Katniss running from a forest fire in The Hunger Games film.
- "Fire burns brighter in the darkness."
- —Katniss Everdeen[src]
Fire is an important motif that reappears throughout The Hunger Games trilogy.
History[]
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes[]
During the Capitol Arena bombing, Coriolanus Snow was trapped underneath a burning beam, but Lucy Gray Baird was able to free him. His grandmother said afterwards that the bombing was "just the kind of story that catches fire."[1] Later, during interviews, Circ said that he could start a fire with his glasses.[2]
In District 12, the Covey started a fire by the lake to roast fish they'd caught.[3] When Lucy Gray returned there with Coriolanus, running away from the district, she set a fire in the hearth of an old concrete house. She brought an old metal can in hopes of transporting live coals from place to place.[4]
The Hunger Games[]
74th Hunger Games[]
In the Tribute Parade, Cinna and Portia dressed District 12 tributes Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark in black jumpsuits, headdresses, and capes of red, orange, and yellow fabric meant to evoke fire. They also used synthetic flame, amazing the crowd and making their tributes instant stars in the Capitol. Katniss and Peeta only felt a slight tickling sensation from the false flames, but their capes and headdress were carefully removed afterward, then doused by Portia with "some kind of spray from a canister". Because of this costume, Cinna nicknamed Katniss "the girl who was on fire",[5] which was eventually shortened to "girl on fire".[6]
For her interview, Katniss's prep team painted flames onto her fingernails and toenails, and she wore a bejeweled dress with a flame design. When she twirled, it gave her the appearance of being engulfed in flames.[7] In The Hunger Games film, Caesar Flickerman popularized the "Girl on Fire" nickname when he used it for her onstage.[8] Katniss kept her fiery nails when she went to compete in the 74th Hunger Games.[6]
Tributes' fires[]
Long before dawn on the second day, Katniss awoke to the District 8 female setting a fire to keep warm. This fire drew the deadly alliance of Career Tributes to the location, who attacked and killed the girl.[9] However, Katniss was able to cook meat over the heated coals.[10] On the fourth day, Katniss was driven towards other tributes by a Gamemaker-created wall of fire; her calf was badly burned when they launched a fireball at her, and she received less severe burns on her hands.[11] Smoke from this fire temporarily subdued tracker jackers that had nests in the area.[12]
On the eighth day, Katniss's young ally Rue set two signal fires to draw the Careers away from their supplies so Katniss could destroy them.[13] Rue had also prepared the site of a third fire, but she never set it.[14] Katniss returned there after Rue's death to cook,[15] and two days later, she set another fire to confuse the remaining Careers while she headed out to find Peeta.[16] After Foxface died on Day 16, Katniss urged Peeta to set a fire so they could cook. She reasoned that their last opponent, Cato, wouldn't follow it to their location while he believed they were in fighting condition, putting him at a disadvantage. According to Katniss, Peeta was "a whiz with fires", and he was able to set one with damp wood.[17]
Catching Fire[]
- "Katniss Everdeen, the girl who was on fire, you have provided a spark that, left unattended, may grow to an inferno that destroys Panem."
- —President Snow[src]
On the first day of the Victory Tour, President Coriolanus Snow visited Katniss in the Victors' Village in District 12 to issue her a warning: that she had been the inciting spark for rebellious sentiment and uprisings across the country, and that everything would be destroyed if she didn't help contain it.[18] When she returned to 12 for the last stop on the Victory Tour, she saw classified intelligence about the uprising of District 8; in this footage, she saw buildings burning while banners with her face on them still waved from the rooftops.[19]
On the following Sunday, Katniss went to the concrete house by the lake and set a fire in the hearth, where she thawed out as she waited for Gale Hawthorne to arrived. They roasted chestnuts together and discussed running away to escape Snow's wrath, but Katniss let slip about the uprising she'd seen. Gale, invigorated by the idea of people rebelling, argued that he wanted to stay and fight instead for those who couldn't flee.[20]
Thread at the destruction of the Hob in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.
Once Romulus Thread took over as District 12's Head Peacekeeper, he had the Hob burned to the ground.[21] When Katniss returned to the lake for the first time since he began his reign, she came across Bonnie and Twill, who had managed to stoke a "feeble flame" in the hearth. Katniss helped them build it up properly.[22]
After the Quarter Quell announcement, Katniss went to Haymitch Abernathy's house and drank his liquor. She said that it felt like fire inside her, and she liked it.[23] While watching a recap of the 50th Hunger Games, she described the volcanic mountain as "spewing liquid fire".[24]
75th Hunger Games[]
Katniss and Peeta set aflame in their chariot.
At the parade, Katniss and Peeta once again wore dark jumpsuits, this time rigged with lights that flickered like fire over burning coals. When Katniss met Finnick Odair, he referred to her as "girl on fire". Their costumes from the previous year had also inspired copycats in the other districts; for example, District 10's tributes were dressed like cows with flaming belts.[25]
Katniss's transformed mockingjay dress.
This year, when Katniss twirled during her interview, her wedding dress burned away to reveal another design underneath, transforming her into a mockingjay.[26] In his interview right after, Peeta claimed that he and Katniss had secretly gotten married in the District 12 tradition: building a fire with your partner and toasting bread, then sharing it afterwards.[27]
When she was launched into the 75th Hunger Games arena, surrounded by water, Katniss's first thought was that "this [was] no place for a girl on fire."[27] She contemplated building a fire to cook meat, but this was deemed unnecessary once Peeta figured out that they could cook things by tossing them at the arena's force field.[28] Later, Katniss contrasted the pain caused by the poison fog with the pain of fire.[29]
When Katniss blew out the force field, trees burst into flames, and the Gamemakers evidently set off fireworks.[30]
Mockingjay[]
- "Fire is catching! And if we burn, you burn with us!"
- —Katniss Everdeen[src]
Katniss after the hospital bombing in District 8 in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1.
The Capitol firebombed District 12 after the 75th Hunger Games, destroying the district[30] and killing 90% of its population.[31] They also firebombed District 8, including a field hospital Katniss had just visited. She and Gale took down Capitol hovercraft with explosive arrows (designed by Beetee Latier[32]). She then filmed a stirring propo in the burning wreckage, declaring that if the districts burned, so would the Capitol.[33] The finalized version of the propo incorporated audio of Claudius Templesmith, the Hunger Games announcer, using her nickname as "the girl who was on fire".[34]
In a propo he was forced to make for the Capitol, Peeta described war damage allegedly caused by the rebels. This included a granary that had collapsed after a fire.[35] During the Battle of District 2, a train caught on fire.[36]
Gale and Beetee designed weapons and war strategies that involved fiery bombs.[37] Their twice-exploding bombs were used in the City Circle bombing,[38][39] killing Primrose Everdeen. Katniss herself was badly burned, requiring skin grafts, but she also endured significant psychological trauma from watching the fire engulf her sister. She was haunted by the sight long afterwards.[40]
As Katniss settled into her post-war life in District 12 with Peeta, she reflected on her relationship with Gale. She said that she did not need "Gale's fire, kindled with rage and hatred" because "[she had] plenty of fire [herself]". Instead, she needed the reminder that life went on and things could be good again, which is what Peeta gave her.[41]
Weapons[]
- Gamemakers' wall of fire and fireballs[11]
- Firebombs[30]
- Incendiary and explosive arrows[32]
- Twice-exploding bombs[37][39]
Katniss twirling in her burning dress in the first film.
Trivia[]
- In addition to her nickname as the Girl on Fire, Katniss was once referred to by Thresh as "Fire Girl".[42]
- In The Hunger Games film, Katniss's interview dress used synthetic fire instead of glittering gems.[8]
References[]
- ↑ The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Chapter 10
- ↑ The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Chapter 11
- ↑ The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Chapter 27
- ↑ The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Chapter 30
- ↑ The Hunger Games, Chapter 5
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 The Hunger Games, Chapter 10
- ↑ The Hunger Games, Chapter 9
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 The Hunger Games (film)
- ↑ The Hunger Games, Chapter 11
- ↑ The Hunger Games, Chapter 12
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 The Hunger Games, Chapter 13
- ↑ The Hunger Games, Chapter 14
- ↑ The Hunger Games, Chapter 16
- ↑ The Hunger Games, Chapter 17
- ↑ The Hunger Games, Chapter 18
- ↑ The Hunger Games, Chapter 19
- ↑ The Hunger Games, Chapter 24
- ↑ Catching Fire, Chapter 2
- ↑ Catching Fire, Chapter 6
- ↑ Catching Fire, Chapter 7
- ↑ Catching Fire, Chapter 9
- ↑ Catching Fire, Chapter 10
- ↑ Catching Fire, Chapter 13
- ↑ Catching Fire, Chapter 14
- ↑ Catching Fire, Chapter 15
- ↑ Catching Fire, Chapter 17
- ↑ 27.0 27.1 Catching Fire, Chapter 18
- ↑ Catching Fire, Chapter 20
- ↑ Catching Fire, Chapter 21
- ↑ 30.0 30.1 30.2 Catching Fire, Chapter 27
- ↑ Mockingjay, Chapter 2
- ↑ 32.0 32.1 Mockingjay, Chapter 5
- ↑ Mockingjay, Chapter 7
- ↑ Mockingjay, Chapter 8
- ↑ Mockingjay, Chapter 9
- ↑ Mockingjay, Chapter 15
- ↑ 37.0 37.1 Mockingjay, Chapter 13
- ↑ Mockingjay, Chapter 24
- ↑ 39.0 39.1 Mockingjay, Chapter 26
- ↑ Mockingjay, Chapter 25
- ↑ Mockingjay, Chapter 27
- ↑ The Hunger Games, Chapter 21