Catching Fire Chapter 1 Quotes

Catching Fire Chapter 1 Quotes

How we cite the quotes:
(Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote 1

Not only are we in the districts forced to remember the iron grip of the Capitol's power each year, we are forced to celebrate it. And this year, I am one of the stars of the show. I will have to travel from district to district, to stand before the cheering crowds who secretly loathe me, to look down into the faces of the families whose children I have killed. (1.3)

This Capitol values the appearance of admiration rather than admiration itself. The admiration the people show for the "stars of the show," their "cheering," is all false. They don't really admire the winners of the Games; they are "secretly loath[ing]" all of it.

Quote 2

Although they never mention it, I owe the people who frequent the Hob. Gale told me that Greasy Sae, the old woman who serves up soup, started a collection to sponsor Peeta and me during the Games. It was supposed to be just a Hob thing, but a lot of other people heard about it and chipped in. I don't know exactly how much it was, and the price of any gift in the arena was exorbitant. But for all I know, it made the difference between my life and death. (1.22)

Katniss doesn't even know what she "owe[s] the people" of the Hob, but she knows it's something. The people of District 12 have so little to give, but they manage to give nonetheless. This is incredibly meaningful to Katniss. During their first Hunger Games she and Peeta depended on kindnesses that, while they appeared small, were "exorbitant" in cost.

Quote 3

But that was before the Games. Before my fellow tribute, Peeta Mellark, announced he was madly in love with me. Our romance became a key strategy for our survival in the arena. Only it wasn't just a strategy for Peeta. I'm not sure what it was for me. [...] My chest tightens as I think about how, on the Victory Tour, Peeta and I will have to present ourselves as lovers again. (1.17)

In the arena, nothing is what it seems. Katniss and Peeta made it out alive by performing a love affair, which was "a key strategy for [their] survival." What makes things more complicated is that, for Peeta, "it wasn't just a strategy"; he's really in love with her. With this ambiguity and forced pretense of a romance, it becomes even harder for Katniss to know what's real and what's not.