Catching Fire

Several characters use duplicity to achieve goals in Catching Fire. What are some examples and, in your opinion, were the characters justified?

Catching Fire

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Katniss and Peeta often lie for the Capitol's cameras. In The Hunger Games, their romance was manufactured in order to increase sponsorship and, thus, their chances of survival. In Catching Fire, they are forced to take this duplicity to the next level under threat from the president; if they do not convince Panem that they are motivated by love, their friends and family will be in danger. Here, the lie is necessary. When Katniss and Peeta must go back into the arena, their romance is again a topic but the objective has changed. Through the sympathy they provoke, they seek to expose the barbarism of the Games. Plutarch Heavensbee is also duplicitous. He is both Head Gamemaker and an architect of the rebellion. He give Katniss a hint to the design of the arena and also flashes his secret mockingjay watch. Plutarch is crucial to the rebels' plans and could only be effective if he acted as a double agent. Haymitch also secretly works for the rebels. His lack of disclosure is construed as betrayal by Katniss as Haymitch was one of the few people she trusted. Katniss is not able to forgive Haymitch less so because he didn't tell her about the plan, but more that Peeta was the collateral damage of the plan's success. Duplicity is necessary for all of these characters to achieve their goals and preserve their ways of life, but personal betrayal is harder to swallow.

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http://www.gradesaver.com/catching-fire/study-guide/major-themes/