Catching Fire

Katniss’s prep team is very emotional the next morning as they prepare her for her return to the Capitol, and Katniss is taken aback and annoyed by their behavior. Katniss is surprised to see that the Capitol citizens seem genuinely upset about these Games, because it means that so many victors will die. She wonders if “maybe they know too much about the victors, especially the ones who’ve been celebrities for ages, to forget [the victors are] human beings” (205). Before the opening night parade of tributes, Katniss meets Finnick Odair, a very handsome and very deadly victor who is this year’s tribute from District 4. Aloof and sensual, Finnick asks if Katniss has any secrets worth his time. Later, Haymitch introduces Katniss and Peeta to some of the other tributes from District 11. They then meet Johanna Mason, the tribute from District 7 who “won by very convincingly portraying herself as weak and helpless so that she would be ignored. Then she demonstrated a wicked ability to murder” (214). Katniss is flustered by the behavior of the victor tributes—Chaff from District 11 kissed her, and Johanna took off her clothes in front of them—but Peeta is amused. Katniss is shocked to enter the District 12 apartments and find that one of their servants is Darius, Katniss’s friend from District 12 who was turned into a tongueless Avox, or punished rebel.