The Reaping

In the woods, Katniss meets up with her friend, Gale.The two discuss running away and about the “Reaping” that is held that day. The Reaping is a drawing that all of the children are entered in once they reach the age of twelve. Every year between the ages of twelve and eighteen, each child’s name is entered in the drawing an addition time (once when you are twelve, twice when you are thirteen, etc.) and a child may choose to have their name entered as many extra times as they like for an additional rations. Most of the poor families in town, including Katniss’ own, choose to accept the tessera because they need it in order to survive. As a result, many children of the district have their name entered into the Reaping multiple times. Katniss herself notes that her name will be in twenty times this year, whereas Gale, who is eighteen, will have his entered

Each Reaping is televised and treated like a celebratory event. Once they reach the town’s square, Katniss, and her sister are separated as all of the eligible children are divided up by age and placed into sections in the crowd. When the Reaping begins, the mayor gives a speech about the history of the Hunger Games and the districts. Panem consists of a Capitol and twelve districts. Originally there were thirteen districts but the thirteenth rebelled and the Capitol’s crushing defeat of it was the impetus for the Hunger Games. Every year, two children between the ages of twelve and eighteen, one boy and one girl, are picked from each district. These two children are referred to as ‘tributes’ and sent to the Capitol to fight the other tributes from the other districts in an all-out battle to the death in a large arena. At the end of the battle, one tribute remains and is crowned the winner. This tribute’s district then receives extra food and the tribute themselves gets to live in a mansion in the winners district of