The Hunger Games

Question: This is more for the book than the movie, but how was Rue able to enter the arena with a "homemade" sling shot if no weapons could be taken in there?

Jessica Wren

Chosen answer: The tributes could not take anything in with them, but the arena is filled with different types of weapons and tools, if they can get them. Rue was clever and agile, and she could have found or stolen the slingshot or the tools with which to make one. Also, anyone, for a price, can send "gifts" into the arena to sponsor a favorite tribute.

raywest

Answer: In the book Rue never received any gifts she only grabbed a few things from the cornucopia so the slingshot must have been one of them.

Question: After the end of the 74th Hunger Games, Haymitch and Katniss are having a conversation on a balcony and after Haymitch tells Katniss she showed them up, the camera moves to a wide shot of them and during Katniss' response, something can be seen moving inside of her dress that looks similar to a hand, but both character's hands can be seen resting on the ledge. Do you know what it is? (02:09:36)

Answer: I watched this scene multiple times on YouTube. There is definitely something moving that probably is not supposed to be seen. I'd agree with your assessment that it looks like a hand. Most likely a film crew member is crouched on the floor performing some technical function during the filming. Just what it is impossible to tell. You should submit it as a "movie mistake."

raywest

Question: When Katniss is attacked by Clove after she takes the bag, why didn't she grab the knife she had (the one she cut the tracker-jacker nest's branch with) and use that instead of trying to fight her bare-handed?

Gavin Jackson

Chosen answer: In the book, she left it with Peeta in case he was discovered while she was away. Apparently she was meant to have done this in the film as well, they just neglected to show it, causing some confusion.

Phixius

Answer: She shows little to no competence with a knife. Katniss' ideal weapon is a bow, and she would not learn much on how to use a knife in the training time, especially as we have seen her do various other things in training. Though she could be able to cut off a still branch that in and of itself can't fight back, here she is dealing with a moving, killing opponent. She just might not know how to fight with a knife, or not be confident enough to do so.

Answer: The games were punishment for a long-ago rebellion against the Capitol which resulted in District 13 being destroyed. The games provide entertainment for the Capitol, re-enforces the Capitol's power over the districts, and reminds citizens of their ancestors' lack of remorse for the failed rebellion. The districts must continually pay retribution to the Capitol by sacrificing two children, one boy and one girl, each year.

raywest

Answer: Hi! This is many years later, but it is explained in TBOSAS. The games were unintentionally created, a drunken idea between Casca Highbottom and Crassus Snow (President Snow's father). Dr Gaul had requested the two to come up with a punishment for the war that happened between the districts and the Capitol. The pair were drunk, but Snow plied Highbottom with more alcohol until Highbottom was drunk enough to form the idea of the games. When sober, Snow gave this idea to Dr Gaul and she then got to work creating the games once the rebellion was over. I may have got a couple of the facts wrong, but I hope this helps:).

Question: Katniss said to Peeta, "I have my sister", the night before the games. But why did she mention Prim in that conversation? What did she have to do with Peeta wanting to show the capitol that they don't own him?

THE GAMER NEXT DOOR

Answer: Katniss means she has to be careful of how she behaves, not openly showing defiance, because the capitol can retaliate against her by harming Prim. That's how Haymitch lost his entire family. Other tributes have suffered the same fate.

raywest

Question: At the start when Katniss sang that song for Prim, how does that calm her down since the reaping is still going to happen?

THE GAMER NEXT DOOR

Answer: Because it's something that is familiar and soothing for Prim. It does not completely wash away all the fears and anxiety, but it helps calm her down a little. It is not only the song, but also Katniss being there and comforting her sister, assuring Prim that her chances are practically zero of being chosen, though that turned out to be wrong.

raywest

Answer: If you're talking about in the beginning and the relationship they had, when Katniss' father died (her mom's husband), her mom became severely depressed and shut down. 11 year old Katniss had to take it upon herself to basically raise her sister and herself at a time she really needed a mother, especially emotionally. Before she goes to the Hunger Games she tells her mother she has to be there for Prim.

Bishop73

Question: At the end when Cato has Peeta around the neck, in close up shots is Peeta telling Katniss to shoot Cato's hand? It looks like he's pointing to Cato's hand.

brianjr0412

Chosen answer: That is correct. By pointing with his index finger, Peta is non-verbally telling Katniss exactly where to shoot the arrow. He knows she will not miss. Peta needs Cato's hand disabled. Otherwise, if Katniss shoots him somewhere else, he could still break Peta's neck.

raywest

Question: I don't understand the scene where Katniss is watching an old Hunger Games for a few moments then clicks it off. Her hair is down and pretty. Next scene she is still on the train and her hair is still pulled back. When was she supposedly watching this film?

Answer: She is watching the old film in her bedroom compartment on the train later that night. She's taken down her hair and is in her night clothes. You see her again the next morning, wearing the same dress and she has braided her hair again. Peeta and Katniss were almost immediately taken from the reaping to the train, without being allowed to bring any personal belongings.

raywest

Question: How do they know when someone in the arena is dead?

Answer: The tracking chip that is inserted into their arm tracks their vital signs. From this, the control centre is able to monitor all the tributes heart rates. As such, they can see when their heart has stopped and declare them dead and fire the cannon. Plus they have got the ability to bring a camera up at any location to help visually confirm the death of a tribute.

Ssiscool

Answer: They are tracking and watching everyone. They have a whole control room to run the games.

Answer: As mentioned, the tracking devices would indicate if a person was dead. However, even if a fallen tribute was still alive when removed from the arena, the evil and inhumane capital would execute them. Up until Katniss and Peta were declared dual victors, there was always only one survivor/winner of the Hunger Games.

raywest

Would the Capitol just simply not remove the tribute if they're still alive? At least in film 1 the bodies aren't removed straight away. Take Rue for example - she was killed and Katniss had plenty of time to arrange her body.

Ssiscool

It really depended on the circumstances. If a tribute was barely alive with no hope of recovery, then the game keeper could decide when to remove them, dead or not. Other bodies may have been removed at a time that was simply convenient to do so. It did take time to remove Rue, but basically, because of Katniss arranging the flowers around Rue's body the way she did, singing, mourning her, saluting Rue's district, etc. Seneca Crane, the gamekeeper, knew it made a good show for the television viewers. He was wringing out all the drama and emotion that he could because the viewers loved seeing that. That was the way the games were operated.

raywest

Question: Right before they do the name-calling they take blood from the kids' fingers. Why do they do this?

Answer: They use the blood as an additional means to verify a person's identity, matching their blood type to what's on record.

raywest

Question: What did Katniss mean by asking if Gale's bread was real? I understand they don't often get bread in the Seam but how could it not be real?

THE GAMER NEXT DOOR

Answer: She is wondering if she might be dreaming.

lionhead

Question: Why is Katniss so protective of Prim? I have only read the first book so maybe in future books it's explained?

THE GAMER NEXT DOOR

Answer: Besides Prim being her younger sister, when their father died, her mother basically shut down out of depression, leaving Katniss to raise Prim for the most part. She has a bond that goes beyond what some sisters might normally have.

Bishop73

Question: In a video on youtube called the Hunger Games deleted scenes never before seen part 2, Katniss mentions Prim to Rue and then Rue asks "is she the one who..." but can someone tell me what she was saying before Katniss interrupts her? Also why does Katniss interrupt her so rudely? Finally Katniss mentions something that her and Prim used to do together but what did she say?

THE GAMER NEXT DOOR

Answer: Rue is asking if Prim is the sister that Katniss volunteered to be a tribute for. Katniss interrupts her because she's rather emotional about having had to risk her life to save her sister. Katniss tells Rue that she and Prim would sing a song together, the one that Katniss later sings over Rue's body.

raywest

Other mistake: The video stream displayed in the night sky showing which tributes have died after the first day does not add up correctly. They display in district order. We see the start, the girl from three (so the boy is still alive), and the boy from four with no breaks. Then they break away to show Katniss and the control room, after which they continuously show the boy and girl from seven, the boy from eight (so the girl is still alive), the girl from nine (so the boy is still alive), and then fade to the end. We know that Foxface, the girl from five, dies later in the movie. Even if we assume that during the portion not shown, the girl from four, the boy from five, and both tributes from six are dead, that's only a total of ten. Thirteen are supposed to be dead at that point in the movie. (01:16:20)

P3ngu1n

More mistakes in The Hunger Games

Peeta Mellark: I just keep wishing I could think of a way to show them that they don't own me. If I'm gonna die, I wanna still be me.
Katniss Everdeen: I just can't afford to think like that.

More quotes from The Hunger Games

Trivia: Isabelle Fuhrman, who plays Clove, originally auditioned for the role of Katniss, but was told she was too young for the part. When she was later called back for the role of Clove and succeeded, they had to make Clove incredibly skilled with knives to make her seem just as intimidating as Cato, Glimmer and Marvel.

Hollie_Peacock

More trivia for The Hunger Games

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