# The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins - Blinkist What’s in it for me? Witness a young heroine grow into a rebel leader There aren’t many fantasy series that can match the popularity of Harry Potter. But Suzanne Collins’s Hunger Games series gets close: the trilogy has sold over 100 million copies worldwide. The Hunger Games is set in the post-apocalyptic future nation of Panem, once North America. Now, the remaining population is segregated into 12 districts. Every year, the ruling Capitol district demonstrates its power by holding the Hunger Games – a brutal competition in which two adolescents from each district must compete to the death in a dangerous obstacle arena. At the beginning of the first novel, which is what we’ll be covering in this Blink, heroine Katniss Everdeen lives with her mom and sister in the poorest part of coal-mining District 12. When her little sister Prim is unexpectedly chosen for the games, Katniss volunteers to take her place – not knowing that she’ll eventually pave the way for a revolution. The reaping Our story begins with heroine Katniss Everdeen waking up on the day of the reaping. That’s what people in Panem call the ceremonial lottery in which two teen tributes from each of the nation’s 12 districts are selected to participate in the yearly Hunger Games. Katniss’s little sister Prim has just turned 12 and is now eligible as a tribute. But Katniss can’t dwell on her worries too much. Before the ceremony, she meets her best friend Gale in the woods to hunt – something her late father taught her. It’s illegal in Panem and dangerous, but it’s the only way they can feed their families. In the afternoon, Katniss gets ready for the reaping. In their best dresses, the children of District 12 line up in the market square. The mayor holds a dramatic speech about the history of Panem and the significance of the Hunger Games. Then, Effie Trinket, a flamboyant emissary from the Capitol, pulls a slip of paper from a glass bowl. She reads out the name of this year’s female tribute: Primrose Everdeen. Katniss is paralyzed with shock. Without thinking, she volunteers to take her sister’s place. As she stumbles on stage, the crowd raises their three middle fingers in the air – a gesture of deep respect in Panem. Then, Effie announces the boy tribute: Peeta Mellark. Peeta is a baker’s son from the better-off part of District 12. Katniss recalls a time when she was desperate for food, and Peeta threw her some loaves of burnt bread. Katniss and Peeta are escorted off stage by Peacekeepers, the Capitol’s militia. They’re allowed to say their goodbyes to their families. Katniss tries to stay strong and reminds her mother, Prim, and Gale to take care of each other. Before she leaves for the Capitol, Madge, the mayor’s daughter, gives her a golden pin of a mockingjay – a bird mutation that’s the result of a failed government experiment and a symbol of the rebellion. ANALYSIS The first chapters of The Hunger Games introduce us to our heroine Katniss Everdeen. The novel is written from her first-person perspective, so we learn about her circumstances as well as her feelings. We learn that she’s extremely devoted to her family, but also very skilled at suppressing her emotions. For instance, there’s a definite romantic tension between Gale and Katniss – but Katniss insists she views him as just a friend. We also learn about Panem and District 12, where poverty and hunger are rampant. Most workers spend their days in the dangerous coal mines where Katniss’s own father died years before. The totalitarian government uses violence to keep the districts segregated and in line. The mayor’s speech reveals that the districts tried to rebel before – and that the Hunger Games were established as a punishment for this failed uprising. The girl on fire The train that takes Katniss and Peeta to the Capitol is more luxurious than anything they’ve ever seen before – they get private rooms, showers, and abundant food. They’re escorted by Effie Trinket and Haymitch Abernathy – the last participant from District 12 to win the games. Haymitch is supposed to mentor them, but Katniss isn’t impressed by the drunken loudmouth that he’s become over the years. Once they arrive in the Capitol, Katniss and Peeta are scrubbed, waxed, and polished to look “presentable” for the upper-class audience. Despite herself, Katniss takes a liking to her stylist, Cinna. For the opening ceremonies, Cinna dresses Katniss and Peeta in simple black costumes to represent the coal industry of District 12. To everyone's surprise though, during their chariot ride in the opening ceremony, the costumes light up with synthetic fire – awing the crowd and making Katniss and Peeta immediate crowd favorites. After the ceremony, the participants get three days to prepare at the Training Center. Katniss is intimidated by the other tributes. Many of them are career tributes from wealthier districts, who’ve trained their whole lives for the games. But she also notices a shy girl from District 11, not much older than her sister. Haymitch advises Katniss to save her best skill – her archery – for her private assessment with the Gamemakers. During the assessment, Katniss finds herself annoyed when the Gamemakers don’t pay attention. In anger, she shoots an arrow through one of the apples on their banquet table. She’s surprised when this results in a score of 11 out of 12 points. This high score will help Haymitch secure sponsors that can send her critical supplies during the game. As a final media stunt, the tributes give interviews to Capitol TV host Caesar Flickerman. Once more, Cinna dresses Katniss in a flaming gown. As the “girl on fire,” she’s able to charm the audience. Peeta does well too, teasing the crowd by insinuating that he’s in love with Katniss. Katniss is furious, convinced Peeta’s playing some strategic game for his own benefit. But she has bigger things to worry about: the 74th Hunger Games are about to begin. ANALYSIS Once the preparations for the games begin, Katniss learns the importance of “putting on a show.” The Gamemakers are intent on giving the audience a glossy, exciting, brutal TV spectacle. Katniss does her best to play along, knowing it’ll be crucial to her success in the game. The constant pretense makes it hard for Katniss to trust the people around her. She believes Peeta’s open display of emotions is a manipulation tactic. She’s also doubtful of Haymitch’s advice. But after the assessment, Katniss gains more confidence in herself. She begins to understand that by trusting the skills her late father taught her, she might have a chance at survival. Let the games begin A hovercraft takes Katniss to the games. Underground, she steps into a metal cylinder that carries her up to the arena – a huge artificial biotope designed by the Gamemakers. The tributes ascend in a circle around the Cornucopia, a giant golden horn filled with weapons, tools, and supplies. When the opening gong sounds, the tributes immediately scramble for the weapons. Some, like Peeta, quickly flee the scene. Katniss tries to make a dash for a bow and arrow, but she doesn’t get far. Instead, she fights another tribute over an orange pack, until he’s killed by a flying knife. Katniss runs off with the pack to hide in the woods. A little later, she hears eleven cannon shots – one for each fallen tribute. Katniss spends the remainder of the day looking for water, without success. As night falls, she climbs a tree, straps herself to a branch, and tries to rest. She wakes up when another girl sets up camp below her. The girl makes a fire, which lures the career tributes to her location. A few of them have formed an alliance, and Katniss is shocked to hear Peeta’s voice among them. The careers attack the girl and urge Peeta to finish her off. While he appears to do so, they talk about their plans to kill Peeta once he’s helped them find Katniss. In the morning, the careers move on, and Katniss continues her search for water. She finally stumbles upon a pond whose water she can purify. When night arrives, she straps herself to a tree again. But the Gamemakers won’t let her rest: they send a forest fire to drive her closer to the others. Katniss manages to escape the fire with severe burns to her right calf. But before she can fully treat her wound, she’s attacked by the careers. She flees and climbs into a tree. The gang leader Cato tries to follow her, but he’s too heavy to reach the upper branches. Upon Peeta’s suggestion, the career gang decides to besiege the tree until Katniss comes down. ANALYSIS As the games unfold, Katniss gets acquainted with the deadly arena. She begins to grasp that she’s not just up against the other tributes: the Gamemakers can manipulate every aspect of the arena to shape the bloody entertainment to their liking. Katniss’s distrust of Peeta also seems confirmed when she finds out that he’s joined the gang of career tributes. She still has her doubts about his motives though, because it seems he hasn’t shared with them everything he knows yet. Rue Trapped in the tree, Katniss suddenly notices Rue, the small girl from District 11 in a tree next to her. Rue is pointing to a nest of extremely poisonous tracker jacker wasps that hangs above them. As quietly as possible, Katniss starts sawing on the branch with the wasp nest. She also receives the first gift from her sponsors, delivered in a package gliding from the sky: an ointment for her burns. At night, Katniss continues to saw. She’s stung three times before the branch finally falls. The nest explodes on the ground and the tracker jackers attack the sleeping careers. They chase Cato and Peeta to the lake, but the two girl tributes are stung to death. Already woozy from her own stings, Katniss climbs down the tree and manages to take the bow and arrow from one of the dead girls. Through the daze, she sees Peeta, telling her to run. Katniss runs until her body succumbs to the venom. She curls up on the forest floor and has horrific hallucinations. She’s disoriented when she wakes again, but she’s able to use the bow and arrow to kill some game. As she’s roasting her food over a fire, she notices Rue watching her. Katniss proposes that they become allies, and Rue cautiously agrees. They share food, supplies, and information. Rue, whose district specializes in agriculture, treats Katniss’s tracker jacker stings with leaves. She also tells her that the career tributes are using the Cornucopia as their home base and that Peeta is no longer with them. With this knowledge, they devise a plan. Rue will set fires near the camp, and Katniss will use that distraction to destroy their supplies. The careers have piled the supplies into a big pyramid and protected them by surrounding landmines. Katniss shoots her arrow at a bag of apples on top of the pyramid. They come tumbling down, activating some of the mines and destroying the supplies. Pleased with this success, Katniss retreats back into the woods. But she can’t find Rue until the next morning when she suddenly hears her scream. Katniss finds her tangled in a net on the floor, just before she’s impaled by a spear. With a single arrow, Katniss kills the tribute who speared Rue. As Rue is dying, Katniss sings her a lullaby. The mockingjays in the trees around them pick up her song. To show the Capitol her disrespect for the brutality of the games, she buries Rue in a bed of flowers. ANALYSIS Katniss and Rue’s alliance is a powerful symbol of the type of cooperation between districts that the Capitol fears. By sharing their skills and knowledge, they’re able to outmaneuver the career tributes from the wealthy districts. It’s also clear that Katniss sees a lot of her little sister in Rue. Her death is one of the most tragic and fateful moments in the novel, catapulting Katniss’s hate for the Capitol to new heights. Star-crossed lovers Katniss can’t stop thinking about Rue, Peeta, and the tribute she just killed. To thank her for taking care of Rue, District 11 sends her a loaf of bread – a first in the history of the games. And just before she settles in for the night, the Gamemakers make an announcement: this year, two tributes can win, as long as they’re from the same district. The next morning, Katniss sets out to find Peeta. There are just five other tributes remaining now: Katniss, Peeta, Cato and Clove from District 2, Thresh from District 11, and Foxface, a thrifty girl from District 5. Near a stream, Katniss discovers a boulder streaked with blood. She finds Peeta nestled between the rocks. He’s camouflaged himself in mud, leaves, and vines. He’s badly injured and Katniss carries him to a cave for them to hide. When Peeta thanks her for taking care of him Katniss gives him a rash kiss. Haymitch signals to them that this type of romance will pay by sending a hot soup from the sponsors. The pair hides out in the cave, but Peeta’s condition only gets worse. The leg wound has become infected and he has a bad fever. Katniss intentionally dials up the flirting to receive help from the sponsors, but nothing comes. At dawn, the Gamemakers announce another opportunity: for each of the remaining tributes, they’ll place a backpack containing a critical item near the Cornucopia. Katniss knows she’ll find medicine for Peeta in the backpack. Peeta tries to stop her from going, but Katniss sedates him with a sleep syrup from the sponsors and sneaks off. When the backpacks appear at the Cornucopia, Katniss runs to retrieve hers, but Clove from District 2 hits her with a knife and knocks her to the ground. Clove gloats that she’ll enjoy killing her as much as the other careers enjoyed killing Rue. Suddenly, Thresh – the boy tribute from District 11 – yanks Clove away and kills her with a rock. He tells Katniss that he’ll let her go this one time, for Rue. They both take their backpacks and run. ANALYSIS With only five tributes left, the Gamemakers announce a literal game-changer. The new rule allows Katniss and Peeta to win together. This suggests they’re trying to reinforce the story of the “star-crossed lovers” Katniss and Peeta. While in the cave, Katniss plays to the audience's thirst for romance, hoping this will help her save Peeta. But as she does, she begins to have actual feelings for Peeta. She also thinks about Gale though – and finally admits to herself that she has real feelings for him. The winners With the help of the medicine from Katniss’s backpack, Peeta recovers quickly. Later that night, still hiding in the cave, they hear the cannon sound: Thresh is dead. The next morning, Katniss goes out hunting while Peeta gathers roots and berries. He returns with nightlock berries, which Katniss recognizes as extremely poisonous. Shortly after, they watch the corpse of Foxface being lifted out of the arena. She ate some of the nightlock Peeta left at their camp. Only Katniss, Peeta, and Cato remain in the game now. The Gamemakers dry up all the water sources, forcing the three to meet at the Cornucopia. Katniss and Peeta get there first. Suddenly, Cato sprints out of the woods, chased by a pack of wolf mutations. He runs past them and climbs the metal side of the Cornucopia to safety. Katniss manages to follow and drag Peeta up too. But just as she does, Cato attacks and chokes Peeta. Katniss shoots him in the hand with an arrow, forcing him to release Peeta. Cato falls off the Cornucopia and the wolves descend on him. But with his chest armor partially protecting him, his suffering is cruelly drawn out. Katniss uses her last arrow to end his misery. With only Katniss and Peeta remaining, it appears they’ve won the game. But suddenly, the Gamemakers make another announcement. The new rule has been revoked, and only one tribute can remain. Peeta tells Katniss to kill him but she refuses. Then she remembers the deadly nightlock berries. She gives some to Peeta and tells him to hold them out for the cameras to see. Just as they both put the berries in their mouths, the Gamemakers stop them. Frantically, they announce that Katniss and Peeta both just won the 74th Hunger Games. Immediately, a hovercraft appears to take them back to the Capitol, where they’re able to recover. Peeta has lost his leg, but otherwise, they’re both healthy. Haymitch informs them that the Capitol is furious that they made them look foolish. He instructs them to stick with the tragic romance narrative as much as possible. So for the grand celebration show with Caesar Flickerman, Katniss and Peeta make a show of being madly in love. President Snow places crowns on their heads – but Katniss can see he’s boiling inside. Finally, Katniss and Peeta are able to board their train home. As they transform into their old selves, Katniss confesses to Peeta that she’s not sure about her feelings for him and Gale – and realizes she’s terrified of losing them both. ANALYSIS At the end of the games, Katniss devises a genius plan to trick the Capital into letting both her and Peeta win. She knows that if they let them both die, they’ll become martyrs of the budding revolutionary movement. Her act of defiance sparks a wave of hope among the destitute populations of the outside districts. She has to keep playing the Capitol’s game for now though – sticking to the narrative that she and Peeta are madly in love. Indeed, Katniss has developed true feelings for Peeta. But as she’s returning home to Gale, her feelings are more confused than ever. And even though she’s survived the games, the danger has just begun: she’s taken on the Capitol directly, an offense that won’t be soon forgotten. Final summary The fantasy novel is set in the dystopian nation of Panem, made up of 12 districts. The annual Hunger Games are a vulgar display of power by the ruling district: a televised fight to the death between 24 teenage tributes selected from across the 12 districts. When her little sister is selected for games, 16-year-old Katniss Everdeen volunteers to take her place. Together with male tribute Peeta, she travels to the Capitol to prepare for the games. In the arena, Katniss uses her resourcefulness, hunting skills, and alliances to survive murderous competitors and the treacherous landscape. When only Katniss and Peeta remain as survivors, they decide to trick the system and consume poisonous berries, prompting the game makers to declare them both victors. This act of defiance turns Katniss into an icon of the budding revolution in the books to come.