Catching Fire opens six months after the events of the first novel in the series, The Hunger Games. In the North American nation of Panem, in the post-apocalyptic future, the Capitol, a wealthy, technologically advanced metropolis, exerts totalitarian rule over the 12 geographical districts it exploits for resources and labor. As punishment for a past rebellion, each of the 12 districts must send two children to compete in the annual Hunger Games, a televised battle royale-style tournament to the death. At the end of the first novel, 16-year-old Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark, both tributes from the impoverished District 12, became joint victors in the 74th Hunger Games by refusing to fight each other.

On the morning that Katniss is supposed to leave for the Victory Tour around Panem, she goes to the woods to try to forget about the impending journey. Katniss would prefer to “try to forget the Hunger Games entirely” (3), but she is required by the Capitol to go on this tour with her co-victor, Peeta. Katniss visits the black market of District 12 known as “the Hob,” then visits her childhood friend Gale’s family and brings them food. Although Katniss no longer needs to hunt to provide for her own family because of her Hunger Games winnings, she still hunts for Gale’s family even though hunting is outlawed by the Capitol.