The male tribute from District 12, Peeta is in love with Katniss and becomes her main ally and romantic interest during the Games. Peeta is best characterized by his love for Katniss and willingness to sacrifice himself for her.
During his interview with Caesar Flickerman, he reveals he is in love with Katniss, much to her surprise. This confession begins the idea that the two are the "star-crossed lovers from District 12," which Haymitch believes will help them get sponsors. Peeta's interview.
His feelings and memories are distorted with hallucinogenic tracker jacker venom, in a mind-control technique known as "Hijacking." The Capitol uses this method to turn Peeta against Katniss, making him believe that she is not only responsible for the death of his family, friends and the destruction of District 12, but ...
Throughout the series, Katniss and Peeta fluctuate between a platonic and romantic relationship. For a period in Mockingjay, Peeta is brainwashed by the Capitol to hate Katniss and try to kill her. But he recovers, and in the epilogue, we learn that Peeta and Katniss are married with two children.
Even though they don't speak and Katniss doesn't consider Peeta a friend, he saves her life when they are 11 and she is starving behind the bakery. He gives her a loaf of bread, one that he burned on purpose, and ever since that moment Katniss has felt like she owes Peeta.
The Symbolism of Peeta and Gale || Not Entirely What You Might Think
Who does Katniss like more Peeta or Gale?
Katniss's focus on survival and her family's safety prevented her from fully considering romance, but her feelings for Peeta and Gale diverged in the end. Katniss ultimately chose Peeta because he understood her trauma and she didn't want to lose him, proving her love for him.
When Katniss comes home to District 12, Gale immediately confesses his love for Katniss, and she realizes she might have feelings for him, too — but she can't explore them, because she has to continue her fake relationship with Peeta or else her entire family, including “cousin Gale,” will be killed.
It took time for Peeta to break out of that conditioning, and even when the possibility existed that Peeta could be a danger to Katniss, the two of them still elected to be together and build a future in a post-Hunger-Games world. Their love for one another is evident.
Katniss here's this and understands that even though she may not love Peeta (then) that it's one less person who has to die. (At least that's what I have always thought.) Katniss realizes that if she pretends to be in love with Peeta people will want the capitol to let them survive.
While a prisoner of the Capitol, Peeta was hijacked into believing that Katniss was not human, but in fact one of the Capitol's mutts. Conversely, Johanna Mason suggested that the Capitol's torture replaced Peeta with an "evil-mutt version" of himself. This sentiment was later echoed by Katniss.
He has betrayed her and is betraying all of District 12 by buddying up with the Careers, whom she calls the "Capitol's lapdogs." She decides that if the Careers don't kill him, she'd be more than happy to. Then, she wonders why Peeta hasn't told them about her bow and arrow skills yet.
Katniss Fell in Love With Peeta During the Quarter Quell
However, it wasn't until Mockingjay -- when Peeta got kidnapped by the Capitol -- Katniss realized how much she cared about him and that she couldn't live without him.
Peeta used the dyes to paint a picture of Rue after Katniss covered her with flowers when she died. He says he wants to hold them accountable for killing Rue, and Effie tells him that that kind of thinking is forbidden. Katniss then tells the team she hung a dummy of Seneca Crane.
Katniss and Prim's mother is from a wealthier merchant class within District 12, but she moved to the Seam to marry their father for love. When her husband dies in a mining accident, however, she falls into a daze, unable to work and take care of her children.
Did Katniss actually like Peeta in the first book?
Peeta always loved Katniss. However, she faked it in the first book. In Catching Fire, she began to fall for him. And in Mockingjay, in the end, she loved him..
While the Hunger Games film never talked about it, the Catching Fire novel explained why she could only communicate through hand gestures. Katniss briefly mentioned that a previous stroke could have caused Mags' garbled speech. However, post-traumatic stress disorder could have also caused her speech incapacity.
This suggests that Katniss loves Peeta, and not just because she feels that she owes him her life. Instead, Katniss wants to protect him and bring him home because she has strong feelings for him, even though she isn't sure what those feelings mean.
Katniss thinks about how she and Peeta are supposed to be in love as she kisses him, and she also points out that she realizes Peeta's feelings have actually been to her benefit. Their relationship has attracted a great deal of attention, which in turn means more sponsors.
Because Katniss feels betrayed by his request, she realizes that she must have trusted him at some point, but decides that it will be easier now if they stop pretending being friends since they will eventually have to try to kill one another.
It's only implied that they get it on via snuggling and other affectionate acts in close quarters — but if you have read the book, they really imply that they took their relationship to the next level.
Although she will never know for sure, Katniss does recognize that she cannot be with Gale. She will never be able to forgive him for his idea — the parachute bombs — that killed Prim.
Gale does not marry anyone in The Hunger Games. He and Katniss talk about running away together and starting a new life in the wilderness, but they never officially marry.
Gale is jealous of Peeta and the relationship he has with Katniss, and he wants Katniss to decide between them, though he doesn't press Katniss during her recovery in District 13. Gale is an excellent hunter and excels at setting snares and traps.
Gale was responsible for creating weapons that would trigger a second wave of bombs to target first responders and combat healers. This invention potentially ended up killing Prim, but even if he wasn't directly responsible, Katniss found this tactic so abhorrent that she lost her affection for him.
