The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins, is about bravery and survival.
Katniss Everdeen must make sacrifices to provide for and protect her family.
Katniss and Peeta Mellark must enter the Hunger Games, a fight to the death where there can only be one winner.
Is Peeta’s declaration of love a ploy to trick or help Katniss? Will Katniss use Peeta or fall for him?
55 Catching Fire Quotes With Page Numbers
50 Mockingjay Quotes With Page Numbers
The Hunger Quotes With Page Numbers Part I: The Tributes, Chapters 1 – 9
“My little sister, Prim, curled up on her side, cocooned in my mother’s body, their cheeks pressed together. In sleep, my mother looks younger, still worn but not so beaten-down. Prim’s face is as fresh as a raindrop, as lovely as the primrose for which she was named. My mother was very beautiful once, too. Or so they tell me.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen, Chapter 1, Page 3
“Sometimes, when I clean a kill, I feed Buttercup the entrails. He has stopped hissing at me.
Entrails. No hissing. This is the closest we will ever come to love.”~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen, Chapter 1, Page 4
“But there’s food if you know how to find it. My father knew and he taught me some before he was blown to bits in a mine explosion. There was nothing even to bury. I was eleven then. Five years later, I still wake up screaming for him to run.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen, Chapter 1, Page 5
“District 12: Where you can starve to death in safety.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen, Chapter 1, Page 6
“So I learned to hold my tongue and to turn my features into an indifferent mask so that no one could ever read my thoughts.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen, Chapter 1, Page 6
“She must have really loved him to leave her home for the Seam. I try to remember that when all I can see is the woman who sat by, blank and unreachable, while her children turned to skin and bones. I try to forgive her for my father’s sake. But to be honest, I’m not the forgiving type.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen, Chapter 1, Page 8
“You can tell by the way the girls whisper about him when he walks by in school that they want him. It makes me jealous but not for the reason people would think. Good hunting partners are hard to find.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen, Chapter 1, Page 10
“The rules of the Hunger Games are simple. In punishment for the uprising, each of the twelve districts must provide one girl and one boy, called tributes, to participate. The twenty-four tributes will be imprisoned in a vast outdoor arena that could hold anything from a burning desert to a frozen wasteland. Over a period of several weeks, the competitors must fight to the death. The last tribute standing wins.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen, Chapter 1, Page 18
“Taking the kids from our districts, forcing them to kill one another while we watch – 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. Whatever words they use, the real message is clear. “Look how we take your children and sacrifice them and there’s nothing you can do. If you lift a finger, we will destroy every last one of you. Just as we did in District Thirteen”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen, Chapter 1, Pages 18, 19
“Happy Hunger Games! And may the odds be ever in your favor.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen, Chapter 1, Page 19
“She reaches in, digs her hand deep into the ball, and pulls out a slip of paper. The crowd draws in a collective breath, and then you can hear a pin drop, and I’m feeling nauseous and so desperately hoping that it’s not me, that it’s not me, that it’s not me.
Effie Trinket crosses back to the podium, smoothes the slip of paper, and reads out the name in a clear voice. And it’s not me.
It’s Primrose Everdeen.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen’s thoughts and Effie Trinket, Chapter 1, Page 20
“One slip. One slip in thousands. The odds had been entirely in her favor. But it hadn’t mattered.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen, Chapter 2, Page 21
“I volunteer!” I gasp. “I volunteer as tribute!”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen, Chapter 2, Page 22
“I don’t want to cry. Everyone will make note of my tears and I’ll be marked as an easy target. A weakling. I will give no one that satisfaction.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen, Chapter 2, Page 23
“So instead of acknowledging applause, 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. All of this is wrong.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen, Chapter 2, Page 24
“Then something unexpected happens. At least, I don’t expect it because I don’t think of District 12 as a place that cares about me. But a shift has occurred since I stepped up to take Prim’s place, and now it seems I have become someone precious. At first one, then another, then almost every member of the crowd touches the three middle fingers of their left hand to their lips and holds it out to me. It is an old and rarely used gesture of our district, occasionally seen at funerals. It means thanks, it means admiration, it means good-bye to someone you love.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen, Chapter 2, Page 24
“She zips back to the podium, and I don’t even have time to wish for Gale’s safety when she’s reading the name. “Peeta Mellark.”
Peeta Mellark!
Oh, no, I think. Not him. Because I recognize this name, although I have never spoken directly to its owner. Peeta Mellark.
No, the odds are not in my favor today.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen and Effie Trinket, Chapter 2, Page 25
“To this day, I can never shake the connection between this boy, Peeta Mellark, and the bread that gave me hope, and the dandelion that reminded me that I was not doomed.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen, Chapter 2, Page 32
“I feel like I owe him something, and I hate owing people. Maybe if I had thanked him at some point, I’d be feeling less conflicted now. I thought about it a couple of times, but the opportunity never seemed to present itself. And now it never will. Because we’re going to be thrown into an arena to fight to the death. Exactly how am I supposed to work in a thank-you in there? Somehow it just won’t seem sincere if I’m trying to slit his throat.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen, Chapter 2, Page 32
“The mayor finishes the dreary Treaty of Treason and motions for Peeta and me to shake hands. His are as solid and warm as those loaves of bread. Peeta looks me right in the eye and gives my hand what I think is meant to be a reassuring squeeze. Maybe it’s just a nervous spasm.
We turn back the crowd as the anthem of Panem plays.
Oh well, I think. There will be twenty-four of us. Odds are someone else will kill him before I do.
Of course, the odds have not been very dependable of late.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen, Chapter 2, Pages 32, 33
“I’ll never know what it was he wanted me to remember.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen, Chapter 3, Page 40
“Kind people have a way of working their way inside me and rooting there.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen, Chapter 4, Page 49
“I noticed the plants growing around me. Tall with leaves like arrowheads. Blossoms with three white petals. I knelt down in the water, my fingers digging into the soft mud, and I pulled up handfuls of the roots. Small, bluish tubers that don’t look like much but boiled or baked are as good as any potato. “Katniss,” I said aloud. It’s the plant I was named for. And I heard my father’s voice joking, “As long as you can find yourself, you’ll never starve.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen, Chapter 4, Page 52
“And some small gnarled place inside me hated her for her weakness, for her neglect, for the months she had put us through. I had taken a step back from my mother, put up a wall to protect myself from needing her, and nothing was ever the same between us again.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen, Chapter 4, Page 53
“I notice her blouse has pulled out of her skirt in the back again and force myself to stay calm. “Tuck your tail in, little duck,” I say, smoothing the blouse back in place.
Prim giggles and give me a small “Quack.”
“Quack yourself,” I say with a light laugh. The kind only Prim can draw out of me.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Katniss and Prim Everdeen, Chapter 4, Page 53
“If I’m going to cry, now is the time. By morning, I’ll be able to wash all the damage done by the tears from my face. But no tears come. I’m too tired or too numb to cry. The only thing I feel is a desire to be somewhere else. So I let the train rock me into oblivion.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen, Chapter 4, Page 54
“One time, my mother told me that I always eat like I’ll never see food again. And I said, “I won’t unless I bring it home.” That shut her up.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen, Chapter 4, Pages 55, 56
“Here’s some advice. Stay alive.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Haymitch Abernathy, Chapter 4, Page 56
“What must it be like, I wonder, to live in a world where food appears at the press of a button? How would I spend the hours I now commit to combing the woods for sustenance if it were so easy to come by? What do they do all day, these people in the Capitol, besides decorating their bodies and waiting around for a new shipment of tributes to rill in and die for their entertainment?”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen, Chapter 5, Page 65
“Not exactly. You see, Portia and I think that the coal miner thing’s very overdone. No one will remember you in that. And we both see it has our job to make District 12 tributes unforgettable,’ says Cinna.
I’ll be naked for sure, I think.
‘So rather than focus on the coal mining itself, we’re going to focus on the coal,’ says Cinna.
Naked and covered in black dust, I think.‘And what do we do with coal? We burn it,’ says Cinna. ‘You’re not afraid of fire, are you, Katniss?’ He sees my expression and grins.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Cinna and Katniss Everdeen, Chapter 5, Pages 66, 67
“Katniss, the girl who was on fire!”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Cinna, Chapter 5, Page 67
“With all that alcohol in him, it’s probably not advisable to have him around an open flame,’ I say.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen, Chapter 5, Page 68
“Remember, heads high. Smiles. They’re going to love you!”
Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Cinna, Chapter 5, Page 69
“No one will forget me. Not my look, not my name. Katniss. The girl who was on fire.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen, Chapter 5, Page 70
“I look down at our linked fingers as I loosen my grasp, but he regains his grip on me. “No, don’t let go of me,” he says.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mallark, Chapter 5, Page 71
“I’m sure they didn’t notice anything but you. You should wear flames more often,” he says. “They suit you.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Peeta Mallark, Chapter 5, Page 72
“And then he gives me a smile that just seems so genuinely sweet with just the right touch of shyness that unexpected warmth rushes through me.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen, Chapter 5, Page 72
“The more likable he is, the more deadly he is.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen, Chapter 5, Page 72
“But because two can play at this game, I stand on tiptoe and kiss his cheek. Right on his bruise. ”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen, Chapter 5, Page 72
“Barbarism? That’s ironic coming from a woman helping to prepare us for slaughter. And what’s she basing our success on? Our table manners?”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen, Chapter 6, Page 74
“But don’t worry; as I’ve been saying – and this has been very clever of me, I’m sure you’ll agree – if you put enough pressure on coal, it’ll turn to pearls!”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Effie Trinket, Chapter 6, Page 74
“Just the perfect touch of rebellion,” says Haymitch “Very nice.”
Rebellion?”~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Haymitch, Chapter 6, Page 79
“You don’t forget the face of the person who was your last hope.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen, Chapter 6, Page 85
“All right, so give me some idea of what you can do,” says Haymitch.
I can’t do anything,” says Peeta, “unless you count baking bread.”
Sorry, I don’t. Katniss. I already know you’re handy with a knife,” says Haymitch.
Not really. But I can hunt,” I say. “With a bow and arrow.”
And you’re good?” asks Haymitch.
I have to think about it. I’ve been putting food on the table for four years. That’s no small task. I’m not as good as my father was, but he’d had more practice. I’ve better aim than Gale, but I’ve had more practice. He’s a genius with traps and snares. “I’m all right,” I say.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Haymitch, Peeta, and Katniss, Chapter 7, Page 89
“You know what my mother said to me when she came to say good-bye, as if to cheer me up, she says maybe District Twelve will finally have a winner. Then I realized she didn’t mean me, she meant you!” bursts out Peeta.
“Oh, she meant you,” I say with a wave of dismissal.
“She said, ‘She’s a survivor, that one.’ She is,” says Peeta.
That pulls me up short. Did his mother really say that about me? Did she rate me over her son? I see the pain in Peeta’s eyes and know he isn’t lying.
Suddenly I’m behind the bakery and I can feel the chill of the rain running down my back, the hollowness in my belly. I sound eleven years old when I speak. “But only because someone helped me.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Peeta and Katniss, Chapter 7, Page 90
“She has no idea. The effect she can have.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Peeta Mallark, Chapter 7, Page 91
“It’s weird, how much he’s noticed me. Like the attention he’s paid to my hunting. And apparently, I have not been as oblivious to him as I imagined, either. The flour. The wrestling. I have kept track of the boy with the bread.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen, Chapter 7, Page 93
“It’s lovely. If only you could frost someone to death.”
“Don’t be so superior. You can never tell what you will find in the arena. Say it’s a gigantic cake-”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Peeta and Katniss, Chapter 7, Page 96
“It’s not easy to find a topic. Talking of home is painful. Talking of the present unbearable.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen, Chapter 7, Page 97
“Suddenly I am furious, that with my life on the line, they don’t even have the decency to pay attention to me. That I’m being upstaged by a dead pig.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen, Chapter 7, Page 101
“I can see the first apple teetering when I let the third arrow go, catching the torn flap and ripping it from the bag. For a moment, everything seems frozen in time. Then the apples spill to the ground and I’m blown backward into the air.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen, Chapter 7, Page 102
“Gale and I were thrown together by a mutual need to survive. Peeta and I know the other’s survival means our own death. How do you side step that?”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen, Chapter 8, Page 112
“They’re betting on how long I’ll live!” I burst out. “They’re not my friends!”
“Well, try and pretend!” snaps Effie. Then she composes herself and beams at me. “See, like this. I’m smiling at you even though you’re aggravating me.”
― Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Katniss and Effie, Chapter 9, Page 115
“They’re already taking my future! They can’t have the things that mattered to me in the past!”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen, Chapter 9, Page 117
“You’ve got about as much charm as a dead slug.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Haymitch, Chapter 9, Page 117
“By the end of the session, I am no one at all. Haymitch started drinking somewhere around witty, and a nasty edge has crept into his voice. “I give up, sweetheart. Just answer the questions and try not to let the audience see how openly you despise them.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Katniss and Haymitch, Chapter 9, Page 118
“I am not pretty. I am not beautiful. I am as radiant as the sun.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen, Chapter 9, Page 121
“In District 12, looking old is something of an achievement since so many people die early. You see an elderly person, you want to congratulate them on their longevity, ask the secret of survival. A plump person is envied because they aren’t scraping by like the majority of us. But here is different. Wrinkles aren’t desirable. A round belly isn’t a sign of success.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen, Chapter 9, Pages 124, 125
“Her name’s Prim. She’s just twelve. And I love her more than anything.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen, Chapter 9, Page 129
Quotes From The Hunger Games Part II: The Games, Chapters 10 – 18
Caesar: Handsome lad like you. There must be some special girl. Come on, what’s her name?
Peeta: Well, there is this one girl. I’ve had a crush on her ever since I can remember. But I’m pretty sure she didn’t know I was alive until the reaping.Caesar: She have another fellow?
Peeta: I don’t know, but a lot of boys like her.
Caesar: So, here’s what you do. You win, you go home. She can’t turn you down, eh?
Peeta: I don’t think it’s going to work out. Winning… won’t help in my case.
Caesar: Why ever not?
Peeta: Because… because… she came here with me.
Caesar: Oh, that is a piece of bad luck.
Peeta: It’s not good.
Caesar: Well, I don’t think any of us can blame you. It’d be hard not to fall for that young lady. She didn’t know?
Peeta: Not until now.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Caesar Flickerman and Peeta, Chapter 10, Pages 130, 133
“The star-crossed lovers”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Haymitch, Chapter 10, Page 135
“And there I am, blushing and confused, made beautiful by Cinna’s hands, desirable by Peeta’s confession, tragic by circumstance, and by all accounts, unforgettable.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen, Chapter 10, Pages 137, 138
“I’m coming back into focus when Caesar asks him if he has a girlfriend back home. Peeta hesitates, then gives an unconvincing shake of his head.
Handsome lad like you. There must be some special girl. Come on, what’s her name?” says Caesar.
Peeta sighs. “Well, there is this one girl. I’ve had a crush on her ever since I can remember. But I’m pretty sure she didn’t know I was alive until the reaping.”
Sounds of sympathy from the crowd. Unrequited love they can relate to.
She have another fellow?” asks Caesar.
I don’t know, but a lot of boys like her,” says Peeta.
So, here’s what you do. You win, you go home. She can’t turn you down then, eh?” says Caesar encouragingly.
I don’t think it’s going to work out. Winning…won’t help in my case,” says Peeta.
Why ever not?” says Caesar, mystified.
Peeta blushes beet red and stammers out. “Because…because…she came here with me.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Caesar and Peeta, Chapter 10, Page 138
“Why not? It’s true. My best hope is to not disgrace myself and…” He hesitates.
And what?” I say.
I don’t know how to say it exactly. Only… I want to die as myself. Does that make any sense?” he asks. I shake my head. How could he die as anyone but himself? “I don’t want them to change me in there. Turn me into some kind of monster that I’m not.”
I bite my lip feeling inferior. While I’ve been ruminating on the availability of trees, Peeta has been struggling with how to maintain his identity. His purity of self. “Do you mean you won’t kill anyone?” I ask.
No, when the time comes, I’m sure I’ll kill just like everybody else. I can’t go down without a fight. Only I keep wishing I could think of a way to… to show the Capitol they don’t own me. That I’m more than just a piece in their Games,” says Peeta.
But you’re not,” I say. “None of us are. That’s how the Games work.”
Okay, but within that framework, there’s still you, there’s still me,” he insists. “Don’t you see?”
A little, Only… no offense, but who cares, Peeta?” I say.
I do. I mean what else am I allowed to care about at this point?” he asks angrily. He’s locked those blue eyes on mine now, demanding an answer.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Peeta and Katniss, Chapter 10, Page 141, 142
“This is what birds see. Only they’re free and safe. The very opposite of me.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen, Chapter 10, Page 144
“I’m not allowed to bet, but if I could, my money would be on you.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Cinna, Chapter 10, Page 146
“All the general fear I’ve been feeling condenses into an immediate fear of this girl, this predator who might kill me in seconds. Adrenaline shoots through me and I sling the pack over one shoulder and run full-speed for the woods. I can hear the blade whistling toward me and reflexively hike the pack up to protect my head. The blade lodges in the pack. Both straps on my shoulders now, I make for the trees. Somehow I knew the girl will not pursue me. That she’ll be drawn back into the Cornucopia before all the good stuff is gone. A grin crosses my face. Thanks for the knife, I think.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen, Chapter 11, Page 151
“I’m relieved Peeta’s alive. I tell myself again that if I get killed, his winnings will benefit my mother and Prim the most. This is what I tell myself to explain the conflicting emotions that arise when I think of Peeta. The gratitude that he game an edge by professing his love for me in the interview. The anger at his superiority on the roof. The dread that we may come face-to-face at any moment in this arena.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen, Chapter 11, Page 157
“Stupid people are dangerous.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen, Chapter 11, Page 159
“Pity does not get you aid. Admiration at your refusal to give in does.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen, Chapter 13, Page 179
“Birds are settling down for the night, singing lullabies to their young.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen, Chapter 13, Page 183
“Sick and disoriented, I’m able to form only one thought: Peeta Mellark just saved my life.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen, Chapter 14, Page 194
“Leave the district. Run off. Live in the woods. You and I, we could make it.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Gale Hawthorne, Chapter 15, Page 196
“for some reason Gale and Peeta do not coexist well in my thoughts.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen, Chapter 15, Page 197
“I can almost hear Haymitch groaning as I team up with this wispy child. But I want her. Because she’s a survivor, and I trust her, and why not admit it? She reminds me of Prim.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen, Chapter 15, Page 201
“Destroying things is much easier than making them.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen, Chapter 16, Page 211
“Rue, who when you ask her what she loves most in the world, replies, of all things, “Music.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen and Rue, Chapter 16, Page 211
“Let the Seventy-forth Hunger Games begin, Cato, I think. Let them begin for real.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen, Chapter 17, Page 225
“When I break into the clearing, she’s on the ground, hopelessly entangled in a net. She just has the time to reach her hand through the mesh and say my name before the spear enters her body.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, about Rue, Katniss Everdeen, Chapter 17, Page 232
“Deep in the meadow, under the willow
a bed of grass, a soft green pillow
lay down your head, and close your sleepy eyes
and when again they open, the sun will rise.
Hear it’s safe, here it’s warm
hear the daisies guard you from every harm
hear your dreams are sweet and tomorrow brings them true
hear is the place where i love you.
Deep in the meadow, hidden far away
a clock of leaves, a moonbeam ray
forget your woes and let your troubles lay
and when again it’s morning, they’ll wash away.
Hear it’s safe, hears its’ warm
hear the daises guard you from every harm
Hear your dreams are sweet and tomorrow bring them true
hear is the place where i love you.”~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen reciting a song to Rue, Chapter 18, Pages 234, 235
“Only I keep wishing I could think of a way…to show the Capitol they don’t own me. That I’m more than just a piece in their Games.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen, Chapter 18, Page 236
“I’m about to haul my packs into a tree to make camp when a silver parachute floats down and lands in front of me. A gift form a sponsor. But why now? I’ve been in fairly good shape with supplies. Maybe Haymitch’s noticed my despondency and is trying to cheer me up a bit. Or could it be something to help my ear?
I open the parachute and find a small loaf of bread. It’s not the fine white of the Capitol stuff. It’s made of dark ration grain and shaped in a crescent. Sprinkled with seeds. I flashback to Peeta’s lesson on the various district breads in the Training Center. This bread came from District 11. I cautiously lift the still warm loaf. What must it have cost the people of District 11 who can’t even feed themselves? How many would’ve had to do without to scrape up a coin to put in the collection for this one loaf? It had been meant for Rue, surely. But instead of pulling the gift when she died, they’d authorized Haymitch to give it to me. As a thank-you? Or because, like me, they don’t like to let debts go unpaid? For whatever reason, this is a first. A district gift to a tribute who’s not your own.
I lift my face and step into the last falling rays of sunlight. “My thanks to the people of District Eleven,” I say. I want them to know I know where it came from. That the full value of the gift has been recognized.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen, Chapter 18, Pages 238, 239
The Hunger Games Part III Quotes: “The Victor,” Chapters 19 – 27
“Yes, frosting. The final defense of the dying.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Peeta, Chapter 19, Page 252
“Remember, we’re madly in love, so it’s all right to kiss me anytime you feel like it.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Peeta to Katniss, Chapter 19, Page 253
“Katniss?” Peeta says. I meet his eyes, knowing my face must be some shade of green. He mouths the words. “How about that kiss?”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Peeta and Katniss, Chapter 19, Page 257
“No. Now, shut up and eat your pears.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen, Chapter 19, Page 258
“Don’t have to,” says Haymitch. “He’s already there.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Haymitch, Chapter 19, Page 258
“It’s the first time I’ve ever kissed a boy, which should make some sort of impression I guess, but all I can register is how unnaturally hot his lips are from the fever.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen, Chapter 19, Pages 258, 259
“You’re not going to die. I forbid it. All right?”
“All right,” he whispers.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen, Chapter 19, Page 261
“Star-crossed lovers desperate to get home together. Two hearts beating as one. Romance.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen, Chapter 19, Page 261
“Never having been in love, this is going to be a real trick. I think of my parents. The way my father never failed to bring her gifts from the woods. The way my mother’s face would light up at the sound of his boots at the door. The way she almost stopped living when he died.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen, Chapter 19, Page 261
“Go to sleep,” he says softly. His hand brushes the lose strands of my hair off my forehead. Unlike the staged kisses and caresses so far, this gesture seems natural and comforting. I don’t want him to stop and he doesn’t. He’s still stroking my hair when I fall asleep.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Peeta and Katniss, Chapter 20, Page 265
“Peeta, you were supposed to wake me after a couple of hours,” I say.
“For what? Nothing’s going on here,” he says. “Besides, I like watching you sleep. You don’t scowl. Improves your looks a lot.”
This, of course, brings on a scowl that makes him grin.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Katniss and Peeta, Chapter 20, Page 265
“Well, I knew that goat would be a little gold mine,” I say.
Yes, of course I was referring to that, not the lasting joy you gave your sister you love so much you took her place in the reaping,” says Peeta drily.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Peeta, Chapter 20, Page 273
“Peeta opens his mouth for the first bite without hesitation. He swallows, then frowns slightly. “They’re very sweet.”
“Yes they’re sugar berries. My mother makes jam from them. Haven’t you’ve ever had them before?” I say, poking the next spoonful in his mouth.
“No,” he says, almost puzzled. “But they taste familiar. Sugar berries?”
“Well, you can’t get them in the market much, they only grow wild,” I say. Another mouthful goes down. Just one more to go.
“They’re sweet as syrup,” he says, taking the last spoonful. “Syrup.” His eyes widen as he realizes the truth. I clamp my hand over his mouth and nose hard, forcing him to swallow instead of spit. He tries to make himself vomit the stuff up, but it’s too late, he’s already losing consciousness. Even as he fades away, I can see in his eyes what I’ve done is unforgiveable.
I sit back on my heels and look at him with a mixture of sadness and satisfaction. A stray berry stains his chin and I wipe it away. “Who can’t lie, Peeta?” I say, even though he can’t hear me.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Katniss and Peeta, Chapter 20, Page 277
“Where’s your boyfriend, District 12? Still hanging on?” She asks.
Well, as long as we’re talking I’m alive. “He’s out there now. Hunting Cato,” I snarl at her. Then I scream at the top of my lungs. “Peeta!”
Clove jams her fist into my windpipe, very effectively cutting off my voice. But her head’s whipping from side to side, and I know for a moment she’s at least considering I’m telling the truth. Since no Peeta appears to save me, she turns back to me.
“Liar,” she says with a grin. “He’s nearly dead. Cato knows where he cut him. You’ve probably got him strapped up in some tree while you try to keep his heart going. What’s in the pretty little backpack? That medicine for Lover Boy? Too bad he’ll never get it.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Clove and Katniss, Chapter 21, Pages 284, 285
“I realize, for the first time, how very lonely I’ve been in the arena. How comforting the presence of another human being can be.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen, Chapter 21, Page 289
“I reach out and take his hand.
“Well, he probably used up a lot of resources helping me knock you out,” I say mischievously.
“Yeah, about that,” says Peeta, entwining his fingers in mine. “Don’t try something like that again.”
“Or what?” I ask.
“Or . . . or . . .” He can’t think of anything good. “Just give me a minute.”
“What’s the problem?” I say with a grin.
“The problem is we’re both still alive. Which only reinforces the idea in your mind that you did the right thing,” says Peeta.
“I did do the right thing,” I say.
“No! Just don’t, Katniss!” His grip tightens, hurting my hand, and there’s real anger in his voice. “Don’t die for me. You won’t be doing me any favors. All right?”
I’m startled by his intensity but recognize an excellent opportunity for getting food, so I try to keep up. “Maybe I did it for myself, Peeta, did you ever think of that? Maybe you aren’t the only one who . . . who worries about . . . what it would be like if. . .”
I fumble. I’m not as smooth with words as Peeta. And while I was talking, the idea of actually losing Peeta hit me again and I realized how much I don’t want him to die. And it’s not about the sponsors. And it’s not about what will happen back home.
And it’s not just that I don’t want to be alone. It’s him. I do not want to lose the boy with the bread.
“If what, Katniss?” he says softly.
I wish I could pull the shutters closed, blocking out this moment from the prying eyes of Panem. Even if it means losing food. Whatever I’m feeling, it’s no one’s business but mine.
“That’s exactly the kind of topic Haymitch told me to steer clear of,” I say evasively, although Haymitch never said anything of the kind. In fact, he’s probably cursing me out right now for dropping the ball during such an emotionally charged moment. But Peeta somehow catches it.
“Then I’ll just have to fill in the blanks myself,” he says, and moves in to me.
This is the first kiss that we’re both fully aware of. Neither of us hobbled by sickness or pain or simply unconscious. Our lips neither burning with fever or icy cold. This is the first kiss where I actually feel stirring inside my chest. Warm and curious.
This is the first kiss that makes me want another.
But I don’t get it. Well, I do get a second kiss, but it’s just a light one on the tip of my nose because Peeta’s been distracted.
“I think your wound is bleeding again. Come on, lie down, it’s bedtime anyway,” he says.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Katniss and Peeta, Chapter 22, Pages 296, 297
“I don’t want to lose the boy with the bread.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen, Chapter 22, Page 297
“In stark contrast to two nights ago, when I felt Peeta was a million miles away, I’m struck by his immediacy now. As we settle in, he pulls my head down to use his arm as a pillow; the other rests protectively over me even when he goes to sleep. No one has held me like this in such a long time. Since my father died and I stopped trusting my mother, no one else’s arms have made me feel this safe.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen, Chapter 22, Pages 298, 299
“Peeta, you said at the interview you’d had a crush on me forever. When did forever start?
Oh, let’s see. I guess the first day of school. We were five. You had on a red plaid dress and your hair…it was in two braids instead of one. My father pointed you out when we were waiting to line up.”
Your father? Why?”
He said, ‘See that little girl? I wanted to marry her mother, but she ran off with a coal miner.'”
What? You’re making that up!”
No, true story. And I said, ‘A coal miner? Why did she want a coal miner if she could’ve had you?’ And he said, ‘Because when he sings…even the birds stop to listen.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Katniss and Peeta, Chapter 22, Page 300
“That’s true. They do. I mean, they did,” I say. I’m stunned and surprisingly moved, thinking of the baker telling this to Peeta. It strikes me that my own reluctance to sing, my own dismissal of music might not really be that I think it’s a waste of time. It might be because it reminds me too much of my father.
“So that day, in music assembly, the teacher asked who knew the valley song. Your hand shot right up in the air. She stood you up on a stool and had you sing it for us. And I swear, every bird outside the windows fell silent,” Peeta says.
“Oh, please,” I say, laughing.
“No, it happened. And right when your song ended, I knew—just like your mother—I was a goner,” Peeta says. “Then for the next eleven years, I tried to work up the nerve to talk to you.”
“Without success,” I add.
“Without success. So, in a way, my name being drawn in the reaping was a real piece of luck,” says Peeta. For a moment, I’m almost foolishly happy and then confusion sweeps over me. Because we’re supposed to be making up this stuff, playing at being in love not actually being in love. But Peeta’s story has a ring of truth to it. That part about my father and the birds. And I did sing the first day of school, although I don’t remember the song. And that red plaid dress… there was one, a hand-me-down to Prim that got washed to rags after my father’s death.
It would explain another thing, too. Why Peeta took a beating to give me the bread on that awful hollow day. So, if those details are true… could it all be true?
“You have a… remarkable memory,” I say haltingly. “I remember everything about you,” says Peeta, tucking a loose strand of hair behind my ear. “You’re the one who wasn’t paying attention.”
“I am now,” I say.
“Well, I don’t have much competition here,” he says. I want to draw away, to close those shutters again, but I know I can’t. It’s as if I can hear Haymitch whispering in my ear, “Say it! Say it!”
I swallow hard and get the words out. “You don’t have much competition anywhere.” And this time, it’s me who leans in.”~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Katniss and Peeta, Chapter 22, Pages 301, 302
“Agreed,” I say. “It’s going to be a long hour.”
“Maybe not that long,” says Peeta.” what was that you were saying just before the food arrived? Something about me … no competition … best thing that ever happened to you … ”
” I don’t remember that last part,” I say, hoping it’s too dim in here for the cameras to pick up my blush.
” Oh, that’s right. That’s what I was thinking,” he says ” Scoot over, I’m freezing.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Katniss and Peeta, Chapter 23, Page 303
“I noticed just about every girl, but none of them made a lasting impression but you.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Peeta, Chapter 23, Chapter 23, Page 304
“A disturbing thought hits me,”but then our only neighbor would be Haymich!”
“Ah, that’ll be nice,”says Peeta, tightening his arms around me.”You and me and Haymich. Very cozy. Picnics, birthdays. long winters around the campfire retelling old Hunger Games tales.”
“I told you he hates me!” I say, but I can’t help laughing at the image of Haymich becoming my new pal.
“Only sometimes. When he’s sober, I’ve never heard him say one negative thing about you,” says Peeta.
He’s never sober!” I protest.
That’s right. Who am I thinking of? Oh, I know. It’s Cinna who likes you. But that’s mainly because you didn’t try to run when he set you in fire,” says Peeta. “On the other hand, Haymich … well, if I were you, I’d avoid Haymich completely. He Hates you.”
” I thought that you said I was his favorite,” I say.
“He hates me more,” says Peeta, “I don’t think people in general are his sort of thing.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Katniss and Peeta, Chapter 23, Pages 304, 305
“Hey, Effie, watch this!” says Peeta. He tosses his fork over his shoulder and literally licks his plate clean whit his tongue making loud, satisfied sounds. Then he blows a kiss out to her in general and calls, “We miss you, Effie!”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Peeta, Chapter 23, Page 312
“We’ll earn it all back today,” I say, and we both plow into our plates. Even cold, it’s one of the things I’ve ever tasted. I abandon my fork and scrape up the last dabs of gravy with my fingers. “I can feel Effie trinket shuddering at my manners.”
“Hey, Effie, watch this!” says Peeta. He tosses his fork over his shoulder and literally licks his plate his plate clean with his tongue making loud, satisfied sounds. Then he blows a kiss to her in general, and calls, “We miss you, Effie!”
I cover his hand with my mouth. But I am laughing.
“Stop! Cato could be right outside our cave.”
He grabs my hand away.”What do I care. I’ve got you to protect me now,” says Peeta, pulling me to him.
“Come on,” I say in exasperation, extricating myself from his grasp but not before he gets another kiss.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Katniss and Peeta, Chapter 23, Page 312
“Oh, and I suppose the apples ate the cheese.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen, Chapter 23, Page 318
“I pull the sleeping bag up to his chin and kiss his forehead, not for the audience, but for me. Because I’m so grateful that he’s here, not dead by the stream as I’d thought. So glad I don’t have to face Cato alone.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen, Chapter 24, Page 323
“Do it. Before they send those mutts back or something. I don’t want to die like Cato,” he says.
“Then you shoot me,” I say furiously, shoving the weapons back at him. “You shoot me and go home and live with it!” And as I say it, I know death right here, right now would be the easier of the two.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Peeta and Katniss, Chapter 25, Page 343
“You’re not leaving me here alone,” I say. Because if he dies, I’ll never go home, not really. I’ll spend the rest of my life in this arena, trying to think my way out.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen, Chapter 25, Page 343
“Yes, they have to have a victor. Without a victor, the whole thing would blow up in the Gamemakers’ faces. They’d have failed the Capitol. Might possibly even be executed, slowly and painfully, while the cameras broadcast it to every screen in the country.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Peeta, Chapter 25, Page 344
“If Peeta and I were both to die, or they thought we were….My fingers fumble with the pouch on my belt, freeing it. Peeta sees it and his hand clamps on my wrist. “No, I won’t let you.” “Trust me,” I whisper. He holds my gaze for a long moment then lets go. I loosen the top of the pouch and pour a few spoonfuls of berries into his palm. Then I fill my own. “On the count of three?” Peeta leans down and kisses me once, very gently. “The count of three,” he says. We stand, our backs pressed together, our empty hands locked tight. “Hold them out. I want everyone to see,” he says. I spread out my fingers, and the dark berries glisten in the sun. I give Peeta’s hand one last squeeze as a signal, as a good-bye, and we begin counting. “One.” Maybe I’m wrong. “Two.” Maybe they don’t care if we both die. “Three!” It’s too late to change my mind. I lift my hand to my mouth taking one last look at the world. The berries have just passed my lips when the trumpets begin to blare. The frantic voice of Claudius Templesmith shouts above them. “Stop! Stop! Ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased to present the victors of the 74th Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark! I give you – the tributes of District 12!”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Katniss, Peeta, and Katniss Everdeen,, Claudius Templesmith, Chapter 25, Pages 344, 345
“It’s like being home again, when they bring in the hopelessly mangled person from the mine explosion, or the woman in her third day of labor, or the famished child struggling against pneumonia and my mother and Prim, they wear that same look on their faces. Now is the times to run away tho the woods, to hide in the trees until the patient is long gone and in another part of the Seam the hammers make the coffin. But I’m held here both by the hovercraft walls and the same force that holds the loved ones of the dying. How often I’ve seen them, ringed around our kitchen table and I thought, Why don’t they leave? Why do they stay to watch?
And now I know. It’s because you have no choice.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen, Chapter 26, Page 347
“It’s funny, because even though they’re rattling on about the Games, it’s all about where they were or what they were doing or how they felt when a specific event occurred. . . . Everything is about them, not the dying boys and girls in the arena”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen, Chapter 26, Page 354
“I can feel Peeta press his forehead into my temple and he asks, ‘So now that you’ve got me, what are you going to do with me?’ I turn into him. ‘Put you somewhere you can’t get hurt.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Katniss and Peeta, Chapter 27, Page 368
“Maybe . . . because for the first time . . . there was a chance I could keep him,” I say…
“So now that you’ve got me, what are you going to do with me?”
“Put you somewhere you can’t get hurt.”
And when he kisses me, people in the room actually sigh.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Katniss and Peeta, Chapter 27, Page 368
“Yes, it’s your fault I’m alive.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Peeta, Chapter 27, Page 369
“Katniss?” He drops my hand and I take a step, as if to catch my balance.
“It was all for the Games,” Peeta says. “How you acted.”
“Not all of it,” I say, tightly holding onto my flowers.
“Then how much? No, forget that. I guess the real question is what’s going to be left when we get home?” he says.
“I don’t know. The closer we get to District Twelve, the more confused I get,” I say. He waits, for further explanation, but none’s forthcoming.
“Well, let me know when you work it out,” he says, and the pain in his voice is palpable.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Katniss and Peeta, Chapter 27, Pages 372, 373
“One more time? For the audience?” he says. His voice isn’t angry. It’s hollow, which is worse. Already the boy with the bread is slipping away from me.
I take his hand, holding on tightly, preparing for the cameras, and dreading the moment when I will finally have to let go.”
~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Peeta and Katniss, Chapter 27, Pages 373, 374
What is the famous line from The Hunger Games?
“Happy Hunger Games! And may the odds be ever in your favor.” ~Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen, Page 19
You don’t forget the face of the person who was your last hope. page number
This quote by Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games is on page 85, chapter 6. Katniss says this to Peeta after seeing someone who didn’t attempt to save her when the Capitol pursued her.
The Best Book Quotes With Page Numbers
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