Hunger Games' Biggest Twist Only Grownups Can Actually Understand
It turns out Katniss has made a healthy relationship choice.
The way The Hunger Games series ended left many of its target audience confused. Why did the strong, free-spirited Katniss Everdeen end up with Peeta Mellark? Did she really love him? These are questions that haunt many fans to this day.
In fact, the franchise's massive fandom has always been divided over the finale's twist. But as the years since the final film pass and fans grow older, more of them are beginning to understand why Katniss and Peeta were the endgame in the movies and the original book series.
When young adult readers and viewers first meet Katniss and Peeta as a couple, their union raises many questions and doubts. It's hard to buy into the love story because Katniss never displays strong feelings to make the audience believe she's in love with Peeta. She is caring and tender, but is she in love?
Many believe that Katniss just settled for Peeta at the end of the series. However, it takes a few years of maturing and withstanding the harsh realities of life to understand that love can be very different.
Of course, everyone has different life experiences, but usually by their mid-30s, people have gone through enough hardships to favor steady companionship over short-lived passion and love that feels more like a safe haven over butterflies in the stomach.
As an adult, you finally get to understand and appreciate Katniss' choice of partner. Her apparent lack of romance is probably the result of life raining down on her — Katniss' father died, her childhood was poor and oppressed by the Hunger Games, her mother and sister had to be taken care of, and then she was picked to take part in the cruel contest, losing whatever little freedom she had and becoming a target of the tyrannical regime. Naturally, under these circumstances, the last thing Katniss needed was a steamy and turbulent affair with a bad-ass boyfriend.
Fortunately, we are not forced to play ruthless games where all but one contestant will die, but our everyday lives are still full of stress and disappointment. Career failures, financial problems, family in need of care, aging parents, relationship defeats — all these things surely hurt, but on the bright side, they help you appreciate the value of consistent love, where one partner can safely rely on the other for their understanding, care, and kindness.
So after everything Katniss and her grown-up fans have been through, it's easy to see why she chose the resilient, understanding, and loving Peeta.
In the epilogue, when Katniss has finally found space to deal with her trauma, we see that she is able to embrace Peeta's love and respond in kind, and this makes her truly happy.