The Hunger Games: Chapter 14 Summary & Analysis

Katniss realizes that Rue is pointing at what looks like a wasp nest above Katniss’s head, but Katniss suspects that they’re no ordinary wasps. She believes that the nest belongs to tracker jackers, more muttations from the Capitol. A single tracker jacker sting can swell to the size of a plum and cause hallucinations—several stings can kill a person. The tracker jackers also track down those who have disturbed their nest—hence the name tracker jacker. The smoke from the fire seems to have subdued them for now.

Katniss devises a plan to cut down the branch on which the nest hangs. She believes that dropping the nest on the Career pack will be her only chance of escape. She begins to saw at the branch while the evening’s anthem plays, allowing the music to cover up the sound of her sawing. When the music stops, Katniss decides to cut the rest in the morning. When she returns to her spot in the branches below, she discovers that Haymitch has sent her a pot of ointment to treat her burns. The ointment must have cost a fortune and is extremely efficient, offering immediate relief. Katniss dozes off to sleep.

When Katniss awakens in the morning, she sees that all of the members of the Career pack have drifted off to sleep. She decides to execute her plan but warns Rue before she cuts the rest of the branch that holds the tracker jacker nest. As she saws, she notices that the tracker jackers are beginning to recover from the smoke and are already leaving their nest. As the branch crashes down, three of the tracker jackers find her and sting her, and the rest attack the Career pack. Two of the Careers seem like they won’t survive the attack, including Glimmer, the girl who has the bow and arrows from the Cornucopia. The rest run in the direction of the lake. Katniss flees in the opposite direction, but returns when she remembers the weapons.

Katniss is hallucinating severely because of the tracker jacker stings, and the trees around her seem to be spinning when she returns. She tries to pry the bow from Glimmer’s hands, but the flesh looks like it’s melting away, and Katniss recoils in horror. Finally, she’s able to obtain the bow and arrows, but then someone else comes rushing through the branches with a spear aimed for her. Katniss registers that it’s Peeta. Suddenly, Peeta is urging her to run, and she does, but not before she sees a fearsome Career named Cato arriving at the scene as well, with his sword drawn.

Katniss continues to hallucinate as she stumbles away, vaguely aware that someone—possibly she—is screaming. Finally, she trips and lands in a place that seems to be filled with orange bubbles. Her final thought is that Peeta Mellark saved her life.