“Yes. Look, if I don’t make it back—“ he begins.
“Don’t talk like that. I
didn’t drain all that pus for nothing,” I say.
“I know. But just in case I
don’t—“ he tries to continue.
“No, Peeta, I don’t even
want to discuss it,” I say, placing my fingers on his lips to quiet him.
“But I—“ he insists.
Impulsively, I lean forward
and kiss him, stopping his words. This is probably overdue anyway since he’s
right, we are supposed to be madly in love. It’s the first time I’ve ever
kissed a boy, which should make some sort of impression, but all I can register
is how unnaturally hot his lips are from the fever. “You’re not going to die, I
forbid it. All right?”
If I wanted to keep Peeta
alive, I’ve got to give the audience something more to care about.
(Pg 260-261)
Manipulation, often thought
of as a negative action, proves to save Peeta and Katniss in this scene where
Katniss decides to give the audience what they want. Peeta, who is not sure of
the separation between the truth and show, is dragged along with the charade. When
discussing the difference of animals and humans in lecture, it made me think
about how complex the human mind is compared to animal behavior, because as
humans we are able to think critically and exploit others.
In the Hunger Games, it twists my stomach when Katniss manipulated the emotions of Peeta romantically, although it was with good intentions to keep them both alive, but still very wrong. As the reader, we always want the heroine to fall in love, but this twist of fake love in the hands of an innocent baker thrown into the Hunger Games, puts us at a difficult moral question. Was it right for Katniss to hold the reigns and send the call out on pursuing this charade for the spectators, or are the emotions that could genuinely be felt by others a necessary risk to manipulate? In the scene where Katniss’ desire for survival overpowers the moral directions of manipulation, I find myself being angry with the heroine for her actions, yet at the same time a glimmer of hope arises of the “what if” for these supposed star crossed lovers. Perhaps it is due to the fact of empathy I have with Peeta’s oblivion to Katniss’ impulsive action as an act for survival for the both of them, or because I find it simply irresponsible for Katniss to act in an impulsive way without thinking of the consequences.
The outside influence of the “audience” also pushes Katniss into her impulsive and reckless behavior of faking a show for love. The act of doing things not for ourselves, but rather for the approval of others shows the downfall of man kind through Rousseau’s idea of being “perpetually employed in getting others to [be] interest[ed in] themselves” (or in the Hunger Games, Katniss’ best bet of surviving with Peeta is to have the audience have mercy on them and believe in their ‘star crossed lovers’ status). Although this whole idea of an audience watching people fight gladiator style is extreme, it isn’t far from parallel to our own world where the competition is high for jobs and where we must continue proving our worth to others in order to “survive” (or make money to live in the ‘real world’).
In this specific passage, I wanted Katniss to realize, like any other romantic, and be changed to being smitten with Peeta after that special first kiss. I was hoping lights would shine, birds would chirp, and they both would fall deeply in love immediately after locking lips. However, much like real life, a simple kiss didn’t alter Katniss’ affection or feelings towards Peeta, and was simply just a way to shut him up and raise popularity with the spectators. The author wants us to fall in love with gullible, selfless, and innocent Peeta, rooting for his love to triumph in the end which builds us closer to him than to the previous lover of Katniss; Gale. Although we were at first hurt by the betrayal of Peeta to Katniss, whom the reader has already taken the side of due to first person narration, we find ourselves giving him a second chance when his intentions are more clear and his selflessness comes out by worrying about Katniss' safety over his. The underlying pact made between the two of surviving together and not letting the other die and "forbidding" it, has us reestablish hope in them after the terrible series of events where it may see the odds are not in their favor. New hope and new love positions the reader into a being more confident of Katniss' survival, now that she has more than just herself to defend and live for.
In the Hunger Games, it twists my stomach when Katniss manipulated the emotions of Peeta romantically, although it was with good intentions to keep them both alive, but still very wrong. As the reader, we always want the heroine to fall in love, but this twist of fake love in the hands of an innocent baker thrown into the Hunger Games, puts us at a difficult moral question. Was it right for Katniss to hold the reigns and send the call out on pursuing this charade for the spectators, or are the emotions that could genuinely be felt by others a necessary risk to manipulate? In the scene where Katniss’ desire for survival overpowers the moral directions of manipulation, I find myself being angry with the heroine for her actions, yet at the same time a glimmer of hope arises of the “what if” for these supposed star crossed lovers. Perhaps it is due to the fact of empathy I have with Peeta’s oblivion to Katniss’ impulsive action as an act for survival for the both of them, or because I find it simply irresponsible for Katniss to act in an impulsive way without thinking of the consequences.
The outside influence of the “audience” also pushes Katniss into her impulsive and reckless behavior of faking a show for love. The act of doing things not for ourselves, but rather for the approval of others shows the downfall of man kind through Rousseau’s idea of being “perpetually employed in getting others to [be] interest[ed in] themselves” (or in the Hunger Games, Katniss’ best bet of surviving with Peeta is to have the audience have mercy on them and believe in their ‘star crossed lovers’ status). Although this whole idea of an audience watching people fight gladiator style is extreme, it isn’t far from parallel to our own world where the competition is high for jobs and where we must continue proving our worth to others in order to “survive” (or make money to live in the ‘real world’).
In this specific passage, I wanted Katniss to realize, like any other romantic, and be changed to being smitten with Peeta after that special first kiss. I was hoping lights would shine, birds would chirp, and they both would fall deeply in love immediately after locking lips. However, much like real life, a simple kiss didn’t alter Katniss’ affection or feelings towards Peeta, and was simply just a way to shut him up and raise popularity with the spectators. The author wants us to fall in love with gullible, selfless, and innocent Peeta, rooting for his love to triumph in the end which builds us closer to him than to the previous lover of Katniss; Gale. Although we were at first hurt by the betrayal of Peeta to Katniss, whom the reader has already taken the side of due to first person narration, we find ourselves giving him a second chance when his intentions are more clear and his selflessness comes out by worrying about Katniss' safety over his. The underlying pact made between the two of surviving together and not letting the other die and "forbidding" it, has us reestablish hope in them after the terrible series of events where it may see the odds are not in their favor. New hope and new love positions the reader into a being more confident of Katniss' survival, now that she has more than just herself to defend and live for.
I agree with everything you say in your post. It is an interesting idea presented throughout fiction how love is portrayed. Often times when two people are forced to 'act' as if they are in love, they end up in love. It seems as if when Katniss is forced to show love towards Peeta, she rebels and doesn't commit to it. It makes me not like her as much as a character because she is doing nothing more than taking advantage of Peeta, who admires her. She is just playing him for the sake of her popularity, which makes sense to do in the context of the games, but it also not respectable as a heroic character. Peeta is innocent and is seemingly blinded by the situation and does not know that Katniss is playing him. Katniss knows going into the games that she loves Gale, and has no interest in Peeta. When Peeta first hurt Katniss it was almost a slap in the face to the reader because it seemed so out of character, which led us to put our trust in Katniss. It then makes a complete 360, when Katniss quietly betrays him. Their 'love' however is showcased in the end of the novel when their pact of survival keeps them both alive. I like how you said that not letting each other die reestablishes hope in the characters. I agree with that, after the novel ended there was a relief in that they were both still alive, and they were both still together, which was the most important.
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