Mockingjay question

I didn't even remember that bit in the book. Then again, I don't remember much about this book.

I find Katniss to be a rather ambiguous character throughout the entire trilogy so it's no surprise that it led to an ambiguous ending.

Insofar as when Katniss made this decision, I don't think there is a clear-cut point in the books that could be referenced which to me, is pretty brilliant. Katniss and Peeta's relationship is so nebulous; it is constantly changing and shifting to account for the unstable world they live in. Moreover, Finnick points out in a perceptive moment of genius that Katniss loves Peeta but probably doesn't even know it herself.

To attempt to answer your questions, I think the moment Katniss heard Peeta's name reaped for the Hunger Games was the beginning of the end for her. Although she had lived much of her teenage life without thought to Peeta, he became the forefront when reaped as the other tribute and she no longer could avoid Peeta's role in her survival thus far. If you think back the first thought in her mind was 'not him'. Why would she say that unless she had some emotional investment in him?

I think it was fairly inevitable for Katniss and Gale to change irrevocably when she volunteered and Gale was left in District 12. Their life paths have veered separately as Katniss went on to experience some unique horrors that only tributes can understand and Gale was left with the immense burden of family and food.

I think SC does a rather splendid job of explaining question 2; although Gale was an intimate friend and confidante for Katniss, he couldn't complete her so to speak. Gale resembled her personality far too much to make up for the flaws and weaknesses she possessed. I think Peeta was an emblem of everything Katniss wasn't and she craved it even as she resented it.

I don't know if even Katniss could digest her feelings for Gale at the end of Mockingjay because once again their relationship had changed irrevocably with the death of Prim. I think he will always possess a small piece of her heart and the woods will always be a reminder of what was the center of their relationship but I think her relief largely stemmed from the fact that Gale had moved forward post-rebellion just as she was endeavoring to.

I know that the book initially doesn't seem to provide much closure for such a brilliantly written journey. After reading it a second time myself, I found some relief in the ending mostly because it is realistic. War changes everyone and everything. Although it is sad when death and separation is involved, it is tenfold more joyous to see rebirth from those things. That was evident with Gale in District 2, with Haymitch coming back to District 12, and with the acknowledgment of Peeta and Katniss' bond in those last paragraphs. Remember, Katniss was a huge believer of no children and for her to succumb to having them means she trusted the world had changed for the better.

Good questions, I'll do my best :)
(1) I believe that Gale was almost jealous of how much alone time K & P were spending together in during the Games, and even afterwards. Gale was either too distant or 'aloof' or he was coming on far too strong and forcing her to make a decision. This extreme behavior on Gale's part is probably a big part of their relationship rift.
And Katniss wasn't helping herself, either. She would be at a constant indecision with how she felt about Peeta, and this inflicted wounds (that she didn't even realise were brewing) on Gale as she calculated the odds, if you will. She would always be deciding-- always HER deciding and never letting them prove anything to her. This would've hurt both Gale and Peeta's feelings. And as Katniss put it herself, she was "cold and calculating". And she really is mostly survival oriented. I mean, she really only chose Peeta because he was the water to her blazing fire, her kryptonite, but Gale was the fan that fed the fire and made her fight harder, even when there's nothing left to fight for. He adds that little bit of extra flare and anger that Katniss doesn't need. With Gale, she would've been left unfulfilled as she would be fighting for something but there's nothing there. Her chances of contentment with her life always stood with Peeta. She grew to love him.

(2) Katniss did love Gale in a romantic way, she proved that in Catching Fire. But that was short lived when she realised the kind of impact he was having on her, and the kind of impact she was having on him. Both were negative impacts and she decided for the both of them what was best. It would've been easier to love Gale, but not as easy to get along with him. Love because they're so similar, but think about magnets: likes repel, opposites attract. Her decision is fairly scientific.

(3) I reckon she's glad he's in district 2 for both the reasons you stated, Alysia. It would be hard for her to see him, but she'd be, naturally, glad he was okay. And, yea, in time she would forgive him. But maybe he's gone so he won't be forgiven. If she forgives him, that leaves them in the same position as before, with no evils between them, nothing but poor old Peeta. It would just complicate everything and make matters worse. So it was for the best that she didn't see him but she still, nontheless, cared about him. As you do with old friends.
Hope I helped! :)

First, thank you for posting this. I like this form of discussion over the team whoever debate, which bothers me.

(1) How did the 74th Hunger Games change Katniss and Gale's relationship?

I think it forced Gale's hand a little bit, in the sense that he could have gone on indefinitely without telling Katniss anything about his feelings. Katniss volunteering and then also having to watch her become romantically involved with someone else made him realize "now or never". So without that push, the two of them could have indefinitely just stayed friends until one of them maybe got the nerve to act.

Also, the game affected their relationship because it added Peeta to the picture. Peeta may have had a crush on Katniss for longer than Gale, but he had never even spoken to her until he is reaped. There is nothing to say that if Katniss hadn't of volunteered, or if Peeta hadn't been reaped, that the two may have never spoken at all. This would've kept him out of the picture, and would've given Gale no competition.

Another way in which the games impacted their relationship is that being in the games changed who Katniss was, and who she was going to become as an adult. If she hadn't gone into the games, she wouldn't have developed what she calls her "fire" at the end of Mockingjay. She states that Gale has a fire fueled with rage and hatred, and that she has that herself. In my opinion, if those two were to combine it could actually become a very toxic and possibly abusive (emotional or physical) relationship. They at the very least would bring out the worst in each other. If she hadn't gone into the games, Gale would likely still have his fire because of his open hatred for the Capitol. Katniss likely would not, because before the games she is much more "well the Hunger Games and Capitol exist and this is just the way things are."


(2) Why couldn't Katniss love Gale in a romantic way?/Why did she choose Peeta over Gale?

This is again all just my opinion, but I really believe that Katniss loved Gale as her constant. In the reality she lived in, with the future so unclear, she couldn't really romantically attach to anyone. She watched what happened to her mother after her father died, refused to have children in fear of them going into the games, and was concerned more with survival than having a love interest. Romantic love was something she didn't have time for or to think about.

That is why when she is thrown into an extreme situation with the aftermath of the 74th Hunger Games, the Victory Tour, and the rebellion she becomes confused. I think if was able to have clarity and a stable living situation, she would have been able to just tell Gale in a straight forward way that she didn't love him the way he wanted her too. But living in constant fear, she clung to her constant: Gale. I don't blame her for this at all, it is a very human thing to do. It wasn't her fault that her constant just so happened to be in love with her.

I think she chose Peeta because he brings out the best in her. Whenever she is with him, her best qualities come through. She is more patient, compassionate, caring, trusting, and loyal around him. Any time in any of the novels after she has gotten to know Peeta as a person in the cave during the games, she is a better person when she is with him. If she spends an extended period of time away from him and his influence, she becomes angrier, more distrustful, more apathetic, and more confused. An example is when Katniss is in District 13 with Gale before Peeta is rescued. She is apathetic for the most part, gets angry with Gale not infrequently, is confused about what is going on and what she should do (though Prim helps with this), and doesn't really trust anyone except Prim and Cinna (if he thought she should be the Mockingjay she knows it is the right thing to do).


(3) Why is she relieved to hear Gale is in District 2? Because she doesn't want to see him or because she is glad he is ok? (I feel like she was still on the fence when she is wanting him to appear in the woods at the end and that this suggests she would have forgiven him in time - anyone agree?)

I think it is as simple as if he isn't around she doesn't have to deal with him. She has the knowledge that her former friend is alive and well, but that she is also free of him. If he were around, it would be a lot like life pre-victory tour after she returned to District 12 after the 74th Hunger Games. It would be constantly awkward, and they would have a difficult time because they couldn't go back to how things were. Also, finding a new normal for them would be difficult and quite possibly heart breaking.

On the flip side I also think it is healthier for Gale to stay in District 2. I have always felt bad for him, because he could never win with her. As he said, his only saving grace in Katniss' eyes was that he has and could protect her family. Even though I don't blame her, she nonetheless did play with his feelings with more thought of its impact on her rather than him.

He did everything he could and thought possible for Katniss, and it really was never good enough. If she had simply told him "we can't happen because I don't know how I feel, so we are just friends" it would be different. But instead she kind of strings him along. She shouldn't have given him hope if she wasn't sure, because he has feelings too. Katniss tends to forget that people besides her suffer also.

So it is good that Gale doesn't return to 12. He can now finally move on with his life, and start a new one. Have a wife and kids, like he had said he wanted back before the reaping for the 74th Hunger Games.

I agree for the most part with what everyone else has said, except for Katniss stringing Gale along. I think that she honestly didn't know who she would ultimately choose for nearly all of the series. In "Catching Fire," she chose Gale by staying to fight in the Hunger Games a second time instead of running and hiding.

But on to the "anyway." I think Collins means if Gale had not been the one to design the bomb that killed Prim and then moved to District 2, Katniss would have still chosen Peeta because she needed "the dandelion in the spring" that comforted her nightmares. She also speaks again of the "hunger that overtook [her] on the beach," the kind of feelings she never had for Gale and finally realized she would never have.