Suzanne Collins skillfully creates
a world of tension in The Hunger Games about survival, but also about love. Throughout
the novel, Katniss fights feelings towards Peeta, knowing that she may have to
kill him in the arena. Katniss has thoughts of feelings for Peeta, but her
denial shows that she is putting on an act for the purpose of The Games.
Part of her denial is that Katniss
often thinks of her best friend Gale, and about if he is more than a friend.
While Katniss daydreams of home, she considers Gale in particular, “Gale’s not
my boyfriend, but would he be, if I opened that door?... I wonder what he makes
of all this kissing” (280). Wondering about Gale in this way suggests that
Katniss cares about his opinion and considers the future of him as her
boyfriend. She sees Gale as her possible future while Peeta is just the other District
12 tribute stuck in the arena for the present.
Katniss gets confused while she and
Peeta share a conversation that she thinks they are having for the viewer’s enjoyment.
Peeta tells Katniss that he has been working up the nerve to talk to her for
eleven years without success, so he is lucky that his name got drawn at the
reaping. In response, Katniss is unsure, “For a moment, I’m almost foolishly
happy and then confusion sweeps over me. Because we’re supposed to be making up
this stuff” (301). Her instinct response was to be flattered by Peeta’s
comment, suggesting developing feelings for him. However, her following thought
shows that she wants this to be only for the show and the sponsorships, perhaps
because of her feelings for Gale.
Towards the end of the novel,
Katniss has an eye-opening moment about love. Just after leaving the arena, Katniss
reflects on seeing family members stay by the side of their injured or dying
loved ones as her mother tries to save them. This image comes to her because
she is watching doctors work to save her fellow winner, Peeta. Remembering
seeing those loved ones watch her mother work, Katniss recalls thinking, “’Why
don’t they leave? Why do they stay to watch?’ And now I know. It’s because you
have no choice” (348). In this reflection, Katniss is comparing herself to those
that love the patient of her mother’s. By doing so, Katniss is allowing herself
and readers to believe that she may love Peeta, yet she is still confused.
While being displayed by his side shortly
after on stage, however, Katniss is only getting close to Peeta for Haymitch’s
benefit instead of affection. After sitting down next to Peeta, Katniss looks
to Haymitch before moving closer, “one look from Haymitch tells me it isn’t
enough… I tuck my feet to the side and lean my head against Peeta’s shoulder”
(361). This close gesture of affection comes only after realizing it’s not
enough for the audience, it is not a natural instinct of love for Peeta. In the
arena, Katniss plays into the love for Peeta in order to capture the audience, therefore
getting sponsorships for their survival. Through the entire novel, Katniss’s
focus is on fulfilling her promise to Prim and winning the games so she can go home
to Gale and her family.
I can see where your point of view comes from, but I think Katniss’s feelings for Peeta, while they might not be full-grown “love”, still stem from a place of sincerity. Throughout the entire novel, even before the Games begin, Collins drops hints that Katniss feels something genuine towards Peeta, like when Katniss emphasizes the connection she has between “Peeta Mellark, and the bread that gave [her] hope, and the dandelion that reminded [her] that [she] was not doomed” (Collins 32). Early on in the novel, Collins lets the reader know that Katniss, even while not knowing Peeta on more than a surface level, associates him with a sensation of hope and possibility, a very strong foundation for the feelings that she later develops for him in the Games.
ReplyDeleteAfter the rules change to allow two tributes from the same district to win the Games, this foundation begins to develop into something more tangible. When Katniss’s “heart drops into [her] stomach” as Peeta’s injuries worsen, the audience can see the sincerity of the connection she feels with him as the thought of him not living through the Games makes Katniss think that she’ll “spend the rest of [her] life in the arena” (Collins 265 ,343). While the fact that Katniss and Peeta “being in love” helps their chances in the arena can’t be denied, that doesn’t negate the fact that those feelings, for Katniss and especially for Peeta, stem from a place of sincerity and truth.
I agree that Katniss’ feelings for Peeta are sincere, but I do not think that it is completely romantic. In the arena, Katniss has one goal and one goal only: survive. She has her family back home to think about since she is the main source of food and income. She agrees to the “star-crossed lover” act because it will give her the desirability that she needs. During her training for her interview, Haymitch says that she has “about as much charm as a dead slug” (Collins 117), but Peeta is able to change everyone’s views of her through his confession.
ReplyDeleteDuring the games, Katniss and Peeta grow much closer to each other but it is more for the purpose of survival in Katniss’ mind. She realizes that more affection toward Peeta will get her more sponsors and therefore the things she needs to make it out alive. She does come to care for Peeta through their trials, but it is natural for people who have gone through horrible situations together to come out closer. Once their lives are less in danger, she feels that she needs time to sort out all the different feelings between her and Peeta and even Gale.
In my opinion, the love triangle between Katniss, Peeta, and Gale is secondary to the main story. In the first book, it is not prevalent. There are hints about it, but its mostly just Katniss’ two worlds colliding and her reactions to how she needs to handle it.
Your point about how Katniss all but fabricates her feelings for Peeta for the purpose of surviving the Games is interesting. However, I would put this question to you: while it may be true that her intentions in the beginning of the games are motivated by survival, are those her motivations the entire time or would you say her feelings change? I ask because even in the beginning of the novel, Katniss knows more about Peeta than she thought she did, remembering that he “can lift hundred-pound bags of flour” (p. 89) and that “He can wrestle…He came in second in our school competition last year, only after his brother” (p. 90). Remembering these things causes her to realize that she has “not been as oblivious to him as [she] imagined, either. The flour. The wrestling. [She has] kept track of the boy with the bread” (p. 93). And then near the end of the novel, she goes out of her way to save his life, endangering her own life to get his medicine when he makes her promise she won’t. When they kiss after she returns, it feels more real than she anticipated: “This is the first kiss where I actually feel stirring inside my chest. Warm and curious. This is the first kiss that makes me want another” (p. 298). So while her “feelings” for Peeta may have been fabricated or survival motivated at first, I think being thrown together the way they have makes her develop real feelings for him independent of what she needs to feel to survive.
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