Nat’s Reviews > The Hunger Games > Status Update

“‘The pair last year ate everything with their hands like a couple of savages…’

The pair last year were two kids from the Seam who’d never, not one day of their lives, had enough to eat… I hate Effie’s comment so much I make a point of eating the rest of my meal with my fingers. Then I wipe my hands on the tablecloth. This makes her purse her lips tightly together.”

“Starvation is never the cause of death officially. It’s always the flu, or exposure, or pneumonia. But that fools no one.”

“To the… credit of the people of District 12, not one person claps. Not even the ones holding betting slips, the ones who are usually beyond caring. Possibly because they know me… or knew my father, or have encountered Prim, who no one can help but loving... I stand there unmoving while they take part in the boldest form of dissent they can manage. Silence. Which says we do not agree. We do not condone”

“Taking kids from our districts… this is the Capitol’s way of reminding us how totally we are at their mercy. How little chance we would stand of surviving another rebellion.”

“The Treat of Treason gave us the new laws to guarantee peace and, as our yearly reminder that the Dark Days must never be repeated, it gave us the Hunger Games.”

“His rage seems pointless to me, although I never say so… what good is yelling about the Capitol in the middle of the woods? It doesn’t change anything. It doesn’t make things fair. It doesn’t fill our stomachs. In fact, it scares off the nearby game.”

“Entrails. No hissing. This is the closest we will ever come to love.”