For someone who seems like he'd be little more than cannon fodder, Peeta is actually astoundingly savvy and exceptionally skilled at doing exactly the right thing at exactly the right time.
He manages to ingratiate himself with the career pack while it serves him, but he knows just when he should break free of them, and he actually convinces them that he's on their side all while somehow portraying himself as a lovesick teen to the audience.
The layers of his thought processes are impressive. Peeta's ability to put himself on the line for his own ideals or for the greater good makes him an enormous threat to the status quo, but it also puts him in nearly constant danger.
He's contrasted with Katniss in the sense that he's much more politically, socially, and morally minded, but that devotion to his sense of right and wrong even if it's at the expense of his own safety or survival is a dangerous mentality to have in his position.
Despite Panem being a dog-eat-dog world, it's clear that Peeta's inherent kindness has gotten him pretty far in life. The most obvious and direct example of that is the fact that being Katniss' "boy with the bread" may have literally kept him alive in the long run.
But in a broader sense, his ability to empathize with and relate to people made him into more than just any competitor in the Games in the eyes of everyone watching, and he knew how to captivate the audience with his genuine personality.
For every positive aspect, there comes a negative. And, while Peeta's ability to be open, to be himself, and to share his sincere feelings enabled him to manipulate the people around him, it also put him in a position where he could easily be manipulated. No one on earth could endure the torture that Peeta went through without being horrifically traumatized, but the fact that he was so forthright about his love for Katniss didn't do him any favors in that department either.
Katniss might have Peeta beat in terms of survival skills, but when it comes to showmanship, she can't even hold a candle to him. Although Katniss ultimately became the Mockingjay, it's almost certain that she couldn't have become a symbol of the revolution without Peeta's incredible ability to charm people and make them see what he wants them to see.
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Thank you for signing up to CinemaBlend. Peeta was confused as to why someone would marry a coal miner instead of his father, but Mr. Mellark explained that when Mr. Everdeen sang, the birds stopped to listen. Later, Katniss sang for their music class, and Peeta realized he was in love with her when he saw that the birds were listening like they did for her father.
He said that he had often watched her, but the two never spoke until the reaping. Peeta is first seen in The Hunger Games when he is selected as the male tribute from District 12 in the 74th Hunger Games.
Katniss recognizes him instantly, knowing that he is the boy who, five years prior, purposely burned bread and gave it to her to save her family and herself from starvation - an act that gave her the hope and courage to feed her family. For this, his mother gave him a black eye for being so clumsy. Once he is reaped, he goes to the Justice Building where his family comes to visit him. His father is distraught, whereas his mother says that perhaps District 12 will have a victor: Katniss, indicating she has no expectations to ever see her youngest son again.
Peeta and Katniss leave the district on the train to the Capitol, escorted by well-known fashionista and socialite, Effie Trinket. On the first night on the train, Peeta is irritated by the District 12 mentor , Haymitch Abernathy , because of his drinking problem and his obvious lack of interest in helping the tributes survive.
When Haymitch tells them, "Here's some advice: Stay alive. Katniss then jams a knife in between Haymitch's hand and his wine bottle. Haymitch is impressed by their potential and decides that as long as they don't interfere with his drinking, he will stay sober enough to help them.
When Peeta arrives in the Capitol, he is fixed up by his prep team , led by his stylist , Portia. For the Parade, he and Katniss are dressed in black unitards with synthetic fire to represent burning coal. The Capitol receives them more positively than any of the other district tributes during the Opening Ceremonies , where they are instructed to hold hands. During the training process, Haymitch instructs Katniss and Peeta to stay together every step and process of the way, though they protest due to their tendency to argue and anger each other.
Peeta excels at keeping up the appearance that they are friends, easing Katniss into conversation, and responding to what she's saying at all the right times. He receives a training score of 8 after his private session with the Gamemakers , saying that he threw some weights around because the Gamemakers were clearly not interested in him.
Despite having agreed to train alongside Katniss at the beginning, Peeta decides to prepare for his interview separately. During his interview with Caesar Flickerman , he reveals he is in love with Katniss, much to her surprise. This confession begins the idea that the two are the "star-crossed lovers from District 12," which Haymitch believes will help them get sponsors.
The night before the Games, Peeta and Katniss talk on the rooftop about the horrors that await them in the arena. Peeta admits that he does not believe he has ever been a contender in the games; he merely wants to die as himself and show the Capitol that he is "more than just a piece in their games.
At the beginning of the games, it is Peeta who distracts Katniss when she looks ready to run into the bloodbath in order to grab the silver bow and arrows she spies on top of a mound of blanket rolls. He surprisingly teams up with the Careers , as Katniss finds out on the first night.
What she does not know, is that he is only with them in order to protect her. When an argument breaks out about the dying tribute from District 8 and whether or not the pack should go back to kill her, Peeta says they are wasting time and finishes her off himself. The cannon only fires after Peeta returns from "finishing her off" but it's not explicit whether Peeta actually killed her though this seems unlikely, given his temperament , if she simply took longer to die than the Careers expected, or the Gamemakers held off on the cannon to try and get Katniss discovered for a more interesting fight.
After the firestorm, none of the Careers die, but they are injured and much slower than before. They find Katniss and chase her up a tree, with Peeta suggesting that they make camp under it, as none of them are able to climb after her.
It's later revealed he stays up the whole night under the tree as part of his devotion to Katniss. In the morning, they wake up to a tracker jacker attack after Katniss drops a nest on them. The Careers, minus Glimmer , and the female tribute from District 4 , who die from their stings, retreat to the lake.
Peeta finds Katniss at the scene of the attack as she is removing the bow and arrows from Glimmer's body, and he urges her to run due to Cato 's impending attempt to kill her. Cato witnesses this exchange and cuts Peeta in his upper thigh for his actions, severely wounding him. It's unclear if Cato deliberately just wounded Peeta, or if he was trying to kill Peeta and Peeta fought back and escaped. Either way, Cato is confident enough in the wound that he and the other Careers don't bother hunting Peeta down.
Peeta uses mud and dirt to camouflage himself by a stream, where Katniss finds him after Claudius Templesmith announces the new rule: If the last two tributes standing are from the same district, they both can win.
She nurses him back to health as best she can, but ultimately he suffers from blood poisoning, which she cannot cure without the right medicine. During this time, Peeta plays up the star-crossed lovers angle and Katniss responds as best as she can, which results in sponsor gifts of food. Claudius Templesmith makes another announcement that they have a feast planned, where a bag containing something that each remaining tribute desperately needs will be placed at the Cornucopia in the form of district packs.
Katniss knows she has to go, but Peeta won't let her, saying he doesn't want her to die for him. Haymitch then sends Katniss sleep syrup, which she slyly gives to Peeta in some berries she found; Peeta is hurt by her trickery before he falls into a deep sleep, giving her time to go to the feast.
She manages to return with the medicine, after nearly dying at the hands of Clove. Katniss just manages to inject the medicine into Peeta before fainting from her own blood loss. Peeta wakes up, recovered from the infected wound, and finds Katniss bleeding next to him. He treats her wound, and she wakes up later. They stay in their cave during a thunderstorm, during which Thresh dies, presumably at the hands of Cato.
Peeta uses the time to further promote their star-crossed lovers act, and the two share a passionate kiss. After the storm ends, the pair head out to hunt for food, but Katniss is frustrated by the noise that Peeta, who is not used to hunting, makes. They decide to split up, with Katniss teaching Peeta a two-note whistle to signify to each other that they are safe.
When Katniss does not hear Peeta whistle after an extended period of time, she becomes frightened and, upon finding him, chastises him for worrying her. She notices that their collection of food, which contains deadly nightlock berries that Peeta mistakenly picked out, is missing a portion, and is irritated with him for having eaten without her, but he denies doing so.
A cannon sounds and they see Foxface 's emaciated body being picked up by a hovercraft ; she stole and ate the deadly berries, which almost instantly killed her. With only three of them left in the Arena, the Gamemakers drain all sources of water except for the lake, forcing Katniss and Peeta to confront Cato and end the Games one way or another. They notice at the Cornucopia that Cato is covered in full-body armor, which he received from his district pack, that protects him from Katniss' arrows.
The three of them are attacked by wolf muttations that the Gamemakers unleash, with Katniss noticing that they all resemble the deceased tributes. They climb onto the roof of the Cornucopia for safety, and in the process Peeta's calf is bitten by one of the mutts, opening up a large wound. Katniss has to use her last arrow in a tourniquet to stop Peeta from dying from blood loss.
Once recovered from running for so long, Cato catches Peeta in a headlock to cut off his air, possibly hoping to choke him to death and use his body as a weapon against Katniss, ensuring both of their deaths, and Cato's victory. However, this does not happen. Knowing that to shoot him in the head would mean both his and Peeta's deaths, Katniss does not know what to do until Peeta shakily draws an "X" in blood on the back of Cato's hand, signaling for Katniss to shoot him there, which she does.
Cato reflexively lets go of Peeta, and Peeta shoves him over the edge. Cato falls to the mutts and later returns bloody and mangled, begging for Katniss to perform a mercy kill. When Cato's body is removed and the muttations retreat, Katniss and Peeta believe that they have won the Games, but Claudius Templesmith then announces that the rule has been revoked and only one tribute can win. Peeta tells Katniss to kill him, but not wanting to go home without him, Katniss refuses and pushes the bow and arrows into his hands.
Realizing that the Capitol would rather have two victors than none,. Katniss and Peeta decide to commit suicide with the remaining nightlock. Right before they consume the berries, Claudius Templesmith begs them to stop and announces that they both have won the Games.
At their final interview with Caesar Flickerman, the pair once again project their mad love for each other, with Katniss only doing so because she knows that President Snow is livid at the unusual events that turned the Capitol into a laughingstock and, more importantly, sparked something dangerous in the districts. Peeta, however, is genuinely in love with her, as is revealed on their train ride home, when Katniss admits that she has been partially faking her feelings for him, leaving him heartbroken and cold towards her.
In Catching Fire , after the camera crews finally left District 12, Katniss and Peeta had a falling out due to the ambiguity of her feelings for him. They spent the next six months basically ignoring each other. Although still heartbroken from learning that Katniss doesn't reciprocate his feelings, Peeta doesn't abandon their image of star-crossed lovers and still "performs" well in front of the camera, playing his role of a boy lost in love. He and Katniss go on the Victory Tour , which begins in District On the train there, when Katniss loses her temper with Effie, Peeta calms her down and suggests that they make a genuine attempt at being friends despite all that has happened between them.
At night on the train, Katniss often wakes up screaming from nightmares. To comfort her, Peeta holds her while she sleeps; this becomes a nightly routine. Peeta and Katniss during the 74th Victory Tour. When they arrive at District 11, Peeta makes a speech in which he offers to give Thresh and Rue 's families a month's portion of his earnings each year - something that has never been done before, possibly due to it being against the rules.
After Katniss makes a rousing speech about Rue, a man whistles Rue's four-note tune and the entire audience shows their support for Katniss by placing their middle three fingers on their lips and holding them out to her, which is considered a sign of respect and a sign of thanks.
As Peeta and Katniss go into the District 11 Justice Building, they see the man who whistled as he is executed by a gunshot to the head. Peeta is shocked, forcing Katniss and Haymitch to explain that Snow does not believe their act of love and that they have been trying to downplay any signs of rebellion on the Tour.
Angry that he has been left out and not knowing how risky his kind gesture to Thresh and Rue's family was, Peeta lashes out until Katniss comforts him. During an interview with Caesar Flickerman, Peeta proposes to Katniss in an attempt to convince President Snow of their love. Katniss, however, is given a subtle gesture from Snow that tells her that this was not good enough to contain the fire that she has ignited.
She suggests that they run away together, bringing Gale and her family along with them. This plan is abandoned when Gale is caught hunting and the new Head Peacekeeper , Romulus Thread , publicly whips him, with Katniss realizing that she has to stay in the district in order to protect her family. When it comes time for the 75th Hunger Games, or the third Quarter Quell , Katniss and Peeta think they are going to become mentors for two new tributes.
However, President Snow announces that the criteria for this. Quarter Quell is that the tributes will be chosen from the pool of existing victors. With District 12 having only three living victors Peeta, Katniss, and Haymitch , it is clear that Katniss will go back into the arena, with Peeta determined to volunteer should Haymitch be picked in order to protect her. When he finds Katniss and Haymitch hungover the morning after the announcement, Peeta is infuriated and rids Haymitch and Katniss of any access to alcohol so that the three of them can train as vigorously as Career tributes.
At the Reaping, Katniss is obviously drawn as the female tribute, and Haymitch is drawn as the male tribute; as precedented, Peeta immediately volunteers to take his place. They take the train to the Capitol, and when they both can't sleep, they decide to watch the video of the 50th Hunger Games , or the second Quarter Quell - the Games that produced Haymitch Abernathy as victor. They learn of Haymitch's ingenious strategy in which he used the force field around the arena as a tool during his final battle, a plan that amuses Katniss, who believes that it was almost as bad as her pulling out the berries due to the fact that the Capitol had not intended for anyone to recognize or use the force field.
Once they arrive in the Capitol, Peeta and Katniss are once again dressed in fiery costumes for the Opening Ceremonies, where they are instructed by their stylists, Portia and Cinna , to look stoic and "unforgiving. Before training, Haymitch suggests they make friends, as the fellow tributes have known each other for years and already have strong friendships, therefore making Peeta and Katniss their prime targets.
Peeta fares better in this area than Katniss, but ultimately neither of them wants the other tributes as their allies except for each other. When it comes time for their private training sessions, Peeta and Katniss both shock the Gamemakers without having planned it: Peeta paints a picture of Rue when Katniss decorated her dead body with daisies, and Katniss hangs a dummy on which she writes " Seneca Crane. In his interview with Caesar Flickerman, Peeta astonishes the audience with his revelation that he and Katniss are already married and that Katniss is pregnant, successfully inciting the Capitol's sympathy.
The Quell ends up being set in jungle terrain with seawater surrounding the Cornucopia. Each tribute is placed on a flotation device in the water. Because Peeta cannot swim, Finnick Odair from District 4 , whom Katniss teams up with only when she sees that he is wearing a bracelet Haymitch gave him, retrieves him and Mags from their devices.
The four of them team up, collect weapons from the Cornucopia, and leave before the Career pack finishes gathering weapons. They walk throughout the day, knowing they must set up camp and find drinkable water. Katniss is still doubtful about trusting Finnick when suddenly, Peeta unknowingly walks into a forcefield that surrounds the arena and falls unconscious, because his heart had stopped.
Katniss is in hysterics and believes that Finnick, who pushes her away from Peeta's body, is trying to hurt Peeta, until she realizes that Finnick is performing CPR and manages to revive him.
Weak, but willing to move, the alliance moves slowly until they decide to set up camp, knowing they must find safe water. They receive a spile from sponsors, which allows them to tap trees and collect water from inside them. Katniss keeps watch the first night until she alerts the other three of a rapidly approaching poisonous fog , which causes severe blistering and paralysis.
Peeta, due to his earlier accident and his artificial leg, has difficulty keeping up, forcing Finnick to carry him on his back and Katniss to carry Mags. Eventually exhausted and affected by the fog, Katniss can no longer keep Mags on her back and asks if Finnick can, but he is too winded to do so.
Mags then plants a kiss on Finnick's lips and walks straight into the mist, allowing them to continue on by sacrificing herself. The fog stops chasing them when they reach the water, which they use to recover from the poison. Peeta taps a tree for water, but as he does so, Katniss and Finnick spot monkey muttations in the trees. Trying to calmly get him to back away from the tree, Katniss asks him to "look at something," but Peeta instinctively glances up and sets the monkeys off.
The three of them form a triangular shape and fend off the monkeys, but when Katniss runs out of arrows, she asks Peeta to release the sheath that she gave him, giving a monkey time to nearly sink its claws into Peeta's chest; he is spared as the female Morphling from District 6 suddenly jumps in the way and is killed by the muttation. The monkeys retreat, and Peeta stays by the Morphling's side, telling her about his paintings and colors, to soothe her into death. Once they recover from the monkey attack, they travel through the arena until they run into Johanna Mason , Wiress , and Beetee , who they add to their alliance.
The groups pool their resources and experience conflict when it is clear that Johanna and Katniss loathe each other, but they keep vigilance of their surroundings, especially for the Career tributes.
Wiress keeps muttering, "Tick, tock," until Katniss discovers what it means: the arena structure is virtually similar to a clock. Peeta draws a map of the arena on a leaf, marking the sections where they know what particular dangers exist at varying times. Wiress then serves as the group's "canary," singing a song that will only stop if she detects danger.
When Katniss no longer hears the song, she turns around to find that Gloss has slit Wiress' throat and reflexively shoots him. Johanna then digs her axe into Cashmere 's chest. When three cannons go off, the group tries to attack Enobaria and Brutus , but they marginally manage to escape. On the second night, the alliance discusses Beetee's plan to wipe out the remaining Careers by electrocution, using his wire and coil, the lightning bolt that strikes the tree at midnight, and the beach.
On the third day, Katniss pretends to teach Peeta how to swim in order to talk to him alone. She suggests that they break off their alliance, but Peeta tells her to wait. Meanwhile, he uses this opportunity to give her a pearl and a locket with a picture of her family on one side and Gale on the other, trying to convince her not to sacrifice her life for him, as he realizes that she and Haymitch want to keep him alive.
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