The Hunger Games

Katniss is confident that destroying the Careers’ supplies will result in their deaths by starvation: “That the Careers have been better fed growing up is actually to their disadvantage, because they don’t know how to be hungry. Not the way Rue and I do” (208). Rue explains that in District 11 she uses the mockingjays to carry signals, as they repeat melodies well. The girls agree to use the same melody to signal that they are alive while they are separated.

Katniss and Rue hatch a plan in which Rue sets off decoy fires to draw the Careers away while Katniss destroys their supplies. As she is observing the camp, Katniss discovers that Cato has severely injured Peeta and expects him to die soon, wherever he may be. Katniss suspects the supplies have been boobytrapped, as they are guarded by a single tribute—a boy from District 3. When she sees a tribute she calls Foxface carefully navigating around the supplies, she realizes that the ground is mined. Katniss shoots three arrows at a bag of apples, prompting the apples to fall to the ground and set off the mines.

The explosion renders Katniss dizzy and deaf, with one ear bleeding profusely. Unable to stand, she crawls and hides herself just before the Careers return. Cato kills the boy from District 3, blaming him for the explosion. They wait for the cannons to see whether the person who set off the mines died in the attempt. Even though they do not know which tribute is to blame, the lack of cannon fire reveals that they—Katniss—are still alive. The Careers set off to find and kill her.

Katniss heads back to the rendezvous point, but Rue is not there. She regains hearing in her right ear but not her left. Katniss hears the mockingjay signal and is relieved to know that Rue is alive, but she soon hears a child screaming her name. She arrives just in time to watch Rue, trapped in a net, be speared by another tribute.

Katniss immediately kills the tribute who speared Rue, but the wound is fatal. She promises to win the games for both of them, holds Rue’s head in her lap, and sings Rue a lullaby as she dies. The mockingjays pick up the song, and it hauntingly echoes throughout the surroundings. Katniss is infuriated by Rue’s pointless death and finally understands what Peeta said about showing the Capitol that he was more than just a game piece. She covers Rue’s body in flowers, knowing the Capitol will have to show it when they pick up the body.

Katniss is surprised when a care package of bread arrives from District 11. Recognizing that this is the first time a district has sent a care package to someone other than their own tribute, she thanks District 11.

After Rue’s death, Katniss is angry and determined to kill the Careers and make them, if not the Capitol, pay for Rue’s death. Her perspective has changed, as she now believes she can win. She is resolved to do so to make Rue unforgettable. As she prepares for sleep that night, Katniss is haunted not only by Rue’s death but also by the boy she killed. She realizes this was the first time she intentionally caused another person to die, unlike the two who died due to her tracker jacker ploy. Katniss remembers Gale asking how different it could be to kill a person than an animal. She acknowledges that the technique is the same, but the psychological effects are wildly different. She considers the boy’s family and friends but manages to push the guilt away when she remembers Rue’s death.

Before she falls asleep, there is an announcement: a change in the rules. For the first time, two tributes will be allowed to live if they are from the same district. When Katniss understands what the announcement is saying, she calls Peeta’s name.