Thread by @eddiemikus

SOTR ANALYSIS THREAD #17: KATNISS, GALE, HAYMITCH, MAYSILEE (+)

One of the first things we learn about Katniss Everdeen in the very first chapter of the very first Hunger Games book is her relationship with her friend Gale Hawthorne--in Katniss's words, "the only person with whom I can be myself" (THG ch. 1) (+)

Katniss and Gale met each other while hunting in the woods outside of District 12 six months after their fathers had died in a mining accident (THG ch. 8).

On this meeting, Katniss and Gale exchanged information about hunting, which further led to them becoming a team who would work together to provide for their respective families. (+)

By the time of the 74th Hunger Games, the relationship between the two had reached a point where Katniss and Gale had made a pact to each take care of the other's family should one of them die (THG ch. 3). (+)

Additionally, Gale watched much of the 74th Hunger Games with Asterid and Prim (CF ch. 7); likewise, following said Hunger Games, Katniss offered to teach Gale's brother Rory how to hunt (CF ch. 1). (+)

While it is clear that Katniss and Gale had a very close connection, Katniss states on two different occasions in the first Hunger Games book that she did not view Gale as a boyfriend. (THG chs. 1, 10, 21). (+)

Having said that, Katniss also states the belowregarding Gale (THG ch. 8), openly indicating that she knew her pre-Games relationship with Gale had gone beyond mere friendship. (+)

The answer to Katniss's question on how to describe her pre-Games relationship with Gale can actually be found in Sunrise On The Reaping, where Haymitch states the following (SOTR ch. 20): (+)

Haymitch makes that statement in the specific context of his relationship with Maysilee Donner, which actually bears a number of similarities to that between Katniss and Gale. (+)

For starters, while the circumstances are VERY different, Haymitch and Maysilee similarly team up and connect in the Arena in a way that allows them to help each other survive for longer (CF ch. 14; SOTR chs. 20-23). (+)

Furthermore, Gale and Maysilee both have a similar character trait: rage at injustices of the Capitol perpetrates against its own citizens--take a look at the below statements Suzanne Collins has made about each character in different interviews. (+)

This, of course, raises some interesting questions--one that relate directly to how Gale and Maysilee's respective stories play out (+):

1. If Maysilee had been alive at the time at the 74th Hunger Games, would Gale have recognized her as a potential ally in the rebellion despite the fact that she came from District 12's Merchant class? (+)

There is actually a canonical answer to that question: Hell no, as evidenced by this exchange where Gale openly mocks Madge Undersee--Maysilee's niece--on the morning of the 74th Hunger Games (THG ch. 1). (+)

I will allow that Gale likely did not know about Maysilee.

However, "You won't be going to the Capitol" is an INCREDIBLY insensitive thing to say on Reaping Day to someone who, for all you knew, COULD have lost a relative in a previous Hunger Games. (+)

The implication here, of course, is that, at this very early point in the story, Gale lacks the ability to look past his preconceived stereotypes of other people, at the cost of potentially missing out on people who MIGHT be able to help him. (+)

In this same vein, Madge bringing Gale morphling after his whipping (CF ch. 8) can be understood as a way to potentially show him that despite their differences in social class, her family understood the extent of the Capitol's injustice just as much as his did. (+)

2. If Maysilee had been alive during the Second Rebellion, would she have exhibited the same sort of callous disregard for human life that Gale did? (+)

I think the answer to that question is also no, and I think we can see that in how Maysilee and Gale approached the idea of how the Capitol treated other people. (+)

On the Tribute Train following the 50th Reaping, Maysilee famously tells Louella, "Listen, Louella, if you let them treat like an animal, they will. So don't let them" (SOTR ch. 3). (+)

That statement indicates that Maysilee knows she--and, for that matter, the other tributes--have dignity as human beings, even if the Capitol doesn't recognize such. (+)

By contrast, when Gale comes to see Katniss prior her departure for the 74th Games, he literally asks her how different killing people can be to the hunting he and Katniss have done for the last four years (THG ch. 3). (+)

In other words, to Gale, the tributes who will be in the arena with Katniss are animals that need to be hunted down--rather than, I don't know, teenagers who were forced by the Capitol to have to fight for their lives for no justifiable reason. (+)

Maysilee and Gale also show differing attitudes towards human life in situations where killing people went beyond mere theory and into actual practice (+).

After the fight with the Gamemakers in the Arena, Maysilee directs the following statement to Maritte (SOTR ch. 22). (+)

"I'm almost sorry to kill now, Maritte," is the sort of statement you would make if 1). you felt guilty about killing someone, 2). recognized that you were only doing so because of an entity that was pitting your life against theirs...(+)

...and 3). recognized that the person you were about to kill might agree with you about the entity that was pitting your life against theirs. (+).

By contrast, Gale willingly suggest taking a Capitol fortress (called the "Nut") by starting avalanches on the mountain wherin said fortress was located, as a means to trap those inside the fortress (MJ chs. 14-15)  (+)

It is even pointed out to Gale that the Nut is a mine (just like the coal mines in District 12) and that some of the people who would lose their lives were civilians or, in some cases, rebel spies (MJ ch. 15).

Neither statement blunts his willingness for the plan (+)

In other words, the things that Maysilee mentions to Maritte (common enemy, shared leanings) simply do not exist to Gale as a remote possibility regarding the people who would lose their lives in the Nut. (+)

I think this difference can be summed up with a line at the end of Suzanne's interview statement about Maysilee: "She remembers who the enemy is."

To Maysilee, the enemy is the Capitol, while to Gale, the enemy is anyone who MIGHT support the Capitol--even if they also MIGHT NOT support the Capitol. (+)

There is a scene that I would be remiss if I did not address once in this entire thread: Prim Reaper. (+).

When Gale goes to visit Katniss on the morning of Snow's planned execution, Katniss openly confronts him over whether the double-exploding bomb he and Beetee designed had been used in the attack that killed Prim--Katniss's sister. (MJ ch. 26) (+)

This exchange ultimately brings into focus how far Gale had gone in terms of morals, and ultimately ends the relationship that Katniss and Gale once had. (+)

Right before he leaves the room, Gale tells Katniss before he leaves is, "That was the one thing I had going for me. Taking care of your family" (MJ ch. 26) (+)

Gale may once have seen the Everdeen family as his own, but his own all-consuming rage severed that link permanently (+).

By contrast, when Maysilee dies, Haymitch specifically stays by her side to let her know that she is "with family" (+)

Both Maysilee and Gale found family with Haymitch and Katniss, respectively.

However, where Maysilee calmed down and gained a found brother, Gale got angrier and lost not one but two found sisters. (END).

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