The Great Debate
Will or won’t Harry Potter die in Book 7? Will Bella choose Team Edward or Team Jacob? In a literary world filled with controversy and debate, it’s the next big thing. The question on everyone’s mind, sweeping through the YA reader community. It’s brought to you straight from Suzanne Collins’ fabulous series The Hunger Games Trilogy. That question? Peeta or Gale?
*!Spoiler Alert!*… Contains spoilers for The Hunger Games and Catching Fire, but speculation only for Mockingjay… consider yourself warned.
Initially, I must beg your forgiveness for my lack of preparedness in referencing passages from The Hunger Games. My copy is currently in Sweden with a friend who is traipsing around Europe for the next few weeks. He assures me it is in excellent hands and will be returned unharmed. I do however have my copy of Catching Fire nearby for reference. Also I will try my very best to keep my own biases out of it, but if they happen to shine through, I apologize.
I frequent a wonderful website for book lovers which I highly recommend. http://www.goodreads.com/ On this site (along with many others I am sure) there is constant discussion about The Hunger Games series. But amidst the speculation regarding the elusive District 13, Katniss’s and Gale’s fathers really being dead, President Snow’s breath smelling of blood, Cinna being beaten to a bloody pulp, and what I can only describe as a one of the greatest cliffhangers I have recently experienced, we all seem to be coming back to one topic. Should Katniss chose Peeta or Gale?
So… The ‘Boy with the Bread’ or the ‘Man with the Meat’? Although very different in personality and appearance, these two seem to have similar goals, making the choice that much more difficult. Both have been in love with Katniss for a long while, are willing to make sacrifices for her, have been oppressed by the Capitol, like the idea of District rebellion and uprising, and have saved Katniss’s life on more than one occasion. And I truly think both would walk away to make room for the other if they felt it was what Katniss really wanted. They are constant and loyal. Big picture, both are excellent choices. So, to answer the question, one must look not at each character as an individual, but the relationship Katniss shares with each of them.
When first we enter the world of District 12 and Panem, the relationship between Katniss and Gale is already established. We don’t hear much about it because Katniss, as the narrator, already knows the story of this relationship. This means we as readers have to work a little harder to get the specifics, but if you’re paying attention it’s there. Gale is her best friend, companion, hunting partner, and secret keeper. She has no need to analyze their relationship because to her Gale is a constant, he is always there and she trusts him completely, which does not come easily to Katniss. What Katniss fails to recognize is the fact that Gale is already in love with her. Carb lovers disagree? Re-read the morning of the Reaping while Gale and Katniss are hunting (again sorry for not having page numbers). It is my opinion that Gale was attempting to gauge Katniss’s feelings for him that morning when he was talking about them running and living in the woods. She wasn’t ready to hear it then, and as fate would have it, all hell broke loose that afternoon at the Reaping once Prim’s name was picked.
We don’t hear much from Gale after that. Our narrator is whisked away to the Capitol for a winner take all blood bath. We see more of Cousin Gale after the games, but he’s distant, makes his true feelings known by kissing her, then is distant again (ah… teenage angst). There is more confusion, a victory tour, talk of running away, a new Peacekeeper in town, talk of rebellion, oh and Katniss and Peeta, surprise…you’re going back into the arena. At this point Katniss has pretty much given up hope of ever seeing Gale again, so she tries to put him out of her mind, but who should show up to pull Katniss from her depressive state at the conclusion of Catching Fire… her constant, her secret keeper, her friend, Gale. This tells us he’s not entirely out of the picture after all.
Which brings us to Peeta, when we first meet Peeta he comes across as shy, unassuming, and bothersome to Katniss, although we do not yet know why. However, as time passes and we get to know Peeta a bit better, we see that there is more than meets the eye regarding Peeta Mellark. He fell in love with Katniss from day one. He is the appropriately named ‘Boy with the Bread’. Regardless of Peeta’s intention, that bread was more than simply bread to Katniss. It gave her hope, it gave her a reason to go home, to live. He gave her life. For this reason Katniss feels she is indebted to Peeta Mellark, and she doesn’t like owing anyone anything.
Fast forward to the Reaping and it is the next time Katniss and Peeta actually interact. Why have they waited so long? I think there are a few reasons. Peeta really is shy. Surely we can all remember what it’s like to be a teenager with a crush and what it’s like to be around the object of your affections. He makes Katniss uncomfortable because of the day with the bread. Also, there is the issue of class difference to be addressed when it comes to Katniss and Peeta. They grew up in very different social settings. Things like that may not be important in the arena, but remember, the Capitol purposely exploited the class differences within the districts to promote division, so before their trip to the games it was truly an issue.
After the Reaping we see Peeta being genuinely friendly, encouraging Katniss, and he seems to be on her side. The trouble here is that because of their situation Katniss is constantly guessing his motives. Add the fact that they have been ordered to pretend to be friends/lovers and you see why Katniss would react this way. She cannot see that Peeta really is as good, caring, constant as he seems or can he? Either way it doesn’t matter because soon one or both of them will be dead. But, thanks to some quick thinking on Katniss’s part that is not the case at all.
On the train ride back to District 12 Katniss finally comes clean, tells Peeta the truth and he is devastated. Still constant and true Peeta agrees to keep up pretenses for the cameras. At this point we are certain of a few things 1) Peeta was telling the truth about loving Katniss 2) After everything he still places Katniss ahead of himself and 3) He might be the most sacrificial person in existence. During the victory tour and throughout Catching Fire Peeta acts just as we, the reader, expect him to, always putting others before himself. He is loyal and true. Always trying to protect Katniss in and out of the arena.
But in the year that has passed since the initial Hunger Games, the relationship between Katniss and Peeta has changed as well. They are and will always be a part of the other’s lives. Katniss genuinely cares for Peeta and sees that he was never acting at all, which makes her feel worse. She relies on him. A shared intense experience like being in the arena creates a bond between them. The simple fact is that no one else will ever know what it was like to be in that specific arena besides Peeta and Katniss. It’s not something either of them can explain, nor would they ever want to. Katniss knows Peeta is the only one who can keep the dreams away, and she let’s him. She finally starts trusting him and opening up.
Katniss also feels trapped with Peeta. Because of the pretenses for the Capitol viewers there is a real possibility that Katniss could be forced into a relationship she’s not sure she wants. Because of this she instinctively rebels against it in a “Nobody puts Baby in a corner” type of way. Still, it’s not Peeta who she’s frustrated with, it’s the Capitol and President Snow. She and Peeta actually have a good relationship, once you get past all the awkwardness. It could be love, she just might not know it yet. We know Finnick was trying to figure it out, just like we all seem to be.
Personally, I think the Peeta/Gale debate exists because the readers have differing wants and needs. Peeta is willing to give anything as long as it means Katniss’s happiness. Gale, on the other hand, sees the bigger picture and has no problem letting her know there are bigger things out there than just them. Neither is wrong. Both are great options. Add to the mix the fact that Katniss has no idea what she actually wants and we have a huge debate on our hands.
Regardless of Katniss’s fate, with no advanced reader copies available we will all have to wait until August 24th, 2010 for the release of Mockingjay, Collins’ 3rd and final installment of the series, to find out. Until then happy speculating and here’s a poll to tide you over.
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