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.
Why was Katniss pretending to be in love with Peeta?
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.
In the Mockingjay movie, Katniss confronts Gale about his role in Prim's death, which he struggles to come to terms with. Katniss, unable to look at him the same way, lets him walk away without a word and eventually ended up living with Peeta.
In chapter 14 of Mockingjay, Gale embraces katniss to kiss her, she kisses Gale back, not because of desire but because she feels like she owes him these kisses and she's lonely.
Hunger Games: Why Katniss Ends Up With Peeta, Not Gale
Did Katniss actually love 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.
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.
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.
Even if Gale didn't intend to murder Prim specifically, he certainly intended to murder somebody. The two-phase bombs that he and Beetee invented were very clearly made with the intent of targeting medics and other civilians trying to save those wounded during the first phase of bombing.
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.
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 has just learned that Peeta has romantic feelings for her, and initially she feels she is being used. She becomes angry with Peeta as a result, going so far as to shove him over an urn of flowers.
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.
Later, the two learn President Snow considered their actions to be an act of rebellion against the Capitol. After their last interview, in which the two continue to affect their romantic feelings for one another, Peeta comes to the realization Katniss has staged her love for him all along.
Did Peeta actually love Katniss before the Hunger Games?
Ever since he was five years old, Peeta had a huge crush on Katniss Everdeen. On the first day of school, Peeta's father pointed her out, saying that he wanted to marry her mother but ultimately didn't as she married a coal miner.
Before the Capitol battle, Gale had explained to Katniss his series of bombs designed to feed off human compassion: a small bomb would go off, and then when medical aid rushed in, a second bomb would go off, killing those people as well. Incidentally, it's this exact type of bomb that took Prim's life.
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.
At the end of Mockingjay, Gale relocates to District 2 and begins working in the district's government. He helps train replacements for the Capitol's Peacekeepers.
What does Peeta whisper to Katniss when they reunite?
Then, he opens his eyes. He has camouflaged himself in mud, leaves, and vines. He jokes with her, whispering that it's okay to kiss him since they're madly in love, but once Katniss begins to clean him in the stream, she can see how weak he is.
Even though the third part Suzanne Collins's Hunger Games trilogy, Mockingjay, was split in two, one scene was omitted from the films - the infamous sex scene between Peeta and Katniss at the end of the novel.
In Chapter 9, as Caesar Flickerman interviews Peeta before the Games, Peeta reveals to Caesar and all of Panem that he's in love with Katniss. Peeta's revelation sets in motion the storyline of him and Katniss as ill-fated lovers that carries on throughout the Games.
He Didn't Save Peeta's Family But some people believe Gale may have had more malicious reasons for not helping them. However, Peeta's family wasn't great. His parents were abusive, or at least distant. It would have been interesting to see what would have happened had his family survived, but no one missed them much.
He was actually helpful during the revolution. Unlike Peeta who was busy being brainwashed, working for President Snow, and wearing white after Labor Day — though again, not entirely his fault — Gale fought beside Katniss during the revolution.
