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Chapter 26
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Catching Fire, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Symbols and Interpretations
Hidden Resistance vs. Direct Rebellion
Surveillance and Manipulation
Pain, Pleasure, and Self-Control
Women, Femininity, and Sexism
Summary
Analysis
Katniss lies on the ground, having just shot at the force field near the edge of the arena. After lightning strikes the tree, there is a loud explosion. Trees burn, and the ground shakes. Above, Katniss thinks that she sees fireworks—perhaps the Gamemakers are trying to provide additional entertainment for their audiences.
Here, seemingly at the end of her life, Katniss is reminded that, above all else, the Hunger Games provide entertainment—gruesome, sadistic entertainment—for millions of people in Panem. Clearly, she’s taken Haymitch’s advice about the “real enemy” to heart.
Themes
As she lies on the ground, Katniss thinks back to President Snow’s announcement of the Quarter Quell. Snow claimed that the Quell was a reminder that even the strongest people in the districts couldn’t overcome the strength of the Capitol. Katniss wonders if the Games were meant to have a winner this year—perhaps everyone was meant to die. Katniss feels a sense of acute failure, as she hasn’t been able to save Peeta’s life.
It’s as if being close to death is encouraging Katniss to see the big picture, rather than focusing on the precise details of how best to survive. It’s also important to note that as she is apparently dying, Katniss thinks of Peeta, not Gale.
Themes
A hovercraft floats above Katniss. A mechanical arm extends from it and latches on to her, and she is too weak to protest. Inside the hovercraft, Katniss sees Plutarch. He closes Katniss’s eyes, and Katniss realizes that she’ll soon bleed to death from Johanna’s wound. She loses consciousness.
Themes
Katniss wakes up, finding herself hooked up to complex machines. She sees Beetee, similarly hooked up, and wonders why the Gamemakers don’t simply let them die. This reminds her of Peeta. She wonders if she should try to find Peeta and kill him quickly and painlessly, rather than subject him to the tortures the Capitol surely has planned for him.
Themes
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Weakly, Katniss unplugs herself from her machines and staggers through the mysterious building where she’s being kept. She finds Plutarch, who is talking to Finnick and Haymitch. She’s even more confused when Plutarch kindly tells her to sit down and drink a bowl of broth, which he sets in front of her. Haymitch sits down next to Katniss, and tells her that he’s going to tell her everything.
Themes
Haymitch tells Katniss that there has been a plan to break the victors out of the arena. Tributes from the various “uprising” districts—3, 4, 6, 7, 8, and 11—were informed of this plan. Plutarch was in on the plan—he’s been working against the Capitol for years now. Beetee, another rebel, was put in charge of blowing up the force field, thereby allowing the tributes to escape. By sending Beetee bread, Plutarch was able to symbolize the day and hour when they should begin their escape. At the moment, Katniss and her fellow rebels, including Finnick, are traveling to District 13. Most of the other Panem districts are in a state of rebellion.
Themes
Haymitch continues to explain the details of his plan to Katniss. Neither Peeta nor Katniss was informed of the plan, because, if the plan backfired, they’d have plausible deniability. The other tributes protected Peeta because they knew it was the only way to keep Katniss in their alliance. Johanna wasn’t trying to kill Katniss by cutting her arm—she was removing the tracking device from her body. Plutarch adds that Katniss had to be saved, because she’s become a symbol for rebels across Panem. Katniss suddenly gains new respect for Haymitch—this entire time, he’s been putting together a brilliant plan, while maintaining a façade of drunkenness and cynicism.
Themes
Haymitch then tells Katniss that the Capitol has kidnapped Peeta, Johanna, and Enobaria. Katniss is furious at this news, and she screams at Haymitch, until she’s forcible sedated with a powerful drug. As Katniss feels the drug setting in, Finnick apologizes to her for failing to go back to find Peeta. Katniss doesn’t answer him. She’s lost the will to live, she feels: there is no way of knowing if she’ll ever see Peeta again.
Gale enters the room and greets Katniss. One of his arms is in a sling, but he looks confident and brave. Gale informs Katniss that her family is alive. Katniss demands to know what’s going on in District 12. Reluctantly, Gale reminds Katniss of the bombs and fires in the Hob. He concludes by telling Katniss that “there is no District 12” anymore.
Themes
