How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
Someone they love. The words numb my tongue as if it's been packed in snow coat. Of course, I love Gale. But what kind of love does she [my mother] mean? What do I mean when I say I love Gale? I don't know. (9.29)
Defining love and making decisions about personal relationships is too much for Katniss when survival itself is at stake. She knows she loves Gale, but she doesn't know what that means. It could be familial love, or it could be romantic love. What do you think? If Katniss chooses Peeta, is it possible for her and Gale to still be friends?
Quote #5
Whoever is picked first, the other will have the option of volunteering to take his place. I already know what will happen. Peeta will ask Haymitch to let him go into the arena with me no matter what. For my sake. To protect me. (13.9)
Love hurts, and Peeta loves Katniss so much that he's willing to die for her. Here that's not a choice that Katniss has to make in return. Peeta has a certainty about his love for Katniss that she's never reciprocated, and it's a lingering regret she deals with constantly.
Quote #6
When Peeta holds out his arms, I walk straight into them. It's the first time since they announced the Quarter Quell that he's offered me any sort of affection. [...] I wrap my arms tightly around his neck before he can order me to do push-ups or something. Instead he pulls me in close and buries his face in my hair. Warmth radiates from the spot where his lips just touch my neck, slowly spreading through the rest of me. It feels so good, so impossibly good, that I know I will not be the first to let go. (14.30)
Katniss may not be able to articulate her feelings for Peeta, but they both need human comfort. After all, as far as they know, one of them is facing certain death. The question is, which one? Each is ready to die to save the other. Compared to that, plain old sexual tension just doesn't seem that interesting.