Curate, connect, and discover
as katniss and peeta enter the capitol for the first time, katniss is shocked at how peeta is able to hold his ground by smiling and waving to the capitol citizens (thg, 59). and she immediately concludes that this is because peeta is already fighting hard to survive (thg, 60). and fighting hard to kill her (thg, 60).
just like everyone else in his situation would.
but literally every other word he says to katniss in this book is about how he doesn't actually think he is going to survive this. like when they are talking about their skills (thg, 90). or when he is explaining how he wants to die as himself and not stoop to the capitol's level (thg, 141). or when he is trying to tell katniss what he wants her to know before he dies in the cave (thg, 261).
by the end of the first games, i am sure that peeta had started to think of himself as a survivor. a victor. after all, he was about to survive a brutal death arena with his lover.
but then the rule changed. and only one of them could survive. and any drive of his to survive did not stop him from immediately realizing that katniss needs to be the one to live. because he needs her to live.
and so, throwing all survival instincts to the wind, he threw his knife into the river and released the bandage from his wound (thg, 342). he was planning on dying for her. he just didn't realize that his songbird was thinking the same.
and this continues in the second game when both katniss and peeta hyperfocus on how they can ensure their lover's survival. knowing that it would cost their own life.
they both don't really consider themselves survivors. or, if they do, they recognize how they will need to just forget all of their natural instincts to survive. because there is something more important.
and it is almost like they both decided to be survivors in the quell because they need to survive just long enough to help give the other person a better chance of surviving. because what is the point of surviving if your happiness dies alongside your lover.