I snort too much coca cola

I saw this on my dash and I’d also like to add some other reasons why Peeta, in my opinion, is one of the strongest characters in the series.

I apologize for grammatical errors and such.

He spent a majority of his childhood being abused by the woman who was supposed to be showing him unconditional love. Not only was he abused and unloved by his mother, but he most likely never spoke to anyone about how he was feeling. He locked his feelings of worthlessness inside and let it built up. When children are mentally and physically abused at such a young age, they usually have unruly and possibly suicidal tendencies when they grow up. You can tell Peeta is mentally messed up way before he’s even hijacked. He doesn’t believe he’ll ever be with Katniss, he doesn’t believe he’ll win the games (not that he would want to because he wants Katniss to live), but even with that he still had no confidence. He felt worthless.

When he went into the games, he teamed up with the careers to protect Katniss. He knew it could risk his chances of an actual relationship with her, but he put his own feelings aside to protect her life.

We understand that when Peeta’s in the cave with Katniss, he wants their love to be real, even though it’s all for a good show. I believe he lies to himself a bit when he’s in the cave. He tells himself that Katniss really does love him so that when he dies in that arena, it won’t be as bad as it would be if Katniss DIDN’T love him. That’s why he was disappointed to find out that it really was all for the show. He got his hopes up, just to be let down again.

Another thing about the cave; Peeta was afraid. Anyone would be afraid if they knew they were going to die. Yet, he ignores his own feelings and comforts Katniss as much as he can (even when he has a fever, he wants to hold her)

After they make it out of the games together, Peeta is alone once again. Peeta has all the money a boy his age could need and a beautiful house, but he lives alone. He didn’t want his family to live with him. He wasn’t only locking his feelings away, he was locking himself away. He came back to District 12, hoping his mother would praise him for all his efforts. We can only assume that Peeta didn’t want his family to live with him because his mother continued to be abusive. And Peeta continued to feel worthless.

Not only was he distancing himself away from his family, but Katniss was distancing herself away from him. That, over everything, effected him the most. After the games, he didn’t see Katniss on a pedestal anymore. He saw her on the same level as him because he got to know her. Her avoiding him, was a slap in the face. Once again, making him feel like he’s not good enough for her attentions or anyone’s for that matter.

The only time we see Peeta really break down is when he’s on the Victory Tour and loses his control. He yells at them. He yells about how he’s sick of the secrets. He’s sick of being in the dark. His life has been nothing but secrets. After that, you can really tell Peeta is decaying emotionally.

When Peeta goes back into the games(training and such), it seems as though he’s completely put his guard up. It falls down every now and then when he’s around Katniss, but his main focus is preparing for the games and saving Katniss. His feelings are so deeply buried that he’s almost forgotten who he is. There’s a part where he says only one of them can make it out. Both of them can’t live this time. Peeta has completely given up on his life. His soul purpose in life now is to save Katniss, no matter what it takes.

When Peeta is captured by the capitol, his true self, which he tried so hard to keep, is practically diminished. His life has been filled with horrible and tragic events that he’s continued to bury in himself. Before they even start injecting him with mass amounts of tracker jacker venom, he is lost.

When he is rescued, we see that he is not the kindhearted, put together, Peeta we once knew.

Katniss thinks he has changed. Haymitch thinks he has changed. Everyone who ever knew Peeta, thinks he has changed. Other than the awful hallucinations about Katniss being a mutt, Peeta did not change. Peeta has been angry and sad ever since his mothers abuse. All the feelings that he buried inside were now out in the open for everyone to see. It just seemed like he had changed because people were not used to seeing him this way.

But he was always this way. He just never showed anyone.

Ontop of being confused, lost, and broken… Peeta lost his entire family. Most importantly his father. The only person who tried to show him love through his mothers beatings. His father was the only person who understood what he went through and showed him compassion. Peeta lost the only person who gave him hope as a child. Yes, Peeta had Delly. But Delly could never replace or live up to the love he needed from his family.

The fact that Peeta went through so much and ended up finding himself again is beyond words. It wasn’t just because he had Katniss. It wasn’t just because he knew there would be no games and that the districts could now move on from the pain of lost children and war. It was because he came to terms with all his abuse. He came to terms with everything he’d been through. Yes, Katniss was his ray of hope. But he also found a ray of hope in himself.