Does Katniss Truly Love Peeta By The End Of The Hunger Games?

Does Katniss Truly Love Peeta By The End Of The Hunger Games?

Katniss ends up with Peeta by the end of The Hunger Games' story, but is that because she truly loves him, or did she see no other option? Who does Katniss end up with at the end of The Hunger Games ? Eventually, Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark end up together, but it’s not entirely clear how she truly feels about him. Many have put Katniss and Peeta's relationship into question and, notably, Katniss was caught in a love triangle throughout The Hunger Games saga. Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) was presented with the choice between Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) and her childhood...

Katniss ends up with Peeta by the end of The Hunger Games' story, but is that because she truly loves him, or did she see no other option? Who does Katniss end up with at the end of The Hunger Games ? Eventually, Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark end up together, but it’s not entirely clear how she truly feels about him. Many have put Katniss and Peeta's relationship into question and, notably, Katniss was caught in a love triangle throughout The Hunger Games saga. Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) was presented with the choice between Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) and her childhood friend, Gale Hawthorne (Liam Hemsworth). Though the movies emphasized the romantic dynamic between these three The Hunger Games characters more prominently than the novels by Suzanne Collins, the choices Katniss makes regarding her feelings for both young men reveal a lot about who she is and what she’s been through. Having Katniss end up with Josh Hutcherson's Peeta, in the end, makes sense, considering their shared trauma, but their relationship overall is much more complex and layered than just this when it comes to considering if they truly loved one another. Why Katniss Didn't Choose Gale Katniss ends up with Peeta and not Gale because the latter represented everything that Katniss was trying to get away from following her harrowing time in the Hunger Games arena. He wanted to march on the Capitol and take down the system. And while Katniss understood his resolve on some level, she also couldn’t bring herself to match it. Everything Katniss had been through, which included the horror of being one of the winners of the Hunger Games and being forced into the spotlight – made her wary of a future with Gale. He represented the violence she wanted to leave behind, which became especially apparent when The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 insinuated that Katniss’ sister Primrose (Willow Shields) was inadvertently killed by a firebomb, a device and strategy of Gale’s design. Gale became everything that Katniss couldn’t handle anymore as she sought peace in which to mourn and move on from violence and revenge. As for who Katniss ends up with, Peeta understood how Katniss was feeling like few others could. Peeta had experienced the same trauma, which meant that Katniss could trust him with her feelings, and confide in him in a way she couldn’t with those who merely saw her as the Mockingjay, a symbol of rebellion. Their connection deepened as a result. If Katniss wanted to find a way to move on from the pain she’d had to endure, she knew she would have to be with someone like Peeta, who understood her complicated emotions and grief. These feelings undoubtedly strengthened their bond, enough for Katniss and Peeta's relationship to blossom and for them to build a life and family together. They love each other in their own way. There is something to be said for love that isn’t constantly romantic, a love that exists because you are with a person who understands you like no other. That is the kind of love that Katniss and Peeta share, one that builds slowly until it’s clear that there is no future for one without the other. Why Katniss Does Love Peeta When The Hunger Games End Does Katniss love Peeta? Katniss not only ends up with Peeta, she even confirms that she loves him in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 epilogue. “You love me: real or not real?” Peeta asks, and Katniss responds, “Real.” Up until that point, she’d had a difficult time expressing her feelings without being made to feel like they were unimportant in the grand scheme of an uprising. Katniss' admission that she loves Peeta in the epilogue is therefore likely to be true. It is a moment of peace in which she can proclaim how she truly feels. ​​​​​The Hunger Games movies had a hard task in adapting the books written from Katniss’ first-person point...