Another absolute masterpiece from Suzanne Collins.
Sunrise on the Reaping follows Haymitch Abernathy as he is reaped for the second Quarter Quell and enters the arena for the 50th annual Hunger Games on a mission to stop the Games for good.
This was another phenomenal addition to The Hunger Games universe with a huge statement on power and corruption in government systems.
I couldn’t put this book down. I’ve always been curious about Haymitch’s time in the Games for a few reasons, mostly because of his cold demeanor and the fact he had to best twice as many tributes in his arena. SotR thoroughly quenched my curiosity.
I first loved having a different narrator. Haymitch’s first-person POV was so much different from Katniss’. Katniss entered the arena with a boatload of trauma and PTSD; she was very closed off and cold because of her having to run on survival mode so long. But Haymitch was the opposite. He had a hard life, but he made it work for him. He was so lively. He had friends, a provider, a loving family, a girlfriend — a whole support network. You can see that in his narration; how much he feels for other people, the wonder he has for the beauty of the arena, the warmth he projects.
I also really enjoyed Lenore’s role in Haymitch’s character development. Lenore Dove is a much more active character than Haymitch, and she pushes him along. He remembers her acts of rebellion, and he acts on her behalf almost. He does it for her, because she made him want a birthday without a reaping.
I heard a lot of criticism that people wanted more Lenore, but I think that would negate the point of the narrative and take away from Haymitch’s story. She’s an example of the District’s unrest, while Haymitch represents the average District citizen. It’s meant to show why it takes 75 years to put an end to the Games.
The last thing I’ll touch on before getting into my thoughts is the symbolism of the posters. Haymitch is all about not letting the Capitol define him or his actions. The posters he and his fellow tributes paint symbolize their resistance to the propaganda the Capitol’s own posters portray. Haymitch wants to tell the real story with his posters, and those are the moments that stick out in the narrative — him holding Louella’s lifeless body under Snow’s balcony and dropping the chocolate ball in the arena — but unfortunately the Capitol covers it with their own poster of violence.
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I have about a zillion more topics I could elaborate on, but for now, I’ll leave it there. Here are all my thoughts on Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins. If there’s anything you’d like me to talk about further, let me know in the comments (Let’s chat!).
Being born on reaping day has to be the worst omen …
or the best because he helps stop the reapings
Haymitch makes the best out of what he’s been given. Things are the way they are and that’s not going to change, but damn if that’s going to stop him from living and loving.
pg. 10 / “Sure as the sun will rise tomorrow.”
It’s easier to cope through fatalism than to figure out and implement change.
But also we expect the sun to rise, but there’s a time when it doesn’t rise for us.
How many times over the next 25 years did Haymitch run over that conversation with Lenore about the sun rising? Repeat her question of having a birthday not on reaping day … of not believing change is possible …
The fact Haymitch wasn’t even picked out of the bowl shows how much of a farce the system really is. Like they don’t care how it’s done or if the District citizens see it, because all those kids are expendable, the Capitol still has the power. We will take your children through any means possible, and there is nothing you can do.
No wonder Haymitch liked Peet’s and Kathi’s so much. They’re so much like he was. They’re stubborn and defiant but so smart about it. They know the Game and they want to play by their own rules.
Carry Louella to President Snow … goddamn. What a poster. Make him acknowledge what he’s done, what he’s doing, what he’s allowing to happen. Much like Peeta painting Rue during the training session in Catching Fire. “This is what you’ve done, look at it.”
But does it matter when no one in the Districts will see it? Or that Snow still has all the power? It’s a personal thing. I need you to acknowledge the injustice.
pg. 96 / Haymitch doesn’t want to be a piece in their Games … he wants to hold onto his humanity. They can treat them like animals, but it doesn’t change the fact he’s a person. They are still children. If Hay has to die, he wants to die his way, on his terms; not the Capitol’s
Know how this ends is crushing … All Hay thinks about is his loved ones. He loves so deeply; he feels so much. The fact the Capitol takes that from him is heart shattering.
President Snow is still a rat bastard. He still blames Lucy Gray after all these years. He tries to turn Hay against Lenore, against her way of thinking. Projection because he almost turned against the Capitol because of it. Freedom sounded good when he didn’t have a shot at power. Now he flaunts that power over people to hurt them the way he’d been hurt by the system.
he seems to blame Lucy Gray instead of himself for his actions. He’s the one who cheated the Games. He emboldened Lucy to perform. He followed her to 12. He never takes accountability.
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Lou Lou is actually terrifying. Children — all children — really are disposable in this system. They always bear the heaviest burden of the Capitol’s injustice.
And the compassion the D12 team has for this mystery girl is heartwarming. They know it’s not her fault. She’s also a victim.
Oh, Effie. … Effie is the perfect example of how Capitol citizens are not the enemy. She’s grown up being fed Capitol propaganda. She’s fed into it because it’s all she knows. But she’s not a bad person. She’s the first person to treat the tributes like human beings, to acknowledge them as such and show them compassion for their situation. They’re still children to her, even though she thinks the Games are necessary.
pg. 192 / the parallel between Lenore Dove’s “Because the world doesn’t have to be so terrifying. That’s on people, not the world,” and Lucy Gray’s, “People aren’t so bad, really. It’s what the world does to them.”
the Capitol really messed up with the Quarter Quell because they only hurt more people and hurt people get angry. They find others to share that hurt. And in that allegiance, unity against a common enemy forms.
Knowing that Haymitch becomes so cold is heart wrenching. He was so warm, so full of love, so lively. He feels so deeply; no wonder he turns to drinking. Anything to stop the hurt.
I wonder if Wyatt got what he wanted? Was his death fast?
but also he died protecting Lou Lou … he didn’t live long enough to be bet on any further. Don’t let his dad make more money off him.
Haymitch is living up to the family name through and through. Whispering “murderers” into Lou Lou’s ear was so chilling. Keep reminding them what they’ve done. Force responsibility onto them.
pg. 242-243 / All the little ones flock to Haymitch because he’s a protector of the innocent. He’s selfless despite how selfish he feels.
I gotta say it, the “flood the brain” plan never seemed sound enough. It was wishful thinking to be able to “stop” the Games by breaking the arena. Katniss was only successful because the rebels swooped in with D13’s resources.
also Mags and Wiress were def in on it. That’s what lands them all in the third QQ.
There’s subtle (not-so-subtle) foreshadowing of the person Haymitch becomes because of the Games, and it’s crushing. A tragedy really. Because you know what happens, and there’s nothing you can do.
Hay always sees himself as having one foot in the grave. He’s not trying to win. He’s trying to help others survive. He thinks he’s selfish, but he’s so selfless. He knows he’s going to die, but that won’t stop him.
pg. 283 / “We never really recover, just move on the best we can.” … “white liquor and depression.”
We. We. We. Everyone suffers because of the Capitol.
pg. 299 / “Why didn’t you?”
I think Haymitch is smarter than his anger. A part of him knows killing Gamemakers and Peacekeepers won’t get him anything but an even earlier grave. Much like Katniss, his anger is directed at the right places. The top. The system. Maysilee had to die because she was all misdirected anger. Like Gale. She was justifiably pissed but didn’t know what to do with that fire except let it burn everyone and everything in her path. Haymitch knew he needed to blow the entire thing up; not quench his own rightful anger. His problem is with Snow’s cruelty and the government he formed that allows for injustice. These innocent people — yes, still innocent despite their roles — aren’t his enemy.
Maysilee’s death hurt so much even though I knew it was coming from the start. She had so much fight. So proud. So unapologetically herself. She didn’t let the Capitol dismiss her.
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Pg. 314 / “Not a bad poster at all.” Because that scene defies the essence of the Games. It breaks the image of entertainment. It’s not fun to see that compassion, humanity, desperation because it reminds the audience these are just kids. Innocent kids who cry, get scared, enjoy sweets …
No wonder Haymitch does everything to protect Katniss for Peeta. He understands. He was willing to die to keep Lenore alive.
pg. 346 / “I wonder if they ever consider that we’re watching them, too.”
they see all the injustices. See it all pile up until eventually it’s too much. An abused dog that eventually bites back.
Haymitch is like Katniss in that he know how and when he has to play the game. He knew the milk was a power move from Snow. He knows Snow has the upper hand always. But he tries to refuse when he can. He knows when he wins the gist is up. He’s lost to Snow. He’ll pretend to be a good little victor to protect his family.
Snow made sure Hay would have to stand by and be helpless to his family’s demise. A show of power. Can’t leave questions. He had to see what Snow could do. The power he has. I will kill your family and there’s nothing you can do but watch. The Districts are an arena in themselves.
then with Lenore he makes it appear to be Hay’s own fault. Make him live with that guilt. Outsmart him the way Hay wanted to outsmart Snow. It gives Snow the last laugh.
I love how Lenore Dove haunts the narrative in Sunrise on the Reaping. Through Haymitch reciting the Raven and his constant thinking of her, but also through her ideals. It’s her optimism and drive for change that needles into Haymitch’s fatalistic thinking to try to bring the Games to an end.
“And that’s part of our trouble,” Lenore tells him. “Thinking things are inevitable. Not believing change is possible.”
Then the guilt of feeding her the gumdrop lingers in his nightmares, and his last promise to her keeps him alive even though it feels impossible.
Lenore Dove haunts Haymitch in life and death. He grieves her — them — but she’s always with him
The use of The Raven as a metaphor for Haymitch’s grief throughout the novel is spectacular. It fills in the gaps of his narration. He feels so much and maybe he can’t find the words to describe his own suffering and spiraling madness, so he falls back on these words to say it for him.
the Capitol / Pres. Snow is Hay’s raven. He wants to forget but the Capitol checks still show up with food parcels, the act of Snow haunting him, the Games each year. It drives him to madness.
Life of Bry 
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