In chapter 1, Katniss Everdeen lives in the nation of Panem, a place that was once called North America. In Panem, there is a shining Capitol surrounded by 12 outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV. Katniss lives in District 12, the poorest district where it is common for people to starve to death. Katniss takes care of her mother and her twelve-year-old sister, Prim, by illegally sneaking past the fence surrounding their district and into the woods to hunt and gather food. Her hunting partner is a boy named Gale, who also has to provide food for his family. Its reaping day, the day when the boy and girl are picked from each district, and it is mandatory for everyone in the district to come and watch. On the stage in the town square are three chairs, a podium, and two large glass balls, one for the boys and one for the girls. Two of the three chairs fill with Mayor Undersee and Effie Trinket, District 12’s escort from the Capitol. The mayor gets up and tells the history of Panem and of the Dark Days, the uprising of the districts against the Capitol. Twelve were defeated, the thirteenth obliterated. The Treaty of Treason gave them the new laws to guarantee peace and, as a yearly reminder that the Dark Days must never be repeated, the Hunger Games was formed. The rules of the Hunger Games are simple. In punishment for the uprising, each of the twelve districts must provide one girl and one boy, called tributes, to participate. The twenty-four tributes will be imprisoned in a vast outdoor arena that could hold anything from a burning desert to a frozen wasteland. Over a period of several weeks, the competitors must fight to the death. The last tribute standing wins. To make it humiliating as well as torturous, the Capitol requires them to treat the Hunger Games as a festivity, a sporting event pitting every district against the others. The winning tribute receives a life of ease back home, and their district will be showered with prizes, largely consisting of food. After the mayor states this, he reads the list of past District 12 victors. In seventy-four years, they have had exactly two, only one of which is still alive. Haymitch Abernathy, a drunk, middle-aged man, staggers onto the stage and falls into the third chair. The mayor is distressed because since all of this is being televised, right now District 12 is the laughingstock of Panem. He quickly tries to pull the attention back to the reaping by introducing Effie Trinket. It’s time for the drawing. Effie goes over to the girls’ names, reaches into the ball, and pulls out a slip of paper. Katniss feels nauseous and desperately hopes it’s not her. Effie Trinket crosses back to the podium, smoothes the slip of paper, and reads out the name in a clear voice. And it’s not Katniss. It’s Primrose Everdeen.
In chapter 2, Katniss is in shock. It’s her twelve-year-old sister’s first reaping and Prim was one slip of paper in thousands. Katniss calls out for Prim and runs to her. With one sweep of her arm, she pushes Prim behind her and gasps, “I volunteer! I volunteer as tribute!” There’s some confusion on the stage. District 12 hasn’t had a volunteer in decades and the protocol has become rusty. The rule is that once a tribute’s name had been pulled from the ball, another eligible child can step forward to take his or her place. In some districts, in which winning the reaping is such a great honor, people are eager to risk their lives. But in District 12, where the word tribute is pretty much synonymous with the word corpse, volunteers are all but extinct. The mayor lets her come forward. Prim is screaming hysterically behind her and Katniss tells her to let go. Gale comes and carries Prim off toward her mother and Katniss gets on the stage. The boy whose name is picked is Peeta Mellark. He is medium height, stocky build, and has ashy blond hair. He is Katniss’s age and he is the son of the baker. Katniss and Peeta shake hands.
In chapter 3, the tributes are taken into the Justice Building. They are given about an hour to say good-bye to their loved ones. Her mother and Prim visit her first. Prim tells her that she just wants Katniss to come home. She asks, “You will try, won’t you? Really, really try?” Katniss replies, “Really, really try. I swear it,” and she knows that because of Prim, she’ll have to. Madge, the mayor’s daughter, also come to visit. They are sort of friends at school. She tells Katniss that they are allowed to wear one thing from their district in the arena: one thing to remind them of home. And she asks Katniss to where her circular gold pin. Katniss sees that it’s a small bird in flight. Katniss says she will. Then Gale comes and he talks to her. He tells her that getting a knife should be easy, but she must find a bow. Even if they don’t have any bows, she should make one because that’s her best chance of surviving. He tells her that it’s just hunting and that she’s the best hunter he knows. He promises to take care of her family and not to let them starve. Katniss and Peeta go to the train station and get on the train to the Capitol. The Capitol was built in a place once called the Rockies and District 12 was built in a region known as Appalachia. In District 12, their main job is mining coal. They are given their own chambers on the train and Katniss changes her clothes. For the first time, she gets a good look at it. It’s as if someone fashioned a small golden bird and then attached a ring around it. She suddenly recognizes the bird as a mockingjay. She explains how during the rebellion, the Capitol bred a series of genetically altered animals as weapons. One was a special bird called a jabberjay that had the ability to memorize and repeat whole human conversations. They were released into regions where the Capitol’s enemies were known to be hiding. It took people a while to realize what was going on in the districts, how private conversations were being transmitted. Then, the rebels fed the Capitol endless lies and the joke was on it. So the centers were shut down and the birds were abandoned to die off in the wild. But they didn’t die off. Instead, the jabberjays mated with mockingbirds, creating a whole new species that could replicate both bird whistles and human melodies. The “mockingjays” can recreate songs, and not just a few notes, but whole songs with multiple verses, if one had the patience to sing them and if they liked one’s voice. Katniss remembers how her father was particularly fond of mockingjays. Whenever her father sang, all the birds in the area would fall silent and listen. Katniss could never bring herself to continue the practice of singing to the birds after his death. But still, there’s something comforting for Katniss about the little bird. She pins it on and goes to eat dinner with Peeta and Effie. They eat and watch the other reapings. Katniss and Peeta laugh when they see Haymitch drunk and falling off the stage on TV. Effie is not amused and tells them that Haymitch is their mentor, the one who advises them, lines up their sponsors, and dictates the presentation of any gifts. She says, “Haymitch can well be the difference between your life and your death!” Just then, Haymitch staggers into the compartment, asks if he has missed supper in a slurred voice, vomits on the carpet, and then falls in the mess.
I really like this book so far. I think the plot line is very interesting and original. I really like how it takes place in the future. It makes me think about what will actually happen in the future and if some kind of dictatorship would be possible in the place that was once America. I like how the symbol on the cover of the book is Katniss’s pin of the mockingjay. It helps me be able to see what it looks like. I’m not sure if I like Peeta or not. He seems sincere and kind, but it’s too early to tell on his character.
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