Chapter 24

TL;DR: Foxface dies eating poisonous nightlock berries stolen from Peeta's gathered pile, and Katniss quietly keeps a handful of the deadly fruit.

Spoilers through Chapter 24.

Chapter in one sentence

The arena's cleverest survivor is undone by her own cunning, and Katniss pockets the poison that killed her.

What happens

Leaving the cave, Katniss and Peeta split the work of survival — she hunts game, he forages plants. When Peeta proudly brings back a handful of berries, Katniss recognizes them with a jolt as nightlock, a fruit so poisonous it kills almost instantly.

They have already understood that Foxface, the fox-faced girl from District 5, has stayed alive this long by stealth — trailing them and stealing from their stores rather than fighting. The two pieces collide when they discover Foxface dead nearby: she had pilfered berries from Peeta's pile and eaten them, mistaking the lethal nightlock for safe food.

The arena's most careful, clever survivor is undone by her own habit of theft. Recognizing the berries' power, Katniss gathers some of the nightlock and tucks it away — a quiet, ominous act that leaves only three tributes alive: herself, Peeta, and Cato.

Key moments

• Splitting the work — Katniss hunts, Peeta forages.
• The nightlock — Katniss recognizes the berries Peeta gathered as deadly poison.
• Foxface's death — She dies eating stolen nightlock, undone by her own cunning.
• The hidden berries — Katniss quietly keeps a stash of the poison.

Character shifts

• Foxface — Her defining strength, theft-driven survival, becomes the exact thing that kills her.
• Katniss — Keeps the nightlock — a small, deliberate, ominous choice she doesn't fully explain.

Why this chapter matters

Foxface's death clears the arena down to three — and it does so without a fight, an irony the book lets land hard. And Katniss's quiet decision to pocket the berries is a loaded gun the finale will fire.

Themes to notice

• Cunning's limits — Foxface's cleverness can't save her from one fatal assumption.
• Foreshadowing — The nightlock Katniss keeps will matter more than she says.

Book club questions

1. Foxface never loses a fight — she loses to a berry. Why does the book give its smartest tribute such an ironic end?
2. Katniss pockets the nightlock without explaining why. What do you think she's already thinking?
3. Only three tributes remain. How has the book made you feel about each of the three left?

Visual memory hook

A handful of dark glossy berries beside a still, fox-faced figure on the cold forest floor.

What's next

Three tributes remain — and the Gamemakers are about to unleash the finale.