How are Haymitch and Katniss Alike? PART 2

As discussed in Part 1, the original trilogy features a subplot that follows the growing familial — if challenging– bond between Haymitch and Katniss. Now in Part 2, we’ll focus on how the Sunrise prequel enhances our understanding of both complicated characters. Admittedly, the second prequel does not speak to this relationship directly as Katniss had done (perhaps with the exception of the Epilogue). Collins is as subtle as she is thorough, however. In Sunrise she continues to develop the parallels between two of our favorite characters. For those looking to verify Katniss’ (and Peeta’s) realization of how much she resembles her troubled mentor, there is plenty to consider and probably too much for inclusion in a single post here. For now, we’ll focus below on several categories of parallels between them, namely their similar (and somewhat contrasting) family structures, their experiences with food and drink, a shared outdoor tutor by the name of Burdock Everdeen, and parallel friendships with younger tributes.

Comparable Family Situations

Certain parallels between Haymitch’s and Katniss’ family structures have been widely shared, though it is useful to review them here. Regardless of film casting choices, both of our protagonists are “Seam,” in terms of their manufactured racial origin and home place in District 12. Katniss describes Haymitch as displaying the Seam look, with dark, curly hair and gray eyes — and humorously, that he was “something of a looker” during his teenage years.

It follows that their families are similarly dependent upon coal extraction for their household income, and both lose a father during their early teenage years to the mines. The causes of both deaths remain suspicious as well. Just as Katniss suggests a lingering mystery surrounding the explosion that killed her father (Burdock), Haymitch comments about the mystery around the mine fire that killed his Pa. He explains that his Abernathy ancestors were “known rebels back in the day,” and that they still carry the “scent of sedition.” (SOR 5) He then speaks of the mystery around his Pa’s own death: “Rumors spread after my father’s death, rumors that the fire had not been an accident. Some say he died sabotaging the mine, others that his crew was targeted by the Capitol bosses for being a pack of troublemakers. So it could be my kin’s the problem.” Likewise, to this day a popular fan theory holds that the mine explosion that killed Katniss’ father was not an accident. Instead, the incident can possibly be traced back to his talk of an uprising down in the mines.

Furthermore, both Katniss and Haymitch have younger siblings they would do anything to protect. The youngsters also look up to their respective older sibling as a role model, if not a pseudo-parent. Something less noticed is that both Sid and Prim display early aspirations toward academic studies in the sciences. And to their credit, both Katniss and Haymitch lovingly encourage and nurture these interests despite the Games hanging over their heads. Prim may not consciously know it yet during the 74th Games, but she is predisposed to a career in health care due to informal training at her mother’s side. In Sid’s case, he looks to the stars and delights in giving his family a tour of the constellations — humorously including the “water dipper,” a variant on the Big and Little Dippers noted by astronomers and various civilizations that came before him. He then points out the “bowhunter,” which he claims looks like Burdock, a reference to his skills with a bow and arrow that he will one day teach his daughter. (Sidebar: the “bowhunter” constellation is likely what we call Sagittarius, the Archer. Originally recorded by the 2nd century astronomer, Ptolemy, the constellation is usually represented by a centaur drawing a bow. Sound like Katniss?) One is left to wonder what happier lives and careers would have awaited both youngsters had they survived the oppressive system of Panem and the ensuing rebellion. This brings us to the final and most tragic parallel, as both siblings suffer untimely deaths at the hands of their oppressors, whether directly or otherwise. Both Katniss and Haymitch are forced to live with their own powerlessness to prevent this outcome, despite a similarly fierce determination throughout their respective storylines.

Aside from these parallels, Collins points out important contrasts between their respective situations. In her exclusive interview (Barnes & Noble edition) with David Levithan at Scholastic, she first emphasizes that Katniss’ parents are both non-functional, or at least emotionally unavailable. She explains, “Katniss loses her mother to grief and depression when her father dies and becomes her family’s provider and protector at age eleven.” In contrast, she continues, “Haymitch doesn’t have to take full responsibility for himself until he’s reaped.” This is because Haymitch’s mother (Willamae) is a fully engaged parent who is striving to move forward after Pa’s early death. Collins explains, “I think this has allowed him to be more open-hearted and optimistic than the other two heading into the story.” Earlier in the interview, Levithan suggests that, despite a life that has “had its sadness,” Haymitch has largely experienced a “good life so far.” Going into the reaping, this is a markedly different situation than what either Katniss or Coriolanus had thus far experienced. Collins agrees and responds, “Yes, his life has been largely good. A loving family, good friends, the love of his life. A sweet part-time job that may lead to a profitable, if illegal, career… He’s happy except for the shadow of the Games that hangs over them all. So, emotionally, his loss is the greatest because he has the most to lose.” The final contrast, then, is how the stories end for these three characters. Both Katniss and Coriolanus retain “loved ones to the end,” she claims. (Well, Coriolanus may be a stretch, but perhaps he feels some form of love for his granddaughter and unmentioned family?) In contrast, she continues, Snow “tries to strip Haymitch of everything: family, friends, lover, job, community, liberty, happiness, and the freedom to love anyone. His personal stakes couldn’t be higher.” Perhaps in the end, however, the optimist might suggest that Haymitch does eventually come around, gradually opening his heart to Katniss and her new family by the time of his Epilogue. For this reason, Snow does not ultimately “land on top.”

Food and Drink

Much has been written about the meanings of food throughout the original trilogy, and this culinary topic remains prominent throughout the prequels. As Valerie Frankel emphasizes in her own companion book (Sinister Sunrise), our eating practices and food preferences play a major role in constructing our own cultural identities. Essentially, “You are what you eat.” Collins knows this well, serving her readers with a veritable smorgasbord of American and Classical Roman foods. Frankel explains that Capitol residents “feast on Roman food like roast suckling pig and American food like pumpkin soup and strawberry ice cream. Such worldbuilding helps establish the incredibly opulent Capitol as a satire of both cultures as they waste food and take it for granted while seeking more and fancier alternatives” (Sinister Sunrise, 67).

I would add that within Collins’ own worldbuilding of Panem— which, to remind us, is Latin for “bread” — she is further distinguishing between two fundamental regional culture traditions. Foods associated with Appalachia provide Haymitch and Katniss with an emotional sense of home, while the Capitol provides its own citizens with an untold variety of exotic and exquisite recipes. A further distinction exists within District 12, between the Seam and merchant class, with respect to the foods they can afford and acquire. This becomes all the more prominent when comparing the experiences of Maysilee and Haymitch throughout Sunrise. With all of this in mind, let’s look at some highlights of some obvious and subtle food references that help connect Haymitch and Katniss and their own upbringings.

Bean and Ham Hock Soup: This favorite dish of Haymitch is mentioned numerous times throughout Sunrise. We learn it is associated with funerals and mourning rituals in District 12 and serves as a poignant memory of his father’s funeral and ensuing meal. On one level Haymitch cannot stop raving about its taste and smell, while also triggering pleasant associations with his home and family in the Seam. Mags presumably learns of this connection and purposely serves the dish in the apartment for dinner (91). This cannot be a random coincidence. Wiress explains that “Mags ordered this specially from the kitchen,” which may be a clue that Mags had done her research. Haymitch savors his comfort food, saying, “I take a spoonful and let the taste of home course through me, strengthening me for what’s to come.” (91)

The soup is clearly analogous to Katniss’ own favorite Capitol dish, lamb stew with dried plums served over wild rice. In this way, Collins deftly provides both Haymitch and Katniss with favorite dishes that are reprised throughout their respective stories. And it is Mags who likely gives Haymitch the idea of silently communicating by sending favorite foods into the arena. Just as she sends in soup for Haymitch (and strawberry ice cream for Maysilee – see this post), Haymitch “pays it forward” by communicating with the gifts he sends (or does not send) into Katniss’ own arenas. Upon receiving his own gift of food, Haymitch quickly concludes, “Mags. Trying to reach us, to let us know we are not alone in our pain, to give us strength to go on” (SOR 273). We can therefore credit Mags with Haymitch’s system of communicating covertly in the arena with Katniss. It is this strategy of coded messaging through parachutes that helps forge a stronger bond of mutual trust between them (see Part 1 for more on this).

Exotic Food and Drink: Both Haymitch and Katniss augment their subsistence diets from the Seam with an endless barrage of unfamiliar exotic foods and drinks in the Capitol. In a likely attempt to shock her younger readers, Collins reveals some common foods we take for granted that never make it into isolated District 12. Other foods become occasionally available for the wealthier merchant class but are simply unaffordable in the Seam. She takes this approach within the storylines of both characters. When Katniss thinks she is seeing an “elegant glass of orange juice,” for instance (HG 55), she recalls having only tasted an orange once before, when her father brought one home for New Year’s. Peeta then introduces Katniss to hot chocolate, which neither of them had seen back in 12. In Haymitch’s case, he has never tasted bananas, olives, or sardines, which some keen fans have compared with Katniss’ own Capitol food encounters. He is further unimpressed with the pineapple on his ill-fated birthday cake. Not only do these cases highlight the lack of specialized, imported foods in the impoverished Seam, but also solidify how eating habits and preferences contribute to one’s cultural identity and connections with home.

Coffee and Breakfast: The American fascination with big breakfasts is treated similarly in both of their stories as well. Katniss tells us that her mother “adores coffee, which we could almost never afford.” (HG 55) Either way, Katniss is not a fan, as it simply tastes “bitter and thin” to her (apparently Starbucks had not yet entered the District 12 market). Haymitch has no more use for coffee than does Katniss, yet another similarity between them. In contrast, both Asterid (Katniss’ mother) and Maysilee enjoy the black drink, thereby coding the beverage as a privilege for those who can afford it. Haymitch’s class consciousness plays out through such interactions with Maysilee, and the topic of coffee provides one more indicator of their respective household incomes back home. Asked if she is going to eat one morning, Maysilee replies, “I’m not a breakfast person.” (94) Haymitch tells us, “You can see why she drives people nuts. If there’s a breakfast available in the Seam, everybody’s just pleased to see it.” He then teases Maysilee with a dry sense of humor Katniss would appreciate: A big breakfast is “going to come in handy in the arena. Especially if you’re not a lunch or supper person either.” Mags agrees, and Maysilee begrudgingly takes a tiny bite of bacon, only re-emphasizing her privileged daintiness.

In this respect, Collins portrays Maysilee as similar to Capitol residents who take food availability for granted. Plenty of comfortable American families can easily relate to someone in their bathrobe shuffling around the kitchen, waking up with a fresh cup of coffee. That’s Maysilee. From District 12, where even the more fortunate residents are supposed to be relatively impoverished. In contrast, Haymitch views her refusal to eat breakfast as strange, not to mention impractical. In these and many other cases, Haymitch and Katniss display similar perceptions of food in their lives, which is literally necessary for their mere survival. For Seam residents, families don’t eat unless it is illegally caught, foraged, milked, or grown in household gardens. This is more reminiscent of traditional Appalachian subsistence farming, which our characters from the Seam represent well throughout all five books in the saga.

White Liquor and Related Spirits: Just one more heartbreaking aspect of Sunrise appears early on, when we discover that Haymitch was not fond of alcohol until after his 50th Games. Despite being known as the town drunk and a laughable character in the first novel, it becomes apparent later that his uncontrolled alcoholism is a product of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This is confirmed throughout Sunrise, when he tells us he drinks to forget. But his teenage years were different, as he tells us before his reaping. When Hattie gives him a bottle for his birthday, she tells him he’s old enough to drink now. He replies, “I have to agree and, though I’m not a drinker myself, I’m glad to get the bottle. I can easily sell it or trade it or possibly pass it on to Lenore Dove’s uncle, Clerk Carmine, so that he might have a kinder opinion of me. (SOR 5) Likewise, Katniss is not an early fan of white liquor or alcohol in general. In the trilogy she has a difficult time imagining how Haymitch can drink the stuff, and it takes some time for her to warm up to a normal glass of wine. Near the end of the first novel, she makes an important decision, thinking, “The idea scares me some. I think of Haymitch, with all his money. What did his life become? He lives alone, no wife or children, most of his waking hours drunk. I don’t want to end up like that.” (HG 311) Later in Catching Fire, however, she shows early signs of starting down Haymitch’s dark path, when the pair of them starts to drink together. Peeta finally puts an end to it, emptying the bottles and coaching both Haymitch and Katniss to train for the 75th Games. Peeta had likely played an instrumental role in reversing Katniss’ own slippery slope toward alcoholism.

A Shared Mentor and Similar Skillsets

Burdock’s Lessons: Katniss wasn’t the only one who picked up skills from her father. One astonishing surprise from the latest prequel was the extent to which Haymitch hung out with Burdock and friends and acquired strikingly similar skills and outdoor experiences. On one sense, Burdock unwittingly provided both Haymitch and Katniss with fundamental outdoor survival skills that would become invaluable within their respective Games.The parallels seem to begin with apples. Katniss explained early on that, “In the fall, a few brave souls sneak into the woods to harvest apples. But always in sight of the Meadow.” (HG 5) Haymitch’s own story begins similarly, with he and his friends harvesting apples, flashing back to the time he met Lenore Dove tossing apples down from a tree. He recalls, “My friend Burdock had finally worn me down, saying he did it all the time and there was nothing to it and there were still apples if you could climb. And I could climb and I loved apples. Plus, him being younger than me made me feel like a big scaredy-cat if I didn’t.” (SOR 6) Beyond this, Haymitch occasionally peppers his narrative with subtle credits to Burdock for his experiences with various outdoor skills. More of them are discussed below.

Climbing Trees: Speaking of apple trees, Haymitch is amazingly adept at climbing them and does so several times in the arena. For his second night, he nonchalantly explains, “I’m not dizzy now, so I pick a sizable tree with thick foliage near the butterfly bush and climb about thirty feet into the branches. I pitch my hammock between two sturdy limbs, making sure that if one side gives way, I’ll have a fork to catch me.” (SOR 235) This all seems like second nature for Haymitch, and it would not take much imagination to pretend that Katniss was the narrator here instead. And much like Katniss in Catching Fire, Haymitch decides to climb to the top of a tree to scan the arena. This scene could actually be one of Collins’ intentional callbacks to the trilogy. His main goal is to look for Ampert, saying, “I come upon the binoculars and try them out. That inspires me to climb higher and get a better sense of the lay of the land. Near the tippy-top of the tree, which towers over most, I can see a great distance.” (SOR 238) Not much earlier, he stops to reflect on his accomplishments thus far, considering how he earned his recent parachute: “While I breakfast, I review why, from the Capitol sponsors’ perspective, I think I’ve earned this expensive gift. I evaded the bloodbath with supplies and weapons, I survived poisoning, I made fire, cooked food, torched some butterflies, and found a tree to sleep in. Conclusion: I’m fairly resourceful and clearly selfish enough to win.” (237) Again, this could have been written word-for-word by Katniss, who likewise gradually gains confidence throughout her first Games.

Throwing Knives: Another subtle connection with Katniss and the trilogy involves knives. When Maysilee surprisingly suggests that her fellow tributes should try the knife-throwing station, Haymitch is mildly impressed that she “hits more than she misses.” (See this post for more on Maysilee’s own puzzling skillset.) Then we learn about Haymitch’s own dexterity with knives — he “sticks it every time” — which seems to date back to childhood. He explains, “I’m not a complete stranger to knife games, although a fondness for my toes keeps me away from mumblety-peg. A target on an old shed or tree – well, that’s fair game. Blair’s really good and I’m not too shabby myself. I think of my brand-new birthday pocketknife that I didn’t get to throw even once, and hope Sid gets some joy from it.” (SOR 101) In this subtle way we learn how Katniss learned her own knife skills, through her father, Burdock.

Haymitch continues his fondness for knives into Catching Fire, when he jumps up in surprise, “wielding a knife” as Katniss douses him with water to wake him up. She quickly remembers, Certainly another symptom of his PTSD, Katniss explains, “I forgot he always sleeps with one clutched in his hand.” (CF 14) Later, she begins to train with Peeta and Haymitch like the Careers, to gain strength and agility for the 75th Games. Katniss realizes the extent to which Haymitch’s body has declined, however, telling us, “After all the years of abuse, Haymitch’s body resists improvement. He’s still remarkably strong, but the shortest run winds him. And you’d think a guy who sleeps every night with a knife might actually be able to hit the side of a house with one, but his hands shake so badly it takes weeks for him to achieve even that.” (CF 184)

What is likely an all-but-forgotten mention in passing by Katniss, Collins takes us back in Sunrise to help us understand when this habit of paranoia began. While trading night watches with Maysilee, Haymitch tells us, “Maysilee has let me sleep most of the night. When we switch places, I’m determined to give her the same opportunity. Ax and knife at hand, I keep the fire burning with bits of fuel until the sun rises on our fifth day in the arena.” (274) While on his shift, he must be prepared for any threat by keeping his ax and knife at the ready. More poignantly, he later experiences one of his first (if not the first) nightmare, painting a sordid picture for us: “…other ghosts, filled with hate and rage, visit me in the night. Panache seems to have little to do but hunt me down and Silka thinks I owe her a crown. The terror bleeds into my waking hours. I start sleeping with a knife in my hand.” (374) And thus we learn where his habit began.

Fast Runners: A less noticed ability shared by Haymitch and Katniss involves their speed on foot. It’s instructive to return to the original novel where Katniss allows herself a rare pat on the back — twice. First she tells us, “I’m thinking that it’s lucky I’m a fast runner when Peeta nudges my arm and I jump.” (HG 95). Later when contemplating a run at the Cornucopia against Haymitch’s instructions, she tells herself, “I’m fast. I can sprint faster than any of the girls in our school although a couple can beat me in distance races. But this forty-yard length, this is what I am built for. (HG 149) Returning to the Sunrise prequel, my first thought was the potential parallel between Katniss and Woodbine Chance, as Haymitch tells us the whole family is known for their quickness on foot (though not fast enough for Woodbine, he notes). But Haymitch can run with the best of them as well. During the chaos of the tribute parade, Maysilee encourages him to protect Louella’s lifeless body from the Peacekeepers: “She doesn’t belong to them,” snaps Maysilee. “Don’t just hand her over. Make them fight for her. Run!” Haymitch responds with, “So I do. And I’m a fast runner.” (SOR 77). This is the same language Katniss uses in the first novel. Coincidence, or subtle callback?

Katniss and Rue, Haymitch and Ampert

The close if ill-fated friendship that developed between Katniss and Rue is now legendary. After only a short time in their Games, Rue had earned a special place in Katniss’ heart, for the primary reason that Rue reminded her of Prim, and — by extension — of home. By the time she allies with Rue in the arena, Katniss had already demonstrated her sentiments of attachment for home, especially for her mother and Prim. It is made crystal clear that the one motivating factor keeping Katniss alive is her sister. Her interactions with Rue only enhance her memories of home, with Rue becoming an unwitting surrogate for Prim in the arena. Katniss tells us that Rue is the twelve year old who reminded her so much of Prim, though she only appears to be ten (THG 98). She then makes a meaningful association between Rue and a small flower of the same name back in 12. Although she imagines Haymitch’s displeasure with wanting Rue for an ally, she explains, “Because she’s a survivor, and I trust her, and why not admit it? She reminds me of Prim.” (THG 201) One could further argue that her strong bond with Rue — as an extension of home — is what leads to Katniss’ first real act of defiance, that of memorializing Rue’s death by kindly preparing her body and placing flowers around her for all to see.

For his part, Haymitch meets his own surrogate for his younger brother Sid, by the name of Ampert. By the time he finds Ampert in the arena, Haymitch had already promised Beetee to watch over his ill-fated son right to the end. The bond that has already been nurtured between them, however, becomes more apparent when Ampert immediately throws his arms around him upon their reunion. Haymitch tells us, “I just hug him back and say, ‘Hey, buddy.’ I’m surprised by how small he feels, because he’s such a take-charge kind of kid. But he’s only about Sid’s size and plenty scared.” (SOR 239) From this point, the two of them will work together as allies and friends just as Katniss and Rue would do 24 years later. Both pairs of allies are similarly homesick, as Haymitch points out for their part. After Ampert refers to the butterfly bush as their “home,” Haymitch muses, “Home. He calls it their home. Is it because he misses his own so much? Twelve years old . . . barely five feet tall . . . his voice still hasn’t even changed. If I’m homesick, what must it be like for him?” (SOR 242) Just as Katniss and Rue often think of home, so do Haymitch and Ampert. The strong, emotional attachment that Katniss and Haymitch feel for the homeplace is a continuous thread throughout both of their respective stories. Then before Haymitch makes his courageous descent into Sub-A, they both presume it will be their final goodbye. Haymitch tells us, “I slide my knife into his belt, muss his hair like I do Sid’s, and say, ‘Best ally ever.'” (SOR 247) His thoughts of Sid at home thus continue during this emotional parting.

The more dramatic and heart wrenching goodbye comes later, however. After following the squirrel mutts back to Ampert, a shocked Haymitch surveys only his “pearly white bones,” a subtle callback (or Easter egg) to Lucy Gray’s reference to her mother in Ballad. He first thinks of Beetee and how his own heart must be breaking into “fragments so small it can never be repaired.” He then tells us, “Mine pounds like a drum as a wave of rage surges into it.” He emits a howl that “bounces off the fake sky and echoes around the arena.” His anger and defiance kick in as it did with Katniss upon saying goodbye to Rue. He says, “I want to kill them all. Snow, the Gamemakers, every person in the Capitol who has been party to this atrocity.” (SOR 252) Haymitch’s empathetic and compassionate heart is devastated, and he breaks down in sadness and rage. This mirrors Katniss’ own experience quite closely with the death of Rue. In this way, both lives of the younger surrogates end tragically at the hands of an oppressive regime, only fueling their caretakers’ determination to bring the system down.

Source of Featured Image: Screenrant, custom image by Yeider Chacon