss isn’t. Her loyalty to her loved ones makes her interesting and a character we want to root for).

The scores are announced on TV, and the Careers get their expected 8–10 scores. Then Rue ends up with a 7, which Katniss finds “surprising” and finally District 12 is last. Peeta gets an 8, and the big surprise is that Katniss gets an 11.

“Guess they liked your temper,” Haymitch tells her. “They need some players with some heat.” The Gamemakers must figure that she will help them put on a great show.

Again, Cinna calls her “the girl who was on fire,” as he gives her a congratulations hug and says “wait until you see your interview dress.”

(So this is our first intimation that there is an interview coming up at the next stage of this Hunger Games process. Again, Collins is giving us the information we need at the moment we need it, but the characters within the story should know all this already, having watched Hunger Games every year of their lives for the last 73 years, so she doesn’t give the info in an explicit, unrealistic maid-and-butler-dialogue way. Clever)

The next day is a Sunday and Katniss wakes up and thinks of hunting with Gale which is what she would be doing if she were home. She flashes back to how she found Gale in the first place —

(Interesting that they keep the days of the week and that Collins mentions it here. Even in a dystopian world, trying to change the weekly system is probably more trouble than its worth, because readers can’t relate. In the real world, they tried to change the 7-day week during the French Revolution, and that attempt failed. Miserably. [Like everything else the French Revolutionaries tried to do] So, smart of Collins to keep this part the same as in the real world).

It was another Sunday in October when she saw a dead rabbit in a snare. When she tries to examine the snare, Gale reveals himself, and she recognizes him as another fatherless child whose dad died in the same mine accident as her father.

They start talking hunting and eventually work together. Katniss teaches him to shoot, he teaches her to make snares, and eventually they become full partners and confidants, and Katniss realizes it’s much easier to hunt with a partner watching your back.

“Being out in the woods with Gale…sometimes I was actually happy. // I call him my friend, but in the last year it’s seemed too casual a word for what Gale is to me.”

Katniss wonders what Gale thinks of her score and then compares her friendship with him to her weird-pretend friendship with Peeta.

“Gale and I were thrown together by a mutual need to survive. Peeta and I know the other’s survival means our own death. How do you sidestep that?”

(Another scene that compares the two legs of the upcoming love triangle. With a flashback thrown in to show how Gale came into Katniss’ life. Side note, speaking of big symbols: the name Gale means a strong wind, and if Katniss is the girl on fire, then strong wind + fire = a) wind puts out the fire or more likely b) wind turns fire into out-of-control all-consuming forest fire.

(You can see even from the beginning that Gale is not the one Katniss will end up with, if this story isn’t going to turn into a burn-down-the-whole-world tragedy. Sorry for the spoiler ;D)

Effie calls Katniss, who takes a shower and then goes down to the dining room for breakfast, which is a lamb stew with dried plums on wild rice.

(This doesn’t stick out the first time you read the book, because Katniss has been describing the different kinds of food she’s been eating in the Capitol with mouthwatering detail all this time, but upon re-reading, you know that THIS particular meal will actually play a more important plot role very soon…)

Katniss asks if Haymitch is going to be coaching them on their upcoming TV interviews, and Haymitch confirms. When Katniss asks why he isn’t starting now, he says there’s been a change of plans — Peeta has requested separate coaching.

(Another great cliff-hanger. Readers will feel like Collins has been setting Peeta up to be a genuine, kind character with integrity, and this is an unexpected sneaky move. In retrospect, it’s an awesome red herring because you find out in a few chapters why he requested the separate coaching, and it’s for a VERY different reason than Katniss [and right now, the audience] thinks. She’s not going to be able to guess this in a million years…)

Comments & Analysis

Opening: As I stride toward the elevator, I fling my bow to one side and my quiver to the other.

Closing: Haymitch shrugs. “Peeta has asked to be coached separately.”

PROMISES & PAYOFFS

Promises:

We will find out why Peeta requested separate coaching or at least see the fallout of this “breach of trust” between the two (not that there was a lot of trust coming from Katniss’ side, anyhow — which is the only side we are privy to)
We will see what getting an 11 in the ratings will mean for Katniss in the games.
The love triangle thing will get more complicated.

Complications:

Katniss has upset the Gamemakers. They responded seemingly well by giving her a high score, but what if it’s a trap?

Payoffs:

We find out the consequences of Katniss’ temper, and surprisingly, it’s good — she gets a high score.
We finally find out how Gale and Katniss’ friendship started. We get to watch her friendship with Peeta unfold in real time, but we were in the dark regarding Gale x Katniss until now.

OTHER COMMENTS

It’s interesting how Collins keeps the love triangle going when one member of the triangle is not present through most of the story and isn’t going to be present from this point on, basically. Not until book 2, at least.
She does a fairly good job, though, using Katniss’ memories and flashbacks to paint a fuller picture of what kind of person Gale is and what kind of relationship Katniss has with him.
Still, I’m starting to think this is not so much a love triangle as Gale is a foil for Peeta, providing contrast to make him look better, the same way that Jane and Elizabeth’s younger sisters in Pride & Prejudice are really there really to make them look better (Lydia and Kitty to make them look wiser and more mature, Mary to make them look less nerdy and stuffy)
It’s like in cooking. There’s a reason why they tell you to put a pinch of salt in desserts. The salt brings out the sweetness of the dessert. Peeta would be fine on his own, but compare him to another (decent, good enough) guy, and he shines even more.
Plus Katniss’ being caught in the middle creates a bit more drama, and drama is usually good for making stories interesting.

Chapter 9.

In This Chapter

Katniss is coached by Haymitch and Effie on the upcoming televised interview.
Katniss finally gets to talk to the Avox girl and apologize for not helping her.
Peeta makes a story-changing revelation on live TV.

Katniss feels like Peeta betrayed her (by asking for separate coaching), and quickly dismisses the feeling as ridiculous, since she’s never trusted him.

(Hmmm…perhaps she has, in spite of herself, only hasn’t been really aware of it. And actually part of the text does say that: “the boy who risked a beating to give me bread, the one who steadied me in the chariot, who covered for me with the redheaded Avox girl…was there some part of me that couldn’t help trusting him?”

(This is a good point. Trust may be a little like what they call “falling in love,” there is a part of you that can’t help it. If someone acts trustworthy, it’s hard not to trust them.

(Another thing: A teacher once taught me that even in a relationship that both sides agree has to be broken up, whoever gets beaten to the punch by the other person breaking off first always feels uncomfortable about it. Katniss perhaps wanted to be the one in control, the one who stops the fake friendship first, but Peeta has beaten her to the punch and it’s not a good feeling for her)

After getting over the first twinge of discomfort, Katniss is relieved that the fake friendship is over. Because that would only be a hindrance in the arena once the Games start in two days.

(Helpful mention of the ticking time bomb here. We now know there are two days until the Games)

Katniss suspects her outperforming him in the ratings must have triggered this split, and this settled, asks about her schedule. She’s in for four hours of training each with Effie and Haymitch, beginning with Effie.

Effie’s training, it turns out, is how to walk in a full-length gown and high heels and of course Katniss isn’t great at this. Effie reminds Katniss that she needs the audience to like her, which isn’t going to happen if Katniss keeps glaring at them. Katniss finds this difficult, considering the audience is there to bet on her life, but Effie snaps at her to pretend.

After lunch, it’s Haymitch’s turn to work on Katniss, and he is at a loss for how she should present herself. “Charming? Aloof? Fierce?”

He points out that she’s in a great place right now, volunteering for her sister, glowing from Cinna’s stylistic choices, winning the highest training score, people will be curious about her.

But tomorrow’s impression will close the deal on public perception, and be critical to her ability to get sponsors.

Katniss agrees mentally, knowing that people who appeal to the audience “either by being humorous or brutal or eccentric” will “gain favor.”

(This is the part that is extremely true-to-life. This is the reason why actors do interviews and reality shows, to allow audiences to get to like them as actors outside of their specific parts, and to follow them and want to support them in whatever acting projects they take up in the future.

(And the actors who are liked are not those who are merely forgettable, ordinary people with both good and bad sides. They have to be likable and friendly, or eccentric, or controversial, or something just a little “more” than the average person.

(Same with anyone who has to live their lives in the spotlight, actually. Politicians, athletes, influencers, and the like. Their lives & livelihoods do depend, in a large way, on how they’re perceived. It’s not as deadly as the Hunger Games, but in some ways you might say it almost is…which really can’t be healthy for most people, unfortunately)

Peeta is going for the “likable” approach, Haymitch says when Katniss asks, but Katniss, on the other hand…

“When you open your mouth, you come across more as sullen and hostile.”

“I do not!” I say.

“Please. I don’t know where you pulled that cheery, wavy girl on the chariot from, but I haven’t seen her before or since,” says Haymitch.

(Again, I stand by my opinion that Haymitch is great comic relief, even though this isn’t particularly comic, it is a little amusing)

Haymitch and Katniss try to role-play a few different angles, but Katniss is embroiled in her thoughts about the unjustness of the whole Hunger Games and she is a disaster.

When Haymitch coaches her to let the audience “know about” her, Katniss bursts out that she doesn’t want them to — “They’re already taking my future! They can’t have the things that mattered to me in the past!”

“Then lie! Make something up!” says Haymitch.

“I’m not good at lying,” I say.

“Well, you better learn fast. You’ve got about as much charm as a dead slug,” says Haymitch.

(Hehehe. There it is, the power of a great simile in the mouth of the appropriate character.

(But side note, the part where Katniss says she’s not good at lying is an interesting point. She really isn’t. She may be a bit ignorant about certain things, but she can’t lie well to herself or to others, and this is what makes her so interesting.

(Who she really is and what she really thinks is always just under the surface. Haymitch and Peeta and later President Snow get her instantly, and even Peeta’s mother, for goodness’ sakes, has a good idea of who Katniss is “a survivor.”

(This is going to turn out to be a strength, though. Actually, it already has, from Katniss’ instinctive protective love for her sister which got her into this situation in the first place and got everyone [including both the in-world characters and the out-world readers] interested and invested in her story, to her inability to avoid trusting Peeta at least a little…)

Haymitch softens his tone and suggests Katniss try the “humble” angle instead. “If you won’t talk about yourself, at least compliment the audience. Just keep turning it back around, all right. Gush.”

Unfortunately, Katniss isn’t great at gushing. And by the end of the session, Haymitch has given up: “Just answer the questions and try not to let the audience see how openly you despise them.”

For dinner, Katniss eats in her room and then indulges her fiery temper by smashing dishes. When the redheaded Avox girl comes in to clean, she is shocked by the damage, and Katniss yells at her.

But instead of leaving Katniss alone, the Avox girl closes the door and goes to the bathroom to get a damp cloth to help clean up Katniss’ face and her bloody hands.

Katniss apologizes in her way “I should have tried to save you,” but the Avox girl shakes her head and makes some gestures that Katniss interprets as if Katniss had tried to help, she would have been killed or made into an Avox, too.

(I like this moment. Finally Katniss gets to apologize to the girl and get that guilt off her chest.

(It also shows that Katniss who has turned into a misanthrope and suspects [with some reason, although not as much as she thinks] that everyone is out to get her, is actually wrong. There ARE kind, forgiving, and selfless people out there still, including in this Avox girl who really doesn’t hate Katniss [contrary to Katniss’ misbelief], and in fact wants to help her.

(It’s like that Samwise Gamgee line from Lord of the Rings. Even in a world that can often be hellish, “There’s some good in this world, Mr. Frodo, and it’s worth fighting for.”)

Together, Katniss and the Avox girl clean up the room, and then the girl tucks Katniss into bed.

In the morning, the prep team is hanging over her, ready to work on her all day to prepare her for her upcoming interview.

(Collins does a great job describing the exact makeup activities here, which I shall eschew because makeup isn’t ALL that interesting to me, although the descriptions are just as strong as that for her food).

Of course, Cinna has worked a stylistic miracle again, and put Katniss in a bejeweled dress that makes her “radiant as the sun.” Cinna has her twirl for him, and then asks her how the training with Haymitch went. Katniss can tell he’s been talking to Haymitch and knows the worst.

Katniss admits it wasn’t great, and that Haymitch compared her to a dead slug. Then Cinna says “why don’t you just be yourself?”

Katniss rejects the idea, saying “herself” is just “sullen and hostile.”

“Well you are…around Haymitch,” Cinna grins. But she isn’t like that with anyone else, he points out. And she has already won over the Gamemakers (who gave her an 11, after all), and the citizens of the Capitol, who “can’t stop talking about you” and “admire your spirit.”

(The “be yourself” line is so cliched, it almost takes you out of the story, but Collins saves it by having Katniss immediately shoot down the idea, and then Cinna build the idea back up in a realistic way.

(Also, it’s fun to have a mentor-mentee fictional relationship that isn’t all wise-mentor and big-eyed mentee a la Star Wars or LoTR, but more of a cynical love-hate, but more on the hate and pretty-much-no-love relationship. Feels fresh.

(Final note: Cinna’s way of encouraging Katniss is exactly right, showing what a wise character he is. Instead of pumping her full of hot air by saying useless fluff like “you can do it! I believe in you!” he gives her cold, hard evidence of her ability to win people over by citing actual times when she DID successfully do just that with the Gamemakers, something Katniss already knows about, and with the citizens of the Capitol, which Katniss would not have known about but Cinna, being part of the hoi polloi, has the ability to tell her.

(This is the BEST way to encourage people, to encourage yourself. Remember that you are capable not because of some belief-without-evidence, but BECAUSE OF the evidence. And if you don’t have any evidence yet, go out and get some in any way you can)

This makes Katniss feel better and Cinna takes her hand, advising her to think of addressing a friend. Katniss immediately thinks of Gale, but he already knows everything about her.

“What about me?” Cinna asks. “Could you think of me as a friend?”

I think so, Katniss admits, and Cinna says he will be sitting with the other stylists on the main platform and she can pretend she is answering the interview questions to him.

Next, they go to the interviews, which are on a stage built in front of the Training Center. Katniss has a sudden attack of stage fright, and Cinna says gently: “Remember, they already love you. Just be yourself.”

(Side note: This is another interesting thought. That there are different versions of yourself, depending on who you’re with.

(With Haymitch, Katniss is surly and resentful. With Cinna, she’s more childlike and trusting. With Prim she is protective and loving, and so on. We are all like that. So “be yourself” is a bit of a complicated command. But in Cinna’s case, he’s telling her to be herself as she is with him, the most likable version of herself.)

This time, Katniss is going to be second to last, because District 12 is the last district, and in the interviews, girl goes before boy.

(How convenient. Not just that Peeta and Katniss are the final district, so they are always the last to go, but that in the assessment, boy goes before girl and in the interviews, girl goes before boy. It makes the story beats and revelations drop just right.

(The fact that they are from District 12 is talked of as if it’s a disadvantage, but in this story, it’s actually a secret massive advantage. As many underdog stories really are, if you think about it…)

Before they go on stage, Haymitch reminds Peet and Katniss they’re still supposed to act like “a happy pair” and Katniss is confused but figures he’s right about their public image.

Then they are on stage and Caesar Flickerman, the interviewer, takes over. Katniss comments mentally on his unchanging looks, the weird hairstyle, clothing, and makeup, and comments how in District 12, looking old is an accomplishment because it means you survived a tough life, but in the Capitol, no one wants to look old.

(Very interesting note on beauty standards. Reminds me of the idea of fat vs skinny in women’s attractiveness and how that’s changed over time and from culture to culture, depending on things like food availability)

Each interview lasts three minutes, and Katniss watches as the tributes all take their turn. She mentions a few of them: The District 1 girl is playing the “sexy” angle, the boy from 2 is a “ruthless killing machine,” the girl from 5 is fox-faced and “sly and elusive,” there’s a crippled boy from 10, and then the girl from 11, little Rue, is a “magical wisp of a tribute,” dressed in a fairy gown getup while the boy, Thresh, is a “solitary giant” who scored a 10 in the rankings.

(You can tell who is important to the story by who gets a name or nickname. Fox-face, Thresh, Rue, etc. It saves time, and also it wouldn’t do for a side character to get a name and backstory only to be ignobly killed off and never spoken of again.)

Katniss is jealous of Thresh because he can pull off the “surly, sullen” attitude while she can’t. And then it’s her turn to be interviewed.

Collins gives a blow-by-blow of Katniss’ dialogue with Caesar, which is quite well done. She is asked about her favorite thing about the Capitol, and she replies lamb stew (See? Told you it was coming back. And not just here…)

Then they talk about her dress and Katniss sees Cinna subtly telling her to “twirl for me” and she does, winning over the audience.

Next, Caesar asks about her score of 11, and she can’t tell him because it’s a secret, which the Gamemakers confirm by shouting from the balcony, where they’re watching all this.

Finally, Caesar asks about her little sister, and Katniss has a moment where she struggles, but then remembers Cinna, and is able to talk about Prim:

“Her name’s Prim. She’s just twelve. And I love her more than anything.”

Katniss says Prim asked her to try to win, and Katniss says that she swore she would, and that is the end of her interview.

Now it’s Peeta’s turn and Katniss is not entirely paying attention, but can sense that he is winning the audience, making them laugh, talking about bread, and then Caesar asks the question:

Does he have a girlfriend?

Peeta doesn’t, but when Caesar pries about if he has someone he LIKES, Peeta admits he does, but that she has a lot of admirers, and “I’m pretty sure she didn’t know I was alive until the reaping.”

Caesar comforts him by saying, well, you win this thing and then go home, and she can’t turn you down, then.

But Peeta says: “Winning…won’t help in my case.”

Why not? Caesar asks.

And Peeta drops the bomb:

“Because…because…she came here with me.”

(Oh. Man. WAY to end Part 1 with a wicked reveal. So genius. This is a massive page turner hook if I’ve ever seen one. Pretty much at the same level as the end of chapter 1, when Prim’s name is chosen from the reaping bowl.

(Collins knows exactly how to play the emotions of her readers with perfectly-timed revelations that make you HAVE to know what happens next. Which is why I really wanted to analyze this book in the first place, it’s a masterpiece in suspenseful writing)

Comments & Analysis

Opening: Betrayal. hat’s the first thing I feel, which is ludicrous.

Closing: Peeta blushes beet red and stammers out. “Because…because…she came here with me.”

PROMISES & PAYOFFS

Promises:

We want to see how Katniss acquits herself during the interview. Considering what a failure her coaching session with Haymitch was, will she pull it off or will it turn into a flaming mess on live television? This is paid off immediately within the chapter.

Complications:

Peeta reveals that he has had a crush on Katniss.

Payoffs:

Katniss gets to “confess her sins” to the Avox girl, and she is given grace from the girl, who doesn’t hold the incident against her.

OTHER COMMENTS

I remember reading this book for the first time. The premise was interesting, the inciting event was great, the buildup was all fascinating enough to keep me reading…
But there was a part of me that was wondering how Collins was going to up the ante after all the excitement of Katniss showing everyone up at the entrance, Katniss “shooting at” the Gamemakers, Katniss having that weird fake-friendship with Peeta…and then she goes and drops the Peeta-secret-crush-on-Katniss thing, ramping the human-interest aspect of the story.
Talk about putting your character in a tree and then setting it on fire. Almost literally. (I think I got that image from author Brandon Sanderson’s old writing podcast)
The thing about stories is that they are valuable insofar as they reveal the inner worlds of people, which is something that we humans in the real world NEVER are privy to, unless a trusting friend or relative lets us in (which happens infrequently, and even less so in these modern times).
Katniss now has a supremely interesting inner world to deal with, not just the whole trying to survive for her sister’s sake thing, but her purported enemy, to whom she already owes a significant debt of gratitude, has just publicly proclaimed that he likes her? Is this a trick or is it real? Either way, it makes things extra dramatic and intriguing. This is like superglue for readers. Brava.

Detailed Book Notes on this story to be continued in Part 2… [link to come]

Writing Tips & Practical Application

Because learning doesn’t happen until you change something you do…

Look at your structure: One of Collins’ greatest strengths is the way she structures and times events in her story. No thought or line or dialogue is wasted, everything is forwarding multiple story elements at once, and the revelations are perfectly timed.
It makes me wonder how much of this was planned ahead of time and how much of it was instinctive and then polished up in retrospect. Either way, if you’re working on a story, try mapping out the whole thing either before or after you draft it, pick out the most emotionally “bombshell” moments and then try to arrange things so that you place them in the best location, like Collins does.
Flip a few cliches by doing the opposite, and adding a touch of reality: The mentor-mentee relationship is often portrayed with a wise, good mentor and a naive but willing-to-learn mentee. In the Hunger Games, Haymitch is a sod, most of the time, Katniss isn’t that teachable, and they get on each others’ nerves. That’s one flipping of a cliche.
Another is how Katniss is a seeming “strong female character,” but actually, her strength is brittle. At least it is so far. She is pretending to be strong and stoic, but she’s really not. She has temper tantrums, she sobs into pillows, she throws plates, she misjudges people, she acts silly sometimes, which is all par for the course for a sixteen-year-old in her situation.
She’s not unrealistic, in other words. She isn’t really a “strong female character” in the sterile, modern sense, and she shouldn’t be. She’s portrayed very realistically.
Track your emotional reactions: Using your own story or another story that you want to analyze, list out each scene or story beat in a spreadsheet, and in another column, note how the story affects you, scene by scene. Curiosity? Surprise? Boredom? etc.

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