A Tiny Detail In The Hunger Games Becomes A Full-Blown, Heartbreaking Story In Haymitch's Prequel

Warning: This list contains minor spoilers for Suzanne Collins’ novel Sunrise on the Reaping.Sunrise on the Reaping, the latest book in The Hunger Games franchise, shows the quiet that comes after the bloody Games and war, this time from Haymitch’s perspective. The book lives up to the reputation of being about the bloodiest Hunger Games in history, which involved twice as many tributes as usual, and an arena with an idyllic veneer but filled with ᴅᴇᴀᴅly flora and fauna. Moreover, the surprises of Sunrise on the Reaping include a rebel plot that will be edited from history by the Capitol, indiscernible from the recorded version of the Games years later.

Sunrise on the Reaping also tells the tragic love story between Haymitch and Lenore Dove, who, along with Haymitch’s mother and brother, is killed on President Snow’s orders for Haymitch’s actions in the arena. Haymitch is bound by a promise to Lenore Dove to fight to end the Hunger Games throughout the original trilogy, but he does not speak of her for years. Sunrise on the Reaping can be interpreted as a retcon, but a small detail in the Mockingjay novel actually suggests that Lenore Dove was always embedded in the story.

Katniss Collects Geese Eggs For Haymitch In Honor Of Lenore Dove In The Prequel’s Epilogue

Haymitch Remembers Lenore Dove In The Meadow With Her Geese

In Sunrise on the Reaping‘s epilogue, Haymitch discusses his life after the fall of the Capitol, including that he eventually told Katniss and Peeta the full story of his Hunger Games, family, and lost love. He apparently mentioned that Lenore Dove tended to a cherished flock of geese while she was alive because Katniss raids several nests to come up with a collection of goose eggs, so Haymitch can raise them. Sunrise on the Reaping‘s ending suggests that Haymitch eventually reunites with Lenore Dove, but he still feels connected to her in his later life through things like the geese.

Mockingjay’s Final Chapters Actually Mention Haymitch Raising Geese After The War

To Keep Busy, Katniss Hunts, Peeta Bakes, Haymitch Raises Geese

In the final chapters of Mockingjay, Katniss relates to the reader a sense of District 12 gradually rebuilding, and her, Peeta, and Haymitch all getting on with their lives and letting time make things less painful for them. Among other things, she mentions that Haymitch has taken to raising geese, suggesting that it’s simply a healthier pastime for him than drinking, but that he might neglect or abandon it:

“Haymitch drinks until the liquor runs out, and then raises geese until the next train arrives. Fortunately, the geese can take pretty good care of themselves.”

She does not mention the meaning the geese hold for Haymitch or the fact that she gathered the eggs herself for him.

However, it now marks an intriguing point in the Hunger Games books when this detail would become vital to Haymitch’s story. We don’t know how much of Sunrise on the Reaping Suzanne Collins already held in her mind while writing the main trilogy, versus what she developed later, making the best use of the spaces left by her flagship series. However, Haymitch was always a private, mysterious character, who we knew had been through a lot when he met Katniss and Peeta, and leveraging elements such as the geese paints a fuller picture of his life in all the books.