#they’re a joint mockingjay. one without the other? everyone loses.

[livingfandomly]

Time to talk about it… Peeta erasure. Why is it so easy to fall for that trap?

The most obvious answer is that he isn’t the main character, Katniss is. But then, why do we laud Lucy Gray, also not the protagonist of her book, as the OG Mockingjay? What does Peeta lack?

Well, Peeta is a bread aka a carb. We avoid carbs. It’s just the way of life. (Hahahhahahahhahahahahhahahahahahhahahahahahahhahahahahahahaha I’m so sorry guys it just came out as I was typing 😭)

Anyway. Yes. Peeta.

Well, his manner of playing the games is very similar to how Haymitch played his, but executed stunningly better. His “rebellions” can literally be passed off as a smitten boy wanting to keep his crush safe and guess what, here’s the biiiiiig reveal, we fall for the same trap that the Capitol does.

As readers, we see him through Katniss which means the first sight we see him with is suspicion. Why does he want to talk to Haymitch alone? How is he so good at faking it and winning everyone over? What is he planning, what’s his end game? So on and so forth. The second emotion we feel towards Peeta is confusion and anger. The same questions repeat themselves with no answer unveiled, leading to an unsettling doubt planting seed - is he telling the truth? By the time the third emotion comes around we, along with Katniss, now care about him. This is still just the first book.

Now, this exact narrative is how the story plays out to the Capitol and we, with them, fall for the sweetened trap of a love story. That’s the entire argument about the series anyway, no? That we care about the couple more than the point? Well, unfortunately, that theme continues to play out as we see Peeta as someone caught up in an unsuspecting web when he’s actually the one who spun it.

It’s an unfortunate fact that Katniss would not have made it out of her games if Peeta hadn’t been the other tribute from her district. Having Peeta immediately removed the first part of her competition - your home tribute. Then, he goes above and beyond to make her look pretty, to talk her up, sacrificing every second he could use to keep himself alive on her. The plot plays out with him in the centre, protecting her both from her fellow tributes and from the watching world. Even when the berries scene comes up Katniss only wants them to come out alive and realises the repercussions later. Peeta? His quote is, “Hold them out. I want everyone to see.” Defiant. Direct. Dangerous. But no, to the audience - both in and outside the book - it just meant “let them all see clearly so that they can stop us in time”. Alas, us readers are as naive as our protagonist.

We see the picture of Peeta as painted by Katniss, someone who loved her so much that he’d do anything to keep her alive. We even pity him by the end of the first book because that’s what Katniss does, once again not realising that he orchestrated so much of why they’re now in trouble. His perspective is washed away, much like Haymitch’s games are retold, and we don’t take him as a serious contender… maybe ever?

—————————————Tis Part I. Lemme know if you’d like a Part II and III though I’m likely to not have any self-control on the matter anyway.