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I’m not saying Gale doesn’t deserve hate. He’s far from perfect, and I can totally understand why many Hunger Games fans don’t like him. But I feel like he’s over-hated and that he doesn’t deserve a lot of it. There are so many factors that need to be taken into consideration when judging Gale, and I feel a lot of the hate he gets is very surface level.

I’ve therefore taken it upon myself to make the case for why he deserves to be cut some slack. It’s not a position I ever saw myself taking as I was all about Gale slander back in the day. Heck, I even find it funny now, but it just seems unfair.

There’s been a resurgence of The Hunger Games ever since the movie release of A Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, and it’s all over my Tiktok and Facebook. As a result, I decided to rewatch the movies, and I found myself empathising with Gale, much to my surprise. I have read the books, but for this article I’ll just be focusing on events/ lines that occurred in the movies. I’ll only use the books to provide lore context for events alluded to in the movies.

So, despite being acutely aware of how unpopular this opinion is, allow me to state why Gale doesn’t deserve all the hate he gets.

His Upbringing in District 12

This is something that I feel waaaay too many people overlook. It’s easy for us to criticise him from behind the comfort of our own screens, but the reality is we have no idea what it was like for him. Gale was the oldest of 5 siblings, and it was his duty to protect them growing up. He was the eldest, and so much responsibility fell on him from a young age.

Most residents in District 12 were starving and food was a constant struggle. The only way he and his family could survive was by taking advantage of the tesserae system. That meant that every year, Gale received an extra entry into the reaping per person in his family in exchange for a little extra food. This was cumulative. The year that Katniss goes into the Games, Gale’s name is in there 42 times. Imagine how much something like that must weigh on a soul. Knowing that you’re risking death just to feed your family.

Aside from his own struggles, Gale sees what goes on around him. He sees his friends and neighbours struggling to survive. The corruption and hypocrisy of the Peacekeepers. He sees the abject poverty of District 12 in comparison to the other districts. You can’t expect a guy to grow up like that and have a healthy psyche.

Jealousy Over Peeta

Something you need to understand is that Gale’s jealousy isn’t solely about Katniss. Peeta had everything that Gale didn’t. Gale’s family were poor and never had enough food to eat, whereas Peeta’s family ran a bakery. Peeta never had to worry about where his next meal was coming from, and he was well-off by District 12 standards. Peeta also had older brothers, so he didn’t need to shoulder the massive responsibility that Gale did.

There’s also an air of regret in there. Katniss fell for Peeta in the Games. Gale is painfully aware of this, no matter how much Katniss denies her feelings for Peeta. At one point, he even states that he wishes he’d volunteered in Peeta’s place. That is such an intensity of feeling, and he hates that he allowed a situation where Katniss could fall for Peeta. Of course, volunteering would have been suicide, but Gale isn’t thinking rationally.

I’m not saying that all of that excuses Gale’s behaviour, but it does explain it. And the thing to remember is that Gale is just a teenager. He’s an 18 year old guy who doesn’t have a handle on all of his emotions yet. It’s natural that he’d be jealous of this (in his mind) privileged kid who’s stealing all of Katniss’ attention.

Trying to Be with Katniss

Let’s face it, Katniss leads Gale on. I’m not blaming her, and I don’t think there was anything wrong or intentional about what she did. She genuinely had no idea what she wanted, and was too distracted by the Games and the Rebellion to give it much thought. I get it. But from Gale’s perspective, she was randomly kissing him every 5 minutes, and then snuggling up to Peeta. He was confused and wanted to know where he stood.

The issue is that he was pushy about it at times, and even grumpy on occasion. I can see both sides on this one. Katniss had the weight of the Rebellion on her shoulders, and didn’t have time to dissect her feelings. Gale, on the other hand, was feeling the pinch of war. He didn’t know how much time they had left, and he wanted to be with her. He also saw how close she was with Peeta, and wanted to win her over before it was too late. This disparity between their viewpoints led to Gale being annoyed that she wanted to wait, and that wasn’t cool.

I think it was okay for him to make his feelings known, but that he should’ve backed off until she was ready. Having said that, I do think he was within his rights to ask where he stood when she kept kissing him. I think he gets more flack for this one than is really fair.

The Destruction of District 12

While Gale was always staunchly anti-Capitol, his opinions became much more aggressive and unyielding in the third movie, with good reason. People tend to hate his lack of empathy towards Capitol citizens whilst ignoring the immense trauma he suffered. He witnessed the genocide of his entire neighbourhood. Almost everyone he’d ever known and loved. The survivors guilt would’ve been through the roof.

You can’t expect people who’ve witnessed a genocide to act rationally. And whilst it may not fully excuse Gale’s callousness towards innocent Capitol citizens, it does explain it. In his mind, these are people directly profiting from the subjugation of the Districts, and he sees them as just as culpable for that suffering as their government are.

Gale is very much a product of his trauma, and his actions in Mockingjay reflect that.

Blowing Up Prim

Everyone always holds this one against Gale, but it’s completely unwarranted. Gale didn’t blow up Prim! He didn’t even know whether the bomb used was based on his design, he was completely out of the loop. He never intended it to be used against children, that was Coin’s call, and the blame falls almost entirely on her.

However, children or not, it was an evil design. That much I concur wholeheartedly. But then why does all the hate go to Gale, when he’s not the only one who conceived it? Gale was working on the bomb design with Beetee. Gale was a traumatised teenager who’d watched pretty much everyone he knew get blown to pieces by the Capitol. He was out for blood, and you can’t really blame him. Beetee was a level-headed adult who knew exactly what he was doing. Yet people seem to love Beetee whilst hating Gale even though they were both involved.

It’s also important to note that neither of them intended for Coin to use it in the way that she did. Perhaps naively, they’d conceived it as a hypothetical weapon to use in the midst of war against combatants. I’m sure they hadn’t considered that it would be used to slaughter innocent children.

Conclusion: Gale Sucks, But Not as Much as People Think

I don’t want to imply that Gale is an angel; he isn’t. He’s selfish, reckless, and cold at times. But he’s also a teenage boy who witnessed far more trauma than anyone should have to see in an entire lifetime. He was moulded by his experiences, and I don’t think that makes him a bad person. Because, as much as he has those negative traits, he has positive ones too.

He’s fiercely loyal, and constantly does whatever he can to protect Katniss and her family. When Katniss is reaped, she knows she can rely on Gale to take care of Prim and her mother in the event that she dies in the Games. When the siren is going off in District 13, Gale doubles back to get Prim even before Katniss realises she’s missing. He doesn’t hesitate to throw himself at a Peacekeeper who’s attacking a District 12 resident even though he knows it means severe punishment for him. He’s also willing to die for the cause of the Rebellion, which I can certainly respect. Gale wants a better life for the residents of Panem, and will do whatever it takes to get it.

So, have I convinced you? Are you any more sympathetic to Gale than you were before reading this article? Join the discussion in our Facebook community, or tweet me on Twitter!