Gale conceives a plan that involves blowing up the inside of The Nut, which upsets Katniss because it would kill innocent people. After some arguments with Katniss, they decide to bomb The Nut but leave the train station open so the people inside The Nut can escape. Gale visits Katniss in the hospital when she awakens and the two argue about what has happened.
Gale informs her of District 2 siding with the rebels. Gale tells Peeta he has changed and Johanna agrees with him. Gale takes Katniss aside and tells her Peeta has changed and isn't seeing her for who she truly is. He is part of the " Star Squad " that sets out to assassinate President Snow , though he gets separated from Katniss.
Before Katniss goes to guard Peeta, Gale pulls Katniss away and asks her about her plan to head out on her own, and Katniss says he should go with her.
Gale helps the team take cover in an apartment and they witness a broadcast that shows footage of the squad members' supposed deaths. Gale tries to calm Peeta down and promises he will kill Peeta if it came down to it. The squad travels underground in the tunnels and later are attacked by lizard mutts that hiss Katniss' name. Gale and the squad are able to make it out of the tunnel but have lost Finnick, Jackson , and a few others to the mutts.
The squad splits up, Gale follows Katniss. The two of them battle off peacekeepers and head to President Snow's mansion. After almost dying from a trap activated by a pod, Gale is taken away by peacekeepers. As he is being taken away, he mouths at Katniss "shoot me. Afterwards, Katniss' sister is killed in a method akin to one he devised.
Gale visits her before Snow's death and gives her a sheath with one arrow to shoot at Snow. Katniss asks if it was his bomb that killed Prim. Gale isn't sure and tells her to shoot straight at Snow before he leaves. While Katniss can never be sure that it was Gale's trap that did it, she realizes she will never be able to look at him the same way again, and lets him walk away without a word.
Gale later moves to District 2, where he secures a "fancy job" working for Panem's new government. Katniss finds herself relieved by this instead of feeling any longing or anger, as she herself believes that Gale will forget her and will soon be "kissing another pair of lips. While his exact job in District 2 is not mentioned in the book, in the film, he was mentioned to have been promoted to a military captain.
With similar physical characteristics, Gale and Katniss could easily pass as siblings, as could many other children from the Seam. In The Hunger Games , it is said that Gale is the person who knows Katniss best, even though their acquaintance started only four years prior to The Hunger Games. The two met each other formally at the ceremony following their fathers' deaths.
Both were awarded Medals of Valor for being the eldest children of the deceased coal miners. Later that year, they met again out in the forbidden woods beyond District 12's fence. Both had been going to the woods for some time, being as the woods were their families' main source of food. Gale was fourteen at the time, and Katniss was twelve. When Gale asked her what her name was, she replied in a whisper, making him believe that she said "Catnip" at first, then a wild lynx chased them through the woods; Gale had called her Catnip ever since.
Their relationship grew from two slightly wary partners-in-crime to more than best friends. In Catching Fire , Gale proved this when he appeared extremely jealous in regards to Katniss' pretend romance with Peeta Mellark, and suddenly and unexpectedly kissed Katniss on the outskirts of the woods. This was reported to President Snow, who later used this information to manipulate Katniss.
When Katniss later proposed that they run away together, Gale told her that he loves hers, but Katniss only replied "I know," and Gale was furious when she intended to include Peeta and Haymitch Abernathy in their plans.
While Gale is clearly in love with Katniss, she remains conflicted by her feelings for both Gale and Peeta, as well as her own sense of unyielding independence, until the end of Mockingjay when she realizes. At the end of Catching Fire , Katniss notes that Gale would never keep secrets from her, right before he informs her that District 12 has been destroyed. However, this implicit trust is challenged as Gale withholds information and opinions from Katniss in Mockingjay.
Even though these lies by omission are due to concern for her mental well-being, Katniss feels betrayed. Gale himself continues to suffer from Katniss' relationship with Peeta on-camera and apparent ambiguity off-camera, where she tends to string along the both of them. Regardless, Katniss continues to be very possessive over Gale's loyalties and constantly requires his support in order to fulfill her role in the war. In Mockingjay , Katniss and Gale's relationship continues to become more romantic but also more complex.
The relative simplicity of hunting to stave off starvation is replaced with something not so straight forward: war. Even as they work together to overthrow the Capitol a chasm seems to grow between them as their ideals and morals clash. Gale's 'win at all costs' mentality, which was evident before in his words, are actually being put into practice. However, Katniss is still clinging to the hope of winning the war with limited casualties and some sense of morality, as Peeta would have done.
In the end, it is Gale's conviction in the necessity of sacrifice pitted against Katniss' moral incoherence that truly severs any relationship they had or could ever have.
Primrose, Katniss' sister, is killed by a firebomb that may have been designed by Gale. Even though the order to use the bombs was given by President Coin , Katniss cannot bring herself to forgive Gale for his creation and his role in Prim's death, and effectively shuts him out of her life.
Katniss returns to District 12, whereas Gale lives in District 2, working 'a fancy job,' according to Katniss. Katniss concludes that she needs Peeta, not Gale, to survive, because in the end, she and Gale are simply too alike. They are both full of fire, motivated largely by anger and vengefulness, and Katniss cannot maintain a sense of peace and self-worth as long as she is too exposed to that truth.
Gale is neither truly friends nor enemies with Peeta Mellark though he has felt jealous of Peeta due to the show that Peeta and Katniss put on for the cameras. In Catching Fire , Peeta knew Katniss had feelings for him and fully accepted that he would allow Katniss to be with Gale if it meant her happiness. When Gale was being whipped, Peeta tried to help him and protect Katniss. Later, when Gale helped Katniss, Peeta and Haymitch train in preparation for the Quell, he confessed to Katniss that Peeta was not easy to hate.
In the arena Peeta gave Katniss a locket with a picture of Gale actually smiling; Peeta wanted her to be with him so she could be happy. In Mockingjay , Gale volunteered first to be on the squad to break into the Capitol and retrieve Peeta from prison. It is unknown whether he did this for Katniss or because of genuine concern for Peeta.
After Peeta's rescued and Katniss goes to District 2 because she can no longer be around the hijacked Peeta, Gale tells her that he's watched Peeta through the glass.
He tells her that he knows that if Peeta never recovered, Katniss would always feel wrong being with Gale because of her feelings for Peeta. Later Mockingjay , while they hide in a safe house, Katniss wakes to a hushed conversation between Gale and Peeta about her.
When Gale wishes that he had volunteered in place of Peeta when his name was reaped, Peeta reminds him that he couldn't, that Katniss needed him to take care of her family. When Peeta wonders how Katniss would choose between them, Gale tells him that Katniss would choose the person she could not survive without. Katniss is offended and annoyed by this comment and suppresses her feelings for both of them in response, but she later realized Gale was partially right.
After Prim's death, Gale leaves voluntarily because neither of them can avoid the matter of Prim's death having been caused by Gale's invention, with Katniss letting him go without a word. Katniss subsequently grows back together with Peeta, whom she finds she loves again now that he is recovered from his hijacking. Gale and Prim seemed to have a good relationship, through Gale's best friend and Prim's sister, Katniss.
Gale carried Prim away from the reaping after Katniss volunteered, and was shown to be comforting Mrs. Everdeen and Prim. Also, he promised Katniss that he would feed her family when she was in the arena, and he showed remorse at her death in Mockingjay.
Of course, there was some debate over whether he made the bomb that killed her. Beetee and Gale spent a lot of time working on weapons in District It is assumed they got along well as they shared similar sanguine views on fighting and the war. It is believed, though not confirmed, that they helped design the bomb that President Coin used to kill the Capitol children and Primrose Everdeen, who stood outside President Snow's house. In The Hunger Games , Gale was not yet working in the coal mines, and was mainly supporting his family through tesserae and the money and meat he made from poaching illegally in the woods that surrounding District By Catching Fire , Gale had turned nineteen and was working in the coal mines.
This gave a little more money, but left him less time to hunt. He still made time to hunt on Sundays with Katniss. This job took the place of the tesserae, because he is no longer eligible for the Hunger Games, but did not help his family in finances. His poaching was stopped in Catching Fire , after Katniss and Gale got into a heated argument. Gale was caught with a fresh turkey when he went to sell it at the Head Peacekeeper, Cray's, home.
Unknown to Gale and the rest of the community, Cray had been replaced by another cruel Head Peacekeeper, Thread. Gale was forced to admit his guilt and was then whipped horribly.
Peeta was with Katniss when the two witnessed Gale's whipping. Peeta had told Katniss to leave when he saw the scene, knowing full well that Katniss would try to stop Thread but even with his warning, Katniss rushed to Gale's aid, getting lashed in the face herself in the process. Peeta and Haymitch had to step in before Thread could hurt Katniss more. The whipping was soon brought to an end and Gale was rushed to Katniss' mother for medical treatment.
Katniss was by Gale's side during the treatment and kissed him, which brought Gale back to consciousness. Katniss then decides that Gale is the one she will love. Both Katniss and Gale had to stop their treks into the woods when the new Peacekeeper decides, just to be safe, to run constant electricity through the fence that surrounds the woods so that no one can get in or out.
At the beginning of Mockingjay , he works particularly closely with Beetee, designing weaponry for District 13, and later goes in as a soldier on the ground to assassinate President Snow. Gale eventually moves to District 2, where he currently lives and continues working for the military. Gale enjoys a good laugh when he is with his best friend, Katniss. He can be easy to anger, and often it is Katniss who keeps it under control.
Despite not being fully responsible, Katniss couldn't overlook his possible involvement. Not being able to forgive Gale, Katniss returned to District 12 where she reunited with Peeta. The two supported each other in the recovery process before starting a family.
While some considered Peeta the "safe choice," it actually made sense why the protagonist ended up with him. No matter how much Gale endured with the Second Rebellion, he would never fully understand what it was like participating in the Hunger Games. Peeta Mellark , on the other hand, served as a crucial confidant, seeing as he went through it all firsthand. Despite the terror he faced, Katniss viewed Peeta as a symbol of comfort and salvation.
He had stood by her side since the Reaping, and he surely wanted to deepen their relationship. With the Games and the rebellion behind them, Katniss was prepared to heal, but to do so, she needed someone like Peeta, who fully understood what she was going through, to guide her through grief.
There was no question that Katniss shared some romantic feelings for Gale during The Hunger Games franchise. Sadly, however, he began to represent war and anger as the Districts embarked on the Second Rebellion. What started as an admirable attribute quickly ended up driving a wedge between the former best friends.
Katniss later reflects "What I need is the dandelion in the spring. The bright yellow that means rebirth instead of destruction. The promise that life can go on, no matter how bad our losses. That it can be good again. Even with rebirth instead of destruction and the promise that life can go on no matter how bad her losses, Katniss still has a complicated relationship with Peeta as supported by their dialogue and struggles, and as Katniss gives Peeta two children because he "wanted them so badly.
Katniss accepting Peeta in her life also reflects her passive choice to be with the person who did not require her to change and that provided support, safety, stability, and hope to the post-Hunger Games and post-Rebellion Katniss that she was and became. Peeta comes to be a better match for Katniss than Gale, primarily because Katniss comes to "need" Peeta and Peeta brings to Katniss' life things she does not bring herself.
They both become damaged in similar ways and their damages and strengths weave together allowing them to both benefit from the relationship and support each other. Katniss comes to be a better match for Peeta than she was before and a better match for Peeta in general. Regardless of who Katniss chose, if she were written to make a choice, Katniss would have had to compromise some aspect of herself by choosing Gale or Peeta, and she would have had to reconcile her choice to be with that partner along with her view of life and the future, as well as with the way in which either Gale or Peeta affected or influenced her.
Peeta's hope for a future in the world that exists is more aligned to Katniss' desire to survive and get through life than is Gale's desire to change the current world, and is one of the reasons that Katniss and Peeta are more of a match for each other.
Peeta's view of life is easier to reconcile to Katniss' view of life and in this regard is also beneficial and balancing as Peeta and his perspectives gives Katniss hope. By the end of the trilogy, given the changes that both Katniss and Peeta undergo, it is only together that they survive and are strong.
Katniss never made an active choice in the story but passive choices could be argued to be choices; if arguing passive choices, Katniss did make a passive choice and that choice was Peeta.
Question: Do you really think that Peeta was purposefully manipulating Katniss, or that he was really in love with her? Peeta seemed to be the latter. Answer: On one hand, this question misses the point of the analysis I wrote and reduces the concepts and relationships in the book to a superficial love triangle that lacks depth.
On the other hand, this question suggests that I did not show bias against or favor towards either Peeta or Gale in the analysis and that the analysis leaves the question open as to whether I am "Team Peeta" or "Team Gale," which I think is a good thing from the perspective of making an argument. I'm not really on either of their "teams" but Katniss was written to end up with Peeta and that's what her and his character development and trajectory support in the story.
Answer: Probably not; I don't think Katniss could necessarily be argued to be living "happily" with Peeta at the end of the story but it does read as if Katniss is peaceful, resigned, and accepting of her life, relationships, and experiences. Gale wanted to be active in the changes and have a more involved role in what was going on post-war and in the future so that didn't really fit with who Katniss was and became through the Games and by Mockingjay.
The Katniss at the beginning of the story might have eventually had a future with Gale but that Katniss exists primarily as a contrast and memory to the Katniss she becomes and that Katniss ending up with Gale would have been a years-down-the-line Katniss that would still likely have a different worldview than Gale and that we wouldn't have gotten to read and that there might have been no story to.
Katniss is still similar to her previous self but with more trauma, loss, and instability so no, she probably would not have been as happy or as peaceful, settled, etc.
Question: At what point did Katniss make it clear in her mind that she wanted to pursue a relationship with Gale? I've updated the article to reflect the feelings vs relationship aspect. Katniss does not make it clear in her mind that she wanted to pursue a relationship with Gail, or with Peeta for that matter.
She goes back to District 12 by herself and the "I need the dandelion in the spring" part came too late in the story for it to support clarity in her mind for wanting to pursue a relationship with Peeta. Question: If Katniss never met Peeta, how do you think her life be? Would she even be alive?
Answer: Katniss' journey and who she met was deliberate and designed by Suzanne Collins. Since Peeta is so heavily interwoven into much of Katniss' trajectory, I think that Katniss' life would be a different story or would have a different backstory if she never met Peeta.
But if we follow the premise of the book, arguably, if she had never met Peeta, she would have gone hungry as he would not have been there to throw her the bread that helped her and her family to survive during a time when there were no resources and Katniss was ready to give up on life.
Given that context, Katniss might not have survived or she could have somehow made it and could have still found dandelions and learned to hunt. It's hard to answer because it's really the author of the story that gets to decide who lives, who dies, and what happens in the story. Thank you for your response and for taking the time to read the analysis. Katniss is a flawed character but readers seem to take issue with which of her flaws are pointed out and how these flaws are argued to relate to other characters or how these are argued to relate to the actions and flaws of other characters.
That being said, this was due for an update and I edited some areas to make things more concise and to remove things that did not really add to the analysis or that detracted from the main points I wanted to communicate. Dude, this was so difficult to read. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that this was meant to be an opinion piece because none of your claims are backed up by textual evidence.
I agree with a few of the other commenters as well about the fact that you seriously misportray Katniss throughout this "analysis. Her decisions are meant to be controversial because they make the audience feel something. It was so hard to get through and I didn't understand what you were trying to say throughout practically the entire piece. For example:. Thank you for your feedback and your perspective. I do not make the argument that Peeta was dishonest about himself. I make the argument that he had a tendency in the story to pair that honesty and who he was with moments, actions, etc.
The part on the rooftop the night before the first Games was one of the few moments in the trilogy when Peeta was honest and where it was not paired with another interest or implication, or some kind of guilt-tie or passive aggressive comment. Katniss was a lot of things, flawed, unstable, intelligent, resourceful, strong, influential, etc. Does she on some level play a role in the manipulative dynamic that those around her have on her and her life, including Peeta?
Could she choose to set boundaries with those around her and stop letting people manipulate her? But she was never written to do that and just because she was not written to have more agency or to grow stronger does not mean that those around her do not have these dynamics with her. Peeta cared for Katniss and Katniss cared for Peeta, but that does not void everything else. I think you did a poor job analyzing the relationships between the 3 of them as a whole.
Peeta is a boy who has had a crush on this girl since the time he was 5. Throughout the story, he did nothing but be completely honest. The most important part of his character was how true he was both to himself and to those around him. He just wants to be himself. When he professed his love for Katniss or did anything throughout the story, every single action was consistent with his character.
He was head over heels for this girl and he would do whatever it took to keep her alive. You present Katniss as a victim time and time again, but I think that completely misses the entire point of the story. Collins wrote Katniss to be a terribly flawed character that acted rashly. Katniss was an extremely unstable girl, intelligent and resourceful, but none-the-less unstable. She experienced trauma time and time again. The books tackled the amount of influence she had. She could support what people already thought, not change their thinking.
Katniss is a lovable character because of her flaws. I think you victimize her and I think Collins would hate this. She wanted a flawed character that we could relate to on a complex level. I think Collins makes it clear that she admires Peeta and wants what he gives her. Her reservations don't come from wanting to be with Gale, but a fear of what Gale will think. Gale acts extremely selfish and manipulative by his moping and guilt tripping.
He plays on her emotions of fear and amplifies them. He convinces her she is right to feel guilty about not wanting him the same way he wants her. The only reason we see her make an effort to distance herself from Peeta is the existence of Gale and her fear of a lost friendship. I think her choice would have been instantaneous and she would have lived with Peeta. Now imagine Peeta died in the Games. I think she would have wanted to stay friends with Gale.
Peeta was nothing if not a kind loving boy who cared deeply for Katniss. He may have been jealous of her, but his apology to her during the train ride to 11 during the victory tour speaks for itself. He recognized his lack of right to judge her for not feeling the same way. Gale on the other hand felt entitled to her and moped to get a response he wanted. It looks forced because it is forced and even though Gale had certain interpersonal and character flaws and issues with Katniss, his steadfastness and support towards her and her family was not one of them and the examples that you included support this.
I appreciate you taking the time to read the article and comment! It's been years since I read the book but there's something that makes me kind of let's see Just kind of pissed in general? I mean, I'm not in the position to do so but I can't help feeling angry about the love triangle. I love the plot and Katniss' character but I really, really hate the love triangle. It was fine until you know, Gale and the Prim thing. That Prim died because of Gale.
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