Catching Fire Chapter 3

BEING the chapter that contains practically no action.

Snow leaves Katniss to her thoughts, and boy does she have a lot of them. How is she ever going to carry out such a grand deception? Who should she tell first? Who will take her to the prom?!? One thing's for sure, she will NOT tell her mom, whom she still has to protect with lies. Katniss takes a steamy, flower-scented bath and reflects on the time she spent swimming with her dad in the lake. The lake, which she never showed to anyone else, even Gale.

Then her prep team arrives in high gossipy spirits. Cinna dresses her in billowy black pants, a white shirt, and a blue-green knit sweater -- he will later add an ermine coat, red scarf, and earmuffs. Each Games winner is supposed to have a talent that represents what they're doing with their time (Peeta's is painting), so Cinna provides some designs that are his the product of Katniss's newfound fashion interest. As the crew films said designs, Katniss gazes lovingly at Prim, who looks like a bird and - BAM! Katniss pictures Rue and feels like crap.

Effie arrives and it's time to go! For their first on-screen moment, Katniss throws herself at Peeta, knocking them down into the snow, where they kiss passionately, full of "fur and snowflakes and lipstick." Yum.

Then, on the train, Katniss tells Haymitch what's up, and he's like, look honey, you're gonna have to keep this act up forever for all the reunion specials. She's like, DAMN, I didn't think of that in the past six months -- I'll have to MARRY PEETA!!! I'm like, Katniss, want to switch?

FIRESTARTERS
- Does everyone here really buy the idea that all of Panem's opinion rides on believing that K&P are in love? That if they're all thinking about insurrection, K&P's romance will suddenly change their minds? I tend to think Snow isn't so foolish as that, given what comes later...

- I realized for the first time in this chapter that Peeta's "winning personality" has become a bit blurry to me: is he so convincing because he's a natural charmer, because he's really in love with Katniss, or both? That is, it occurred to me during the snow-plow kiss, when Katniss is glad that Peeta fakes enthusiasm for her (or is he?), I started thinking back and reevaluating other moments when he was probably "turning it on," too. Is there a paradox or discrepancy in his character here?