Straight off the back, if you
have not read The Hunger Games trilogy, or if you are going to read them and do
not want them spoiled, then DO NOT read this blogpost! Owl and Panda absolutely
ADORE the books, and will be unable to contain themselves throughout this post!
Read them IMMEDIATELY- get them
on Amazon HERE
We want to talk about Peeta. And
Gale. And Katniss. Oh Gale and Peeta. They love Katniss so much.
One thing that struck us was how
much we felt we could relate to Katniss' feelings towards both of them. Both
representing safety, security, and undying love, Gale through rebellion and
passion, Peeta through kind support and ultimate acceptance. But who would you
have chosen in the end? Certainly Katniss barely had time to concentrate on her
feelings for either in too much depth, what with her trying to protect her
sister, stay alive and eventually leading a rebellion and all. But in key
moments throughout the series, we see Katniss' confusion over her feelings for
both men. She could identify that she loved them both dearly. But, in the very
end, who did she really want to be with?
Panda was gripped the entire
time, not quite knowing for sure who Katniss would choose (if any). Surely she
would choose Gale, she's known him for so long and has so many shared
experiences with him. And with Peeta's psychological change in the third book
(we mentioned spoilers, right? Oh yeah, good) it was unclear whether he could
ever love her the way he once did. Owl was more perceptive, and saw it coming.
Peeta represented a type of safety in a way that Katniss could not give
herself. Yes, Gale could hunt, and fight, and be as firery as her, but what
Katniss needed in the end was the man who could complete her, to compliment her
and give her the security that she so desperately craved.
And is this not what we want from
our own partners in life? The guy that completes us? Yes, we want someone to
share our likes and interests. But don't we also want the guy who can give us
what we cannot give ourselves?
In the Panda family, the women
are loud and chatty (and then loud and chatty some more). Daddy Panda, on the
other hand, is the quiet, retiring type. He only talks when it is necessary
(sometimes not even then). Perhaps that's what Mummy Panda needed in a mate-
someone who will be the calm one, the listener, the think-then-act person, to
compliment her sprightly and spontaneous nature.
In life, we are often attracted
to those who bring out a different side of us, that challenge us in some way or
another. It's natural, it's what helps us to grow and develop. If we were
always around people who were exactly the same as us all of the time, how would
that benefit us? Is it not instinctive to consciously or subconsciously look
for things in a partner that we do not have ourselves, to compliment our better
half and complete that other side?
Yes, Owl, the romantic, saw this
plot end coming. Peeta was perfect for Katniss. Ultimately Owl pondered, we don't want a mirror image of ourselves. We want someone whose strengths balance our own - to make us stronger as a couple, and surely only Peeta would be the one she could choose? He soothed her character. She
didn't clash with him in the same way she clashed with Gale, because she and
Gale were too much alike. Maybe it's a lesson for us all not to get too hung up
on finding a partner who is just like us, but to accept what our mate has to
bring to the table, and to complement each other, making us both stronger for
it.
