The Hunger Games trilogy has become one of the most wildly successful YA adaptations of the past decades. The challenge of adapting a book for the screen, let alone a trilogy of books, lies in the amount of detail in the original. It's almost impossible to get absolutely every detail from the books into the films - at least, without making them ten times as long!
The books show the characters in their smallest moments, the nuances of their persona. They have plot lines important in their own right but just unimportant enough to exclude from the films. So naturally, there are things viewers do not know while readers revel in the book details.
She Struggles Against Peeta After Killing Coin
After shooting She tells Peeta to let go, and he says he can't. Katniss struggles against him in the book. She doesn't in the film.
She Broke Her Foot & Was Cared For By Peeta
In Catching Fire, Katniss goes to the lake past the woods, on her way back, she discovers the electric fence she uses has been turned on due to stricter security measures. She injures her foot on the landing from an overhanging tree and her mother tells her it's broken. Thus begins Katniss's healing period, except she doesn't do well with boredom. So Peeta comes around with cheese buns and takes care of her, keeping her company and helping her fill in her father's book, a book detailing plants and their uses.
She & Peeta Have A Book Of Memories
"I got the idea from our family's plant book. The place where we recorded those things you cannot trust to memory. The page begins with the person's picture. A photo if we can find it. If not, a sketch or painting by Peeta. Then in my most careful handwriting, come all the details it would be a crime to forget." Sadly, the book isn't shown in the films. Katniss and Peeta use it to keep the memories of the people they love alive, the details they are afraid to forget. Later, Haymitch also adds to the book. He tells stories about the "twenty-three years of tributes he was forced to mentor."
She Is Sent Bread From District 11
When Katniss was in the 74th Hunger Games she saw Rue as she saw Prim. She formed a bond with her that was more than an alliance. As Rue lay dying, Katniss sang to her, something she hadn't done since her father died. After Rue ed, Katniss surrounded her body with wildflowers. A little while later, Katniss received a gift from District 11. "I open the parachute and find a small loaf of bread. It’s not the fine white Capitol stuff. It’s made of dark ration grain and shaped in a crescent. Sprinkled with seeds."
Katniss surmises the bread was meant for Rue. "But instead of pulling the gift when she died, they’d authorized Haymitch to give it to me. As a thank-you? Or because, like me, they don’t like to let debts go unpaid? For whatever reason, this is a first. A district gift to a tribute who’s not your own."
Her Burn Scars
The Katniss in the films remains unscarred physically despite having endured many dangerous situations, explosions, and injuries. When Katniss is observing Peeta in the Mockingjay book she describes him as "Thin and covered in burn scars like me." She says that they "are both fire mutts now," and that her body is a "patchwork of skin." The extent to which she describes her scars doesn't come across in the films.
The Origin Of The Pin
The significance of the origin of Katniss's pin is lost in the films. In The Hunger Games film, Katniss gets the pin from The Hob black market. In the book, Katniss's friend and the daughter of District 12's Mayor, Madge Undersee, gives Katniss the pin. It was a family heirloom belonging to her aunt who died in a previous Hunger Games. "They let you wear one thing from your district in the arena. One thing to remind you of home. Will you wear this?"
Telling Peeta The Story Of Prim's Goat
While an ailing Peeta tries to distract himself from his injury in the cave during the first Hunger Games, he asks Katniss to tell him a story. Katniss tells him about the time she got Prim a goat. She changes some details so the story is Capitol friendly and illegal acts aren't mentioned. The goat was injured and destined for a butcher who no longer wanted it.
Using the money she got from selling her mother's old jewelry, but in reality, it was actually from selling her and Gale's hunting at The Hob, she bought the goat. Prim and her mother nursed it back to health and it provided for their family. They got more from it than the effort they exerted in saving it. After she finished the story, Peeta said he hoped to do the same.
She Was Dehydrated In The First Games
The Katniss in the films seems to have it easier in the arena. But during the novel, Katniss spends days without water and feels the effects of dehydration in her first Hunger Games. It is almost the reason she eats berries she doesn't know are safe to eat. It slows her down, contributes to her exhaustion, and makes her an easier target. She asks for help from Haymitch but when it doesn't come, realizes she must be close to finding some herself. In the 75th Hunger Games, Katniss is sent a spile but she doesn't immediately know what it is, unlike her speedy understanding in the film.
She & Johanna Are Friends
The films might not make it very obvious, showing a more strained relationship, but Katniss and Johanna become close in the Mockingjay book. After Johanna is rescued from the clutches of The Capitol, she and Katniss bond during their time in hospital.
They choose to share a room in District 13, and train for the rebellion together. Katniss even gives Johanna a small bundle of pine as a reminder of her home district and as a source of comfort.
She Didn't See Peeta's Tribute To Rue
In Catching Fire, the tributes are assessed individually and given scores before the Games begin. In the film, Katniss walks into the room and sees Peeta's painting of Rue covered in flowers. In the book, the painting is removed before she enters. "I think of how ruffled the Gamemakers were when I entered the gym for my session. The smell of cleaners. The mat pulled over that spot in the center of the gym. Was it to conceal something they were unable to wash away? "You painted something, didn't you? A picture."
