Catching Fire Theme of Competition

It's pretty cruel to call a competition that's really a fight to the death "the Games," isn't it? But that's how it goes in Panem. In Catching Fire the Games are ratcheted up a notch because it's their 75th anniversary. This year's Hunger Games is a special celebration called the Quarter Quell. This means the competition is even tougher than usual, since the participants are all previous Hunger Games victors. It just goes to show, you're never safe in Panem, where everything is a kind of lethal game.

1. Is the Quarter Quell a fair competition by its own rules? Why or why not?
2. Who is the book's best competitor? The worst? If the rebels hadn't involved themselves in the Quarter Quell, who do you think would be the last person standing?
3. What does winning really mean to the victors?
4. How would Katniss have approached the second Games as a competitor if Peeta weren't playing?