Quote 1
Taking the kids from our districts, forcing them to kill one another while we watch – this is the Capitol’s way of reminding us how totally we are at their mercy. How little chance we would stand of surviving another rebellion. Whatever words they use, the real message is clear. “Look how we take your children and sacrifice them and there’s nothing you can do. If you lift a finger, we will destroy every last one of you. Just as we did in District Thirteen.” (1.76)
The Hunger Games, Katniss tells us, become a way for the rulers in the Capitol to flex their big old muscles. The main purpose is to remind the Districts how weak they are – and that their deaths are basically televised entertainment. In this sense, the Games are a form of control.
Quote 2
“What’s an Avox?” I ask stupidly.
“Someone who committed a crime. They cut her tongue so she can’t speak,” says Haymitch. “She’s probably a traitor of some sort. Not likely you’d know her.” (6.23-24)
As we learn here, traitors to the government have their tongues cut out and become servants called Avoxes. Why do you think it’s significant that the government removes the tongue? What is it about being able to speak that’s so important?
Quote 3
Eleven!
Effie Trinket lets out a squeal, and everybody is slapping me on the back and cheering and congratulating me. But it doesn’t seem real.
“There must be a mistake. How…how could that happen?” I ask Haymitch.
“Guess they liked your temper,” he says. “They’ve got a show to put on. They need some players with some heat.”
“Katniss, the girl who was on fire,” says Cinna and gives me a hug. (8.36-8.40)
During training, Katniss shoots an arrow into the Gamemakers' roast pig, and then receives the highest rating of all the tributes. Why do you think the Gamemakers rate her so highly? Does Katniss’s rebellious spirit make her powerful?
Quote 4
“Do this!” I command myself. Clenching my jaw, I dig my hands under Glimmer’s body, get a hold on what must be her rib cage, and force her onto her stomach. I can’t help it, I’m hyperventilating now, the whole thing is so nightmarish and I’m losing my grip on what’s real. (14.26)
The tracker jacker attack leaves Katniss full of venom, and she starts hallucinating. Katniss has literally lost sense of reality here from the venom. How else has she lost track of what is real?
Quote 5
“Why don’t they just kill him?” I ask Peeta.
“You know why,” he says, and pulls me closer to him.
And I do. No viewer could turn away from the show now. From the Gamemakers’ point of view, this is the final word in entertainment. (25.42-44)
Peeta and Katniss listen to the agony of the dying Cato. They long for his suffering to end, but for the Gamemakers and the audience at the Capitol, death is just something for sport.
Quote 6
I knelt down in the water, my fingers digging into the roots. Small, bluish tubers that don’t look like much but boiled or baked are as good as any potato. “Katniss,” I said aloud. It’s the plant I was named for. And I heard my father’s voice joking, “As long as you can find yourself, you’ll never starve.” (4.22)
Katniss’s name comes from the plant growing beneath the pond. How do Katniss’s father’s words have a double meaning? Why is finding herself so important for Katniss’s survival?
Quote 7
"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.
We don't wallow around in the Games this way in District 12. We grit our teeth and watch because we must and try to get back to business as soon as possible when they're over. To keep from hating the prep team, I effectively tune out most of what they're saying. (26.36-37)
Katniss overhears the stylists in her prep team dishing about the Games as if they were talking about the latest episode of The Bachelor. We learn that the affluent society of the Capitol experiences the Hunger Games very differently than District 12. For them, it is mere entertainment.
Quote 8
I spread out my fingers, and the dark berries glisten in the sun. I give Peeta's hand one last squeeze as a signal, as a good-bye, and we begin counting. "One." Maybe I'm wrong. "Two." Maybe they don't care if we both die. "Three!" It's too late to change my mind. I lift my hand to my mouth, taking one last look at the world. The berries have just passed my lips when the trumpets begin to blare. (25.93)
Like Romeo and Juliet, Peeta and Katniss decide to end it all at the end of the Games. The double suicide stunt allows Katniss and Peeta to win the game – together. But what will be the consequences?
Quote 9
Eleven!
Effie Trinket lets out a squeal, and everybody is slapping me on the back and cheering and congratulating me. But it doesn't seem real.
"There must be a mistake. How…how could that happen?" I ask Haymitch.
"Guess they liked your temper," he says. "They've got a show to put on. They need some players with some heat."
"Katniss, the girl who was on fire," says Cinna and gives me a hug. (8.36-40)
Katniss receives the highest rating of all of the tributes. Why did she rank so high?
Quote 10
"Prim, let go," I say harshly, because this is upsetting me and I don't want to cry. When they televise the replay of the reapings tonight, everyone will make note of my tears, and I'll be marked as an easy target. A weakling. I will give no one that satisfaction. (2.11)
With the cameras are trained on her every motion, Katniss must mask her feelings and project a façade of cool, calm, and collectedness.
Quote 11
"You know, they're not the only ones who can form alliances," I say.
For a moment, no response. The one of Rue's eyes edges around the trunk. "You want me for an ally?" (15.12-13)
Forming an alliance with Rue proves to be a good strategy in the competition for Katniss. Why?
Quote 12
I spread out my fingers, and the dark berries glisten in the sun. I give Peeta's hand one last squeeze as a signal, as a good-bye, and we begin counting. "One." Maybe I'm wrong. "Two." Maybe they don't care if we both die. "Three!" It's too late to change my mind. I lift my hand to m mouth, taking one last look at the world. The berries have just passed my lips when the trumpets begin to blare. (25.93)
After downing a handful of berries, Katniss and Peeta are declared victorious. How did they defeat the Gamemakers?
Quote 13
"Prim!" The strangled cry comes out of my throat, and my muscles begin to move again. "Prim!" I don't need to shove through the crowd. The other kids make way immediately allowing me a straight path to the stage. I reach her just as she is about to mount the steps. With one sweep of my arm, I push her behind me.
"I volunteer!" I gasp. "I volunteer as tribute!" (2.5-6)
Always the protector of the family, Katniss offers herself instead of her sister as District 12's tribute. She is making a double sacrifice: one for her sister, the other for her community.
Quote 14
I spread out my fingers, and the dark berries glisten in the sun. I give Peeta's hand one last squeeze as a signal, as a good-bye, and we begin counting. "One." Maybe I'm wrong. "Two." Maybe they don't care if we both die. "Three!" It's too late to change my mind. I lift my hand to m mouth, taking one last look at the world. The berries have just passed my lips when the trumpets begin to blare. (25.93)
At the end of the Games, Katniss and Peeta are ready to sacrifice themselves rather than give in to the Capitol's demands that they kill each other. Why is their act so powerful?