Chapter 8 summary hunger games

Once she leaves the private session, Katniss begins to panic and worries that the Gamemakers will see what she did as an act of defiance. She is convinced that they will punish her by giving her a very low score on her performance, which will make it difficult to get sponsors, whose gifts are crucial for survival in the Games. She hides in her room until dinner, where she tells everyone what she did in her private session. They are all shocked except Haymitch who finds it amusing and reassures her that they will probably not arrest her or her family but they may make her life hell in the arena.

When she tries to downplay her archery skills, Peeta calls Katniss a survivor and reveals that even his own mother thinks that Katniss will survive over him. She responds by saying that she would not have survived without him and his generosity years ago. Haymitch recommends that they not reveal their strengths until the private sessions with the Game makers and to instead pick up useful skills during the training instead of showing off. He also tells them to stay together at all times and pretend to be good friends with one another. At the training session, Katniss watches the tributes and realizes that almost all of them are bigger than her although she thinks she may have an edge as many of them are clearly underfed. The tributes from the richer districts are healthier though and well trained. She realizes how much of an advantage these Career Tributes have as they have trained for this all their life and volunteer to be in the games. The training area is broken into different stations with combat training and survival skills.

As soon as she leaves she begins to panic, wondering if they will punish her for her defiance. The Gamemakers score the tributes from one to twelve based on their performance, and Katniss is certain her score will be very low. That could make it difficult to get sponsors, and their gifts are critical for survival in the arena. She locks herself in her room and doesn’t come out until Effie calls her to dinner. At the table, everyone wants to know how Peeta and Katniss did. Katniss tells her story, and everyone is shocked but Haymitch, who finds it amusing. When the scores are announced, Peeta gets an eight and Katniss gets an eleven. She’s stunned, but Haymitch says they probably liked her temper.

In the morning, Katniss lies in bed for a time after waking and thinks of when she first met Gale. She was in the woods hunting and saw several rabbits hanging from snares. When she went to inspect them, Gale came forward. She’d seen him before: his father died in the same mine blast as hers and they both attended the memorial. They talked about hunting at first, and over time they became a team. Katniss thinks of how close they are and misses him. She has with Gale what she pretends to have with Peeta. Effie calls her down for breakfast, and when she arrives at the table, Haymitch says there’s been a change in strategy: Peeta has asked to be coached separately.