Chapter 23

As they eat their food, they talk about what life would be like if they actually win the Games. Katniss teases Peeta for liking a girl from the Seam, but he reminds her that she will no longer just be a girl from the Seam and that they will be set up with their own houses in a district called the Victor’s Village. They realize that if they win, Haymitch will be their only neighbour, which leads them to joke about Haymitch a bit. Peeta seems to think that Haymitch only communicates with her because she seems to understand what he wants the world to see. Peeta tells her that Haymitch won the Hunger Games by outsmarting the other tributes, which leads her to think that she may have underestimated him. Shortly after, the anthem sounds and they see Thresh’s picture projected which upsets Katniss. She was hoping that if they didn’t win the games that he would since he showed her such kindness.

Only Foxface, Cato and the two of them are still alive, which means that Cato will likely be hunting them next. That night they sleep in shifts and talk about Peeta’s life as a baker’s son. She is surprised to learn that his family can only afford to eat the stale leftovers of what they make. While Peeta sleeps she wonders some more about a possible future beyond the games and what their relationship will be, and what will happen to her relationship with Gale. The weather clears in the morning and they decide to hunt, but Peeta is so loud, he ends up chasing away any nearby animals.

After a few hours with no success they decide to split up with Peeta gathering roots and Katniss hunting. She teaches him how to whistle a signal to let each other know they are okay. She hunts a few rabbits and whistles for Peeta but he does not respond. She starts to panic and rushes back to their meeting point. She finds some roots and berries there but Peeta is nowhere to be found. He suddenly appears and Katniss is both relieved and angry that he didn’t respond to her. He tells her he was down at the river collecting berries which Katniss realizes are nightlock, an extremely poisonous type of berry. They hear the cannon fire and see Foxface’s body being lifted out of the arena. Katniss realizes that Foxface had stolen and ate some of the poisonous berries Peeta had collected.

Notes:
The two tributes are starting to gain some hope that they will survive the Games and use their time together to contemplate what that may look like. Katniss starts to really examine her personality during this chapter and tries to distinguish what parts of her personality have changed during this experience. Peeta confessing to Katniss that they only eat the stale leftover bread shows Katniss that their class difference is not as great as she thought it was.