The Hunger Games is a novel based on war and kids killing each other. In short, two children are picked from each district, one through twelve, and forced to kill each other, until a lone victor remains. Peeta Mellark is one of these children selected. As he travels through the games, his enduring qualities of strength, caring for others and his excellence of speech comes to the forefront, and make him one of the most admirable characters in the movie.

Peeta has as much strength as anyone could possess, in both body and soul. He is a tall, muscular young man, becoming strong from his years of working in his father’s bakery. However, his enduring strength is not just in his body. Peeta is scared as anyone would be if they had been picked for the Game, but he uses that feeling to convey his strength. He doesn’t become cowardly in this time of need to stay alive. He makes this strength the will to go on, wanting to stay alive. Peeta comes back to this strength when he feels like he is going to lose it, and this strength will never be lost because Peeta has the will to overcome everything in his power.

No matter what position Peeta is in during the Games, he thinks about others, especially his partner from District 12, Katniss Everdeen, before he ever thinks about himself. As he lies in the mud, in the arena, his mind was totally on her, hoping that she was safe and sound. He lies writhing in pain from a leg wound, but that doesn’t deter him from worrying about her He doesn’t want any other person finding and killing Katniss. He would willingly die, if that meant saving her life. That is total unselfishness, but Peeta would never take a second glance at what he would have done for Katniss, because that is the kind of guy he is.

Before Peeta and Katniss are dumped in the arena to officially start the Games, they are taken on a whirlwind of a media tour, trying to indirectly befriend a “sponsor,” someone who may want to give them lifesaving items later in the Games. While Katniss is shy and soft spoken in front of the crowds, Peeta is totally opposite, being friendly, and cracking jokes all the time. Peeta has never been shy, and as the cameras role on him, he brings that quality out, hoping to save himself, or more desirably, Katniss. He is a well-rounded speaker, and that may be why his and Katniss’s lives were saved.

Peeta has qualities that many real people in this world have. However, he, unlike others, can use all of these qualities at once, and use them effectively when it matters most. These qualities saved his life in the Games, but, more importantly, he can use them in his everyday life. He becomes a desirable character, and one of the most needed characters in the movie because of these traits.