How to Write a Satisfying Ending to a Thrilling Story— The Hunger Games (Part 3) by Suzanne Collins

This is Part 3 (and the final part) of our Hunger Games (Book 1) dissection-analysis for writers who want to hone their craft!

• Part 1 here
• Part 2 here

In this article, I analyze the story on three levels (craft, concept, and core), and examine all of the elements that work together to make this book the bombshell that it was.

Let’s do this!

Scylighter rating: 5.3/6 ⭐s (explanation of ratings at the end)

Join our merry band of Brilliant Writers for more book dives like this~

PART III: “THE VICTOR”

Chapter 19.

In This Chapter

• Katniss finally teams up with Peeta (after she goes looking for him).
• Romance subplot takes another step or two forward.

Aaaaalrighty. We have reached Part III of the story, and now things are going to REALLY start “heating up” (Does that count as a pun?)

So first, Collins kicks off the chapter by tying it back to the last one. In the last one, as you’ll recall, the Game makers announced a new twist on the Hunger Game rules, allowing two survivors to win the games IF they come from the same district.

Katniss instinctively calls out Peeta’s name, and we drop the curtain on Part II.

Part III starts with her clapping her hand over her mouth (too late) in case anyone heard her, except no one comes out of the woodwork to finish her off.

Katniss realizes that “whatever doubts I’ve had about [Peeta] dissipate because if either of us took the other’s life now we’d be pariahs when we returned to District 12”

(Always thinking practically, our Katniss. Heh)

She also thinks that this must have been Peeta’s plan from the start, because the “Star-crossed lovers angle” must have been uber popular in the Capitol for the Game Makers to suddenly change the rules like this.

“All I’ve done is managed not to kill Peeta. But whatever he’s done in the arena, he must have the audience convinced it was to keep me alive.”

Katniss reflects on some of the things Peeta has done in the past, now reinterpreting those actions in light of new knowledge.

(This is a really interesting reflection on the idea of interpretation. Some people use this as an excuse to say that there is no objective reality, that everyone’s perception is equally valid. But that’s not true, if you think about it.

(The point is that Katniss thinks of Peeta a certain way when she believes his motivations are X. But when she realizes that his motivations may actually be Y, then his actions are cast in a totally different light. This is a phenomenon that happens a LOT in real life, and it’s interesting to see it portrayed in fiction)

Katniss quickly does a mental scan of how many other competitors are left: There’s Foxface and Thresh, both of whom don’t have their district partners anymore. Then there’s Cato and his female counterpart from District 2, who are “the only ones left who benefit from [the new rule]” besides Katniss and Peeta.

(It makes narrative sense to have one other pair at this stage in the games so that it’s not overtly obvious — although it’s pretty much obvious — that the rule was made for Katniss and Peeta’s sake, both in-story-world, AND from the audience’s perspective.)

Katniss gets some sleep and in the morning decides to find Peeta, while being careful not to let the Careers find her.

She realizes Peeta must be near water, so decides to follow the stream. To keep her enemies off her scent, Katniss builds some smokey fires with green wood and then sets off.

(The question is, why haven’t the Careers made this kind of deduction, sniffed Peeta out, and killed him long before this, or at the same time as Katniss?)

As she goes, Katniss thinks that she has only two eyes and one ear to find Peeta with, and wonders if he might be looking for her.

“He won’t have so low of an opinion of me as to think I’d ignore the new rule and keep to myself. Would he? He’s very hard to predict, which might be interesting under different circumstances, but at the moment only provides an extra obstacle.”

(Dramatic irony. In the circumstances of readers following this story, Peeta’s unpredictability from Katniss’ perspective is EXACTLY what makes him interesting)

Finally, Katniss sees a streak of dried blood that shows her she’s on the right track. She almost trips over Peeta, who makes his presence known by saying “You here to finish me off, sweetheart?”

(A bit weird for him to talk like Haymitch, but it’s kind of a secret language between them, I suppose)

Katniss is stunned by how well Peeta has painted himself into the fauna, which she calls “the final word in camouflage.”

(This is where the story gets a bit more unrealistic. A severely injured guy hides himself so well that no one can find him until he speaks and opens his eyes? No amount of cake decorating can actually make you that skilled at camoflauge in real life.

(Not to mention, he’d have to dig himself out and back in a few times a day to use the restroom, drink, eat, and so on. Which makes all this even MORE unlikely…Oh well, we have to suspend disbelief to make this story work, so it is what it is)

Katniss is about to help Peeta wash off in the water and check out his leg wound (the one Cato gave him), but Peeta gets her to lean in so that he can say: “Remember, we’re madly in love, so it’s all right to kiss me anytime you feel like it.”

Katniss laughs: “Thanks, I’ll keep it in mind.”

(Makes you wonder whether the ever-present audience can hear all this, too, and whether or not Peeta is as calculating as Katniss…

(We later find out he’s not, but this IS a bit odd for him to say this here. As far as he knows, they’re at best uneasy friends and allies…)

With great difficulty, because Peeta is in no shape to help her much, Katniss gets Peeta cleaned off in the stream. As she does, she realizes Peeta is feverish. Luckily, she’s got a few pills in the first aid kit she grabbed from the District 1 boy, and she makes Peeta take them.

(Collins does a great job here of describing the difficulty of a teenage girl trying to maneuver a near-dead-weight much-bigger guy into the stream, and then the state of his wound, and so forth.)

Katniss realizes she’s much more squeamish about wounds and bodies than her healer mother and sister, and notes that Peeta “looks almost sorry for me, as if he knows how lost I am.”

When Katniss gets nauseous seeing the pus coming out of Peeta’s wounds, he distracts her by asking, “how about that kiss?”

Katniss laughs, and Peeta asks her how she manages to hunt.

“Trust me. Killing things is much easier than this,” I said. “Although for all I know, I am killing you.”

“Can you speed it up a little?” he asks.

“No. Shut up and eat your pears,” I say.

(Another reason why this book works so well. Collins knows just when to cut up the intensity with some well-crafted banter.)

As they chat, Katniss and Peeta realize that Haymitch has sent Katniss some burn medicine and bread, while Peeta has gotten nothing.

“I always knew you were his favorite,” Peeta says, and Katniss points out that Haymitch can’t stand her. “Because you’re just alike,” Peeta retorts, and Katniss holds off on responding “because this really isn’t the time for me to be insulting Haymitch, which is my first impulse.”

(Another slightly funny-snarky comment here to cut the heaviness of the topic).

Katniss tries to take Peeta somewhere safe, but given his weakness, the best she can do is find a cave to stay in. Peeta’s fever is getting worse, and he starts to say to Katniss “if I don’t make it back — “

But Katniss refuses to hear it: “I didn’t drain all that pus for nothing,” she says. And when Peeta still won’t shut up, she shuts him up with a kiss.

“This is probably overdue anyway since he’s right, we are supposed to be madly in love,” she thinks.

(Technically, not really. HE’S supposed to be madly in love, SHE’S supposed to be falling for him. That’s what their in-world audience will be expecting)

Katniss doesn’t register anything from the kiss (her first one with a guy), because all she is thinking about is how Peeta’s burning up. “You’re not going to die. I forbid it. All right?” she says.

(Ha. Protective Katniss kicking in)

And as soon as Katniss steps out of the cave, she sees a pot of hot broth coming down on a silver parachute, courtesy of Haymitch & the sponsors.

“Haymitch couldn’t be sending me a clearer message. One kiss equals one pot of broth. I can almost hear his snarl. ‘You’re supposed to be in love, sweetheart. The boy’s dying. Give me something I can work with!’”

(Another example of long-distance mind-reading between Katniss and Haymitch. Or so Katniss thinks, and the narrator wants us to think, too, really)

Katniss realizes that Haymitch-in-her-head is right. “If I want to keep Peeta alive, I’ve got to give the audience something more to care about. Star-crossed lovers desperate to get home together…Romance. // Never having been in love, this is going to be a real trick.”

(This is kind of ironic. Katniss’s desire to keep Peeta alive of course is partly motivated by self-preservation. As she says, if she turned against him now and didn’t ally with him, the people back home would make her a pariah.

(But based on what we know of Katniss’ character, her working so hard to save Peeta is really motivated by more important things. Like her sense of honor — Peeta’s already saved her multiple times, and she owes him more than she can repay — and also because, as the author hints not-so-subtly, she really cares for him as a person, understanding that he really has a kind of nobility to his character that is genuinely admirable.

(Thus, Katniss is protecting Peeta out of love, in the most pure sense — the sense of being willing to sacrifice something of yourself for the well-being of the beloved. And although she’s not necessarily romantically interested in him at this point, she knows she has to play up romantic love in order to do the loving thing —which is try to save Peeta’s life)

Katniss decides to use her parents’ relationship as her model of how to treat Peeta, and when she kisses him awake, she notes “he smiles as if he’d be happy to lie there gazing at me forever. He’s great at this stuff.”

(Although it’s just a few lines, this is a great way to throw in some more backstory for Katniss — that her parents had had a great relationship, and that her father’s death had really hit her mother hard.

(And this might be another reason why Katniss constantly insists that she doesn’t want to get married — this will come up a lot more later — and is so reluctant to trust or love anyone outside of Prim. It’s because she saw how the loss of her father nearly killed her mother, and as a “survivor,” Katniss can’t afford that.

(Come to think of it, this is a LOT like the example that is given in Lisa Cron’s Story Genius…)

Comments & Analysis

Opening: I clap my hands over my mouth, but the sound has already escaped.

Closing: I hold up the pot. “Peeta, look what Haymitch has sent you.”

PROMISES & PAYOFFS

Promises:

• We will find out why Haymitch has been helping Katniss and not Peeta despite not getting on with Katniss, personality-wise.
• More “star-crossed lovers” moments with Katniss and Peeta, and Katniss is probably going to actually start falling for Peeta, although knowing her, it will likely take a while.

Complications:

• Katniss has found Peeta, but he is severely injured, feverish, and basically dying, so now she has her work cut out for her, trying to keep both herself AND him alive.

Payoffs:

• Katniss and Peeta are finally allies! Yippee! It’s not like we weren’t waiting for this for over a dozen chapters…
• Also, main love interests finally have first kiss (and then some). Sigh. (Either from exasperation, warm fuzzies, or sarcasm. You pick)

OTHER COMMENTS

• I’m not really buying this “everyone expects us to be star-crossed lovers” thing. Sure, a lot of people turn off their brains when watching TV, but all the people in this world have seen so far is Peeta’s dramatic on-camera confession of a longstanding crush, Katniss’ confusion, and then…not much after that. Maybe yes from Peeta, but nothing from Katniss.
• It is possible, of course, from the audience’s perspective that Katniss and Peeta could have talked afterwards off-camera, and that is when Katniss could have maybe confessed that she liked Peeta too, but that is a HUGE “if,” especially considering that they’re literally supposed to be fighting to the death in the Games.
• So the “star-crossed love” is all on Peeta’s side, which is a bit of a flimsy excuse…then again, this is the entertainment world, and I suppose you have to have a lot of suspension of logic for any of this to work. And the audience already has tons of experience suspending logic, disbelief, and compassion, considering they’ve been watching seventy-four years of children killing each other for their entertainment.

Chapter 20.

In This Chapter

• Katniss tries to care for an ailing Peeta, but doesn’t have much hope.
• The gamemakers offer a deadly opportunity to a desperate Katniss.

Katniss takes an hour “coaxing, begging, threatening, and yes, kissing” Peeta to get him to take the broth, and that night notices that there are no new deaths.

“Still, Peeta and I have given the audience a fairly interesting day. Hopefully, the Gamemakers will allow us a peaceful night.”

(Note that Katniss makes Peeta drink all of the broth and takes none for herself. No matter how selfishly calculating she likes to say that she is, and no matter how indifferent to Peeta she likes to imagine she is, she instinctively does care for him, literally and metaphorically).

That night, Katniss watches over Peeta, trying not to think about how vulnerable she is now, allied to Peeta, “tethered to the ground, on guard, with a very sick person to take care of.” But she just thinks to herself that “I’m just going to have to trust that whatever instinct sent me to find him was a good one.”

In the morning, as Katniss feeds Peeta breakfast, they talk about the others, and Katniss finds out the girl from District 2 is named Clove. Peeta has Katniss take a nap, stroking her hair as she goes to sleep. “Unlike the staged kisses and caresses so far, this gesture seems natural and comforting. I don’t want him to stop and he doesn’t. He’s still stroking my hair when I fall asleep.”

(Just as Katniss observes, “little” moments like these actually “sell” the romance/relationship of these two characters to readers better than the “staged kissing” coming, as they do, with tons of Katniss’ mental commentary on how all of this is fake.)

When Katniss wakes up, she’s irritated that Peeta hadn’t woken her sooner. But Peeta jokes that he likes watching her sleep because she doesn’t scowl, and that “improves your looks a lot,” which “of course, brings on a scowl that makes him grin.”

Katniss tends Peeta’s wound and is dismayed to find that it’s gotten worse. Peeta has blood poisoning and will need anti-infection drugs from the Capitol, but isn’t sure if they have enough sponsor money to afford such a thing, given that “gifts go up in price the longer the Games continue.”

(Another world-building rule that is dropped in just when you need it, and makes sense.)

Peeta realizes how dire his circumstances are, when Katniss tries to downplay the situation. Katniss makes some soup with sunlight, hot rocks, and other odds and ends, and as she waits for the food to cook, Peeta asks her to tell him a story.

Katniss tells the story of how she got Prim’s goat. She thinks the true story in narration for the reader, but says aloud (via a flashback sequence) an alternate version of events to not reveal the fact that she hunted illegally and traded for the goat.

(Katniss’ comments on how owning a goat “can change your life in District 12” reminds me of how a goat or a cow or an animal can literally change the lives of families in certain third world countries)

As Katniss gets to the part of the story where she brings the injured goat home to her mother and Prim, Peeta comments that her mother and sister sound like her.

“Oh no, Peeta. They work magic. That thing couldn’t have died if it tried,” I say. But then I bite my tongue, realizing what that must sound like to Peeta, who is dying, in my incompetent hands.

“Don’t worry. I’m not trying,” he jokes. “Finish the story.”

(More gallows humor~)

“I can see why that day made you happy,” Peeta comments, when Katniss finishes the story. She replies: “Well, I knew that goat would be a little gold mine.”

“Yes, of course I was referring to that, not the lasting joy you gave the sister you love so much you took her place in the reaping,” says Peeta drily.

(More humor, again, and also this is a good example of why Katniss and Peeta actually work really well together as a pair. Despite Katniss’ practical, somewhat-calculating exterior, deep down, she is driven more by love than anything else — think about what she does for Prim, Rue, and even Peeta himself.

(Peeta reminds her — and us, and the watching audience in Panem — of that fact right here. And as Peeta himself is driven by the same motivation, which will become more clear in future books, that is, I believe, the real reason he fell for Katniss from the start, and has protected her throughout, and the reason why — spoiler, spoiler — they end up together.

(People say opposites attract, but that’s only if they’re opposites on the surface. At the deepest level, the level of values and worldview, you have to be on the same page as your partner — whether that’s a spouse, friend, or business partner — or else that relationship can’t be close enough to last, ultimately)

Katniss notices Peeta’s fever is getting worse, but tries to comfort him by saying, “you’re a little cooler though.”

Just then, the sound of trumpets startles Katniss. “It’s my new best friend, Claudius Templesmith,” she observes snarkily as Templesmith announces a “feast” where each tribute will get a chance to snag something they “need desperately.”

Realizing that this is referring to the antibiotics for Peeta’s blood poisoning, Katniss is determined to go, and Peeta is just as determined not to let her.

At first, Katniss pretends she’s not going, but Peeta sees through her spiel:

“You’re such a bad liar, Katniss. I don’t know how you’ve survived this long.” He begins to mimic me. “I knew that goat would be a little gold mine. You’re a little cooler though. Of course I’m not going.” He shakes his head. “Never gamble at cards. You’ll lose your last coin,” he says.”

(This is an interesting characterization moment for both Peeta and Katniss, as well as foreshadowing.

(Characterization because, as I just said above, Peeta reads Katniss really well. To be fair, it’s not just him, most people can see through her better than she realizes because she really isn’t a great liar.

(But also, it’s foreshadowing because — spoiler alert! — in the third book, when Katniss is asked to take on the role of the Mockingjay, it doesn’t work because she can’t act. It’s not until they realize that Katniss is most compelling when she’s just doing what comes naturally that she really comes into her own as the symbol of the revolution.

(Also, Katniss herself isn’t entirely oblivious to this aspect of her character and personality. Earlier she comments that taking care of Peeta makes her more vulnerable to her enemies, but that she still trusts the “instinct” that made her go to him)

Katniss retorts: “All right, I am going, and you can’t stop me!”

But Peeta comes back with the threat that he will follow her, yelling, even if he has to drag himself, and then someone will kill him for sure.

(This is where the readers should figure out, if they haven’t already, that contrary to all the stuff Katniss has been telling herself and the reader, Peeta is serious about caring for Katniss, and has never been lying or using the star-crossed lovers idea as leverage in the Games.

(What I’m curious about is what that conversation looked like with Haymitch. Because Haymitch, based on some of his dialogue and actions so far — and some of his dialogue and actions later in this book and in the next book — seems to partly or sometimes believe that Peeta really does love Katniss, but sometimes partly believe that it’s part of the “strategy”)

Katniss realizes she can’t argue with Peeta on this, so she has him eat his dinner, and then as she’s washing up by the stream, she notices another parachute floating by her.

She grabs it and sees the vial, and her hopes are dashed when she realizes Haymitch hasn’t send antibiotics, he’s sent a powerful sleep syrup.

(Yep, it would be way too easy for Katniss to just have the medicine droplifted to her just like that. Readers want action, and action requires Katniss to put herself in danger)

But then Katniss realizes sleep syrup is exactly what she needs. She mixes the stuff into some berries and mint leaves, and then feeds them to Peeta.

“They’re sweet as syrup,” he says, taking the last spoonful. “Syrup.” His eyes widen as he realizes the truth. I clamp my hand over his mouth and nose hard, forcing him to swallow instead of spit. He tries to make himself vomit the stuff up, but it’s too late, he’s already losing consciousness. Even as he fades away, I can see in his eyes what I’ve done is unforgivable.”

(This is another great dramatic scene. It’s always interesting when characters fight — or at least are in conflict — and the more so when the conflict is for the good of the other party)

Katniss watches him sleep, and murmurs “Who can’t lie, Peeta?” knowing that the whole country can hear her.

(Aaand another excellent hook ending. It’s a great mini-payoff, that Katniss wins this battle of wits with Peeta, for his own good, and now we know we readers are headed for a “rumble” as they say in West Side Story)

Comments & Analysis

Opening: Getting the broth into Peeta takes an hour of coaxing, begging, threatening, and yes, kissing, but finally, sip by sip, he empties the pot.

Closing: “Who can’t lie, Peeta?” I say, even though he can’t hear me. / It doesn’t matter. The rest of Panem can.

PROMISES & PAYOFFS

Promises:

• Katniss is going to go get the antibiotics for Peeta, and it’s not going to be easy. She’ll have to face down some of the other tributes for it.

Complications:

• Katniss has the chance to get Peeta life saving medicine, but Peeta himself gets in her way because he doesn’t want her risking her life for him.

Payoffs:

• Katniss drugs Peeta in order to get away to fetch the antibiotics.
• Katniss shares a story from her past with Peeta, the two grow closer as they learn more about each other (well, as Peeta learns more about Katniss)

OTHER COMMENTS

• Really intriguing last line. It really makes you think, not just about the events in the story but about the idea of actors and cameras and reality TV in general.
• Humans have their own kind of Observer Effect. When you know (or think) someone is watching you, you behave differently than when you aren’t being watched.
• This theme is particularly relevant in today’s world, where the average person can turn his or her life into a TV show just by vlogging on youtube, and people who don’t necessarily want to be famous can accidentally become so, much more easily than before, just by unintentionally appearing on someone else’s vlog…
• This is one of the reasons why The Hunger Games was so powerful when it came out and continues to have staying power. It touches on real issues that make people uneasy, moral questions that previous generations didn’t have to worry about to such a degree or in such a way.

Chapter 21.

In This Chapter

• Katniss risks her life to get medicine for Peeta.
• Katniss is offered an unexpected lifeline.

Katniss camouflages the cave to protect Peeta, and then eats something and watches the sky, waiting for dawn.

It’s a cold night and as Katniss prepares, she thinks of her mother and sister, thinking that with a feast planned, even school will be canceled.

(Good grief. Everything in their entire society revolves around the Games. Which I guess makes sense, since this is a dystopia and all, but…good grief!)

Katniss imagines everyone back home cheering for her and Peeta, and then she thinks of Gale, and more directly wonders “Gale’s not my boyfriend, but would he be, if I opened that door?…I wonder what he makes of all this kissing.”

(Despite life or death scenario, Story is still obligated to tease Love Triangle thread)

When it’s time, Katniss heads out, after giving Peeta a kiss for the benefit of the cameras and the watching audience, and “pretend[s] to brush away a tear,” and then she’s off.

Katniss notes that her left ear is still deaf, but shrugs it off. Just as dawn arrives, she reaches the Cornucopia and sees a round table with numbered backpacks on top.

Before anyone has a chance to do anything, Katniss sees a person dart out of the Cornucopia and realizes Foxface had hidden inside, waiting for her moment. “Leave it to her to come up with such a clever and risky idea!”

(That’s another one of the appeals of Hunger Games. There are quite a lot of “clever” things in this story, from the way the story is crafted, to the way the different tributes act to the survival reasoning that Katniss uses to stay alive. Cleverness is delightful)

Katniss realizes she has to go now, or someone else may steal her backpack. So she runs for it, but as she goes she can feel a knife flying past her head. She shoots, but doesn’t manage to kill Clove.

Just as Katniss grabs the backpack, Clove catches her, and Katniss hopes “for Prim’s sake it will be fast.”

But like too many cartoon villains, Clove decides to “savor the moment,” saying that she plans on giving the audience “a good show” by torturing Katniss to death.

(Of course, the point is to make Clove dislikable here so that when she dies, readers won’t feel too bad for her. But there is something really…hmm, don’t even know the word…unsettling to depict a young teen as a cruel sadist. Not that that doesn’t happen, there are teenage girl psychopaths in the real world…but man~)

But Clove makes a mistake when she says “We’re going to kill you. Just like we did your pathetic little ally…Rue.”

That angers Katniss enough to spit in Clove’s face, but just before she’s cut, Katniss feels Clove being yanked off her and looks up in surprise to see that Thresh (Rue’s male counterpart from District 11) has pinned her to the cornucopia and shouting “What’d you do to that little girl? You kill her?”

Thresh bashes Clove’s head in and Katniss knows “she’s a goner.”

Then Thresh turns to Katniss, and asks her what happened. Katniss says that she and Rue were allies, that she killed the boy who killed Rue and then “buried [Rue] in flowers…Your district…they sent me bead.”

Katniss begs Thresh to “do it fast,” but instead, he lets her go “Just this one time…For he little girl. You and me, we’re even then. No more owed. You understand?”

Katniss nods because she does understand “About owing. About hating it.”

(This moral code does seem to be something that is shared among certain groups of socially disadvantaged people).

The last thing Thresh says to Katniss is: “You better run, Fire Girl.”

(Shows how Katniss’ nickname and symbolic persona has caught on with basically everyone. It’s out of her hands now, she has literally “caught fire” which is the title of the second book)

Katniss scrams, and turns back once to see Cato trying to keep Clove alive, while Thresh disappears with both of the remaining backpacks.

Katniss makes it back to the cave, injects Peeta with the antibiotic, and then loses consciousness.

(Curious why her last image — real or hallucination — is a green and silver moth. What is the symbolism here?)

Comments & Analysis

Opening: In the remaining hours before nightfall, I gather rocks and do my best to camouflage the opening of the cave.

Closing: The last thing I remember is an exquisitely beautiful green-and-silver moth landing on the curve of my wrist.

PROMISES & PAYOFFS

Promises:

• Peeta will be saved. He’s going to have to react to what Katniss did — drugging him to go after the medicine.

Complications:

• Now that Thresh has spared Katniss’ life, it’s going to be much harder for her to kill him, which is a thing that must be done (if he doesn’t die some other way) in order for her to win.

Payoffs:

• Katniss’ kindness to Rue pays off when Thresh lets her go “just this once.”

OTHER COMMENTS

• To be fair, Thresh was more than a gentleman, asking Katniss what happened with Rue rather than killing her first and asking questions later.
• It also makes you wonder what was Thresh’s relationship with Rue? Did his family know hers? Did he see her as a little sister? Or was the fact that she was young, and from his district enough for him to feel responsible for or protective over her…or at least that he owed Katniss something for caring for her? Question, questions…

Chapter 22.

In This Chapter

• Peeta reveals when and how he fell for Katniss.
• Katniss has another mind-reading session with Haymitch (in a manner of speaking)

Katniss wakes up groggily hearing the rain outside, thinking she’s at home with her mom stroking her cheek. But then she hears Peeta’s voice and for a moment is disoriented.

He tells her: “I woke up yesterday evening and you were lying next to me in a very scary pool of blood.”

(Very dramatic and works to have her in a “scary pool of blood,” courtesy of her misadventures by the cornucopia)

Peeta is much better and Katniss notes that he doesn’t seem mad about her drugging him and running off. “Maybe I’m just too beat-up and I’ll hear about it later when I’m stronger. But for the moment, he’s all gentleness,” Katniss thinks.

And now it’s Peeta’s turn to take care of Katniss for a while, since she’s too weak to have much of a choice.

When Katniss tells Peeta what happened at the cornucopia, she has to include what happened with Rue to explain why Thresh let her go.

“He let you go because he didn’t want to owe you anything?” asks Peeta in disbelief.

“Yes. I don’t expect you to understand it. You’ve always had enough. But if you’d lived int eh Seam, I wouldn’t have to explain,” I say.

(This is another good moment to emphasize the difference between Katniss and Peeta and their respective backgrounds / upbringings. Side note, it must be really tricky to have a conversation knowing at any time, everything you’re saying could be broadcast to everyone in your counntry, including your friends and family…)

Peeta seems mildly offended by this, but Katniss tries to explain by mentioning the time he threw her bread when she was starving.

“The bread? What? From when we were kids?” he says. “I think we can let that go. I mean, you just brought me back from the dead.”

(So this is confirmation that what Katniss thought — about Peeta burning the bread on purpose in order to help her — was true.)

But Katniss insists that “it’s the first gift that’s always the hardest to pay back. I wouldn’t even have been here to do it if you hadn’t helped me then.”

(And an example of not only the butterfly effect but also how in fiction, even more so than in real life, events have to be really tightly connected, like dominoes. One thing leads to the next, every event having consequences and side effects…)

When Katniss asks Peeta “why did you do it?” Peeta says “You know why” and when Katniss shakes her head, he adds: “Haymitch said you would take a lot of convincing.”

(And here is the clue for the reader that Peeta is genuine/serious about liking Katniss.)

They talk about how the only remaining tributes are Cato and Thresh and Katniss feels sad that Thresh must die if they want to win. Peeta coaxes her back to sleep, and that evening, they realize they have very little food left.

As they talk, Peeta mentions “I wonder what we’d have to do to get Haymitch to send us some bread,” and that reminds Katniss of what she did to get the pot of broth (kiss Peeta). She realizes that she needs to play up the romance angle for the audience to get Haymitch to send more, but of course she can’t say that out loud, so she needs to find another way to “get things back on track.”

So she takes Peeta’s hand and says “Well, he probably used up a lot of resources helping me knock you out.”

That reminds Peeta to scold her not to do it again, but he can’t work up enough ire since she ended up being right. “Don’t die for me,” he ends up saying. “You won’t be doing me any favors. All right?”

Katniss finds herself “surprised by his intensity” but recognizes a good opportunity when she sees one, so she says “Maybe I did it for myself, Peeta, did you ever think of that?”

And as she says that, Katniss starts to realize that what she’s saying is true — and it’s not just that she’s afraid of being alone… “It’s him,” she thinks to herself. “I do not want to lose the boy with the bread.”

And that leads to a kiss, “the first kiss that we’re both fully aware of. Neither of us hobbled by sickness or pain or simply unconscious.”

(Is it just me, or is that second sentence kind of hilarious…? Maybe it’s just me)

It’s freezing, so the two huddle together as they sleep, and Peeta tucks Katniss into his arms. She thinks: “Since my father died and I stopped trusting my mother, no one else’s arms have made me feel this safe.”

(And there is a really strong piece of the romance subplot notched in place. Since Katniss is already established as a very un-trusting person, the fact that Peeta inspires trust in her is a big deal)

The next day is another rainy day, which means they’re unable to hunt, and Haymitch is their “only hope,” but nothing comes — Katniss thinks either because everything is too expensive, or because “he’s dissatisfied with our performance. Probably the latter.”

But Katniss doesn’t know “how to ramp up the romance. The kiss last night was nice, but working up to another will take some forethought.” (Now this is definitely funny)

She starts thinking of the merchant-class girls from back home who are great at this sort of thing, then realizes that Haymitch “isn’t just looking for physical affection, he wants something more personal,” which Katniss is “rotten at…but Peeta’s not.”

So she decides to get him talking by asking him when he started crushing on her. Peeta obliges by telling the story of how, on the first day of school, his father pointed her out and said that he almost married her mother but she married a coal miner instead “because when he sings…even the birds stop to listen.”

(I think both Collins and the game makers at this point are deliberately creating a downpour so the characters have time to “explore their feelings” without too much fear of the other two coming after them to kill them. Time to develop the romance subplot-slash-give the Capitol audience something juicy for entertainment.

(Also, Peeta saying his dad pointed her out on the first day of school shows that their relationship is not as random as it at first appeared. The fact that his dad “almost married” her mom means that they weren’t just acquaintances in their day. Side note, I wonder if Peeta’s parents — especially his mother — hears this part. We never do find out…)

Katniss observes that her reluctance to sing “might not really be that I think it’s a waste of time. It might be because it reminds me too much of my father.”

(And this is one of the most disappointing things about the movie adaptation. The fact that Katniss’ dad and Katniss herself were supposed to be great singers, but the actress in the movie adaptation wasn’t. Oh well.

(Also, here’s another example of Katniss being rather obtuse and not-self-aware…but to be fair, all humans have these moments, which is why it works in her character)

Peeta continues the story by saying Katniss volunteered to sing in music assembly, and “just like your mother — I was a goner,” Peeta concludes. But he never worked up the courage to talk to her until the reaping. Katniss isn’t sure how to react:

“we’re supposed to be making up this stuff, playing at being in love…But Peeta’s story has a ring of truth to it. It would explain…why Peeta took a beating to give me the bread…So, if those details are true…could it all be true?”

And although she wants to draw back again, this time, Katniss narrates: “it’s me who leans in.”

And just as they kiss — Whaddya know? Perfect timing! — they hear a clunk outside and sure enough, it’s a silver parachute attached to a basket of food. Peeta comments that Haymitch must’ve gotten tired watching them starve, but Katniss knows better.

She imagines Haymitch saying:

“That’s what I’m looking for, sweetheart.”

Comments & Analysis

Opening: The sound of rain drumming on the roof of our house gently pulls me toward consciousness.

Closing: But in my head I can hear Haymitch’s smug, if slightly exasperated, words, “Yes, that’s what I’m looking for, sweetheart.”

PROMISES & PAYOFFS

Promises:

• Romance arc will continue to develop, as Katniss gradually comes to realize that Peeta was telling the truth.

Complications:

• Katniss is still playing at being in love with Peeta, but now she’s starting to sense that he’s not playing. Which is going to make things in-ter-es-ting in the future.

Payoffs:

• We find out that Peeta did deliberately throw burned bread to save Katniss when she was starving. He obliquely confesses to it.
• Plus, more development on the romance arc, and we finally find out how Peeta developed his purported crush on Katniss, and the story “rings true.”

OTHER COMMENTS

• So basically by this point, questions of whether Peeta really is what he appears to be, or whether he’s an evil genius playing 4D chess with Katniss are pretty much moot. He’s the real deal, readers!

Chapter 23.

In This Chapter

• Katniss and Peeta attempt to hunt, with dubious results.
• Peeta kills another tribute.

Katniss and Peeta pace themselves as they eat, and to pass the time, they keep talking, about how they will live in the Victor’s Village if they win the Games.

(Again, important info delivered at the right time.)

They start joking a little about Haymitch:

“If I were you, I’d avoid Haymitch completely. He hates you.”

“I though you said I was his favorite,” I say.

“He hates me more,” says Peeta. “I don’t think people in general are his sort of thing.”

(This dialogue flows really well, and that in itself should tell you something about Collins’ writing skill. It’s actually not easy for people to produce story-worthy dialogue, which is why most real-life conversations are extremely clunky, if you ever tried to actually transcribe them. Writing great dialogue that helps with both plotting and characterization is a real trick)

As Katniss thinks of Haymitch and how he’s probably been “dragged out of the control room for interviews” by this point, she realizes that although she doesn’t get along with Haymitch in person, the two of them actually think alike, for example, she understands what he’s trying to tell her through the timing of the gifts. Katniss muses:

“Perhaps he thinks a bowl of broth would just be a bowl of broth to Peeta, whereas I’ll see the strings attached to it.”

(This is very subtle foreshadowing for one of the key moments in book three, when Haymitch decides to follow Katniss’ lead for a very important decision near the end of the story. He realizes that she is doing more than what she appears to be doing on the surface, and he trusts her, and that trust starts from the very beginning, in book one)

And here, the two finally reflect on something that certain readers will have been wondering for a while — how did Haymitch win his Games?

Peeta and Katniss reach the same conclusion at the same time — he must have outsmarted the other tributes.

This makes Katniss realize that Haymitch may not have always been drunk and reluctant to help the tributes. Perhaps he had tried in the beginning, but the trauma of watching mentees die year after year turned him off.

And that makes Katniss realize that this will be her future, as well, if she wins. She will be responsible for mentoring the next girl tributes from District 12 as long as she lives, and of course the idea disgusts her, so she puts it out of her mind.

That night, they find out Thresh is dead. They’d fired the cannon to announce his death during the thunder, and Katniss is somehow saddened by the news, but she can’t allow herself to cry because “who’s going to bet on a tribute who keeps sniveling over the deaths of her opponents”?

(Collins does a good job keeping Katniss relatable and sympathetic to the readers, even under such grotesque circumstances. Although Katniss is forced to kill, Collins keeps her kills to a minimum, mostly relying on survival to help her survive. And although others’ deaths are necessary for her survival, Collins makes her easier to empathize with by having her empathize with those who have died — not every single one, but the few whom readers were taught to have some empathy for, like Rue and Thresh).

Now there are just two other tributes left — Foxface and Cato.

Peeta and Katniss go to sleep again, and she wakes up to Peeta offering her half a roll with cheese and apples, which makes him tell her about a goat cheese and apple tart that his family’s bakery offers.

Peeta mentions that the family never eats such tarts unless they’re stale — in fact, all their food is stale — and Katniss realizes that his life was not as “soft” as she thought. Sure, he had enough to eat, but “there’s something kind of depressing about living your life on stale bread,” compared to herself, able to eat fresh meat because she hunts it herself.

Katniss allows herself to wonder about the future, who she will be without having to fight for food every day. What Peeta will be like when he doesn’t have to pretend to be in love with her.

(Oh, for the love, Katniss. Still doubting Peeta?…Okay, to be fair, in a weird artificial environment like the Games, I suppose you’d have to doubt everything)

Finally, it’s time to hunt, but Peeta’s bad leg makes him so loud, he scares away the rabbits. This makes Katniss contrast him with Gale, who has an “eerie velvet tread,” and she thinks Gale must be laughing back at home.

Katniss tries suggesting removing their boots, but eventually realizes it’s not working, and Peeta himself does as well. So he offers to gather food instead.

Katniss is reluctant to let him go, but they agree on a bird whistle signal to communicate and she leaves him to his work as she goes to hunt.

But when Katniss signals him without hearing back, she runs back to check on him and is angry-relieved when she finds out he’s okay. That’s when she notices that some of their cheese has been eaten.

Peeta meanwhile has collected some berries, but they are unfamiliar to Katniss until she recalls an old memory from her dad, warning her away from the berries, which are poisonous nightlock.

As she realizes this, Katniss hears the cannons fire and realize Foxface has died.

Peeta thinks Cato must be nearby, but Katniss realizes that Foxface was killed by Peeta, on accident. She was the one who had sneakily stolen some of their food — and by gathering poisonous berries without realizing they were poisonous, Peeta had inadvertently tricked her into eating the berries herself.

(And here is the setup for the climactic scene at the end)

Comments & Analysis

Opening: Every cell in my body wants me to dig into the stew and cram it, handful by handful into my mouth.

Closing: “What? I haven’t even seen her since the first day,” he says. “How could I have killed her?” / In answer, I hold out the berries.

PROMISES & PAYOFFS

Promises:

• The nightlock berries that Katniss saved will come in handy at some point.

Complications:

• There is only one tribute left to defeat, and he’s a hunter who will definitely come after them.

Payoffs:

• We see Foxface’s “infernal” cleverness become her downfall.

OTHER COMMENTS

• The most important part of this chapter is the nightlock berries, and the foreshadowing that they serve as for the climax of the story.
• But Collins does not foreshadow with a heavy hand. The way she writes the chapter makes you think that the point was mainly to do away with another competitor in a fairly clever way, the berries being just a side thing (at best readers will suspect they’ll be used against Cato in some clever way). But they’re not.

Chapter 24.

In This Chapter

• Katniss and Peeta are driven by the Game makers to face their final enemy in a much-anticipated showdown.

The beginning of this chapter opens with Katniss explaining to Peeta (and to the reader) how Foxface died.

Peeta starts to discard the berries, but Katniss stops him, holding some berries back (in case they want to use it on Cato somehow).

Katniss decides to cook the rabbit meat and they end up going back to the cave because Peeta can’t sleep in a tree with his bad leg.

Katniss reflects on how Foxface dies, thinking she must have been the smartest of them all. But Foxface died because she ate the berries Peeta set out unknowingly. If it had been a trap, Katniss thinks, Foxface probably would have sussed it out.

“I’ve spent so much time making sure I don’t underestimate my opponents that I’ve forgotten it’s just as dangerous to overestimate them as well.”

(Just goes to show that in this story, as in real life, cleverness is helpful, but not enough in the end to help you get by. In this story, as in real life, having the right people on your side can mean the difference between life and death).

This makes Katniss start to think about their final enemy, Cato, and trying to figure out how he might think, what his weaknesses might be. He doesn’t have as much self control as Foxface, Katniss thinks, and remembers her own rage when she shot the apple in the pig’s mouth. “Maybe I do understand Cato better than I think,” she muses.

Both Katniss and Peeta realize that the Gamemakers will force them to duke it out with Cato soon, and sure enough, they realize that the stream has dried up. Without water, they will have to go back to the lake for a “bloody fight to the death with nothing to block [the audience’s] view.”

(Time to face the final boss!)

As they head toward the lake, they pass the tree where Rue pointed out the tracker jackers to Katniss,, and in so doing, helped save her life.

(There’s a nice circularity to this structure. They will finish the Games where they started it, and along the way, Katniss passes important locations which remind her of important people — for good and ill — in the Game.

(Side note: This reminds me of the concept of the Memory Palace, and how human memory is extremely good when it comes to locations and visualization. Collins is consciously or subconsciously using this phenomena to give readers a kind of “life flash before your eyes” experience on behalf of the character as she walks toward the next dangerous turning point in her story.

(Side note: Rue is like the good version of Foxface — both sneaky, quiet, clever, as Thresh is the good version of Cato — both powerful, strong killers. They’re counterparts / foils.)

Katniss and Peeta head for the lake and reach the cornucopia, but as night starts to fall, Katniss frowns, not wanting to fight Cato in the dark.

The mockingjays are singing, but suddenly their song starts to go sour as they raise a cry of alarm. Cato comes running out of the trees, and Katniss tries to shoot him, but the arrow just glances off — he’s wearing body armor.

Worse, Cato is being chased by a herd of deadly, unnamed creatures.

And that’s where this chapter ends.

Comments & Analysis

Opening: It takes a while to explain the situation to Peeta.

Closing: My eyes scan the woods just in time to see the first creature leap onto the slain. As I’m turning away, I see another half dozen join it. then I am stumbling blindly after Cato with no thought of anything but to save myself.

PROMISES & PAYOFFS

Promises:

• Katniss is going to win. That’s pretty much a given at this point in the story. The only question is how, and at what price?

Complications:

• Cato has shown up, as expected, but not alone. There appears to be a more serious enemy right behind him.
• Also, Cato is wearing body armor, meaning Katniss can’t use her best weapon (archery) to dispatch him.

Payoffs:

• Not quite in this chapter, but we finally get to see the showdown between Katniss and Cato, which readers have been anticipating ever since he and the Careers targeted her that first time, and perhaps even before then.

OTHER COMMENTS

• Side thought, the book never says, but I wonder how many of the audience members realize that Katniss and Peeta know they are watching (as all tributes do), and that anything they say or do on camera can’t be fully trusted?
• Katniss is smart enough to act and try to sway the audience in her favor, just how much do the audience themselves realize what she’s doing? Hmm…

Chapter 25.

In This Chapter

• The climax!
• Katniss and Peeta defeat their multiple enemies in an unexpected way.

Katniss explains through narration that these creatures chasing Cato are “muttations,” animals that have been specially created and look a bit like huge wolves.

Katniss reaches the cornucopia, which is where Cato has fled, and then remembers Peeta, and turns to help him by shooting the pack with an arrow.

Katniss climbs up the Cornucopia and has a chance to “finish off” Cato, who is there first, gasping for breath, but a cry from Peeta distracts her, and she turns to help him shoot down a few more mutts attacking Peeta.

Katniss notes that the mutts have human-like eyes, and realizes they are the eyes of the dead, with hair similar to the hair of the other dead tributes, and wearing collars with the numbers of the tributes’ districts on them.

Katniss wonders if the mutts have been given some of the dead tributes’ brains as well, “Have they been programmed to hate our faces particularly because we have survived and they were so callously murdered?”

But she doesn’t have time to wax philosophical, because Peeta is being yanked down by a mutt that’s latched onto his leg, and it’s all Katniss can do to keep a hold on him and finally drag him to safety on the cornucopia.

(This is where suspension of disbelief breaks, for me. I can buy “muttations” — although even that name is a bit too much on the nose — but muttations with human faces and potential human memories?

(Especially when no scientist has a legitimate theory on how memories really work, except that even the fact that memories might “reside” in the brain is questionable? Nope. Too ridiculous to fully buy into, which is a pity, because the rest of the story was going so swimmingly…)

Just as Katniss is recovering from the mutt attack, she feels Peeta being jerked away from her — Cato is using him as a shield, and they are at an impasse:

If Katniss kills Cato, he will drag Peeta with him to death. If Cato kills Peeta, Katniss will kill him.

(Way to keep the suspense going! Very nice)

Meanwhile, Cato is slowly choking Peeta to death. But before he goes unconscious, Peeta raises fingers bloody from the wound on his leg to draw an X on Cato’s hand.

Katniss shoots, and Cato releases Peeta from the sudden pain. Peeta slams Cato backwards and Katniss grabs Peeta to keep him from falling, too.

They wait for the cannons to fire, but they don’t “because this is the climax of the Hunger Games, and the audience expects a show.”

(Very meta. Because this is the climax of the Hunger Games, the book, and the readers here too, expect a show — ie, not for everything to go too easily for the main characters. Reading the Hunger Games makes you much more self conscious as a reader than most other books.

(And yet it’s gripping enough to not kick you out of suspension of disbelief so that the journey that the story takes you on — the reading process — becomes unpleasant or too friction-filled. Really fascinating how that works)

Katniss can hear Cato fighting off the mutts, but there are too many of them, and the cannon still won’t fire. Night falls and the anthem plays but Cato is still not dead.

Meanwhile, Peeta is bleeding badly and Katniss comes up with a tourniquet to staunch the flow, using an arrow and a sleeve from her shirt. In the cold, they huddle together, listening to Cato dying slowly as the mutts work at him.

“Why don’t they just kill him?” Katniss begs, but Peeta says “You know why,” and Katniss does know — “From the Gamemakers’ point of view, this is the final word in entertainment.”

(Another biting critique of our own ways as consumers. People have been known to sacrifice their own and others’ lives — literally or metaphorically — in the name of entertainment. Actors have died from accidents, celebrities have blown up relationships and lost their identities, reality TV stars have destroyed their families, and so on…all for a bit of fame in exchange for entertaining the masses. Really makes you think, huh?)

They wait all night and Katniss can see that Peeta is fading, but still no cannon has fired to announce Cato’s death. Finally, Peeta asks if Katniss can shoot Cato and put him out of his misery. There’s only one arrow — the one in Peeta’s tourniquet, and Peeta offers it to her — “Make it count.”

Katniss shoots Cato in the head, through pity, not vengeance.

(Again, another smart move on the author’s part, to have Katniss give the killing blow, but not in a vengeful, murderous way, which would make her unlikable — but in a pitying, compassionate way, to preserve her likability for readers).

The cannon fires, but still no hovercraft shows up and no trumpets sound their victory.

Just then, Claudius Templesmith’s voice announces:

“The earlier reviison has been revoked…only one winner may be allowed. Good luck, and may the odds be ever in your favor.”

Peeta and Katniss stare at each other in disblief, and then Peeta says “If you think about it, it’s not that surprising,” as he removes his knife.

Katniss instinctively points an arrow at him, but realizes that he was only throwing the knife into the lake. Katniss is instantly ashamed, but Peeta says: “No, do it.”

(And if any reader, like Katniss, was in any doubt whatsoever about Peeta’s position — which they really shouldn’t be at this point — this one action makes his character more than clear.

(As a wise man once said: “there is no greater love than this — that a man should lay down his life for his friends,” and clearly Peeta is willing to do that for Katniss).

When Katniss can’t bring herself to shoot Peeta, he unties the tourniquet, knowing that he will die soon from blood loss. Katniss protests, “You’re not leaving me here alone.” Because she realizes “if he dies, I’ll never go home, not really. I’ll spend the rest of my life in this arena trying to think my way out.”

But Peeta says “we both know they have to have a victor. It can only be one of us. Please, take it. For me.”

And as Peeta “goes on about how he loves me, what life would be without me but I’ve stopped listening because his previous words are trapped in my head,” Katniss realizes something…

(Somehow this part is a little funny in a black humor kind of way, the way Katniss describes Peeta’s talk in such a dismissive fashion even though, for all anyone knows, these may be his last words)

…Katniss realizes that “without a victor, the whole thing would blow up in the Gamemakers’ faces. They’d have failed the Capitol.”

Katniss goes for the nightlock berries, and at first Peeta tries to stop her, but when he realizes what she’s doing, they agree to consume the berries on the count of three.

They count to three and put the berries in their mouths. But before they can swallow, Templesmith frantically yells at them to stop, announcing both Katniss and Peeta as the winners of the 74th Hunger Games.

Comments & Analysis

Opening: Muttations. No question about it. I’ve never seen these mutts, but they’re no natural-born animals.

Closing: “Stop! Stop! Ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased to present the victors of the Seventy-fourth Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark! I give you — the tributes of District Twelve!”

PROMISES & PAYOFFS

Promises:

• Katniss will win, Cato will die, Peeta — will probably live, but not too sure at this point.

Complications:

• Cato isn’t the last enemy Katniss has to face. There is a new monster on stage — the muttations.

Payoffs:

• Cato dies, Katniss wins, and so does Peeta.

OTHER COMMENTS

• Although this is the climax of the story, it was one of the most problematic for me, from a storytelling craft perspective.
• The muttations were over-the-top, especially with the idea of the mutts having the eyes and hair of the dead tributes (like really? What kind of magical cloning abilities do you scientists have in this alternate world?)
• To be fair, there have been cases in our world of unscrupulous scientists doing research by adding human cells to rats, but not the other way around.
• Not to mention the mention of “brain transplants” from humans to mutts also breaks suspension of disbelief for me. It’s a materialistic worldview, to think that the immaterial aspects of a person are just based on the brain.
• To be fair, it’s not that Collins is 100% espousing this worldview by having Katniss wonder about brain transplants, but if she is, that would explain why this chapter of all the chapters is so clunky and unbelievable.
• Another problem, maybe in part because the muttations had already damaged suspension of disblief, is that I don’t fully buy the idea that “they have to have a victor.”
• Given how bloodthirsty these Capitol folks are, they could just let Katniss and Peeta commit double suicide and have a nice tragic ending to their reality TV survival show with a star-crossed love story twist.
• So this final twist doesn’t feel very twist-y to me, although I didn’t see it coming, exactly (the first time I read this, of course), it didn’t pack quite the punch the earlier parts of the story had set up.

Chapter 26.

In This Chapter

• The fallout from winning the Hunger Games.
• Katniss and Peeta get more screentime as the Capitol machine parades them about post-victory.

The hovercraft shows up and an electric current freezes Katniss and Peeta in place as they are lifted up, which Katniss is grateful for because she can tell Peeta has no strength left to hang on, as his blood is pouring freely from his leg wound.

Peeta faints and is whisked away by doctors as Katniss, panicked, pounds on the glass door until a Capitol attendant shows up and gives her a beverage which “looks wrong” in Katniss’ bloody, dirt-caked hands.

She is reminded of the many times mangled and sick people would be brought to her mother by family members begging for help.

“Now is the time to run away to the woods, to hide in the trees until the patient is long gone…But I’m held here both by the hovercraft walls and the same force that holds the loved ones of the dying.”

(Very revealing of Katniss to say)

Katniss sees the doctors moving Peeta, and she starts panicking again…until she’s jabbed from behind by some kind of tranquilizer needle.

When she awakes, she’s in a bed, hooked up to tubes, and her body has been cleaned. Oh, and she can hear again.

(Very convenient, but it is something that needed to be fixed or addressed, for sure.)

The redheaded Avox girl comes in with a tray, and Katniss calms. Katniss asks if Peeta made it, and the girl nods. “I guess she did not wish me dead after all,” Katniss thinks as the girl gives her a spoon for her food.

After eating, Katniss tries to get out of bed, but the tubes release a liquid that puts her back to sleep, and this happens off and on for a while.

Finally, Katniss awakes without tubes and restraints, and finds, to her surprise, that her body has been fully fixed. Even her scars are gone.

(Seriously. These Capitol treatments are a bit over-the-top miraculous).

Katniss sees Effie, Haymitch and Cinna, and to everyone’s surprise (including her own), she hugs Haymitch first.

When Katniss asks why Peeta isn’t present, they tell her that they want to “do [the] reunion live on air at the ceremony.”

“Oh, that’s all,” Katniss says, “I guess I’d want to see that myself.”

(Again, part of Katniss’ survival skills is how well she understands this reality TV side of the Games)

Katniss’ prep team explains that they “did a full body polish on you…Not a flaw left on your skin.”

And as the prep team prepares Katniss for the reunion show, she marvels at their self-centered chatter:

“It’s funny, because even though they’re rattling on about the Games, it’s all about where they were or how they felt when a special event occurred. ‘I was still in bed!’ ‘I had just had my eyebrows dyed!’ ‘I swear I nearly fainted!’ Everything is about them, not the dying boys and girls in the arena.”

(Collins’ captures the selfishness of human nature so well here. But of course Katniss prep team and people like them would have been only thinking of themselves while watching the Games. If they ever seriously thought about the people IN the Games, they wouldn’t have been able to watch. It would have disgusted them)

Cinna dresses Katniss in a dress that makes her look like she’s “wearing candlelight.” It makes her look young, innocent, harmless, and Katniss is again stunned by Cinna’s artistry.

“I thought Peeta would like this better” Cinna says, when Katniss observes that she thought her dress would be a bit more “sophisticated.” And with her sensitivity to these things, Katniss realizes Cinna is warning her of something he can’t bring up in public.

As Katniss prepares to go onstage, Haymitch touches her shoulder, and offers a “hug for luck.”

Only when Katniss agrees to this “odd request,” Haymitch quickly whispers in her ear:

“Listen up. You’re in trouble. Word is the Capitol’s furious about you showing them up in the arena…Your only defense can be you were so madly in love you werent’ responsible for your actions. Got it, sweetheart?”

Got it, Katniss tells him. Did you tell Peeta this?

“Didn’t have to. He’s already there,” Haymitch assures her, and Katniss realizes she’s “never been in such a dangerous place in my life.” It’s worse now than being in the arena, because then, the Capitol could only hurt her. Out here in the real world, her mother, sister, and all of District 12 could be punished if she fails to “pull off the girl-driven-crazy-by-love scenario Haymitch has suggested.”

(Okay, I have to say this is a little straining the suspension of disbelief again. Perhaps becuase I never fully bought the idea the Capitol HAD to have a live victor, so this “forcing Katniss to pretend to be madly in love” stuff feels a little bit like a contrivance by the author to push the romance angle into the limelight as a set up for the rest of the story.

(In a sense, the Hunger Games is more of a romance than it’s advertised to be. It was advertised as a survival, thriller, action-adventure coming-of-age story, but from this point on, romance is really taking center stage)

As Katniss waits for the show to start, she tries to sort out her feelings, but “it’s too complicated. What I did as part of the Games…what I did out of anger at the Capitol…Or simply because it was the only decent thing to do. Or what I did because I cared about him.”

(This is the danger of being too good an actor. I once heard the actor Jim Carrey say something along the lines of he didn’t know who he really was. He’d been playing roles and doing it so well for so long that he’d lost a sense of his own identity. It’s kind of sad and scary to think about, if you think about it)

But Katniss knows she has no time to think about these questions now, because she’s about to enter the most dangerous phase of the Hunger Games.

(Nice nod to the fact that with something as traumatizing as the Games, it’s not just inside the arena that tributes are “playing,” but for the rest of their lives, really, in the real world. And that’s kind of the point. As long as something like the Games exist, the whole world is actually a part of the Games)

Comments & Analysis

Opening: I spew the berries from my mouth, wiping my tongue with the end of my shirt to make sure no juice remains.

Closing: And right now, the most dangerous part of the Hunger Games is about to begin.

PROMISES & PAYOFFS

Promises:

• Troubles are not over for Katniss and co. In fact, they’re just beginning.
• The reunion scene and interview on stage will be juicy. Probably.

Complications:

• Katniss thought winning the games would mean relief and freedom. But she’s only switched to a different kind of bondage.

Payoffs:

• Everything Katniss did to save Peeta worked. He is still alive.

OTHER COMMENTS

• I like how the denoument of the story actually takes two chapters. With something as dramatic as the Games and the climax, you need to let out the pressure slowly.

Chapter 27.

In This Chapter

• Katniss is reunited with Peeta on TV.
• Katniss is warned that the most dangerous part of the Games is about to begin…

The show begins, and all of the support staff (Effie, Haymitch, Cinna, etc) are introduced, and then it’s Katniss’ turn.

Katniss sees Peeta looking “clean and healthy and beautiful” she can barely recognize him, until he smiles his familiar smile and then she launches herself into his arms, and as he kisses her, Katniss wonders if he knows how much danger they are in.

But “whether he knows it or not, Peeta is, as usual, playing the crowd exactly right.”

(These two really make an interesting pair. Peeta isn’t conscious of it, as we will find out later, but he has an instinct for winning people over — natural charisma — while Katniss has a better theoretical understanding of what needs to be done, but she doesn’t do it as naturally as Peeta.

(However, when she does acts instinctively — to save Prim, or to honor Rue — she also inspires admiration — if not the same kind of love and fondness that Peeta inspires — in the audience)

Finally, they sit down for the interview, and they are forced to watch the three hour highlights reel of the Games. This year, Katniss notices “for the first time, they tell a love story,” and Katniss finally sees some of what happened from Peeta’s perspective.

“There’s no question he’s carrying this romance thing on his shoulders,” Katniss comments as she sees footage of him protecting her from the Careers, whispering her name in his sleep, etc. The recap ends with her pounding on the door of the hovercraft, screaming for Peeta as the doctors try to save him, and Katniss realizes, “In terms of survival, it’s my best moment all night.”

Then Katniss and Peeta are crowned, and Katniss can see in President Snow’s eyes that he blames her most for the trick with the berries.

Peeta and Katniss now have to attend a Victor’s Banquet where she’s overwhelmed by beaming faces flashing by, and never has a chance to talk to Peeta.

The next afternoon, she and Peeta have a scheduled more-intimate interview with Caesar Flickerman. Peeta gets a chance to pull Katniss off to the side, saying:

“I hardly get to see you. Haymitch seems bent on keeping us apart.”

Haymitch is actually bent on keeping us alive, but there are too many ears listening, so I just say, “Yes, he’s gotten very responsible lately.”

And then it’s time for the interview.

And of course Caesar has to ask Katniss when she fell for Peeta. Katniss is stuck until Caesar suggests that it must be when she called out his name from the tree, and Katniss latches onto the idea.

Why is that? Caesar asks, and Katniss says “Maybe…because for the first time…there was a chance I could keep him.”

And Katniss sees Haymitch “huff with relief” and knows she’s “said the right thing.”

Meanwhile, “Caesar pulls out a handkerchief and has to take a moment because he’s so moved.”

(Ha! Love the sprinklings of humor)

Then Katniss finds out that Peeta lost a leg from all the blood loss and the tourniquet on that final day, but both Caesar and Peeta assure her that he would have died without the tourniquet, so his lost leg isn’t her fault.

And then finally Caesar asks about the berries. What was she thinking at that moment?

Katniss replies: “I don’t know, I just…couldn’t bear the thought of…being without him.”

Peeta confirms the same thoughts, and that’s the end of the interview.

Afterwards, Katniss quietly checks with Haymitch if she was okay, and he says, “Perfect.”

Before they know it, it’s time to board the train to go home, and Katniss changes into her more familiar clothing.

The train makes a fuel stop, and Katniss goes for a brief walk with Peeta when Haymitch comes up and says “Great job, you two. Just keep it up in the district until the cameras are gone. We should be okay.”

This causes Peeta to ask Katniss what Haymitch meant, and Katniss blurts out that the Capitol was angry about the “stunt with the berries” so Haymitch has been “coaching her.”

“Coaching you? But not me,” Peeta says, realizing what this all means. “It was all for the Games…How you acted.”

Peeta walks back to the train, obviously hurt, and the next time Katniss sees him, the day after, he just gives her an expressionless nod.

(Oh, Haymitch. To be honest, this part is a bit confusing. It is strongly hinted that Haymitch knows Katniss is faking the in-love thing, but that Peeta isn’t. Peeta was the one who brought it up in the first place, and even mentioned earlier that “Haymitch said you would take a lot of convincing” insinuating “convincing that I’m telling the truth about my feelings.”

(However, here, Haymitch acts as if he thinks Peeta is faking it, as well, thus revealing Katniss’ true motivations to Peeta in a pretty hurtful way. It works really well for the emotional rollercoaster that this story is trying to put readers on, but logically, this is a bit of a hole…)

Katniss feels like Peeta is being unfair, considering all the pressure that the Games put on them to survive, and that she will “never be able to afford the kind of love that leads to a family, to children. And how can he…after what we’ve just been through?”

She also misses him, but realizes that wouldn’t be fair of her to say. So they simply stand by the window, watching as they pull into the train platform, “thick with cameras,” and then Peeta says: “One more time? For the audience?”

And Katniss takes his hand.

Comments & Analysis

Opening: The anthem booms in my ears, and then I hear Caesar Flickerman greeting the audience.

Closing: I take his hand, holding on tightly, preparing for the cameras, and dreading the moment when I will finally have to let go.

PROMISES & PAYOFFS

Promises:

• This is not the end of Katniss and Peeta’s story. They will have to make it up (or not) in the next book.

Complications:

• Katniss and Peeta have both survived, but now Peeta has been inadvertently hurt and they’re not even friends anymore, really.

Payoffs:

• A payoff in a kind of “negative way” — Katniss’ ambivalent attitude toward Peeta has come back to bite her. It’s a realistic attitude for her to have, but the consequences are realistic, as well.

OTHER COMMENTS

• This is kind of a great ending. It teases the idea of the story continuing, and it ends on a good note. We don’t want it to be too happy, considering how many tragic things have happened already. It’s kind of somber in tone, heading into a darker direction (the fact that Katniss describes Peeta’s voice as“hollow”), but also with hope (the fact that he is still willing to reach out to hold her hand).

FINAL THOUGHTS

Why I Rated This Book 5.3 Stars

I use this criteria to rate every book (out of 6 points per category):

Star ratings:
1 star = Basically, trash. Or worse.
2 stars = Only worth it if you really like the topic.
3 stars = Average.
4 stars = Quite Good.
5 stars = Worth re-reading more than once.
6 stars = Life-changing.

3. Craft ✍ ✍ ✍ ✍ ✍ ✍

Is this work is well-written, and are the ideas clearly and skillfully presented?

Definitely a six-star for this book, hands down. Collins’ writing isn’t flowery, but it’s the perfect vehicle for delivering the story that needs to be told without getting in the way, and that’s the key.

Her dialogues are on point, the narratives give a lot of information without being tedious or info-dumpy, and the humor sprinkled throughout is just right.

Another thing I wanted to note is how well structured this book is. There are three parts, and each part has 9 chapters (multiple of 3!) I don’t know how Collins managed to make that fit so well, but I’m impressed.

2. Concept 📖📖📖📖📖

Is this an interesting concept, well-executed? (Are implicit and explicit promises paid off?)

LMA/LDB: This is a love/adventure book.

I put both “love” and “adventure” for this, because although The Hunger Games is advertised as an adventure book and hits a lot of those points (introduction to an interesting world, presentation of serious challenges, threaten character’s survival, etc), the real power that propels this book, the thing that makes the story so interesting, is the love between the characters.

I’m not just talking about Peeta to Katniss, the most obvious example of this, but also Katniss’ love for her sister, which is what catapults her into this whole adventure in the first place, and her love for Rue in the Games, and to a lesser degree, the love that is shown to Katniss by people like her friends and neighbors from back home (Madge, the butcher woman who gave Katniss a chance to purchase a goat, Peeta’s dad, even), the Avox girl, Thresh, Cinna, and of course Haymitch (despite his caustic, alcoholic, misanthropic ways).

Because love isn’t just romance. Romance is one of the shallowest (if most exciting/attractive) aspects of love, but real love is the kind that takes care of others, selflessly — and there’s a lot of that happening in this story in spite of (or rather because of) the cruel, brutal situation that Katniss and others find themselves in.

That said, there were a few things that took me out of the story (the muttations at the end with the human eyes, for example, or the fact that there are only 12 districts and 12 industries…it makes you wonder how much Collins studied dystopian-like real-world countries in history).

But ultimately, in my humble opinion, what DID work was much more important than what didn’t, so I’d give this a solid 5 stars out of 6 rating for Craftsmanship.

1. Core ❤️❤️❤️❤️️❤️

Are the worldview, themes, and arguments of this work true, edifying, and worth learning?

To be honest, as much as I like to complain about romance subplots and some of the slightly unblievable stuff that’s going on with Peeta and Gale and the love triangle, the reality is, it’s the love story that powers this machine.

Because if I were to summarize the theme of this story in a nutshell, it’d be:

Love gives you courage. The greater the love (and the more worthy the object), the more incredible the courage.

You see this right from the start, when Katniss is half-seriously offered the chance to escape her semi-hellish existence by running off with Gale, but instead chooses to stay…just in time to volunteer in order to save her little sister from certain death in the Games.

And Katniss realizes right at that moment that she was right not to have fled to save her own skin, because no one else could have saved Prim but herself. And it is worth sacrificing herself in order to save Prim.

It is partly this nobility of character in her that attracts Peeta to her (of course, he says he’s liked her since they were five, but that was just a childish crush. I’d say that he really realized his initial instinc was right, that she was a person worth loving, worth saving, when he saw what she did for Prim. That was when most people were impressed by her, including Rue, and most likely also Cinna, their future sponsors, and even Haymitch)

And Peeta’s love for Katniss is what saves her in the end (not only literally by preserving her life, but also preserving her humanity, keeping her sympathetic to the readers — and to the audience watching them — making her “desirable” and so forth).

Peeta helps her practically and emotionally, because Katniss is the kind of person who survives best when she has someone else to protect. In her real life, it was Prim, and in the twisted world of the Games, it was Rue at first, and Peeta in the second half.

So yeah, although this book is packaged like an adventure story, it’s really a love story underneath all those layers. Love in the sense of selfless giving for the good of the beloved, not mere romance.

LED Assessment

How did this book Lighten, Enlighten, or Delight the reader (that would be moi, in this case, since I’m writing this review ^^)?

I wouldn’t say this book exactly lightened any load, besides the common one of providing a temporary escape from the occasional stress or tedium of real life.

And the book was delightful in parts (several funny lines).

But ultimately, I’d say this book is more of an Enlightening sort of novel. In the sense that it reveals our relationship to technology, entertainment, and other people in a unique way.

The first time I watched the Hunger Games movie was at a friend’s gathering, and afterwards I was chatting with a woman who said that she felt the movie was disturbing — not so much only because of the killing that happened on screen, but because, she said, she thought the movie reflected us so well.

Us, as in us human beings.

People can be noble, of course, but if we’re not careful, it’s easy to become people like those in the Capitol, those in Katniss’ prep team — not overtly evil individuals, but blind to evil being perpetrated right before their eyes, for their entertainment.

And being blind to evil is, in itself, a kind of evil.

Collins has the experience and wisdom not to simply paint people black and white, though. Sure, Katniss is in the worst and last district, has to hunt for her own food, doesn’t have the kind of privilege that the Capitol folks, or even merchant class citizens like Peeta has…

But over the course of the games, she learns that some of her disadvantages are actually advantages — her lean build makes it easy for her to climb trees to save her life. She gets to eat fresh game that she brings home, while Peeta subsists on stale bread. The Capitol people may be ditzy and airheaded and callous to human suffering, but if she had grown up the way they did, she probably would have been just like them.

It is this awareness of Katniss’ that translates to the reader and helps us understand that Solzhenitsyn was right:

The line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either — but right through every human heart.

Writing Tips & Practical Application

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

• Find the love: The strongest, most impactful stories always deal with the topic of love…what is it? What happens when there’s a lack of it? What happens when it’s shown by a character to another?
• Sprinkle the humor: Look for places in your story where the tone has been somber for a while, and see if you can find a few ways to slip in some subtle humor. It doesn’t have to be a huge thing, just a subtle clever comment from a character can be enough in places. Examine how other authors weave humor into their writing to lessen the tension or lighten the darkness, like citrus cutting into the fattiness of certain meats.