Sunrise on the Reaping

Content Warning: This section of the guide contains discussions of violence, death, and alcohol abuse.

All of the Covey are named for a ballad or poem. Edgar Allen Poe’s narrative poem ”The Raven” is Lenore Dove’s “name song.” Throughout the novel, Haymitch repeats stanzas from ”The Raven” with increasing frequency as his life begins to parallel the plot of the poem, transforming the poem into a key motif.

In ”The Raven”, the poem’s narrator is haunted by the loss of a woman named Lenore, presumably his late lover. He is awash in “sorrow for the lost Lenore— For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore—” (110). He seeks “nepenthe,” a (possibly fictional) drug that will erase memories of his loss: “Quaff, oh quaff this kind nepenthe and forget this lost Lenore!” (55)

Answering a tapping on his door, the speaker is confronted by a raven, who repeats the word nevermore. The narrator asks several questions, such as whether he can forget Lenore and if they will one day be reunited: “Tell this soul with sorrow laden if, within the distant Aidenn, It shall clasp a sainted maiden whom the angels name Lenore—” (84) To each question, the raven replies nevermore, driving the speaker further into despair.

At the start of the novel, Haymitch’s relationship to ”The Raven” is positive. References to the poem are limited. When called to mind, it reminds Haymitch of his “rare and radiant maiden” (87), and he repeats it to comfort Lou Lou when she cannot sleep, or to soothe himself with pleasant memories of Lenore. Once Haymitch enters the arena, however, the poem punctuates the text more frequently. Haymitch begins to relate to the grief-addled narrator as he questions of whether he will ever see his own Lenore again. The answer to his question is foreshadowed in the text by the raven’s repeated cry of nevermore.

After the Games, Haymitch’s fate briefly diverges from that of Poe’s speaker, as he is reunited with Lenore, only for her to be killed by Snow’s poison. Chapter 27 contains the entirety of ”The Raven”, with stanzas breaking up the text every few paragraphs as Haymitch repeats the poem to himself. The occurrence of the entire poem symbolizes how Haymitch fully embodies the speaker of ”The Raven”, driven to despair and madness by the loss of Lenore. He seeks nepenthe in the form of alcohol, hoping to wash away his sorrow, but his drinking offers only temporary numbness, and he remains deeply haunted by Lenore’s memory.

Hope only arrives in the Epilogue, which shows an adult Haymitch who has finally made peace with Lenore’s memory. Unlike Poe’s speaker, Haymitch has broken out of his isolation and sought new relationships that have helped him heal. He is confident that he will see Lenore again after death, and ends the novel by professing his continued love.