I hope Becky can stay alive long enough for the games to start. It would be a tragedy for her sister to have to take her place. The best case I can see for Becky is for Clark to pick her up and run into the woods to hide as soon as the game starts, where he takes care of her as she dies.
I can see Clark trying to protect Lois against her will, but I can't see her ever agreeing to an alliance with anyone. An alliance is only a short-term benefit, anyway. Sooner or later, one side has to break it, so they can never trust each other. I figure it must be a case of "keep your friends close and your enemies closer." If the career tributes band together, then they know where their most dangerous enemies are at all times. They can pick off the less capable ones so they don't have to worry about an ambush when they finally turn on each other.
I find it sadly ironic that the farmers are starving. I suppose there must be measures in place to prevent them from skimming off the top and taking some of what they produce. This doesn't seem like a viable society. If the farmers' circumstances don't improve soon, the next few generations will have more health problems, decreased fertility, and higher maternal and infant death rates, which will lead to a labor shortage. Food will go unharvested, and not enough will get planted the next season. What will those rich Capitolites do when there just isn't enough food? Starve the other districts, too? Starve the miners? Then they'll run out of metals and coal for their power plants. They rely completely on the districts to provide for them, but they're not willing to let them have enough themselves to survive. I understand the Capitol wanting to exert its power and show the districts who's boss (not that I agree with that tactic), but the system they've got in place doesn't seem viable for the long term.
You've peaked my interest in reading the book. I'm not as interested in the game itself (the whole idea is frankly horrific), but I'd like to see a more thorough explanation of the political structure of Panem and what the conditions are like in the other districts, if it goes into that.
