Ah, poor Gale! He is the hero of District 12 and of Katniss’ family for rescuing as many residents of the Seam as he did from the fire bombing, but the experience of seeing his community destroyed and Peeta being hijacked seems to have taken him around the twist. Gale winds up designing weapons and explosives that are as bad because taken from the same twisted playbook as the Capitol. Katniss’ final decision for Peeta rather than Gale because she did not need “Gale’s fire, kindled with rage and hatred” seemed about right. We knew that Gale raged against the Capitol, but, if you were like me, you didn’t seem him embracing war crimes as in burying people alive needlessly or creating sequentially fused bombs to take out rescue workers to defeat his enemies.
Was that too big a jump for the man of the Seam or about right? Does it capture, in contrast with Peeta’s PTSD agonies, another side of how war changes those who fight them?
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It is a fitting ending, Indigo. I didn’t realize how much I wanted Peeta and Katniss to be together until that last page. After CF, I was sure that Gale would end up by her side in the end.
I think that we do see a deeply flawed side of Gale, though, at the end, and that that is why Katniss makes her choice. Of course he wouldn’t target those that Katniss loved, and he might be mad that they were around, but it was a neccessary move for ending the war, and that, in itself, he doesn’t mind.
I don’t think Gale could handle a friendship with Katniss, when everytime she’s see him he’d be reminded that she’d chosen Peeta. In that sense, Katniss couldn’t handle it either. Knowing her, she’d second-guess her choice and make everything miserable for everyone else. Gale IS extremely attractive to her, after all…
And that wouldn’t really be fair for Peeta.
I thnk in order for us to see Katniss really married to Peeta, we also had to see that Gale is a jerk. Otherwise, Katniss was just too torn.
I have enjoyed all the MJ discussions and appreciate the variety of viewpoints and contributions.
May I clarify my earlier reference to Gale and fame? Gale did not seek fame, fame found Gale in D2 out of his circumstance as a survivor of the rebellion (which we understood to be the final Games of Panem).
Not dissimilar to the previously unknown Victors pulled into the 74 years of HG, yes?
Further, consider the Victors’ lives post HG: demanded allegiance to the Capitol via mentoring, Snow’s blackmailing, or some other “service” to Panem. Is not Gale serving the now-rising Republic of Panem in parallel manner, albeit voluntarily (which we could again point back to Katniss’ selfless act of volunteering to save Prim, but that would be a whole other discussion post).
I don’t see Gale as a “jerk” at all- I think he knew that they had to win this war, period. For the good of all citizens- b/c if the Capitol won, they all would have suffered for yrs! The rebels needed leaders like Gale- to me he was a strong warrior, and a protector- he wasn’t thinking about himself and his own gains- if this was the case, he wouldn’t have kicked that officer in the nose to go help Katniss which caused him to lose his badge- also at the end, he knew she was going to sneak out, violate a direct order, to go find Snow- and he said then that he would go with her, again not worrying about the consequences for himself. You can also see his “selfless” acts when he volunteered to get Peeta out, he saves many people from his district, he’s always showing the good side of Peeta to Katniss, even when she tends to forget about it… No, I don’t think he’s a jerk at all- he’s one of those that just does his thing, staying focused, looking at the big picture- that’s why I have a feeling he will do great things to help rebuild the future… and yeah, I wanted Katniss with Peeta as well because Peeta is what Katniss needed- she needed his “calmness” to help her through this horrible experience. She still did Gale wrong- he’s stood by her and her family for many years- and for her to think the worst of him, tells me once again, that Katniss is just thinking of herself and her needs…JMO
I think the reason Gale couldn’t handle the friendship between him and Katniss is not because it would remind him that she chose Peeta. It’s because he knew that his presence would only hurt Katniss, since she saw him and Prim’s death as one. Seeing Katniss probably would hurt him too because it would remind him of how he indirectly killed Prim and other innocent children. I think Gale did a noble thing by letting go of Katniss and leaving her to Peeta. He knew he would only remind Katniss of the war, and someone like Peeta was what she truly needed to heal. If he apologized mindlessly, tried to pursue her and forced her to choose between him and Peeta, then he would be a jerk.
Of course Gale has flaws, but people like him are the ones who truly bring freedom to the country, unlike someone like Peeta. There are so many parallels that can be drawn from his character to real life soldiers. Yes, Katniss was not his first priority, but what he did during the war helped the rebels win, thus giving freedom and eventually better lives for people who live in his lifetime as well as in the future. People like him, who can put aside personal matters for the greater cause, are the true heroes. Surely there were a lot of people like him during (for example) the American revolutionary war and the Civil War, who could sacrifice what mattered to them, so that other people can live better lives. It hurt them, of course, but if we didn’t have people like that, who knew what the USA would be like today? This is why I respect Gale, he didn’t think of how his actions would cost himself, he just devoted himself to the cause, and helped to make Panem a better place.
Anyway, we only see Gale from Katniss’s perspective, and it seems like the war also cost her the ability to think rationally.
Grace, because Indigo’s post was that awesome I’ll keep my comment short: Yes, Gale is a different person from Peeta. But why would that made him a jerk? Paraphrasing Sirius Black, the world is not split between Peetas and jerks.
(Otherwise we would all probably be on the ‘jerk side’ of the equation.)
I don’t read Gale’s character as you do, so we are bound to disagree. I don’t consider for a second “he didn’t mind” Prim was dead because creating bombs was necessary move for the rebel’s cause. I believe Prim’s death was more of a hit to his gut, than anything else.
See, Katniss and Gale always had their particular way of communicating with each other. Like Jae has said, neither of them are much good with words. Somehow they managed to understood each other just right. Throughout HG and CF, one just knows what the other one is thinking (or what the other one would probably be thinking). And that’s just what we saw during their last MJ conversation. Their continued, silent understanding of how each other works and what the other one is thinking.
I would think Gale could handle a friendship with Katniss if she could handle one with him. I don’t think that was clear at the end of MJ, which I think it’s part of the reasons why he left at that moment.
PJ, interesting perspective. Hadn’t thought of it that way, but I agree. Nice parallel there.
I think Prim being killed by Gale’s bomb was a cheating way of Collins on how she ends the love triangle. Katniss really didn’t have to choose, as the possibility of being with Gale was immediately eliminated after Prim’s death. Collins could kill off Prim without having Gale involved in it, and Katniss would still hate Coin for putting Prim in the war and after the voting for another HG, would still see her for the dictator that she was, and she’d still kill Coin. It’d be interesting to see if that’s what happened instead, I guess Katniss would end up with neither of them!
I’m disappointed with the ending with Gale. Since I got the spoiler about Katniss ending up with Peeta, I thought Gale was supposed to die. I was prepared for his death, but instead I got this, which was worse, in my opinion. If Katniss at least appreciated what he had to do and the things he went and would have to go through, it’d be all better.
I thought Gale was supposed to die. I was prepared for his death, but instead I got this, which was worse, in my opinion.
I’m curious as to why you think this is worse. Gale’s alive. He’s contributing to the new society. The guy’s, what, 20 years old? He’ll find someone that will make him happy (maybe Johanna? =P). He’ll live a long and prosperous life. So he lost his childhood sweetheart that he never officially hooked up with. That puts him in a class with 99% of humanity.
Katniss got Peeta. She wasn’t gonna be able to keep both of them anyways. She lost her friendship with Gale, but I highly doubt she ever thought “boy, this would sure be a happier ending for me if Gale had died!“
Thank you, Joan.
Vega…Collins didn’t cheat anyone, nor did she take a shortcut dissolving the relationship between Gale and Katniss. On the contrary, Prim’s death complicated their relationship!
Think of the complications as the knots in the therapy rope Finnick, Peeta, and Katniss each had occasion to use. For argument’s sake, say the two ends of the rope represent a start and finish in the Gale/Katniss relationship. The variety of knots are the plethora of interactions and events they share, beginning in D12 and lasting through Katniss’ post-assassination recovery. Untying each knot is likened to both G & K coming to terms with the outcome of that event (making peace with each other or accepting the other’s personality/actions because of past knowledge) and smoothing out the rope to continue to the next big thing. Every time they interact with friction/conflict, those particular knots are tighter and more intricate, shortening their relationship and leaving a crimp in the rope after the looping is reversed. At some point in time, the rope fails to completely smooth out. Symbolically, the length of Gale and Katniss’ relationship is growing shorter. The rope may even begin to experience a “knot-memory” that causes it to twist up at the slightest provocation. We see this happening throughout MJ as Katniss processes Gale’s involvement with the Rebellion/Coin and his interactions with Peeta. When Prim dies, Gale realizes his role in the development of that particular bomb; hence, a very tight, complicated knot appears in the rope/relationship. When Katniss begins to put her thoughts in order and comes to the same conclusion about the firebombs, she effectively doubleknots the rope with little/nothing left to hold on to at the ends.
Maybe a stretch…but I have to argue that killing Prim with Gale’s bomb design was not cheating, it was too true-to-life irony.
So true, pj. Their relationship had to end.
At the risk of incurring wrath, and in a perhaps vain attempt to steer the conversation closer to John’s insights, might I say that so much focus on Peeta vs. Gale is missing the point? I think a reading of the text, and taking Katniss’s word for her own feelings and ever-growing self-knowledge at the end of the novel will show the Collins didn’t do any cop-outs with regards to the love triangle, nor has she done a complete disservice to Gale, she does an excellent job of displaying her characters’ virtues and flaws.
More to the point however, these books are about KATNISS, her choices, and her transformation (alchemical transformation, if you will!). What Collins might be saying about Gale and his qualities and choices in the book when compared with Katniss and her choices. While Collins has given us a real, flawed heroine in Katniss, the qualities that she exhibits that bring the greatest change in those around her are the qualities that I think Collins is trying to tell us are truly revolutionary and ones we should emulate to bring about changes in our world.
What are the qualities that made Katniss the Mockingjay? that made others want to rally around her, support her, and fight the Capitol’s dominance?
Perhaps the number one quality, Katniss is willing to sacrifice her life to protect others, she does it over and over, with Prim, with Peeta, with nameless citizens. At the same time, she is not willing to sacrifice others to achieve her goals. She resists and open rebellion to the Capitol for so long because she’s worried about the harm that it may do to her sister and District. Katniss’s hesitance to involve innocents in battle is one of the biggest conflicts she and Gale have in MJ.
When Katniss is being honest, thinking and acting as herself, she has a skill with words. Peeta is the gifted speaker, but her challenges to Snow in District 8, and to those fighting on behalf of the Capitol in District 2 were inspired, and had me cheering aloud for her.
Finally, Katniss never dehumanizes anyone, at least as far as I’m remembering, I could be wrong. Like many writers and thinkers, I think Collins warns us that evil is dehumanization, and that we’re in the greatest of becoming what we don’t want to be, or making tragic mistakes, when we view our opponents as less than human.
Given all these qualities that make Katniss our hero, if we must compare one character with another, I personally think tying it back to Katniss is a more fruitful area for thought and discussion.
PJ, you are on a roll making this parallels. Excellently put.
I think that what it’s still mostly argued is that after Gale left, he was basically dropped out of the book. But like diva_alix said, the books are about Katniss. It’s just hard to keep it that way on Gale’s discussion thread.
PK9, *sigh* I think it’s because I personally know several people who came home from the war, lost so much, and regret every little action, that they don’t see what’s the point of living anymore. They try to move on but it’s so apparent how empty they are inside. I admit I’m more than a little biased on my view of Gale – because I see these people in him. This is why I love MJ though, some parts are just too true.
Your last sentence made me laugh =D. And it’d be really funny if he and Johanna become a couple, what a match that would be!
PJ, bravo for the awesome parallel! I see where you’re coming from, but I still wish Collins would end it a little differently. To be honest, it’s just too painful for me >.<
Perhaps I will be able to see things from a new perspective when I read it again next month.
“While Collins has given us a real, flawed heroine in Katniss, the qualities that she exhibits that bring the greatest change in those around her are the qualities that I think Collins is trying to tell us are truly revolutionary and ones we should emulate to bring about changes in our world.”
Well put, diva.
While Katniss is willing to self-sacrifice, she would not have others sacrificing for her. The dilemma, and the one we all face, is when our choices resonate with others to the point they, too, are willing to self-sacrifice for our cause. Therefore, be very, very certain that one’s cause is worthy and honorable, above reproach, beyond “best” for all…and dare I say it, “for the greater Good” (my emphasis on ‘good’)!?
I would love it if Collins wrote a spin off of Gale- would love to get to know Gale more- from his perspective…
It was the most upsetting thing for me in the trilogy to see Gale consumed by his hate for the Capitol. He became very vengeful and naming him a war criminal is very harsh but still quite a close descriptor. I wish before the trilogy ended he saw the error of his vengeful thinking and realised that peace and justice does not come with revenge and unnecessary violence. Golly, I really liked him too!! =’[
I just posted this on another blog or something similar to this:
I don’t get why Katniss is put in such a moral pedestal. She begged to be in District 2 to blow people up when she had boy trouble with Peeta. Honestly, Gale didn’t do anything Katniss didn’t do. She was killing people left and right, too. Only, we were treated to Katniss’s constant emotional breakdown and nightmares while we barely got to know Gale. Just because he didn’t grow mental about killing people doesn’t mean he didn’t feel bad about it. Only, he had to do what what was needed to be done, as he was the only one who wasn’t insane at the time (Finnick, Katniss, Peeta, Haymitch, Johanna…UGH!).
And what’s this about Katniss being a sacrificial lamb? The girl is SELFISH. She ate Gale’s turnips (which he needed more given his training requirements and body mass), she whined and acted like a royal brat all throughout Mockingjay, making unnecessary demands and not caring that they’re in the middle of a rebellion. She only agreed to be the Mockingjay in the first place to save Peeta. She wasn’t really fighting for the greater good, she was only fighting to survive.
So many people died for Katniss..how many were they in the elite team and how many were left? Katniss didn’t really show remorse (Ahem..Finnick’s two-sentence death description) and this is the girl who don’t want others sacrificing for her? Btw, she did this because she wants Snow dead. She wanted revenge. This really wasn’t part of the plan.
I think one simple thing needed to fix up the rushed ending of this story and to give us an idea of what the feelings really were like between Gale and Katniss would be one dialogue between the two saying goodbye or whatever where Gale tells her he will be in District 2. No matter what terms they are on because of what happened in the Capitol, they were still lifelong friends and should have at least said goodbye and try to clear up what they feel about each other. I was just angry about the ending of this book because throughout this series the author keeps you attached and makes you really feel like you know everyone and what everyone feels, and to just leave out what happens to Gale and with Katniss’s mother really just left me angry and disappointed. The author must of hit a deadline because somehow after managing to make really feel the characters emotions and thoughts the whole series at the end I feel we are left in the dark and we are being given a quick summary of what happens when we are used to seeing what happens. I don’t think it would of been so bad to add an extra 10 pages and put in a bit more explanation and dialogue.
That’s why we have fanfiction. And I think in the Hunger Games fandom esp. there are a lot of fanfics dealing with the loose ends of the story – mostly glaringly Gale. At least that’s why I had to write one. (Shameless plug – “Ever in Your Favor” on fanfiction.com, by EStrunk.)
Good shameless plug, Rebecca. I’m Teem Peeta and I still managed to enjoy it and read it in two or three days.
I really hoped, that at the end, they would tell you that Gale was in 2 with Johanna. I’m disappointed that I didn’t hear about Gale after like 20 years or something, he was a big part of the book. I just guess that he is happily married and has an important job. But I hoped to know it sure. And I hoped that he would end up with Johanna. She’s also a ‘fire-type’ but I think they will match (:
Quite honestly, I wanted Gale and Katniss through all three books, but that is neither here nor there at this point. I’m just putting it out there. I don’t hate her and Peeta, I just liked Gale better, plain and simple.
What my real issue is with the ending of Mockingjay is that there are all these characters that you’ve grown so attached to (not just Gale) and then at the very end it’s like everyone drops off the face of the earth except Katniss and Peeta and you never get any resolution for the rest of the story. Like if you’re lucky you get a few words indirectly about what they’re kind of doing and then that’s it for them. This is especially upsetting and obvious with Gale who was such an integral character to the story, but it’s also annoying with all the other characters too.
I know that these books are from Katniss’ perspective, that much is obvious. But that doesn’t mean she is the be all and end all of the series. Is she the most important character? Absolutely. Should the focus be on her? Yes. However with a novel that is based around one character there will always be the supporting cast which the reader often grows just as and sometimes more attached to than the central character, and to leave us without satisfying resolution for these characters is the cruelty. I don’t mean satisfying as in ‘they all lived happily ever after.’ More like just being able to have some sort of farewell with them that feels somewhat complete. After Katniss shoots Coin the only characters we really see are Katniss, Peeta, Haymitch, Greasy Sae, Greasy Sae’s granddaughter and Buttercup (who perhaps got the best resolution of any supporting character) and Haymitch just ends up drinking again (which isn’t exactly a bad ending, it’s better than saying ‘and Haymitch sobered up, found a nice girl and lived happily forever, but still a little lame) and it’s just really disappointing because the ending seemed so rushed. I was literally two pages from the end and realized ‘oh crap she’s actually going to leave it like this’
I really liked the book and loved how the characters in the love triangle came across.
I didnt really know what the outcome of the book was going to be, so i loved that whole aspect to it – not knowing who she would pick until it came to the very end. Although talking about it now, i can slowly see why she picked Peeta in the end and now its not that shocking.
Like her relationship with Gale was detoriating rapidly in the last book. Although so was hers with Peetas. But with Gale, he became too angry and obsessed with the wars, and she kept stating this in the books, but not strongly, but there was hints. But because Gale is her very best friend i dont think she really accepted it until her sister died.
Personally, I really wanted Katniss to end up with Gale – I just loved their whole friendship – how they spoke without words and understood each other completely – he would tell her the truth on what he thought about things, even though he loved her, he still had his own mind and his decisions wasnt purely based on what Katniss did (unlike Peeta). But in the last book, he became too involved in being the hero, that he sort of changed, we saw more the aggressive side to him, although this was hinted in the first book that he was angry with the world.
Peeta on the other hand, was the compete opposite to Gale. Katniss and Peeta were more of a love story – as they say opposites do attract – Katniss and Peeta were complete opposites and Katniss and Gale were completely the same.
Peeta was already in love with her from the beginning and would do anything for her. He was quite calm compared to Gale, more in control of himself than Gale was, because in the end he overcame his hate for Katniss because he loved her so much.
Theres just so much to say and this isnt even half of what i wanted to say, but what i did want to say was i didnt really like the ending much – but only because i wanted to know more about Gale.
But thinking about it now, the ending was ok because they gave us glimpses of the happiness, in the Peeta and Katniss’s kids, in Finnicks child (It sucks that he died!). But it showed so much unhappiness with Katniss as well which i didnt really like. And how unable she is to really love so much.
You guys are smart I read the book for school. I hated how the hunting partner, i liked more than the main character, just goes and lives another life. This doesnt fit his character.
I pretty much knew from Catching Fire that Katniss would end up with Peeta. Because of their personality types, Katniss and Gale are mindmates, whereas Katniss and Peeta are soulmates.
Based on what I believe their personality types to be, Katniss and Peeta have a pedagogical relationship…each is the other’s mentor and each is the other’s student. Each elevates the other’s humanity. They are simply better people together than they are apart.
Having the same personality type as Katniss, I can relate to her being noncommittal to romantic relationships and waiting to see who would stick it out to the end. I knew she would end up with the one who proved himself worthy of her complete devotion at the end of Mockingjay (and this was well forecasted in both of the previous books). Gale removed himself from the running, and would have done so even if he hadn’t been complicit in Prim’s death. I don’t believe he would have stuck around to nurse an emotionally devastated Katniss…He really didn’t have the patience to allow Katniss to heal on her own terms and timeline at many of the critical junctures in the trilogy.
There is a fundamental disconnect in how Katniss and Gale process information. Katniss is highly intuitive, whereas Gale is a man of action (a sensor in Myers-Briggs typology)..They bonded over a common enemy (the Capitol)….but after their common enemy falls, Katniss remains an iconoclast, whereas Gale is a good soldier and quite the conformist. Quite frequently in Mockingjay, he simply cannot understand why she thinks the way she does, and it’s because she thinks outside the box. She can’t conform, and he can’t not conform.
I wish that Gale ended with Kelly. And like 25 years later they meet Katniss and Peeta in district 12. I think it would be sweat for Katniss to have a girl named Rue and Gale have a daughter named Prim and they be the same age. I wanted Katniss and Peeta to be together… but I wish I knew more about what happened to Gale.
Okay, here’s the thing. Yes, Gale killed Prim and we all know that. He killed her ACCIDENTALY but that isn’t an excuse of his wrong decition of killing poor boys of The Capitol. But in the hole trilogy… this is what you really kept about Gale after everything he did? Remember who went to the forest everyday to hunt and make sure Katniss’ family didn’t starve while she was on the Hunger Games? Even if he saw her kissing and being in love with Peeta.
Who save all those people of District 12 and brought them to District 13?
Who went to rescue Peeta just for Katniss?
Who was always by Katniss side, helping her pass through tick-and.thin? even tough she prefers Peeta and Gale is concient about that
So Gale is the perfect friend and supporter everyone wish to have no matter what happened next. I agree with you Carder, I didn’t expect Gale to move on to another District because he believed in a future with Katniss, and he always stands up for what he believe. Maybe it was guilty, we don’t know. But I’ll miss him and it sucks to have no idea what happened to him.
Anyways, Katniss and Peeta are a cute couple:)
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