Sunrise on the Reaping

Haymitch joins Mags, Wiress, and Wyatt in the dining room, eating bean and ham hock soup. The meal is familiar to Haymitch because his mother often makes it to comfort him during difficult moments.

After dinner, Haymitch goes right to bed. His dreams are haunted by “mutts,” genetically modified animals created by Capitol engineers to torment tributes. Haymitch reconsiders Ampert’s offer of alliance and wonders if he should ask Mags for guidance.

Over breakfast, Haymitch notes that “there’s something tough about [Maysilee]” (43) that he hadn’t noticed before. He wonders what she dreamed of doing in life before the reaping. Mags and Wiress ask the tributes to share their desires for the Games. Haymitch wants to spare his loved ones from watching him die. Wyatt wants to die fast, and Maysilee wants to die with her pride intact. After thinking it over, Haymitch adds that he wants to make the Capitol “own” the Games. Aware of the Capitol cameras recording him, he avoids directly accusing the government of anything, instead stating that he wants Panem to consider that “fifty years [of the Hunger Games] is enough” (44).

The District 12 tributes are brought to the training gym, where they try to present themselves as “loose cannons.