‘The Hunger Games’: Liam Hemsworth on Why Gale and Katniss Don’t End Up Together
Typically, fans of The Hunger Games movies are split into two distinct teams. These two groups are, of course, Team Peeta and Team Gale. The teams indicate if a fan feels that Katniss should’ve ended up with her long-time best friend, Gale Hawthorne, or her fellow tribute, Peeta Mellark. Though The Hunger Games and its subsequent sequels: Catching Fire, Mockingjay – Part 1, and Mockingjay – Part 2 comment on war, media consumption, sacrifice, and power, they also tells the story of young love.
Throughout The Hunger Games series, Peeta and Gale are both vying for Katniss’s attention. Though she hardly has the time or energy to be frivolous and indulgent about romance, she can’t completely deny her feelings for the most important men in her life. Katniss is drawn to Peeta for his unwavering kindness and his willingness to sacrifice himself for her. Meanwhile, she gravitates toward Gale because he is familiar and a fearless warrior who protects her family.
Fans of ‘The Hunger Games’ movies were saddened by the way things ended with Katniss and Gale
Because Gale and Peeta were both seemingly good options for Katniss, many fans of The Hunger Games movies were devastated by the way Katniss’s relationship with Gale ended. Not only does Gale not visit her after her sister, Prim, dies, but after he admits that he doesn’t know if he designed the weapon that killed her, Katniss dismisses him from her life forever.
Many fans of The Hunger Games were hurt by the end of Katniss and Gale’s relationship. They felt that, in time, Katniss could have forgiven Gale and rekindled their friendship, even if the possibility of a romance were irrevocably severed. But how does Liam Hemsworth, who played Gale in the movies, feel about his character’s ending?
Liam Hemsworth on why Katniss chose Peeta over Gale
“I read the books, so I always knew that was going to happen at the end,” Hemsworth said in an interview with Collider, citing “The Hunger Games” book series. Hemsworth continued on to share that Gale had good intentions but having power got to him in the end. “He’s a good guy, apart from all the killing and stuff. He gets pretty angry towards the end. He’s been through a lot. For a long time, he really didn’t have any power to do anything. For this last part, he’s front and center and he’s able to really make an impact. It gets to his head a little bit and he loses some of his own morals and values.”
Hemsworth cites this loss of morals and values as the reason Katniss and Gale can never be together in the end. “That’s why Gale and Katniss part ways,’ The Hunger Games star shared. “They have a strong disagreement about what’s right in war. That’s something that, in the end, Katniss really can’t let go of.”
Suzanne Collins, author of ‘The Hunger Games’ books, says Gale and Peeta represent two different perspectives
Suzanne Collins, who authored “The Hunger Games” series, seemed to echo Hemsworth’s sentiments. In an interview with The New York Times, she shared that Gale and Peeta function “less as two points on a love triangle, more as two perspectives in the just-war debate.” Collins continued on to share what the characters represent. “Gale, because of his experiences and temperament, tends toward violent remedies. Peeta’s natural inclination is toward diplomacy. Katniss isn’t just deciding on a partner; she’s figuring out her worldview.”
Hemsworth and Collins definitely give fans of The Hunger Games more insight as to why Katniss ended up with Peeta rather than Gale. It certainly makes sense. After all that Katniss went through, we understand why she needed her “dandelion in the spring” to survive.
