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 ...
During his captivity, he was tortured, beaten, and hijacked using tracker jacker venom to distort his memories of Katniss until he believed she was a mutt trying to kill him.
Throughout both installments of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, it was revealed that Peeta was physically and mentally tortured by the Capitol. They used tracker jacker venom to distort his memories to turn him against Katniss.
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.
In the novel, his doctors employ a series of tactics to try to undo what the Capitol did to Peeta's brain. They bring in Delly Cartwright, a friend from his childhood, to unlock positive memories. They dose him with morphling and make him watch clips of Katniss to induce positive feelings rather fearful ones.
The Entire Life of Peeta Mellark (Hunger Games Explained)
Does Peeta ever regain his memory?
Like Katniss, Peeta ended up back in District 12, which was still recovering after being firebombed. By that point, Peeta greatly recovered from the brainwashing, but he still had PTSD from having his mind hijacked. Being in close proximity to Katniss was greatly beneficial as they relied on each other to heal.
Although it is not specified in the text what was the most successful treatment, Primrose Everdeen suggested "reverse hijacking," in which Peeta received a dose of calming morphling and was exposed to happy memories of Katniss.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Katniss is told to put on her Mockingjay uniform and join Gale and Finnick for some filming of the destruction aboveground. Coin wants to make it clear that the Mockingjay lives. But Katniss can't perform for the propos because she's too upset about Peeta and grows increasingly distraught.
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.
Johanna Mason was the axe wielding victor of the 71st Hunger Games from District 7. Snow would later orchestrate the slaughter of her entire family as punishment for her defiant nature.
At times she's convinced that he's scheming, deceiving her and the others; at other times, she thinks that he might be acting out of kindness, which is more dangerous to her since she knows she won't be able to kill a kind Peeta Mellark. The image of the dandelion returns.
She asks Gale and his family to escape into the woods with her. He agrees happily, and confesses that he loves her. He is disappointed by her reply that she cannot love anyone romantically at such a perilous time. He is further angered when he finds out that Katniss plans to bring Peeta along into the woods.
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.
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 the arena, Peeta loves Katniss for the same reasons we love Katniss, multiplied by a lifetime of silent longing. Yet he's really only known her for a month. He's 16 years old and very much caught up in his crush. He loves an image of Katniss, and he's imagined this role for himself as epic lover.
During the interviews for the 75th Hunger Games, Peeta lied about Katniss being pregnant to try to protect her from the Games, and Katniss later stated that she miscarried due to an electric shock in the arena to avoid further questioning.
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.
Mutts -- short for muttation -- are genetically engineered creatures used by The Capitol. They've been used in combat, to spy on citizens in individual districts and, most notably, to liven up The Hunger Games for the audience.
What's the black liquid that erupts from the pod in the courtyard? It's described in the book as having a “noxious tar smell,” but it's also described as looking like this: Black, oily matter spouts like a geyser from the street, billowing between the buildings, creating an impenetrable wall of darkness.
