In the novel The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins the people of Panem are constantly reminded of the oppression and control they are under with the annual Hunger Games.  Katniss and the other tributes are the Capitols main technique of propaganda. At the end of the games after everything that Katniss had been through physically, mentally and even psychologically, her biggest test comes at the end of the games when it is just her and Peeta left alive. By looking at Katniss' reaction to the revoking of the previously announced two victors rule, we can see that she progresses from self loathing, to shame, followed by anger and finally to a working solution. This is important because it provides a blueprint for the decision making process in this extreme situation.
	
Throughout the book Suzanne Collins does a great job of putting Katniss' thoughts into words for the text.  Her choice in details in the passage on page 342 through the end of the chapter on 345 perfectly displays what goes in Katniss mind during the closing seconds of the games.  First, her reaction to Claudius Templesmiths announcement that now the earlier revision was revoked and now only one victor could be crowned.  Katniss is disappointed with the decision and with herself.  "And like a fool, I bought into it."  Soon after Katniss gets her feelings and her instincts confused, drawing her bow at Peeta's first movements.   The feeling of shame follows immediately.  After Peeta insists he won't be the one to kill Katniss she realizes either both of them will have to die or both of them will have to live. Its Katniss' next thought that to me shows the psychological damage that she already knows she will have to deal with later on in life from these terrible games.  "Because if he dies, I'll never go home, not really. I'll spend the rest of my life in this arena trying to think my way out."  I think by this Katniss means if she killed Peeta, she would spend the rest of her life thinking about the games and what she could have done to have kept them both alive or to have let Peeta win and live.
	
It is what Peeta says next that begins to trigger Katniss' thought process to saving them both.  "We know they have to have a victor."  At this point Katniss' mind runs, and we see her whole thought process. She totally disregards Peeta confessing his love for her because all she can think about is what he just said.  She thinks of how if there isn't one clear winner, the whole purpose of the games will be defeated. I think what intrigues Katniss the most is the thought of the Gamemakers and how they will be publicly punished for failing the capitol.  
	
Katniss' double suicide plan is devised in her next thought."If Peeta and I were to both die, or they thought we were "  At this moment is when Katniss remembers the berries she found in the woods and kept in case she ran low on food.  She is hoping to fool the capitol, but at the same time she is willing to risk dying to assure the outcome blows up in the faces of the people who put her and the other tributes in this situation. 
	
Her next thought process and the choice of details Collins uses to explain it really intensifies the situation.  "I give Peeta's hand one last squeeze as a signal, as a goodbye, and we begin counting."  At this point I believe Katniss really thinks they are going to have to commit double suicide.  She sees this at the end and that the games will end in nobody winning.  And as they count we see her inner thoughts are displayed.  We can see that on the outside she did a good job selling the act. But on the inside she is unsure of what the outcome will be. "Maybe they don't care if we both die."  She now realizes it is now or never claiming to take her last glimpse of the world, right before the trumpets blare and Claudius Templesmith announces that the tributes of District 12, Peeta Mellark and Katniss Everdeen were the victors of the Seventy-Fourth Hunger Games.  Katniss went all in deciding to risk dying to show all of Panem their defiance.  And the Gamemakers didn't call her bluff.  This courage and quick thinking displayed may be the single most important paragraphs of the entire book because it shows how mature Katniss is mentally and at the same time changing the course of Panems history forever. 
	
The imagery used helps intensify this already high pressure situation. "I spread out my fingers, the dark berries glisten in the sun." When reading this line all I could imagine were the Gamemakers sitting in the control room and when they saw the berries all of their hearts and jaws dropping, knowing the best had been gotten of them. Then we see just how close Katniss was to consuming the berries and going through with this fate. "The berries have just passed my lips as the trumpets begin to blare" This line displays just how far and convincing Katniss had to play this to live, so far that she had already accepted she would probably die. 
	
With reading this book, it is impossible not to pick up on how mature and intelligent Katniss really is. But this small section of the book exploits Katniss and shows the maturity beyond her years. Instead of immediately taking the win and killing the already injured Peeta who is almost dead anyway, she bypasses these thoughts and looks at the bigger picture. We see how Katniss only thinks about how if nobody won how it would affect Panem later on. She was aware that they could both die. She had accepted the probability of her death very early in the book. Katniss was thinking about future generations like Prim, who she had sacrificed herself for her whole life. It is these traits of Katniss, combined with choice of detail and the imagery that Suzanne Collins uses that makes this two page passage so critical to the book and also to the rest of the series, because if Katniss had panicked or jumped to conclusions and killed Peeta or herself, there would have been one winner. Just like there always had been. This would result in no rebellion that occurs later in the book which becomes the focal point of the rest of the series.

