Katniss Everdeen, our protagonist, heroine, and narrator,
has just returned from her interview with the Gamemakers (chapter 7) in which she shot
an arrow directly through the apple in the pig's mouth at their table. At first she
believed that she was showing defiance with respect to the Games overall, but in the
beginning of chapter 8, she has an inward dialogue that demonstrates her reflective
thoughts about shooting the arrow. She feels unsure about her decision because she
wonders who will pay for the consequences for committing such a blatant sign of
disrespect. She feels concerned for the safety of her mother, her sister, and her friend
at home in District 12.
She then begins to imagine how the
result will directly affect her in the games; that the Gamemakers will give her a score
(ranking) that is so slow no sponsors would be interested in supporting her. She
recognizes the detriment of this fact, being that the gifts from sponsors during the
Hunger Games can often be the line between life and death. At dinner she decides to
admit her misgivings to Peeta, Haymitch, and Effie. Together they all talk and try to
determine what Katniss should expect from her decision to disrespect the Gamemakers.
They all finally come to the conclusion that the Gamemakers "will probably make [her]
life a living hell." They watch the television to find that Katniss gets ranked an 11, a
nearly impossible high score on the scale of 1-12.
They
spend more time debating on the meaning of such a high ranking when Katniss begins to
analyze her relationship with Peeta. She still struggles on whether or not she should
trust him, and this comes to a screeching halt when he asks Haymitch to be coached
separately. To Katniss, this is the ultimate sign that they are "not" on the same
side.
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