Thursday, 19 January 2012

The Hunger Games- Part Three “The Victor”

Chapters Nineteen through to Twenty-two

Once Katniss realizes she can win without having to kill Peeta, the race is on to find him before another tribute does. She realizes he must be well hidden to have survived as long as has knowing that Cato has injured him. She starts where she last saw him and heads in the directions she saw him going, staying close to the stream.

When Katniss finds Peeta he is buried, or rather than buried, camouflaged in mud barely alive. Cato has injured Peeta bad. He has slashed him across the top of his leg creating a very deep wound and Peeta has lost too much blood. He is also malnourished. He’s been alone as well as without food and water since he’s spent his days hidden within the mud. Katniss knows what she has to do, she has to heal Peeta.

She starts with cleaning him up and figuring out how bad his injuries are. After she analyzes and treats what she can the pair have to find a spot to hide, especially since Peeta is useless with his leg. They find a small cave just above land, not as high as a tree where Katniss would prefer but it’s as high as Peeta can handle. They make a home out of the cave, a place where Katniss can nurse Peeta back to health or at least to a condition where he will last to the end of the Games. Katniss did everything she could in attempt to get Peeta better, she made him eat, sleep, drink and she kept him warm, but she needed more. She needed something only the Capitol could send to her, medicine. Medicine that would cure his infection and get it out of his blood before it reached any of his organs, like his heart.

Luckily Ceasar Flickerman announces in chapter twenty that there will be a feast, and at this feast will be a backpack for each district containing something they really need. Katniss knows there will be medicine for Peeta, so she goes against his wishes. At the feast, Katniss almost dies but is saved by Thresh, the male tribute from District eleven. He finds out what Katniss did for his fellow tribute Rue and lets Katniss get away. This was his way of repaying her for what she did, they were then even. Katniss leaves the feast with a couple cuts and makes it back to Peeta. She injects the hypothermic needle into him and then passes out.

Katniss awakes from at least a days worth of sleeping. Peeta is healed and he took over Katniss’ role as healer. He wrapped up Katniss’ cuts and kept her warm while she slept. They spend a lot of the time in the cave, giving them selves’ time to rejuvenate and rest up before any final battle. After the feast there are five tributes left, Katniss and Peeta are the only ones from the same district. The weather has been bad and the pair ran short on food. Katniss knew what needed to be done. They had to really play the part of star crossed lovers. The more emotion and show they gave the viewers would result in a treat from Haymitch, food. They get their food and it’s more then they could have imagined. It was a feast in a basket and just enough to get their strength back to where it needed to be.


END OF CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Through-out these chapters romance is at a high. Katniss went out of her way to find Peeta and does everything she can to save him. He is almost dead when Katniss find him, but she refuses to let him die. She uses methods that she remembers her mother using. Her mother is a healer and they would always have someone injured in the home. Katniss could never stay the entire time her mother worked on a patient, but she didn’t have her mother in the arena. She had Peeta and knowledge, and she needed to save Peeta. She couldn’t bear to think what it would be like returning to District Twelve without him.

It becomes clear that Katniss has feelings for Peeta even though she may not want to admit it. She knows they are playing the roles of star crossed lovers in the arena as a way to win over sponsors. But she’s comfortable with Peeta, she likes his company. Even though we don’t read the story from Peeta’s perspective it is clear his feelings are real. It is clear he isn’t acting in-love, he is in-love. During this section of chapters the pair share very intense moments, moments of confession and passion.

It starts with a simple kiss when the two are discussing what would happen if Peeta doesn’t live. Katniss does not want to talk about that so she kisses him. Their relationship only gets stronger since it is just the two of them in their tiny cave. They pass time by talking, sleeping and keep watch (one sleeps while the other watches). Peeta comforts Katniss while she sleeps and they stay close to keep warm. They also talk, and while they talk Katniss finds out when Peeta first fell for her- when they were five. Katniss can’t believe that when she hears Peeta talk about her, it reminds her exactly how her father talked about her mother. She realizes for the first time that Peeta’s feelings are real. The passion only rises from this point. Once Katniss heard about the feast she was ready and willing to go, but Peeta forbade her to go. He did not want her to risk her life for him. This didn’t stop Katniss though. She went and got what she needed to save his life. She knew it was risky, she knew she might not make, and she did almost die, but she did what had to be done. She risked her own life to save Peeta’s.

The emotion you read in these chapters feels like a love story and for awhile it feels like the game has disappeared because all you can think about is how badly you want for these innocent teens to be together and safe.

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