Throughout the book it is hard not to see how Katniss is
forced to take a position in the games so she and those she decides she cares
for can live.
Being that this book is written in first person and we are seeing
these events play out through Katniss’ eyes - which itself contradicts how history is written, by world historical men, not poor girls from District 12 - we have a first hand look into how
smart, resourceful and caring she is and it makes it impossible for us as
readers to not take the position that we want her and those she cares for to
survive too.
Readers are hoping and praying during the book that Katniss will
continue to craft her way out of every horrible position she is put into in and
out of the arena.
We especially want her to survive the love triangle with Peeta and Gale that we see playing out in her head.
We especially want her to survive the love triangle with Peeta and Gale that we see playing out in her head.
We learn early on that Katniss learned to live off the land,
fend for herself, fight and have strength for whatever comes her way - growing
up being poor in District 12. More specifically, she is constantly telling us
stories about her and Gale, the boy she loves, and their hunting trips and how
he (and her father) taught her how to hunt, fish, forage and live in the
woods.
If were Katniss, I would personally be screwed. I don’t know
how to hunt with a bow and arrow, forge for food, heal wounds or fish. I am
just not one with nature like she is.
The fact that we KNOW that Katniss has the skill sets,
knowledge and strength to win in the arena makes it hard for me personally to
see how she can not be pissed at Peeta for taking advantage of her by coming up
with this façade that they are in love and can’t bare the fact that they are
both forced into the arena just to place himself into all of her awesomeness.
Until this…
The star-crossed lovers… Peeta must have been playing that angle all along. Why else would the Gamemakers have made this unprecedented change in the rules? For two tributes to have a shot at winning, our “romance” must be so popular with the audience that condemning it would jeopardize the success of the Games. No thanks to me. All I’ve done is managed not to kill Peeta. But whatever he’s done in the arena, he must have the audience convinced it was to keep me alive. Shaking his head to keep me from running to the Cornucopia. Fighting Cato to let me escape. Even hooking up with the Careers must have been a move to protect me. Peeta, it turns out, has never been a danger to me (p. 247-248).
It’s at this moment that I realize I have disliked Peeta
because of how he kept turning against her, but now I feel just as compelled as
Katniss that he stays alive.
The thought makes me smile. I drop my hands and hold my face up to the moonlight so the cameras can be sure to catch it (p. 248).
This is where Katniss and I realize that even though caring
for Peeta puts her at risk, she actually doesn’t want him to die because she
cares for him more than she realized and she knows exactly what she needs to do
so they both make it back to their families.
She will fight. She will lie. She will love. She will live.
I agree with you and your view on Katniss! I thought the exact same thing! I had also hoped that Katniss would come through in the end and win the games. I agree that she is strong, smart, witty, and resourceful. I would be screwed if I were put into her position, just like you said you would. There is no way that I could kill to survive. I also am still a little iffy on how I feel about Peeta. I get that he was just trying to survive and did the things he did out of “love.” But was it really for love, or was it for the fame? I feel that Peeta only turned against Katniss because he wanted to be on the good side of the careers rather than get killed right away. Maybe he turned against her because he knew that it would save them both? I feel that towards the end of the novel, Katniss is learning to love Peeta. That sucks because I was really for her and Gale ending up together in the beginning of the novel. But after reading this book, I am indifferent about Peeta just like you!
ReplyDeleteI also agree that Gale had my vote when I read the book. However, when I saw the movie, I saw Peeta from the outside perspective rather than in Katniss's first person perspective in the book. In Katniss's view, Peeta is self-interested and she practically hates him for "betraying" her by joining with the Careers. However, when I got the whole picture of who Peeta is as a character, it becomes evident that everything he does is out of interest in protecting Katniss - even if she doesn't realize it. He would rather protect her than have her like him, which is such a testament to his love for her: self sacrifice. I still am torn between Gale and Peeta, even after reading all of the books and watching both of the movies. They're such different situations, but I definitely believe everything Peeta does for Katniss is out of love for her and a mission to protect her.
ReplyDeleteI agree, I too didn't like Peeta! And this is because she doesn't like him or trust him at first. Because of this I have always been a bigger fan of Gale. Katniss casts Peeta as a selfish and undeserving, until she finally gets that he was only protecting her. So until she finally gets the entire story, and we get the entire story, we tend to find ourselves agreeing with her opinion of him and what he is doing. Once we learn that he just wants to protect her, that's what we go from hating him to feeling sorry and actually starting to like him. -- though I still like Gale better.
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