Previous
Chapter 20
Themes
and Colors
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Sunrise on the Reaping, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Authoritarianism, Surveillance, and Propaganda
Compliance vs. Resistance
Unity vs. Individualism
Music, Solidarity, and Grief
Dehumanization and State-Sponsored Violence
Summary
Analysis
Haymitch and Maysilee flee the hedge maze and help each other remove the mutated ladybugs from their skin. Maysilee declares Haymitch’s plan “unsustainable,” and he agrees. They eat and use their tarps to collect rainwater from a sudden shower. Joking that they’re really blood kin now, Haymitch and Maysilee talk sadly about their families back in District 12, hoping their families can cope with their inevitable deaths. The cannon fires twice. Maysilee doesn’t want to hope it’s the last two Careers who’ve died, since that leaves only Newcomers. Having used most of their food to recover, the pair heads toward the Cornucopia.
Surviving alongside Maysilee impresses upon Haymitch the value of genuine human connection—especially in times of intense suffering. Even though he won’t share his true intentions with her, Maysilee trusts Haymitch enough to help him. The socioeconomic backgrounds that used to divide them no longer matter in the arena: they’re both just kids grieving the loss of their families.
Active
Themes
Haymitch and Maysilee walk until they hear a crying sound, almost like an infant. Haymitch envisions mutt babies designed to eat their flesh. A boy screams. Knowing all the male Careers are dead, they rush toward the sound. In a clearing, two tributes lie writhing, pierced with metallic spikes. A gigantic mutt porcupine lumbers toward them, covered in gleaming quills. A third tribute lunges at the beast but gets stabbed in the thigh. Doubling up their tarps as a shield, Haymitch throws his ax at the porcupine. It squeals before taking aim and shooting its quills into the tarp. One quill sticks Haymitch’s nose, which starts to swell. The quill is clearly poisonous. A cannon sounds, indicating one of the tributes is dead.
At this late stage of the Games, with so few tributes left, letting these three tributes die is in Maysilee and Haymitch’s best interest. Yet neither is willing to surrender their empathy for the sake of survival; instead, they selflessly intervene. By denying the Capitol the victory of seeing them dehumanize themselves for the sake of the Games, Haymitch and Maysilee take part in another form of resistance by refuting the narrative that they are violent, self-serving animals.
Active
Themes
Haymitch and Maysilee lure the porcupine out of the clearing by throwing olives. Another cannon fires. The friends try to feed antidote to the surviving tribute until the cannon fires a third time. Defeated, Maysilee hopes either she or Haymitch wins so they can refuse to play into the Capitol’s propaganda. Thinking of Pa, Sarshee, and posters, Haymitch agrees. That night, five more tributes have died, including Ringina. This leaves Haymitch, Maysilee, Wellie from District 6, and two Careers: Silka and Maritte. Unable to sleep, Haymitch wishes aloud for a lullaby. Jokingly, Maysilee sings a verse about ladybugs flying away from a flaming house. Thinking of the hedge, ladybugs, and his blowtorch, Haymitch realizes how to get through the maze.
