Chapter 4

Peeta helps to clean up Haymitch; which confuses Katniss as she finally starts to wonder if Peeta is simply being kind. This worries her as it would be much harder to kill him if he is likeable and she determines not to get any closer then possible to him. They pass a field of dandelions and she remembers Peeta’s kindness in the past as well as gathering dandelions with Prim to feed her family. She had discovered her mother had a book describing plants that were edible and the next day she went out into the woods for the first time and began hunting and gathering to keep her family alive. She eventually became so good at this that she would trade or sell the extra food she gathered and her mother began to return to normal. Although her mother came around, Katniss never fully forgave her or trusted her again as she felt that she abandoned them. She eventually falls asleep wondering what her family are doing at home.

At breakfast the next morning she is the last to arrive. Haymitch is already drunk and Peeta gets angry at him for not helping to advise them. He knocks the drink out of Haymitch’s hand and Haymitch punches him. Katniss stabs a knife into the table. This surprises Haymitch who wonders aloud if he has any fighters this year and asks Katniss what else she can do with a knife. She responds by throwing it into the wall which impresses him enough to make a deal with the two of them. Peeta and Katniss agree not to interfere with his drinking and Haymitch agrees that he will stay sober enough to advise them properly but they must do exactly as he says. They agree to this, and his first piece of advice is to not resist anything that the stylists do to them.

By this point, they have arrived at the Capitol, a strange and technologically advanced city where the people have bizarre styles of fashion. Peeta waves to the people that have gathered to stare at the tributes and he advises that he is trying to win them over in case one of them is rich. Katniss realizes that she has probably underestimated him and that he could actually be a threat to her.

Notes:
Katniss struggles with how she feels about Peeta in the majority of this chapter and continuously questions his motives and actions toward others. This chapter reveals more of Peeta and Katniss’ history as well as giving the readers a true sense of Katniss’ love of hunting and the freedom she has gained from learning to hunt. The readers learn a bit more about Haymitch and it is revealed that although he is drunk the majority of the time, he is a shrewd and intelligent mentor. The importance of appearances and masking their true emotions is emphasized near the end of this chapter when the team is discussing the Capitol and the Games.