Comparison of Katniss and Haymitch

Katniss is compared to Haymitch several times in The Hunger Games, often as Peeta telling her they are similar to each other. They both come off as hostile and defensive to most people, so they are similar in a superficial way. However, Katniss reflects that they also seem to have a deeper understanding of each other. She realizes he only sends gifts to her because she’ll understand the underlying message and the strategy behind them, whereas Peeta doesn’t think enough like Haymitch to pick up on it. This realization segues into Katniss thinking about Haymitch’s life. Specifically, she thinks about how dark his role is, realizing, “It must be hell to mentor two kids and then watch them die. Year after year” (306). This is followed by another, even darker realization, “If I get out of here, that will be my job” (306).

The comparisons drawn between Katniss and Haymitch prior to this tie her not just to him, but to his future. Katniss realizes that her life after the games, if she has one, won’t just be as a mentor like any other victor. She will end up like Haymitch: smart enough to win, but not to save her future tributes. This comparison undermines the sense of victory, success, and relief that came with the idea of Katniss winning before. Now the realization of what her life will be like after the games shows that there is no way to truly “win” in the society they live in. Katniss has been snatched from a life of poverty, to a fight to the death, to later carry the burden of every child from her district that dies in the games after her. This is one of the moments of the first book in which the scope of Katniss’s struggle, as well as that of Panem as a whole, is widened to show the underlying issues in their society, not just the injustice of the games and the action within them.