Sunday, April 8, 2018
Team Peeta
The popular statement "nice guys finish last" is simply untrue. No one wants to bring a jerk home to meet their parents, and in Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games, this is amplified through the relationship between Katniss and Peeta. Peeta one of the sweetest, most likable characters in the novel, and is neither boring nor flat. While those on Team Gale may dream of a different ending, Gale was ultimately meant to be "friend-zoned" or even "brother-zoned" by Katniss. Peeta, however, has been there for Katniss since the beginning and has developed an irreplaceable bond with Katniss through the Hunger Games.
The whole time that Gale had been by Katniss's side, Peeta had been watching out for her from a distance. Even though Gale served as a companion to Katniss, Peeta gave Katniss hope when Gale could not. The first interaction that Katniss had with Peeta was when he threw her a loaf of burnt bread and suffered a beating from his mother for her. Katniss had given up and felt completely helpless during this time. Later, she recalls, "To this day, I can never shake the connection between this boy, Peeta Mellark, and the bread that gave me hope" (32). Katniss's words clearly sum up how grateful she is to Peeta for putting her before himself and suffering in order to give her food, and this is something that Gale could never be in the position to do for her.
Furthermore, Katniss has a bond with Peeta that is impossible to replicate because of their experience in the Hunger Games. Experiencing something like the Hunger Games is traumatizing, and Katniss and Peeta had only each other as a source of comfort both during the Games, and after when both of them experience horrible nightmares as a result of the terrible deaths they witnessed. After the games, when Katniss is asked what was going through her mind when she pulled out the berries, she replies that she "couldn't bear the thought of... being without him" (369). Katniss knows that not only is their bond unbreakable, but that Peeta is the only person that would ever be able to understand her and what she had been through. Therefore, living a life without Peeta would be miserable for Katniss because her bond with Peeta is unbreakable and Peeta is the only person that can understand what happened to her.
In conclusion, Peeta deserves to be with Katniss in the end for many reasons. He has cared about her since they were five, and when Katniss had no hope of being saved from starvation, Peeta gave her hope, which Gale was not able to do. Furthermore, since Peeta experienced the Games with her, they have a bond that is unlike any other. This experience is what will connect them to each other for the rest of their lives. These reasons, along with many others, are the reason that Peeta is much better for Katniss than Gale would ever be.
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When Katniss compares Gale to a brother at the beginning of the novel, she is referring to their strong relationship built on trust that makes him part of her family. Katniss says, “There has never been anything romantic between Gale and me” (Collins 10). However, their platonic relationship is the result of life in District 12; Katniss does not have time to mull over her feelings for Gale while fighting for her family’s survival. Although in this book there is no romantic moment between Katniss and Gale, Suzanne Collins suggests the foundation for a romantic relationship. Gale is the only person Katniss acts herself around and does not filter her thoughts and opinions about the Capitol. She says, “In the woods waits the only person with whom I can be myself. Gale” (6). Not only does she feel free to act how she wishes around him, which demonstrates her trust, but she also shares her sacred space with him: the woods. Peeta may have tossed Katniss a loaf of bread once but Gale has helped Katniss hunt and gather for years. Katniss respects Gale and his survival instincts and constantly wonders about his thoughts while she is in the arena. While experiencing the traumas of the Games, Katniss begins to understand why Gale spends his time criticizing the Capitol, the only aspect of him she previously disliked. Gale’s ability to see the unpleasant truth, the opposite of Peeta’s naivete, makes him a better match for Katniss.
ReplyDeleteI would agree to the idea that Katniss and Peeta should be together a lot because of their shared experiences in the arena. For instance, Katniss is returning home for the moment but has become a mentor in the next hunger games. This would mean her and Peeta would continuously going back to the capital and begin their roles as trying to get the district 12 tributes sponsors and advice. If she was to try to date Gale she would continuously have to leave him and go to the capitol each year. Gale himself gets angry at the Capitol, but in the beginning of the book Katniss tells how "his rages seem pointless to [her]" (14). If Gale was to continuously be angry at the Capitol while Katniss would have to continue to go there each year and work it is hard to see how Gale and Katniss would be able to remain together with this type of tension that would undoubtably come from their differences in views about the capitol. Even if Katniss was to also develop strong anger against the capitol like Gale her inevitable return to the capitol and life in the public eye would force her away from any type of resistance. This makes it clear that Gale and Katniss do not have as feasible a future as Katniss and Peeta do, for the support Peeta could give Katniss while they were at the capitol would be highly valuable.
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ReplyDeleteI agree that Katniss is better suited for Peeta, but not necessarily for all the same reasons.
First, almost directly following the sentence about Katniss’s connection between Peeta and not starving, she says “I feel like I owe him something, and I hate owing people” (32). She follows up this comment by saying she can’t say thank you that sincerely as she’s slitting his throat (32). So I don’t really think gratitude is the correct emotion to describe how she feels after that encounter. I would say something closer to annoyed and slightly confused indifference. She doesn’t understand why he gave her food and is perplexed and irked, but not really that grateful. Even if she was grateful, just because boys are nice and are there for you, it does not mean that you have to like them!
I think it is pretty clear that Peeta is a very solid, dependable, “always-there-for-you” kind of guy, but based on this Katniss has no sort of obligation or “should” end up with him. There are obviously a lot of factors to consider when choosing to be with someone and dependability and kindness are great characteristics, but there are many others to consider and ultimately only you know whom you want to be with and why. Honestly, Peeta could be Katniss’s most devoted friend and all around great guy, but if she wasn’t attracted to him, wasn’t looking to be with anyone, or was more interested in other characteristics in a person, she would be 100% justified.
I agree that Peeta is a better choice for Katniss, and if I were in her situation I believe I would choose him. To me, there is no way not to like Peeta after enduring the Hunger Games with him. Peeta not only saves her life multiple times, but he also provides a companion. I agree that Peeta is extremely likable, and this is proven by the ways that the audience falls in love with him too. I think that when reading this novel, it is hard to imagine that she would be hesitant about wanting to be with him. It seems, however, that the only person who doesn't see the appeal in Peeta is Katniss.
ReplyDeletePeeta confesses his love from the start of the Hunger Games, and while Katniss refuses to see it, he is telling the truth. When Katniss asks him how long he has loved her, he is able to describe a day from many years back in perfect detail (300-302). At times, Katniss appears to be falling in love with him as well. Once she has cured Peeta's blood poisoning, she receives the "first kiss that makes [her] want another" (298). However, at the end of the first book, this seems to have been forgotten.
When the games are over, Katniss has decided that Peeta may not be the guy for her, despite her previous (and ongoing) feelings for him. She lets it slip that she had been acting for the games which devastates Peeta, showing he was truly in love. Katniss however, says that "the closer [they] get to District 12, the more confused [she] gets" (372). It would be easy to accept that she simply did not wish to be with him, but this is not true as she is "dreading the moment when [she] will finally have to let go" (374). The fact that she is dreading it could mean she would miss him as a friend, but from the earlier comment of the kiss I am lead to believe it means more than that. These things express more feeling for Peeta than she has so far shown for Gale, which is why I believe that Peeta is the right choice for her.