Clarissa & Katniss-- Caught in the middle

          Peter and Richard represent a classic case of two males vying for the attention of a female in many ways, such as how one of them (Richard) is really nice and the other (Peter) kind of resents his rival for being the typical nice guy and feels like he deserves the woman's affections more. Another, more modern pair of fictional rivals that share a similar dynamic is Gale and Peeta from The Hunger Games. Peeta is the nice guy who Katniss is supposed to end up with, and Gale is somewhat moody but has known Katniss for longer and has an established bond with her.
          In this comparison between Mrs. Dalloway and The Hunger Games, the characters of Peter and Gale have multiple parallels in terms of their relationships with their perspective love interests. As far as we know from the information provided in Mrs. Dalloway, Peter was Clarissa's first beau. Or at least the first that was of importance. The two spent a lot of time together, especially at the vaguely referenced Bourton. Peter is one of the characters who understands and/or connects with Clarissa the most. He is able to see through her facade of being the "perfect hostess." It seems like even though they tended to bicker a lot, and criticize each other, they were very close and had a strong relationship. Similarly in The Hunger Games, Gale and Katniss have been friends/partners in crime for at least four years. They worked together to provide food for their families, and shared everything with each other. The fact that they were doing something illegal together (hunting) also brought them closer. Although their relationship was never officially romantic like Peter and Clarissa's, they shared a similar bond in that they were really the only ones who understood each other despite their teasing and banter.
          Peter and Gale are not only similar in their role in Clarissa and Katniss's lives, but also in their dispositions. They both tend to be somewhat sullen and negative. They speak their minds and focus mostly on practical things, or things that are important to them. Clarissa specifically states this about Peter on page 7 of Mrs. Dalloway, as demonstrated by the following quote:
             
"But Peter-- however beautiful the day might be, and the trees and the grass, and the little girl in pink-- Peter never saw a thing of all that. He would on his spectacles, if she told him to; he would look. It was the state of the world that interested him; Wagner, Pope's poetry, people's characters eternally and the defects of her own soul."

Gale seems to be interested in the "state of the world" as well, although his world is much different from Peter's and doesn't consist of poetry and people's souls. Gale is constantly analyzing the justness of the way things are run in District 12, and even is somewhat treasonous/rebellious as he asks Katniss to run away with him. He reveals some very shocking things to her that would get him severely punished if authorities heard him saying them.
          Not only do Peter and Gale parallel each other, but so do Richard and Peeta. Richard and Peeta both entered the picture later than Peter and Gale in their love interests' lives. Richard starts coming to Bourton well after Clarissa and Peter have already established a somewhat steady romantic relationship (from what we can infer from the novel). Peeta and Katniss really only start interacting once they are both chosen to compete in the Hunger Games, where Gale is conveniently unable to communicate with Katniss. Ricsyhard and Peeta are the ones that Clarissa and Katniss are "supposed" to love. Clarissa is married to Richard, and therefore assumed to have feelings solely for Richard. Katniss is encouraged by sponsors and her coach in the Hunger Games to display a relationship with Peeta and gain sympathy from the audience. She does end up having real feelings for him, but she is torn between Peeta who she is pressured to be with and Gale who she has known since she was twelve. Clarissa, similarly, does care for Richard, but throughout Mrs. Dalloway we see her struggling with the question of whether or not she made the right choice by marrying him, showing that she probably has residual feelings for Peter.
          Even though Clarissa is married to Richard, and the epilogue of Mockingjay lets us know that Katniss ends up marrying Peeta, we will never know if Clarissa and Katniss will always be happy with their choice of choosing the "nice guy." Comparing their relationships, though, can help us to understand their balance and put Clarissa's relations in a more modern light.