So, this is the first chapter of a new section: The Games.  But it’s a direct continuation of the last chapter.  We aren’t at the games yet.  We haven’t even changed to a new scene.  That the book wants the symmetry of equal sections is obvious enough, but that doesn’t mean it should achieve it by just hacking up the book regardless of what’s going on.  She should have written three equal sections, not just one massive story that got arbitrarily split up.  (For instance, I’m sure some of those passages gushing about the awesome clothes could have been cut to make room for the rest of the Peeta Plan.  Hell, the Avox girl isn’t adding anything, maybe she could have been edited out to make it work.)

For a moment, the cameras hold on Peeta’s downcast eyes as what he says sinks in. Then I can see my face, mouth half open in a mix of surprise and protest, magnified on every screen as I realize

Katniss, if you don’t stop looking in the “mirror” every few seconds, I’m going to reach in there and break every single screen.  For goodness sake, at least pretend like you aren’t in love with your own image. 

This book really fails as a commentary on TV culture when the main character can’t get past stuff like this.  I mean, here’s a great chance to comment on how she doesn’t want her every reaction magnified a million times on a million cameras, and instead she just mentions that it’s there, like it’s no big thang.  (Earlier in the book she couldn’t even manage neutrality; she loved looking awesome on camera.)

says Caesar, and there’s a real edge of pain in his voice.

He’s an actor.  He’s an actor who is being paid to make sure this is good television.  I really can’t say this enough, since Katniss seems bound and determined to paint him as a friend.

I allow my eyes to flicker up to the screen long enough to see that the blush on my cheeks is unmistakable.

Because heaven forbid you tell us how you feel or what you think about all this.  No, let’s go back to the cameras for the blush.  I mean, it’s not like, being in your own body, you’d know you were blushing without a visual help.

every screen is now dominated by a shot of Peeta and me, separated by a few feet that in the viewers’ heads can never be breached. Poor tragic us.

But all those other kids that are going to die, yeah, that’s not tragic.

Seriously, book.  You already set up a tragic situation with the childmurderdeath games.  The fact that you felt the need to add in a star-cross love story to add tragedy is just sick.

Really.  23 kids die every year.  What on earth made you think you need more than that?  Why is that not enough of a story for you?  Why are you spending this much time devoted to something that’s completely extraneous?  Especially since you still have yet to show Katniss think about whether or not she can kill innocent children.  Cut the crap and get back to the real tragedy. 

He loses his balance and crashes into an ugly urn filled with fake flowers. The urn tips and shatters into hundreds of tiny pieces. Peeta lands in the shards, and blood immediately flows from his hands.

Now we are bending the laws of physics in order to add pathos.  If Peeta was already on  his way down when he hit that urn, then it had to topple over before starting its fall.  Peeta should have hit the ground first, and the urn would have shattered after it was too late to land on them. 

This strikes me more as a matter of lazy editing, though, since it could have easily been fixed with a few minutes of rewrite.  There’s no reason Peeta couldn’t have cut himself while trying to stand up, or why Katniss couldn’t knock him over twice.

“You had no right! No right to go saying those things about me!” I shout at him.

Hm…  On the one hand, Peeta didn’t say anything about her, he said stuff about himself.  On the other hand, yeah, he should have consulted her before involving her in a ploy like this. 

“This was your idea, wasn’t it? Turning me into some kind of fool in front of the entire country?” I answer.

And on a third hand, this is just nonsense.  Why does she think she looks foolish?  Out of all the objections she could have had, why does she go for the one that makes so little sense that she has to be socially stunted to even think it’s true?

“He made me look weak!” I say.

WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY?  WHY DOES KATNISS THINK THIS?  WHY DOES SHE THINK THAT BEING LOVED MAKES HER LOOK WEAK?  WHAT AM I EVEN LOOKING AT?  This is not a thing that normal people think.  This is not based on either logic or life-experiences.  Being in love, I can see her thinking that, but someone else loving her?  Why does she think that makes her look weak?  Is it because Katniss is so fucking stupid that she has to have the most basic, obvious shit pointed out to her again and again?

Yes.  It’s because Katniss is so fucking stupid that she’s dumber than dirt and has to have MEN point out to her the bare basics of how people work.  This isn’t exactly rocket science that she’s missing out on here, it’s basic stuff, so she could understand it but not understand more nuanced social skills and still be flawed.  She could think that Peeta is being honest instead of acting.  She could wonder why the hell he’s boosting her up instead of himself.  That would be a valid question.  But no, she has to go for the rock-bottom of all idiocy.

Because this book is feminist, and don’t you forget it.

I survived my interview, but what was I really? A silly girl spinning in a sparkling, dress. Giggling.

Because this book is feminist, and don’t you forget it.

Tomorrow we will be in the arena. He has done me a favor and I have answered with an injury. Will I never stop owing him?

Stop it.  You do not owe him anything.  He did a thing of his own free will, without consulting you, without any agreement between you two, all on his own.  YOU DO NOT OWE MAN WHEN HE DOES SOMETHING ON HIS OWN. 

It’s really, really creepy that the book keeps displaying this way.  It feeds into quite a bit of the misogyny in this culture, this idea that men are “owed” things for what they do.  It goes hand in hand with the expectation that men have that they can be “owed” sex, or a date, or attention, just for doing basic nice stuff like “listening” and “not staring at a girl’s breasts.”  Katniss continually thinks that she “owes” Peeta for the stuff that he does, and the people around her agree with her.  That’s incredibly manipulative, because it leaves open the opportunity for Peeta to just do whatever and then expect that she’s going to repay him. 

If I “owed” every man who did a nice thing for me, then wasn’t given a chance to deny or turn down these “nice things,” then it’s just another way to force me to do things I don’t want.  Katniss never wanted this “nice thing” that Peeta did for her, she was never given a chance to turn him down or tell him no, and now everyone around her agrees that she “owes” Peeta for what he did.

FEMINIST!

And there I am, blushing and confused, made beautiful by Cinna’s hands, desirable by Peeta’s confession, tragic by circumstance, and by all accounts, unforgettable.

Really, this should be the book’s tag line.  Katniss has nothing to her credit, just what the MEN gave her.

The actual Games don’t start until ten because so many of the Capitol residents rise late.

Why?  If these people don’t have jobs and they can wake up whenever they want, then some will get up early.  Morning people exist.  If people in the Capitol do have jobs, then does the workday start at 10am?

In fact…what do we know about the Capitol?  Does everyone work, or do they laze about all day?  Some of them have to work, of course, because someone is putting on these games and later on we see shops.  Is working optional?  How big is the Capitol?  Do all the people actually like all these games?  In the first chapter, we learn that the districts are forced to pretend like it’s a celebration, so why can’t the same thing be going on here?  We know nothing about the Capitol or the people there or how everything works.  Because, apparently, all this book cares about is that we envy them for being so decadent, even though a whole society of people who do nothing but party and drink makes no sense.

“When the gong sounds, get the hell out of there. You’re neither of you up to the blood bath at the Cornucopia. Just clear out, put as much distance as you can between yourselves and the others, and find a source of water,” he says. “Got it?”

This seems like something that should have been covered before the last minute.  Maybe he could have spent all that time giving them hints on survivalism instead directing them to just look busy and waste time.

All that remains of the designteam’s efforts are the flames on my nails. I decide to keep them as reminder of who I am to the audience.

You know, the book keeps going on and on about “girl on fire,” but…what has Katniss done that’s so fiery?  She’s worn costumes, and that’s the extend of her fire-ness.  The only fire-ness has come from Cinna, but the book will keep harping on this like it’s something Katniss either brought up or lives up to.  It’s her big theme through the book, but she’s never, not once, had anything to do with it.  It’s all come from Cinna and Cinna’s clothes.  Period.  End of everything.  And here, Katniss has even internalized this theme that was given to her by an outside party, to the point where she thinks flame-nails are somehow representative of her self.

Because all this book cares about is looks.  That’s all it thinks is important.  She wears flames, therefore she is flames, because that’s not shallow at all, amiright?

Katniss has plenty of time now to fret about the arena and the other tributes, but once again, she doesn’t fret about killing anyone.  I will never stop pointing this out.  It will never stop being creepy.

The energy field enclosing the roof prevents any desperate form of escape. And I’m not looking to escape, only to fill my lungs with air.

So, some people have tried to commit suicide in these games?  But no one has thought to say “you’re all terrible people for doing this” during the interviews?  Or shoot the gamemakers?  Seriously, if suicide is really a thing, there’s plenty of ways to go about.  Heck, go back to the dinner table and pick up a knife.

But again, the only time the book brings up this idea is when it’s not possible.

“Thinking about your family?” he asks.

“No,” I admit a bit guiltily.

She hasn’t thought about her family since she arrived.

“It doesn’t matter, Katniss,” he says. “I’ve never been a contender in these Games anyway.”

“That’s no way to be thinking,” I say.

Really?  Because that was Katniss’s very first thought, and continued to be her thought right up until she was lit on fire the first time.  But the book seems to have forgotten about that little tidbit.

“I don’t want them to change me in there. Turn me into some kind of monster that I’m not.”

This is a nice thought.  Really, it is.  I like it.  It’s just that I wish the whole book were about this, instead of a few random lines worked in between all the pretty dresses and sociology-fail.  Instead, all we get is this right here.  Outside of this scene, there’s no further discussion about any of this. 

There’s no discuss about past events, either.  There’s no comment about how they’ve been doing exactly as they’ve been told, no questions, no defiance, no second thoughts, and not even a significant degree of difficulty.  If the idea here is to hold on to one’s self in the midsts of the games, why are there no thoughts about being turned into a doll for the parades and interviews and gushing about how much they enjoy the Capitol, all as a dance for the viewers?  They’ve been putting on a show this whole time, but they haven’t even thought about it.  Now they have a perfect opening to think about how artificial these ceremonies are, to think about how they’ve been such good little puppets, and they just flatly ignore it.

I bite my lip feeling inferior. While I’ve been ruminating on the availability of trees, Peeta has been struggling with how to maintain his identity. His purity of self.

I don’t like that term ‘inferior.’  I’ve been calling it creepy, because it really is a thing you should have been thinking of.  However, just because you ignored basic stuff like “should I kill or not” does not mean that Peeta is some sort of pure and perfect angel.  It just makes him normal.  And on top of that, he’s not really coming to any conclusions here.  He’s just thinking “huh, maybe I shouldn’t be a monster” and then ends the thought process right there.

They’re both creepy.  Katniss is not inferior to Peeta, because they are both failing to reach the level of a complete and realistic person.

“Do you mean you won’t kill anyone?” I ask.

“No, when the time comes, I’m sure I’ll kill just like everybody else. I can’t go down without a fight. Only I keep wishing I could think of a way to… to show the Capitol they don’t own me. That I’m more than just a piece in their Games,” says Peeta.

What the everloving fuck is this?

Peeta says he doesn’t want to become a monster.  He says he doesn’t want to be a piece in the games.  But he’s perfectly willing to murder innocent children.  So what, exactly, is he saying?  That his “real self,” his unchanged Peeta-ness, includes a willingness to stab children without a second thought?

Also, this is the second time the book has used “can’t go down without a fight” as a good excuse to murderstab people.  It’s not.  It’s really, really fucking creepy that the book thinks that’s acceptable.

Now, if you’re walking through the park one dark night and someone tries to mug you and you stab that person in the face, that’s okay.  If someone breaks into your house at night and you go kung-fu on his ass, fine, I’ve no problem with that.  Know why?  Those people attacked you of their own free will.  They were acting on their own impetus.  Also?  After you kill that mugger, you’ll be alive and relatively safe.

But this isn’t a mugger that breaks into your house.  These are children, taken by force from their homes, shoved into this terrible situation along with you.  They are innocents.  Yes, even the Careers.  They didn’t come here by choice.  They may have volunteered, but because it was them or someone else.  That’s an important detail, no matter how much the book tries to ignore it.  Also, if you kill one of them, you aren’t safe.  Someone else might kill you or even the arena itself might kill you.  It’s not a matter of just stabbing one person then going to the police station and giving a statement while the nice offers brings you coffee.  You stab that person, you kill an innocent person, and then you’re still in danger of death.  And when you are probably going to die either way, that’s a valid point at which you might decide it’s better to just avoid people or let them kill you rather than stab you back.  Heck, you could even go with non-lethal fighting!  Just knock them silly until you can run away, but don’t kill them.  Yet another option this book never brings up. 

But all that is eclipsed by the biggest problem of all.  “Fight” is only applied to the other tributes.  “Fight” is only applied toward the other innocent victims.  “Fight” is never applied to the capitol.  Neither of them think that they might want to “fight” against a capitol that kills children for entertainment every year.  They never think that non-violence might be far more of a fight against their real enemy.  They never think that suicide might be fighting against the capitol. 

They never stop to think that the capitol wants to watch kids die.  That’s all the capitol wants.  If you kill kids, then you are playing along with exactly what the capitol wants.  They don’t care why you do it, they don’t care…about anything.  They want you to kill kids, so if you kill the kids like they want, you are a piece in their games.  If you say you don’t want to be a game-piece and then flatly and easily state that you’ll murder without thought, then you are a hypocrite. 

You know what would be real rebellion?  NOT FUCKING PARTICIPATING.  Get into the games, and then sit down and do nothing.  That would keeping integrity.  That would be rejecting the role of game-piece.  That would be showing the capitol that they can’t tell you what to do.  But doing exactly what they want?  Yeah, not so defiant.  If you can’t stand that blatant a display of “fuck you” to the capitol, then fine.  You can run and hide.  You can still refuse to kill other kids.  You can still refuse to play along with what they want.

This book probably kind of knows all this, because after Peeta is done talking…yeah, that’s it.  There’s nothing else said on the matter.  Peeta says he doesn’t want to be a game piece, but then the subject is dropped before we can find out what he thinks is an acceptable alternative.  I suspect because the book couldn’t think of something that didn’t sound completely moronic.  It’s like it’s trying to say deep things, but it fails utterly because all it does is bring up an issue and then dropping it again.  It doesn’t say anything about these issues, it just goes “oh, look, over there!  An issue!  If we’re very quiet and don’t move, maybe it’ll go away.”

There was some speculation that the avalanche that finally took Titus out was specifically engineered to ensure the victor was not a lunatic.

Actually, the people who go stark-raving mad in the area are probably those most likely to be fine afterward.  What you really want to be worried about are the people who act fine while murdering the fuck out of innocent children.

You know, like Katniss.

See, going crazy like Titus did indicates that he’s not okay with what’s going on in the arena.  It’s his brain going “no, I can’t process this, I can’t make it okay with my internal moral compass.  Does not compute.”  And in that case, sending him back to normal society will mean that he goes back to his normal mental state where everything makes sense again.  People who view the arena as being something that jives with their view of the world?  Yeah, that’s scary.  It also means they’re more likely to be unable to process a peaceful environments.  When someone can’t fully process the environment they’re in, that’s when the crazy come out.

But that doesn’t prevent me from feeling the sharp stab of pain as the needle inserts the metal tracking device deep under the skin on the inside of my forearm.

So…they have tracking devices, but they put them in places where the tributes can easily cut them out?  Katniss is watching this thing go in, so she knows exactly where it is and she can pull it out again.  Why not put it in her while she’s unconscious, or insert it during the makeover without telling her where it is, or put it in her back where she can’t easily reach it.  This is just begging for someone to get a knife and stab it out.

Because, you know, speaking of not being a capitol game piece…

Despite the tension in my stomach, I eat as much as I can, although none of the delectable food makes any impression on me.

Her last bit of advice she got was to look for water, because dehydration will kill her faster than hunger.  She should be drinking as much as possible right now, not eating.  But Haymich isn’t good for any real advice, he’s just there to be Captain Obvious.

Cinna has had no say in my outfit, does not even know what will be in the package, but he helps me dress

So…why is Cinna there?  Why can’t she have a servant or Effie or one of the prep-team?  Cinna seems like he’s pretty high-level in the hierarchy of the games, but he’s here to basically just be a butler. 

I think I’m finished when Cinna pulls the gold mockingjay pin from his pocket. I had completely forgotten about it.

“Where did you get that?” I ask.

“Off the green outfit you wore on the train,” he says.

This is supposed to be some big rebellion symbol later in the book, but Katniss can’t be bothered to care about it.  She keeps forgetting it and other people have to give it back to her.  So “girl on fire” and “mockingjay pin” can now both be attributed to Cinna instead of Katniss.  Heaven forbid she do any of this shit on her own. 

“It barely cleared the review board. Some thought the pin could be used as a weapon, giving you an unfair advantage. But eventually, they let it through,”

This makes no sense.  Why would they care?  They want her to murderkill everyone in sight.  And she could barely do any more damage with a gold pin than she could with a rock. 

I turn down food but accept a glass of water that I take tiny sips of as we wait on a couch.

No wonder you almost die of dehydration.