This post does contain spoilers to the later chapters of the novel, so
please wait to read if you haven't finished through chapter 25.
For the second installment of "Things that make me go hmmm..." I wanted to bring up the feast at the Cornucopia in chapter 21 of The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.
In that chapter, Katniss goes to the feast to get the small pack that contains the life-saving medicine for Peeta. She sees the two large black packs, medium-sized green pack, and the one meant for her. We later learn in chapter 25 that the District 2 pack probably contained body armor to protect from Katniss' arrows (and other weapons). Although, since Thresh took both packs, it could have been in either one. And we already know what was inside the tiny District 12 pack. So, what did Foxface's (District 5) and Thresh's (District 11) contain?
We know that Thresh's was a large one just like the District 2's. Did it also contain body armor to protect Thresh from Cato and Clove's knives and swords (Clove was still alive when the packs appeared near the Cornucopia)? He didn't need food (Katniss remarks he looked better fed than when the Games started) and he wasn't injured.
Katniss also comments that perhaps one of the tributes needs a blanket. Did Thresh's contain a blanket, or was that what Foxface's contained? When Foxface dies, her body was so thin, so that could be an indication that she didn't get food in her pack. But, it also indicates that it might be the one thing she needed the most. But if it was, then why was she stealing food from Peeta?
We never learn what those two packs contained, so I asked my students what they thought. There's no wrong answers, of course. (Unless we find out in the movie what they contain, but that's not until March.) So here are some of their replies:
Thresh's District 11 Pack: battle armor just like Cato's, a weapon to protect himself from Cato, food, a battle ax, vanishing cream so no one could find him (it obviously didn't work), something to keep him warm, a tent, more rocks (his favorite weapon), a weapon and armor (because he killed Clove with a rock, he obviously didn't have one or get one at the Cornucopia), and my favorite answer: his pack had the armor and Cato's had food because he and Clove probably didn't know how to feed themselves (then Cato stole the pack of armor after he killed Thresh).
Foxface's District 5 Pack: a new pair of light sneakers so she can continue to sneak around unheard, sleeping bag to keep warm, a weapon to defend herself, night-vision glasses so she could steal food at night, "slippers of silence," food, and my favorite answer: a heat-reflecting sleeping bag and warm gloves and hat to keep from dying from hypothermia.
So what do YOU think was in the other packs at the feast?
Take it one step further: why do you think the two larger packs are black, the medium green, and the smallest orange? Is there any significance to the colors of the packs? Why not have them all the same color since they are already labeled with their district numbers? Certainly the Capitol would be able to find packs all the same color, right? What do you think?
