Question

Why is katniss not very close to her mom?

Answer 1

When her husband died (Katniss and Prim's father) she basically became catatonic and couldn't function. She didn't bother to take care of either Prim or Katniss when she should have. She didn't even worry about if they had food or not.

Katniss loves her mother (and her mother loves both of them too) but she thinks she's weak/pathetic and their realtionship is bitter to her. It would be hard to have strong negative feelings for a parent b/c you're *supposed to love them. Katniss and her mother's roles in the family unit were reveresed after the mining accident that killed Mr. Everdeen. Katniss also has put her name in 2 extra times every year to get more food as well so that's not very fun either.

Once she volunteered she freaks out in the book thinking that Prim is going to starve because she's worried her mother will 'tune out' again. That's why she sresses to Gale to take care of them as well as his own family