First Chapter Analysis: Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

If you want to write a novel that hooks a reader’s interest, you had better write an engaging first chapter. But how exactly do you do that? 

Since I’ve already provided resources on how to write a solid set of opening pages and the big mistakes to avoid when writing your opening pages, I thought it would be fun to step back and analyze the first chapter of a popular published novel. 

So, in today’s post, we’re going to look at the first chapter of Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins. And we’ll look at the chapter in two different ways: 

1. Macro: How does this chapter give readers insight into what the story is about? 
2. Micro: How does each scene advance the plot and character development? 

This way, you’ll be able to see the first chapter from a big-picture lens as well as on the smaller scene level, too. And ideally, you’ll be able to implement some of what you learn into your own first chapter as well.

A special note for listeners of the Fiction Writing Made Easy podcast: In the episode that goes along with this blog post, I’m joined by an extra-special guest and the host of the LitMatch podcast, Abigail Perry. If you want to hear our full discussion of this opening chapter, you can tune in on either of our podcasts.

Chapter 1 Summary

Here’s a quick summary of the first chapter before we look at the high-level analysis of each scene within the chapter:

Katniss Everdeen wanders through the ruins of District 12 while her best friend, Gale, watches her from a nearby hovercraft. Although visiting her old district puts Katniss in danger of being spotted by the Capitol, she insisted on coming to see the destruction first hand. As she walks around her old house and neighborhood, Katniss thinks about the events of the last few months and how the powers that be in District 13 want her to become the Mockingjay, thus becoming the face of the revolution. She balks at the idea of being used like this, but her feelings start to change once she sees a white rose (left by President Snow) in the ruins of her old bedroom. 

Now, when analyzing any opening chapter, whether it's from a published novel or a messy first draft, the first thing I look for is a glimpse of the big picture. So, what is this story really about? 

Big Picture Macro Analysis

As writers, we must set expectations at the beginning of our stories and then work to deliver on those expectations throughout the middle and end. In other words, we need to show readers exactly what kind of story they’re in for and then deliver that story scene by scene. 

Let’s take a look at how Suzanne Collins did this in the very first chapter of Mockingjay. And to do this, we’re going to use seven questions from Paula Munier’s book, The Writer’s Guide to Beginnings. 

1. GENRE: What kind of story is it?

I like to look at genres in two ways—commercial vs. content genres. For this first question, I usually think in terms of the commercial genre. So, where would this novel sit on a shelf in a bookstore? And how does this first chapter set up the readers’ expectations from a commercial genre standpoint?

Like books one and two, Mockingjay is a Young Adult Dystopian novel set in the future, sometime after a series of ecological disasters and a global conflict brought about the collapse of modern civilization. The story follows Katniss Everdeen as becomes the face of the revolution against the Capitol.

2. PLOT: What is the story really about? 

For this question, I like to look at the content genre of the story. So, what is the story really going to be about? Mockingjay is primarily an action (external) story with an (internal) worldview arc. Like in books one and two, Katniss has to figure out how to survive while leading the rebellion against the Capitol—but this time, she doesn’t have Peeta’s help (because he’s been imprisoned by the Capitol). This opening chapter raises a lot of important questions. Will Katniss become the Mockingjay? What will happen if she does? Will she finally defeat President Snow? Is Peeta going to be okay? In other words, this opening chapter does a great job of raising these questions in the reader’s mind—and it perfectly sets up our expectations for an action/worldview story.

3. POV: Who is telling the story?  

This story is written in the first person from Katniss’s perspective. This choice makes sense because it’s truly Katniss’s story even though the scope of the story has expanded well past Katniss at this point. In this series, the first-person POV keeps us close to Katniss and her emotions as she navigates a world at war. By not including other points of view, the author is able to maintain the suspense, leaving readers wondering what’s going to happen and turning pages all the way to The End.

4. CHARACTER: Which character should they care about most?

As readers, we care about Katniss because she’s the protagonist. But also because she’s survived horrible, traumatic events in books one and two. We really want Katniss to catch a break and get a chance at happiness! But also, Katniss is very concerned about Peeta in this opening chapter, so as readers, we care about Peeta’s fate too. From this opening chapter, we wonder things like—Why did President Snow leave Katniss the rose? Will Katniss defeat him? What’s going to happen to Peeta? And if she does survive, who will Katniss end up with, Peeta or Gale? And these are precisely the questions Suzanne Collins answers throughout the story!

5. SETTING: Where and when does the story take place? 

This chapter takes place in District 12 of Panem several months after the events of book two. Like books one and two, we see Katniss walking around District 12, but this time, things look very different. District 12 has been destroyed and Peeta has been imprisoned by the Capitol. Though we don’t see District 13 in this opening chapter, we do hear about it, so we know it’s going to be a featured setting throughout the book.

6. EMOTION: How should readers feel about what’s happening?

I think we all feel two main emotions when reading this first chapter—curiosity and concern. We’re very concerned for Katniss, especially after she sees the threatening rose President Snow left for her. The past few years have already been so terrible for Katniss that it’s hard to imagine things getting any worse, but we know they’re going to get worse before they get better. Plus, she’s lost Peeta! We feel for Katniss losing someone so important to her—and we also feel for Peeta because we don’t know if he’s alive or dead. If you consider the rest of the book, these are the perfect feelings to evoke in readers from page one. We read forward to get the answers to our questions and to satisfy our curiosity and concern. 

7. STAKES: Why should readers care what happens next? 

This opening chapter sets up the stakes beautifully. The world is at war and Katniss is being pressured to become the face of the rebellion. We know she’s on President Snow’s radar—and we know he wants to kill her. Once Katniss finds the rose in her old bedroom, we can’t help but wonder what’s going to happen next, so we read forward into chapter two to find out. 

So, as you can see, Suzanne Collins definitely gave us a glimpse at the big picture of this story–we know we’re in for another story where Katniss’s life is at stake. We know there’s going to be some kind of climactic event between President Snow and Katniss—and that this time, only one of them can survive. It’s a fantastic opening chapter—one that sci-fi and fantasy writers can learn a lot from! 

Micro Scene Structure Analysis

Now, let’s examine the structure of each scene in this chapter to see how and why everything works. To do this, we’ll use the scene structure I laid out in this article. If you’re a fan of Shawn Coyne's The Story Grid, you will recognize this structure.

Chapter #1 - Katniss’s POV

In this scene, Katniss’s goal is to see the destruction of District 12 first hand (and pick up her sister’s cat). She’s conscious of how she appears to the higher ups in District 12 and is concerned with appearing stable as she navigates her old home. So, let’s look at the conflict that gets in Katniss’s way as she pursues this goal: 

1. Inciting Incident: Gale notices that Katniss has dropped to her knees and calls down from the transport to ask if she’s okay.
2. Turning Point: Katniss finds a white rose (left by President Snow) in her bedroom.
3. Crisis: Should Katniss tell Gale about the rose she just found (and the threat it implies) and risk being seen as unstable? Or should she keep it to herself.
4. Climax: Katniss does not tell Gale about the rose.
5. Resolution: Katniss has succeeded in her external goal (to observe the ruins of District 12 and to retrieve her sister’s cat), but she hasn’t made progress on her decision about whether to “become the Mockingjay” or not.

So, what has changed in this scene?

The main thread in this scene revolves around Katniss trying to decide whether or not she can “become the Mockingjay” as President Coin wants. She’s viewing the ruins of District 12 and unconsciously hoping this will push her into a decision either way. Katniss does not want to be seen as unstable or overly emotional about everything that’s happened over the past few months, so when Gale notices she’s having an emotional reaction to the destruction in District 12, this threatens the facade she’s put on so that everyone will think she’s stable. After she finds the rose in her bedroom, she could tell Gale, but ultimately decides not to in case he thinks she’s paranoid or losing it. By the end of the scene, Katniss has not decided about whether she’ll embrace the role of the Mockingjay, but she has completed her surface level goal to retrieve the cat, see the destruction in District 12, and avoid any suspicion that she’s “crazy.” The events of this scene plus what happens in Chapter 2 (when she learns Peeta is alive) push her to accept the role President Coin has laid out for her and she becomes the Mockingjay.

Final Thoughts

So, can you see how this scene moves the plot of the story forward and impacts the characters involved? And how, ultimately, this first chapter does everything that a first chapter should do?

I encourage you to look at your first chapter through this macro and micro lens to make sure that you’re delivering enough of the big picture to your readers. This is also a fantastic exercise to do with the opening chapter of your favorite novels, too.  

Want to hear Abigail K. Perry and I break down other popular stories? Click here to check out past scene analysis episodes!