Quote 4
When we finally escape to bed on the second night, Peeta mumbles, “Someone ought to get Haymitch a drink.”
I make a sound that is somewhere between a snort and a laugh. Then catch myself. It’s messing with my mind too much, trying to keep straight when we’re supposedly friends and when we’re not. At least when we get into the arena, I’ll know where we stand. “Don’t. Don’t let’s pretend when there’s no one around.” (7.85-86)
What’s real and what isn’t? In the Hunger Games, Katniss can’t be sure. Is Peeta sincere about being her friend? Or does he have other plans?
Quote 5
"I don't know how to say it exactly. Only…I want to die as myself. Does that make any sense?" he asks. I shake my head. How could he die as anyone but himself? "I don't want them to change me in there. Turn me into some kind of monster that I'm not."
I bite my lip, feeling inferior. While I've been ruminating on the availability of trees, Peeta has been struggling with how to maintain his identity. His purity of self. "Do you mean you won't kill anyone?" I ask.
"No, when the time comes, I'm sure I'll kill just like everybody else. I can't go down without a fight. Only I keep wishing I could think of a way to…to show the Capitol they don't own me. That I'm more than just a piece in their Games," says Peeta. (10.71)
The night before the Games Katniss is thinking strategy, but Peeta? Well, he's thinking more about his identity. Peeta wants to retain his humanity instead of being just a "piece in the Games." How can he show the Capitol that they don't own him?
Quote 6
I spread out my fingers, and the dark berries glisten in the sun. I give Peeta's hand one last squeeze as a signal, as a good-bye, and we begin counting. "One." Maybe I'm wrong. "Two." Maybe they don't care if we both die. "Three!" It's too late to change my mind. I lift my hand to my mouth, taking one last look at the world. The berries have just passed my lips when the trumpets begin to blare. (25.93)
Like Romeo and Juliet, Peeta and Katniss decide to end it all at the end of the Games. The double suicide stunt allows Katniss and Peeta to win the game – together. But what will be the consequences?