Chapter summaries Part 1: The Tributes

Chapter 1

The novel The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins begins with Katniss, a 16-year-old girl, waking up on reaping day. Katniss lives with her mother and younger sister in the Seam, the poor part of District 12 of a country named Panem. 

Katniss sneaks under a gap in the fence surrounding District 12 and enters the woods. From its hiding place in a log, Katniss retrieves the bow her father made her before he died in a mining accident. Though entering the woods outside of District 12 and hunting is illegal and punishable by death, Katniss does it to feed her family. 

In the woods, Katniss meets her hunting partner, Gale. He has brought a loaf of bread from the bakery, which is a rarity for them. They eat and joke about the reaping to avoid thinking about the terrifying possibility of being chosen to participate in the Hunger Games. Gale tells Katniss they could run off and live in the woods, but Katniss knows their families would starve without the food they provide. 

Katniss and Gale hunt and gather berries. They sell strawberries to Madge, the mayor’s daughter, who is Katniss’s classmate at school. Madge jokes about wanting to be dressed nicely if she is picked for the Hunger Games, which angers Gale. Everyone’s name is entered into the reaping system when they turn twelve, and everyone gets an additional entry each year until they become nineteen and they are no longer eligible. 

However, poor children can choose to have their name entered into the draw multiple times in exchange for a year’s ration of grain and oil for one person. Because of this, someone like Madge, who has never needed to take rations, has fewer chances to be picked for the Hunger Games than Gale, who has over forty entries after taking rations for his entire family.

Katniss returns home, where she bathes and puts on one of her mother’s nicer dresses. She comforts Prim, who is scared about her first reaping. In the early afternoon, everyone from the district gathers in the square. The mayor gives a speech about the history of Panem, which was created after North America was destroyed in a series of disasters. 

After an initial period of wealth, the thirteen districts of Panem rebelled against the Capitol, but the Capitol defeated the rebellion and completely destroyed District 13. As punishment, the Hunger Games are held every year: twelve boys and twelve girls from each district are chosen to fight each other to the death in an arena. The remaining victor receives extra food for themselves and their district. 

Haymitch Abernathy, one of the only two people to ever win from District 12, comes on stage drunk. He attempts to hug Effie Trinket, the representative from the Capitol who comes to District 12 every year for the reaping to escort the chosen tributes. Effie steps forward to draw...