{"id":42,"date":"2010-12-01T10:06:11","date_gmt":"2010-12-01T18:06:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/?p=42"},"modified":"2015-02-07T21:11:39","modified_gmt":"2015-02-08T05:11:39","slug":"mark-reads-the-hunger-games-chapter-8","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/2010\/12\/mark-reads-the-hunger-games-chapter-8\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Reads \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcThe Hunger Games\u00e2\u20ac\u2122: Chapter 8"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the eighth chapter of The Hunger Games<\/em>, Katniss finally expresses raw emotion in her narration as she begins to worry about the effects of her \u00e2\u20ac\u0153attack\u00e2\u20ac\u009d on the Gamemakers at the end of the last chapter. But after Haymitch cheers her up and she receives the first bit of good news regarding the Games, her desire for Gale\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s companionship gets the better of her. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to read The Hunger Games<\/em>.<\/p>\n

I almost felt that Katniss overreacted a bit at the beginning of this chapter. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not sure why she thought her surefire, methodical performance would garner anything other than praise from the Gamekeepers. She didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t harm anyone and she showed a definite desire to stand out and survive, all with a little taste of grandeur.<\/p>\n

Now I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve done it! Now I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve ruined everything! If I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d stood even a ghost of a chance, it vanished when I sent that arrow flying at the Gamemakers. What will they do to me now? Arrest me? Execute me? Cut my tongue and turn me into an Avox so I can wait on the future tributes of Panem? What was I thinking, shooting at the Gamemakers? Of course, I wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t, I was shooting at that apple because I was so angry at being ignored. I wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t trying to kill one of them. If I were, they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d be dead!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
And you would probably be dead to. Does she honestly think they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d let her leave if she posed a legitimate threat? I was happy to see Katniss break from her usual tone of monotony, but was confused that she wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t smart enough to figure this out: what she did worked to her advantage.<\/p>\n
Before that though, they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll give me a score so low, no one in their right mind would sponsor me. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what will happen tonight. Since the training isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t open to viewers, the Gamemakers announce a score for each player. It gives the audience a starting place for the betting that will continue throughout the Games. The number, which is between one and twelve, one being irredeemably bad and twelve being unattainably high, signifies the promise of the tribute. The mark is not a guarantee of which person will win. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s only an indication of the potential a tribute showed in training.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
And as soon as I read this, all I could think was that Katniss would obviously receive a high score. I mean, she says it right there: training isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t open to viewers. Would the Gamemakers publicly admit to being frightened by a young girl from District Twelve? It didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t seem to make any sense to me.<\/p>\n
When Katniss finally does agree to go down for dinner, Haymitch manages to make Katniss realize how foolish her ideas sound.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153What about my family?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I say. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Will they punish them?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think so. Wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t make much sense. See, they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d have to reveal what happened in the Training Center for it to have any worthwhile effect on the population. People would need to know what you did. But they can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t since it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a secret, so it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d be a waste of effort,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d says Haymitch. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153More likely they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll make your life hell in the arena.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
I was hoping that I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d learn she did this on purpose, that she figured that the secrecy of the proceedings would work to her favor. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not often that Katniss misjudges herself like this. I suppose this makes her all the more realistic.<\/p>\n
But it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also a nice moment for Haymitch because, whether he knows it or not, he actually makes Katniss feel better. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m warming up to Haymitch being a good guy in the end, but I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m still curious as to what his whole game plan is for this. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not ready to trust him yet, but his intentions seem to be pretty straight.<\/p>\n
I wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t at all surprised that Katniss got an eleven from the Gamemakers, but now that I actually give it some thought, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a very interesting possibility here. I sort of expected her to be in the bottom of the tributes in terms of support and I imagined that the Games would merely be about Katniss using her natural skills to survive. But now, with the idea that she might get some decent sponsors, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s kind of exciting to see what weapons she might get for the Games. Maybe she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll get a really good bow and arrow or even a gun.<\/p>\n
Wait why am I talking like this about ritual murder<\/strong>. <\/em>Oh god.<\/p>\n
This chapter\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s best moment, however, is Katniss\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s flashback to the time she met Gale and what he means to her. I have to give credit to Collins for not making this a romantic flashback; it highlights how strong their relationship is not only as hunters, but best friends. They met as strangers both breaking the laws of District 12, and there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a mutual sort of respect that they have in each other, even as they reluctantly begin to share their secrets and tricks with one another. They grow close out of necessity, at least at first, but the relationship ends up being one of love, even though Collins doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t explicitly state it here. Sure, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s easy to say that Gale replaced the father figure she lost in the mines. (It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s pretty fitting that Gale also lost his father in that same blast, as if he and Katniss were brought together by destruction.) Katniss knows that what she has with him, whatever it might be, is something people look for all their lives.<\/p>\n
I call him my friend, but in the last year it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s seemed too casual a word for what Gale is to me. A pang of longing shoots through my chest. If only he was with me now! But, of course, I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want that. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want him in the arena where he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d be dead in a few days. I just\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6I just miss him. And I hate being so alone. Does he miss me? He must.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Well, someone told me this series is pretty gut-wrenching and depressing and here\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the first sign of it. I feel for Katniss and it hurts to know she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so very alone. But what makes this worse is the moment at the end of the chapter:<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Well, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been a change of plans. About our current approach,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d says Haymitch.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153What\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s that?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I ask. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not sure what our current approach is. Trying to appear mediocre in front of the other tributes is the last bit of strategy I remember.<\/p>\n
Haymitch shrugs. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Peeta has asked to be coached separately.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
OH SHIT, guys. Shit is about to get so real<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In the eighth chapter of The Hunger Games, Katniss finally expresses raw emotion in her narration as she begins to worry about the effects of her \u00e2\u20ac\u0153attack\u00e2\u20ac\u009d on the Gamemakers at the end of the last chapter. But after Haymitch … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,488],"tags":[28,24,27],"class_list":["post-42","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hunger-games","category-the-hunger-games-novel","tag-katniss-everdeen","tag-mark-reads-the-hunger-games","tag-suzanne-collins"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}