#mr mellark

[yourhighness6]

Peeta Mellark is such a feral idiot for outing his father's crush on national television while trying to impress a girl

[triassictriserratops]

Mr. Mellark: Parental Failures in a Totalitarian Structure

I was talking with @vasilissadragomir last night about my opinions on Mr. Mellark. (Basically saying that while I would absolutely throw hands with Mrs. Mellark I still need to have some WORDS with Mr. Mellark because I have some SHIT to say to him.)

Consequently, someone on Reddit said something similar about Mr. Mellark so I took the opportunity to really dive into my thoughts about him.

I can understand and empathize with a man stuck in an unideal marriage in a district where, very likely, divorce wasn't possible. I can understand the situations that would have led to him feeling stuck, incapable of confrontation, incapable of changing his circumstances.

But, at the end of the day, we are beholden to the safety of the children brought into this world that have even less of a choice in their circumstances. Peeta (and likely his brothers) all deserved better. That is a point that cannot be refuted. And, in some ways, Mr. Mellark absolutely shares responsibility with his wife in the abuse that his children suffered. Silence is the strongest tool given to an oppressor.

And that's really a HUGE takeaway from the series. In the face of total oppression, the most vulnerable, our children, CANNOT be adequately protected.

Parents of the districts love their children, and yet are forced to watch them march off, year after year to be selected for slaughter, they are forced to watch their children starve, forced to offer up their children's names for slightly more food, forced to watch their children grow to break their bodies in dangerous work conditions, forced to watch them have more children and perpetuate the cycle. There is no such thing as familial protection in this world.

It's why Prim, arguably the most protected person in the COUNTRY died alongside the other most protected children of the country. The Capitol's children. There is no protecting the vulnerable in a state of war and violent oppression.

And here we have Mr. Mellark. Clearly a kind, gentle man. I can't imagine he is content to watch his children suffer. I can't imagine that he is okay with the abuse his wife puts on them. But he CANNOT AND WILL NOT protect them. And, in the world of the Hunger Games, that is BY DESIGN. Even the most loving and devoted parents cannot truly fight their own oppression.

He, and all of his circumstances, failed his sons.

Mr. Mellark failed his children. But I'd go one step further and say that he was specifically designed to fail his children.

[katnissmellarkkk]

The parallels between Katniss and her mother are quite apparent when it comes to their reactions to grief (as displayed when Mrs. Everdeen lost Katniss’ father and when Katniss lost Peeta and Prim). There’s been posts made about that on here many times before.

But we never really explore the opposition in their choice of man. What I mean is, we’re led to believe (granted, based on very little hints in the first book) that Mrs. Everdeen was with Mr. Mellark in some fashion, at the very least. Enough that he felt it was not only plausible that he could marry her but seemed to be still holding a candle for her all those years later. Mr. Mellark was a merchant, someone from her side of the district, part of the well-to-do class of Twelve. But she instead chose Mr. Everdeen, a poor, coal miner who couldn’t only give her a simple life in the Seam. A life that is much more difficult objectively and in a place that even her own daughter claims she sticks out like a sore thumb in (appearance wise).

Katniss, her daughter, on the other hand, chose Peeta in the end. Even before Mockingjay, it was obvious to anyone really paying attention (in the story or as a reader) who’d she fallen in love with. Gale was a strong, attractive guy from the Seam, who’d lived a pretty parallel life to hers, who was her partner in crime — literally — and her best friend. Everyone expected them to get together. Even the reporters who came from the Capitol took one look at him and thought he seemed like a threat to the idea of the Star-Crossed-Lovers being portrayed on the television screens. And yet, Katniss chose Peeta, not Gale. Peeta, who at the start, she seems to have nothing in common with. Not in terms of their upbringings (she was super poor and starving, he was popular and more comfortable but implied to suffer from heavy child abuse) and not in terms of their mindsets either. But there was an inexplicable attraction between the two, an instinctive pull bringing her back to him no matter how much she tried to fight it. And I suspect her mother had the same feeling, for Mr. Everdeen. That feeling is what led Katniss to choose Peeta over Gale, despite the fact that Gale may have seemed from an outside, detached perspective, like her natural choice of romantic partner. And that feeling is probably what also led her mother to make the same choice all those years before.

Idk I just think it’s interesting that Katniss chose Peeta but her mother — in a lot of ways — chose her Gale. Although there’s a strong argument to be made that her mother was actually choosing her version of Peeta by choosing Katniss’ father but my brain’s not there quite yet.

This post also could have been written and summed up a lot quicker if I’d just said, the love triangle between Katniss, Peeta and Gale and the love triangle between Mrs. Everdeen, Mr. Everdeen and Mr. Mellark are actually parallel love triangles that ended with the woman choosing the opposite type of man.

[winters-rose-daughterofcain]

I make the joke that Katniss and Peeta both have insane mommy issues a lot.... because it's true. But like genuinely the relationship with your parents plays such an important role in how you form relationships and how you view love and it's so obvious the ways it's affected them and their relationship and how they interact like I can actually talk for hours and one day when it's not 2 AM I will lol

Edit: I did it lol part one with Katniss here if you're interested and part two with Peeta here.

[periwinckles]

The Mellark household

There is a lot of assumptions going around about the Mellark household. I get it. We are given so little information about them that it’s super easy to delve into headcanon.

but bear in mind:

Mrs Mellark:

what we do know:

she hit him ONCE. Yes, he was eleven, yes she was violent, yes it left him with a mark. But we can’t just assume she hit him everyday based on that, let alone that she hit him when he was sixteen.

she is nasty with her words, or at least negligent. (“District twelve may have a winner”)

Mr Mellark

what we do know:

-he is a kind person. Katniss says it herself. He’s not only kind to Katniss, he’s generous in his trade with Gale and Gale actually goes with the trade even though he knows it’s not really that fair (which shows Gale himself probably thought well of Mr Mellark as well). - we don’t know how his relationship with his sons was. We know he doesn’t live with Peeta in victors village, but that’s it. It doesn’t mean he didn’t protect him from his mother, it doesn’t mean he didn’t care for his boys.

Peeta’s brothers:

We know nothing. Nothing. The middle one could have volunteered for Peeta and didn’t. That’s it. Doesn’t mean they are jerks, doesn’t mean they didn’t love him.

they don’t live with Peeta in victors village. Once again that means nothing. They could be married. They could visit Peeta a lot, which we don’t know because Katniss didn’t speak with Peeta for six months. Then she was on bed rest and she only saw Peeta at her own place. Then they were training for the quarter quell all the time. The brothers and Mr Mellark could be visiting Peeta 3-4 times a week and Katniss (and therefore the reader) wouldn’t know.

just my thoughts

[oakfarmer]

I’m so excited to share these!! I commissioned @andretries for this big project inspired by Paperwork. These are the three paintings Gale sees above Katniss and Peeta’s mantle in Chapter 3. It was so much fun discussing head canons and watching Andrea develop her version of each of the families. Thank you so much!!

[lasthaysileeshipper]

Imagine;

The TBOSAS movie is over and the credits are rolling. You are in shock, wondering if Lucy Gray died in the woods or made it to safety. You are still crying over Sejanus’ death. Then, the credits end and a post-credits scene begins. A voice asks “Does anyone know The Valley Song?” and a little girl eagerly raises her hand. When she starts to sing, everyone stares at her in awe, especially a little blond boy…

I know this probably won’t happen, but I can dream, can’t I?

(I also think it’d be really cute if Katniss’ father joined in and then, later on, Mr. Mellark told Peeta about how he was in love with Mrs. Everdeen, but she chose to marry Mr. Everdeen over him “because when he sang, even the mockingjays stopped to listen”.)

[chasingwhitebunnies]

If I had to ship two characters in The Hunger Games we never see interact, it would be Hazelle Hawthorne and Mr Mellark. Partly because they both deserve happiness (from limited information we know, at least) but also, imagine Gale finding out Peeta was going to be his step-brother

[little-lynx]

I live for your Mr. & Mrs. Mellark art and thoughts 😊

Awwwww! My SQQ generation heart melts!

Here is a sketch I did some tome ago but never posted ;)

[bibbibib]

Peeta and his dad

So, we know Katniss is quite fond of Peeta's father, Mr. Mellark. She calls him kind and has evidence for it: the trades he makes with her (she goes to him and not his wife), the generous trade he makes to Gale on the morning of Reaping day, the way he comes to visit her in the Justice Building, bringing her cookies and promising he'll look after Prim.

At the same time, when talking about Peeta's home life, we mainly focus on his mother. People have long been putting two and two together and saying Peeta's dad must have been passive and complacent, failing to protect his child(ren) from her abuse. But we don't talk that much about how Peeta feels about him. And there are enough clues in the text.

First of all, let me start by saying I believe Peeta loved his family and cared about them, even though their relationship wasn't the healthiest and was very complicated. We know he gets angry when he's left out of Haymitch and Katniss' plans during the Victory Tour, because "he also has people he cares about to protect". He visits his family after he moves out - we know that from CF. When he comes back from his captivity in the Capitol, he asks why they haven't come to see him. He mourns them by the ashes of the home they all shared, and, in his hijacked state, blames Katniss for their deaths.

However, apart from the memories form when he was very young, Peeta, who we rarely hear talk about his family in the first place, doesn't have many positive things to say about his dad. The boy who once wondered why a woman would prefer a miner to his father now just talks about the weather with him, when he and Katniss pass by the bakery in CF. Peeta doesn't have qualms for mentioning, on live TV, the story about his dad and Katniss' mom, even when his own mother is now going to find out what her husband told her son, with whatever repercussions for him. When Katniss tells him about the cookies, he's surprised, and one thing he says is how he thinks his father always wanted a girl.

I think Peeta, in the first book especially, was finally angry with his father for failing to protect him. His mother wasn't the only one he blamed. Later, with the confidence he gained after the first Games, with moving out of his family home and having new connections to other people he loved, he might have been strong enough to say it is what it is and move on. But 16-year-old tribute Peeta, sure that these are his final days, would only get surly when mentioning both his parents, except from the time he told a story that embarrassed them.

[unknown22448]

Did anyone else re-watch the Hunger Games trilogy lately?? Because I did and I want him as my boyfriend ASAP.

Here's how it would go in my head lol.

(Just fluff, but let me know if you want a part 2?)

You have been with Peeta (your boyfriend) for a while now. It was a long day... and the only thing that could make you feel better was him.

When you finally came home, the first thing that you did, was look for him. To your surprise, he was in your bed (you guys haven't moved in together yet, but you were always living in each other's houses anyways) reading "Pride and Prejudice".

Your favorite book of all times.

"Hi Peeta, what are you doing?" You ask.

"Hi baby, I'm reading."

"I can see that, but you are reading Pride and Prejudice..."

"I know. You told me it was your favorite book ever, so I wanted to surprise you by reading it and debating about it at dinner eating a nice bowl of potatoes."

You laugh, and he stares at you confusingly. "Did you do that on purpose?" You ask.

"What?"

"About the potatoes."

"What about it?"

"Nevermind baby."

You can't do anything but keep laughing. How did you get him? He was everything that you wanted in a boyfriend and more. God damn he was so cute...

"You look a little tired, is everything okay?" He asked.

You take off your shoes and sit beside him.

"I'm okay, I just missed you... Thank you for listening to me and for making the time to read my favorite book."

"I missed you too but you don't have to thank me for listening to you... that's like, thanking me for loving you, or cooking for you, or-"

You chuckle. He doesn't see how perfect he is. "And I do thank you for that, because I am so gratefull for having you in my life.

I never thought that a boy like you actually existed. It was a long day, and coming home just to find you sitting in my bed reading my favourite book is something I thought only lived in my imagination."

He stares at you.

"That's funny, because most of my life, I never even had the time to picture someone in my mind. You just appeared, and saved me from things I didn't know I needed saving. And from things I did knew I needed saving but no one ever did... or even tried...

I have this feeling, that with you, I dont need to rush... time stops and I don't stress or think about the world because... well... you are my world."

You stare at each other lovingly, admiring one another for a few seconds.

"I love you so much." You say

"I love you more." He replies

He leans in and gives you the softest kiss you ever had.

You grab your book, put the bookmark where he was reading, and save the book on your bookshelf, where it can be safe and sound for what you are planning to do.

Peeta laughs at you, you were so similar...

"What are you laughing at?" You ask

"I was about to do the same thing."

You come back to your bed, but this time you get on top of him. Not only that, but you start grabbing his hair and staring at him in awe. He puts his arms around your waist and stares the same way.

You give him back that soft kiss that he placed on your lips earlier, pulling him by his hair.

He pulls you closer, and starts kissing you a little more passionately. You enjoy every breath, every grab at you waist, every whimper that he gives you. Your bodies are so close it feels like you are melting together. Your mouth moves giving a trail of kisses from his lips, to his jawline, to his ears, to his neck.

[triassictriserratops]

I just saw your posts about Mr. Mellark, and how the sub-Reddit was talking about. I just checked it out, and omg everyone sharing their own personal experiences about how they have their own Mr. Mellark as a parent. And your post is spot on. We can understand Mr. Mellark and his circumstances, but it doesn’t meant we have to stay silent and not about his failure as a parent.

People often forget Peeta is a victim of child abuse, with an aggressive parent and a complicit father. Crying. I feel so bad for his character :(

Thank you for your message and sharing your thoughts, Anon! 💚🧡

I have so much compassion and understanding for Mr. Mellark. He is clearly a very kind man caught in an extremely unkind world. Katniss views him as incredibly kind and this is something the reader is supposed to understand about him as well.

He is someone who will bring Katniss cookies before she is sent to her death and who promises to keep her sister from going hungry. Someone who will look at a boy with 42 slips of paper in a reaping bowl and accept an unfavorable trade so that boy can have good, fresh bread that morning. HE HAS A GOOD SOUL.

The tragedy here is that he IS kind. He IS caring. But the framework of his life, his country, his marriage, his socioeconomic status all work to create this scenario that leaves him incapable of defending his sons in his own home. And this is unbelievably sad.

Good people can do bad things or make bad choices. And good people can sometimes choose silence, which is still an action. Silence is still a choice.

Mr. Mellark deserved better in his own life, but he also OWED better for his children's lives. Both of these are true.

[winters-rose-daughterofcain]

Part 2 of Everlark and their parents lets go Peeta your turn now.

Now this one is harder. We know very little explicit information about Peeta's family so a lot of this will be inference and my own personal interpretation of the family and their dynamic based on what we do see, what we don't see, and the way Peeta acts, so if you disagree with me that's all good lol.

So first, Peeta grew up in an absuive household. That's not a debate that's explicitly canon. Him mother not only hits him, implied to be with something, but also calls him a worthless creature when he burns the bread for Katniss. No matter that circumstance that is not how you treat your eleven year old child, that is not how you treat any child period, and this clearly isn't a one off or first time. Even though we personally see very little of the abuse on page, I at least think its impact of Peeta is very clear.

This boy has abysmal self esteem, when he discovers Katniss and Haymich have hidden things from him again he feels as if they view him as weak and stupid and too dumb to get it, that's the automatic assumption even though we know that's so far from the truth it's laughable. But for a child that grew up being consistently insulted and belittled it's not that far of a jump to make.

His ability to lie, also I think is relevant here. That kind of ability with words doesn't come from nowhere, that doesn't just happen that's something practiced. A theme with Katniss and Peeta's talents throughout the trilogy is that even the things they are good at and that help them were born from necessity. Katniss is so good with a bow and practical survival skills because she had to be, because even though she grew to love hunting, she and her family would have died without it. Peeta's skill with art comes from working at the bakery it comes from years worth or practise and labor he put in as a child, and I think his ability to lie, manipulate, mask his true feelings and talk his way though things stems from a similar place. His mother is called 'the witch' colloquially, we see she clearly has a temper and resorts to violence and insults quickly. A lot of children who grow up in abuse grow to be very charming, they learn how to lie and manipulate the situation to get themselves out of trouble and to keep themselves and potentially their siblings safe. At least to me Peeta's unmatched ability to impact and morph a situation with just his words could very easily be linked back to his childhood. We all love that Peeta is such a good manipulator but only ever uses it for good, and I think this is partially why, because he doesn't even want to be necessarily, it was a skill born for survival. His mothers cruelty is also shown very much to not be reserved purely for him, she chases starving children away from their empty bins, speaks awfully about the seam and the people from it.

His father is a complicated man. he clearly dose have love for Peeta and is shown many times to be a kind man at his core. But he is passive. He may bring Katniss cookies and make generous trades, he may have been the one to impart that inherent kindness we see in him onto Peeta, and may have been the only safe adult in the house, but he is passive. We don't know the extent of how much he steps in when his wife starts acting out, but from what we can see of her effect of Peeta clearly not enough. He also doesn't come to live with him after the games, none of them do. And while I understand practically that might not be the most reasonable situation, a newly disabled, traumatised sixteen year old boy was still left to live alone. His family may have visited often, they still talk we see him going to dinner with them, but I think their lack of mention speaks more than anything else here.

The relationship between his parents was also not exactly the best model to grow up observing. When he is five years old his dad tells Peeta is was in love with another woman, he points out her child to him, explains how he lost her. There is no addendum of how much he loves his mother now, how it was in the past. Peeta grew up with parents he was acutely aware did not love each other and from what we see and here, don't even pretend to act like it.

Now how dose this relate to Katniss. This first part is more my own speculation so ignore me if you disagree, but Katniss in the first games mentions Peeta doing certain things with her she remembers her parents doing, and wondering where he learnt it from, thinking surely not his own parents. And I think she's right, I think he learnt it from hers. Peeta is observant, I think after his father pointed out Katniss and her mother he payed attention, not just to Katniss but to her parents as well. I think he was a little fascinated by this family, these parents who clearly adore each other these children with skin clear of bruises who have never been made to feel like nothing from there parents who clearly think the world of them. There was six years from when Peeta noticed her to Mr Everdeens death, that's six years for him to observe this family and their love. Not obsessively, not even knowingly, but I think it happened. I think the Everdeens weren't just Katniss's reference for a relationship but Peeta's as well. I don't think she was the only one drawing comparisons, even if he didn't completely realise what he was doing.

(Additional evidence for this pointed out by @intellectual-punk in Mockingjay Haymitch tells Katniss the doctors showed Peeta the propo of her singing The Hanging Tree and he recognized the song and Katniss says she doesn’t know how he could as he never heard her sing it. Haymitch says he remembers her father singing it as their fathers traded. Peeta hasn't heard this song since he was 11, he’s 17 at the time of remembering it. So for him to remembering it after so long after last hearing it and clearly not hearing it around the house we can imagine that her father must have sang it near every time the two men traded and that Peeta was either specifically listening to his singing as he knows from his father that that is how Mr Everdeen won over Mrs Everdeen or he was just generally paying attention to the man either on his own or in relation to Katniss.)*Found in notes {Thank you so much for this}

I also think, going back to people seeking out the familiar, that Katniss reminded him in certain ways of his father. They're both quiet, both people associated with providing food in one way or another. I think he see's her in the way that while they both clearly love him, they both struggle to show him, leaving him to question it for a long time. But where his father fails to protect him, Katniss doesn't. Katniss doesn't have his fathers passivity, far from it, Katniss Everdeen is anything but passive. She actively works to protect him and others, she speaks out loudly when she finds something wrong, she still has that kindness, but it never gets in the way of what's necessary.

This is also where I see his mother come in, I think he dose see some similarities there. In their tempter, in the sharp way they can use their words, in the way she underestimates him in the beginning and even hurts him on occasion, shoving him into the vase (I think?) and cutting his hands after the first interview. But in so many ways Katniss is the opposite. Peeta may have developed a crush because of her voice, but he falls in love because of the way she helps people, because he knows her intrinsically and intrinsically Katniss is someone who cares. He always comments on her healing ability, even if she finds it lacking it's clearly something he loves about her, hands that heal instead of hurt. His mother was cruel to everyone especially those less fortunate, meanwhile Katniss would give everything on her to those who need it more. He see's the similarities yes, and unconsciously that familiarity might be a small drive towards her, but ultimately he loves Katniss for the ways in which she is different from his mother, the ways in which his mother failed, for the ways in which she stepped in where his father fell short. As well as for a lot of other reasons of course, but I think his parents impact is definitely something to consider.

[peetapiepita]

Let's talk about Mr Everdeen, Mrs Everdeen, and Mr Mellark.

“He said, ‘See that little girl? I wanted to marry her mother, but she ran off with a coal miner,’” Peeta says.

“What? You’re making that up!” I exclaim.

“No, true story,” Peeta says. “And I said, ‘A coal miner? Why did she want a coal miner if she could’ve had you?’ And he said, ‘Because when he sings... even the birds stop to listen.’”

From this, do you think Mr Mellark had serious relationship with Mrs Everdeen?

Do you think her family disown her, after Mrs Everdeen marry with Mr Everdeen?

Thank you :) @curiousnonny

I'm finally getting around to answering some of these asks.

I'm tackling this one first because I've posted this manifestation post of Jen and Josh doing a cameo as Mrs. Everdeen and Mr. Mellark: https://www.tumblr.com/peetapiepita/715919770698055680/i-just-had-this-insane-idea?source=share .

So yes, I've thought about them. I think it's really not set in the books whether they were in a relationship or not. So I think it could be either way.

It could be a situation where they grew up together and everyone just thought they would marry; They could've been in a budding romance; They could've been in a serious relationship.

I'm saying the first scenario is possible based on how romantic Peeta is. If his father is anything like him, he could've been thinking about marrying Mrs. Everdeen without being in a real relationship with her and he just told Peeta his thoughts.

And yes, I think so. But I'm also wondering if they died sometime after that because it's kind of hard to imagine Katniss' grandparents not reaching out to help when her father died.

[geekymoviemom]

Let's talk about Mr Everdeen, Mrs Everdeen, and Mr Mellark.

“He said, ‘See that little girl? I wanted to marry her mother, but she ran off with a coal miner,’” Peeta says.

“What? You’re making that up!” I exclaim.

“No, true story,” Peeta says. “And I said, ‘A coal miner? Why did she want a coal miner if she could’ve had you?’ And he said, ‘Because when he sings... even the birds stop to listen.’”

From this, do you think Mr Mellark had serious relationship with Mrs Everdeen?

Do you think her family disown her, after Mrs Everdeen marry with Mr Everdeen?

Thank you :) @curiousnonny

Hey, thank you so much for the ask! 🧡

I think whether or not Mr Mellark had a serious relationship with Mrs Everdeen would depend on who you ask. Mr Mellark, for example, might believe that their relationship was serious since he said he wanted to marry her. It’s always been my headcanon that Mr Mellark was actively courting Mrs Everdeen with the intentions to ask her to marry him as soon as they made it through their final reaping.

As for Mrs Everdeen’s family, yes, I do believe they disowned her for marrying Mr Everdeen. Katniss mentions in the books that she’s never been acknowledged by her maternal grandparents, and they never stepped in to help when Mr Everdeen was killed. So as far as we know, they no longer have a relationship with their daughter.

Thank you again for the ask! 🧡

[wisebeth]

Let's talk about Mr Everdeen, Mrs Everdeen, and Mr Mellark.

“He said, ‘See that little girl? I wanted to marry her mother, but she ran off with a coal miner,’” Peeta says.

“What? You’re making that up!” I exclaim.

“No, true story,” Peeta says. “And I said, ‘A coal miner? Why did she want a coal miner if she could’ve had you?’ And he said, ‘Because when he sings... even the birds stop to listen.’”

From this, do you think Mr Mellark had serious relationship with Mrs Everdeen?

Do you think her family disown her, after Mrs Everdeen marry with Mr Everdeen?

Thank you :) @curiousnonny

No, honestly i don't think Mr. Mellark and Mrs. Everdeen had any kind of romantic relationship at all. They were likely acquaintances or friends. I believe they were likely friends and since they came from same social background, Mr. Mellark's family must have been aware of his feelings for her and encouraged to propose since he thought as far as marrying her.

I have clue if they disowned her....there wasn't enough information to conclude anything but Katniss does mention her mother must have loved her father a lot to live with him in the Seam, it may have been Mrs. Everdeen's own decision, who knows.