Chapter 8

Once she leaves the private session, Katniss begins to panic and worries that the Gamemakers will see what she did as an act of defiance. She is convinced that they will punish her by giving her a very low score on her performance, which will make it difficult to get sponsors, whose gifts are crucial for survival in the Games. She hides in her room until dinner, where she tells everyone what she did in her private session. They are all shocked except Haymitch who finds it amusing and reassures her that they will probably not arrest her or her family but they may make her life hell in the arena.

When she tries to downplay her archery skills, Peeta calls Katniss a survivor and reveals that even his own mother thinks that Katniss will survive over him. She responds by saying that she would not have survived without him and his generosity years ago. Haymitch recommends that they not reveal their strengths until the private sessions with the Game makers and to instead pick up useful skills during the training instead of showing off. He also tells them to stay together at all times and pretend to be good friends with one another. At the training session, Katniss watches the tributes and realizes that almost all of them are bigger than her although she thinks she may have an edge as many of them are clearly underfed. The tributes from the richer districts are healthier though and well trained. She realizes how much of an advantage these Career Tributes have as they have trained for this all their life and volunteer to be in the games. The training area is broken into different stations with combat training and survival skills.

They announce the scores, which are out of twelve, for each tribute. Peeta gets an eight but Katniss gets an impressive eleven. Haymitch seems to think it is because they found her feisty and liked her temper. They retire for the night and Katniss wakes thinking about her first meeting with Gale. She recalls wandering through the woods looking for plants when she came across Gale with several rabbits he had caught. They talked about how their fathers had died in the same mine blast and traded tips about hunting. Over time they became a hunting team and close friends. She realizes how much she cares for him and how much she misses him and compares her friendship with Gale to her fake friendship with Peeta. When she joins her team for breakfas, Haymitch tells her that they have changed the strategy and that Peeta has asked to be coached separately.

Notes:
The readers are reminded about how much the tributes actions can matter, and not just in the game. These actions can also affect their loved ones back home or be the key to their very survival. Katniss worries more about her family than herself after her act of defiance against the Gamemakers. The importance of the sponsors to the well-being of the tributes is also highlighted in this section, with the scoring of the tributes. Katniss continues to explore her relationship with Peeta and compares it frequently to her relationship with Gale.