The Hunger Games

In the novel the Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, Katniss has genuine feelings for both, Peeta and Gale. The author wants the reader to think Katniss has mixed feelings for the both of the boys. Katniss has no experience with boyfriends at all, but the author wants the reader to believe she has always had feelings for Gale, she just has not realized it yet. He was the only person that she could trust ever since her dad died. Peeta, is a completely different case. Katniss definitely develops feelings for him, but she doesn't know if their real or all an act to go along with the 'star-crossed lovers' deal for more sponsors and fans during the game. The capitol was fooled, but while she was putting on this huge act, all she could think about was Gale.

Suzanne Collins wants the reader to feel that Katniss gradually developed feelings for Peeta through out the novel. Katniss had mixed feelings for him from when he snuck her burnt bread, to the moment they were arriving back to district 12 from the Hunger Games, she has never known what to think of him. By the end of the book she finally starts to get a clue and notices her feelings for him. It all started with their first kiss. "This is the first kiss that I actually feel stirring inside my chest. Warm and curious. This is the first kiss that makes me want another." (298) described Katniss. That wasn't their first kiss, it was the first kiss it was their first kiss they were both actually aware of, and its described as magical. Not everyone can make a person feel so powerful about a kiss, Peeta must be special to her. Katniss gradually grew a lust for Peeta and her mixed feelings became more solid.

Katniss may have feelings for Peeta, but her and Gale's chemistry is something so genuine, that nothing could keep them apart. Katniss and Gale are not a couple, but they have a relationship any girl would kill for. They are confidants that secretly love each other. Mostly everything Katniss did in the Hunger Games revolved around Gale. Every move she made, she wondered if he was watching, every kiss that her and Peeta experienced, she wondered what Gale was thinking. He was the only person she trusted after her father died, he was all she had. He was her hunting partner and she was questioning if she could make it out of the Hunger Games alive without him by her side. During the preparation for the games, she wanted him there to give her confidence and make her feel like she was not so alone. "I call him my friend, but in the last year it's seemed too casual a word for what Gale is to me... If only he was with me now!... Does he miss me? He must." (112) thought Katniss. By describing their relationship, she thought about how she missed him, and she was wondering if he felt the same. He was the only person who gave her a sense of security and trust since her father died. She had to of loved him. The words she used to