Relationship between Katniss and Peeta

The relationship between Katniss and Peeta and the way it evolves is a central part of the novel The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. The reaping of the Hunger Games brings Katniss and Peeta together and thrusts them into the unfamiliar world of the Capitol, but it is revealed their ties started when they were just kids and they are more complex than they appear. 

Katniss’s debt to Peeta makes it difficult for her to treat him as an opponent

Katniss first notices Peeta when she is eleven years old. She is starving and desperate after her father dies and her mother becomes deeply depressed and unable to take care of Katniss and Prim. After the baker’s wife drive Katniss away, Peeta risks punishment by dropping two loaves in the fire and bringing them to Katniss: “It didn’t occur to me until the next morning that the boy might have dropped the bread on purpose. Might have dropped the loaves into the flames, knowing it meant being punished, and then delivered them to me.” (Chapter 2, 87%). 

Peeta’s immense kindness saves Katniss’s life and allows her and her family not to starve. It also gives Katniss a renewed sense of hope:

But as I collected Prim and started for home that afternoon, I found him staring at me from across the school yard. Our eyes met for only a second, then he turned his head away. I dropped my gaze, embarrassed, and that’s when I saw it. The first dandelion of the year. (…)

To this day, I can never shake the connection between this boy, Peeta Mellark, and the bread that gave me hope, and the dandelion that reminded me I was not doomed. (Chapter 2, 90%).

This leaves Katniss feeling conflicted about Peeta, because she feels like she owes him for his kindness, but she never gets to thank him. After the reaping,...