Jasper Jones Chapter 7 Summary

Chapter 7: Katniss sleeps with nightmares, and when she drags herself into the shower in the morning, she fumbles with the automatic buttons, spraying herself in hot and cold streams of water. She dresses herself in a practical outfit that’s been laid out for her and ties her hair in a single braid, before heading down to see if there’s food in the dining room. Katniss’s thoughts of Prim and her mother make her homesick, but they also motivate her. She wants to give them comfort by performing well. Katniss also finds it annoying that she and Peeta are being forced to look and act like a team, since they’ll be trying to kill each other in the arena. She finds this hypocritical. When Peeta says that Katniss is amazing with a bow and arrow and tells her that she shouldn’t underestimate her own skills, she becomes annoyed because she feels that Peeta is doing the same.
Haymitch doesn’t want Peeta and Katniss to appear too strong when practicing with the other tributes. He would rather they appear weaker so that they aren’t targeted at the start of the Games. Katniss marches off to her room, angry that she and Peeta are being forced to act friendly towards each other when they’ll just have to kill each other in the arena. Katniss notices that it’s possible to tell which of the tributes came from wealthier districts based on how good their bodies look. Peeta’s great at adapting to situations with different people as well. He’s able to appear tougher when he needs to and he’s able to appear likable and funny in front of the Capitol audience. Katniss is alarmed by how much Rue reminds her of Prim, and she’s afraid that being sentimental and making this connection will hurt her in the arena. Meanwhile, in her relationship with Peeta, Katniss is afraid that she’ll confuse what’s real with what’s for show, so she decides that they shouldn’t have anything to do with each other outside of