Haymitch’s Heartbreaking Character Arc Makes Even More Sense (Thanks to Sunrise On the Reaping)

This article briefly mentions alcoholism.

Since Katniss Everdeen brought down the government of Panem in Suzanne Collins’s monumental dystopian book series, fans have been waiting with bated breath for a certain prequel to hit the shelves. In 2025, The Hunger Games author did exactly that with Haymitch Abernathy’s story, Sunrise on the Reaping. The District 12 victors’ story was not the first of its kind. Collins had also published a book from the perspective of a young Coriolanus Snow, which was quickly adapted into a feature film.

The story was generally par for the course as readers watched a young man turn into the maniacal antagonist at the heart of The Hunger Games. Haymitch’s story, however, was a different one, even more heartbreaking than fans had initially considered. While Katniss and Peeta’s curmudgeonly mentor had briefly reflected on his experiences in the games in the original trilogy, that was nothing compared to the trauma that Haymitch had experienced in his youth.

Haymitch Was Reaped Illegally During the Quarter Quell

It is no secret that every survivor of The Hunger Games carries with them the trauma of what they experienced to the end of their days. No one projected this more than Haymitch Abernathy, a legend in District 12. The only winner of the Games in recent memory, everyone in the District knew who he was. Most importantly, they knew his penchant for alcoholism and was a mentor to every single tribute that came from the area. When Katniss initially volunteered to replace her sister, Prim, she recognized Haymitch as the embarrassing reminder of what would happen to anyone who survived.

Throughout the series, Haymitch’s desire for social lubrication was slowly unwrapped as it was revealed that he was a survivor of a Quarter Quell. The Quell was a dangerous game that required twice as many tributes who would die bloodily. In the book Sunrise on the Reaping, the truth of Haymitch’s tragic entrance to the games was uncovered. As it turned out, Haymitch was not initially one of the two boys chosen for that year.

The odds were certainly not in his favor as one of the boys, Woodbine Chance, made a run for it after he was selected. He was greeted with a bullet to the back of the head, which started a riot in District 12. Chaos reigned as the Capitol tried to get a hold of the situation while the citizens were acting out. Haymitch identified one person in need of his help: His girlfriend, Lenore Dove.

Caught up in the emotion of the day, Lenore Dove attempted to help Woodbine’s bereft mother, only to get disciplined by Peacekeepers. Desperate to keep the love of his life safe, Haymitch tried to intercede, only to get pulled from the crowd. His simple act of chivalry changed his life forever in an instant when the Capitol decided to use him as the second boy tribute for that year.

Even though he wasn’t properly reaped by random selection, he was grabbed anyway. He had made himself a target, and the Capitol had to get the broadcast back online quickly enough so that viewers at home would be none the wiser that the reaping didn’t go on without a hitch. Afraid for Lenore Dove and his family, Haymitch towed the party line. Not wanting to become the next Woodbine Chance, he went along with it, despite the monumental unfairness of it all. But if the government of Panem is anything, it is unfair.

Haymitch got punished for being a good person and, like anyone else who makes it out of the games alive, endured consequences so drastic that he was never the same again. Though he tried to keep his head up for the most part, the system always gets what it wants. Haymitch was destroyed, and everyone he ever loved along with it.

Haymitch's Punishment Lasted Until the End of the Book

Katniss was practically a perfect entry point to The Hunger Games because of how much she didn’t know. She never intended to be the Mockingjay and was only concerned with her own survival. She had no idea how much her actions would impact the course of events later on. Haymitch was also a teenager out of his element, but he never considered bowing to the power of the Capitol. Even when he was reaped, he refused to give them what they wanted. When Plutarch Heavensbee arrived to film propaganda for the Capitol, Haymitch urged his family not to buy into the game.

Though young, his relationship with the Covey girl, Lenore Dove, taught him about the merits of resisting a fascist regime, similar to her District 12 compatriot, Lucy Gray Baird. He refused to perform for the cameras, and while this was admirable, it signed the death warrant of everyone he cared about. But try as he might, he couldn’t help but do the right thing.

Plutarch essentially recruited him to be the prototype Mockingjay because of his experiences. Though naturally suspicious about whether Plutarch was a hero or a villain, Haymitch eventually agreed to attempt to bring down the arena. As everyone knows, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Haymitch wanted so desperately to help everyone around him, though knowing it would be futile in the end. Against his better judgment, he made friends with his fellow tributes, even forming a pack to rival the band of Career kids gunning for the weaker ones. All this eventually solidified Haymitch’s isolation and loneliness when the tributes eventually died in the arena.

Every time Haymitch lent a hand to someone, they were punished for their connection to him. The death of his childhood friend and Katniss’ proxy, Louella, was so traumatic that it radicalized him against President Snow. By the time he even entered the arena, he was sure he would not make it out. He had been so notable regarding his opposition to the status quo that the Gamemakers awarded him a Score of 1. He distanced himself from the rest of the tributes as a way to protect them from the onslaught that Snow was likely to deliver. No matter what he did, however, it was all for naught.

Everyone around him died in the arena, and Haymitch’s final act to win The Hunger Games was so famous that he reaped the consequences. When he returned home from the Victory Tour, Snow put his entire family to the torch and saved the best for last. Lenore Dove’s death was an exact mirror of Peeta and Katniss in the arena.

Lenore Dove is part of the band of musicians called the Coveys and gets her name from Edgar Allen Poe’s famous poem.

While Katniss was able to save Peeta from poisonous berries, Haymitch was too late to save his love. This drove him to the addiction that fans recognized from the mentor. It also informed his relationships with other people. In his youth, Haymitch was open to friends and having a decent existence with the love of his life. But after losing absolutely everything, he became a shadow of his former self. He drove away his best friend out of pure necessity and drowned his sorrows in the white liquor that District 12 was so famous for.

Most importantly, he never wanted to see another tribute again. Instead, he was forced every following year to mentor children he was almost certain would be going to their deaths. Katniss was the only different one, and still, he held her at arm’s length.

Haymitch Learned to Live Again, But Just Barely

Katniss and Peeta’s entrance into his life was the first time he felt real emotions. His entire life until that point had culminated in drowning his sorrows in alcohol. His borderline vitriol against Katniss made even more sense after considering the book from his perspective.

It was a shock to learn that not only had Haymitch known Katniss’ father, but also been his best friend. Haymitch and Burdock Everdeen were rascals together, and he even saw the courtship between his friend and the rich apothecary girl, Asterid. This all changed when he came back from the games, terrified that anyone close to him would die.

Katniss’ mother, Asterid, was best friends with Maysilee Donner, a tribute who went to the games with Haymitch.

Haymitch drove away the Everdeens before Katniss’ birth, and he only observed her from a distance. It must have been excruciatingly painful to see the daughter of his best friend have to volunteer for her sister. Even worse, Katniss reminded him of Louella.

Katniss took Haymitch’s term of endearment, «sweetheart,» as a misogynist, but it was actually a gut reaction because of Louella. Calling his old friend sweetheart had been an inside joke, and upon meeting Katniss, Haymitch couldn’t help but let it slip out. Like Louella, Katniss was hard, young, and tenacious. Haymitch was absolutely defiant about letting himself care about anyone like that again. Of course, that wasn’t to be the case, but it took a long time for Haymitch to warm up to the tributes.

The Hunger Games ended with the best possible scenario, but the downfall of the government didn’t fix everything. Peeta and Katniss were to start a family, but their emotional scars remained for the rest of their lives. The young lovers experienced PTSD indefinitely, while Haymitch could never put down the bottle. He has gone through too much, which fans finally got to read about in his book.

Haymitch’s story was everything described in the original The Hunger Games books and more. The few details readers gauged from The Hunger Games were fully fleshed out to make these events even more devastating. Haymitch bonded with his fellow District 12 tributes Maysilee and Louella, as well as many he met in the arena.

He watched them and even Beetee’s son, Ampert, die, who was put in the arena to punish his father at the time. Even after this trauma, Snow immediately assassinated Lenore Dove upon Haymitch’s return home, where she died in Haymitch’s arms. These scars could never be erased. Though Haymitch found a way to embrace family, he was never the same again.