listen i know gale gets SO much hate but idk.....he makes a ton of sense even if he goes about his shit in a dick way
like at MOST he is an 18 year old boy who hasn't even aged out of getting reaped. almost all of the characters are young with some notable exceptions, and gale is EIGHTEEN YEARS OLD!!!! him making poor choices should be expected, especially considering the terrible universe he's in where making decisions can mean life or death, both for you and your family
beyond that, gale has absolutely no idea about the in-depth inner workings of the capitol like katniss does. katniss has survived the games and lived through them, and she understands that they never end, especially not after what she pulled with the nightlock. gale has none of the context we have; he doesn't know what katniss knows. to him, the games end once you're crowned a victor. he doesn't understand that the capitol is infinitely worse than expected, and that the games don't stop even once you've technically "won"
and even Beyond his crush on katniss, it makes sense for him to be stunned at her sudden "dating" and eventual "marriage" of peeta. his best friend, who has never expressed romantic interest in ANYONE, is suddenly in love with this boy? and is kissing him? and is actively saving his life because she's "in love" with him? even if he wasn't jealous, it makes sense on why he would be confused and hurt on why she wasn't telling him anything. gale also has no idea the threats snow has made to katniss, and her sudden secretiveness when they used to be so open would have to hurt
gale has never had to "play smart" with the capitol. he has never had to be involved in their games like katniss. all he knows is that he hates the capitol and that he wants every last capitolite to die, and that the best way to do that is to just Blatantly kill them. katniss knows that this isn't an option, and that people she loves are at risk Because of her, and that she can't just do whatever she wants. gale doesn't have that risk, and he doesn't Know about it either
he seems horribly unfair from katniss's pov, and to a degree he absolutely is. but he's also Eighteen Years Old, has lost his home, seems to have lost his best friend, and is now fighting in a war, and all of that happened in under two years. i definitely think that the way he goes about things in regards to katniss is fucking ridiculous because obvious i know what he doesn't, but he's also EIGHTEEN YEARS OLD!!!!! the dude has NO fucking idea what the capitol is actually like and what it means to enter the games (and how you never leave them)
i think gale's actions are all so painfully spot-on for him. everything he does is just very Gale and makes sense. he's angry, he has no context, he has NONE of the information that katniss has until later on, and even then, it's not the full story. he's an eighteen year old boy put in a very unfair situation, and he has no idea how to handle any of it beyond just being angry, because that's all he's ever been
i think gale is so deeply interesting and i am Very frustrated with him all the time, but it makes sense for him to act like that. he's not perfect and never was, and while his treatment of katniss (particularly in cf and mockingjay) is SO FRUSTRATING, it makes sense. he pisses me off but i love that dude. the poor fucking guy has been dropped in a warzone and has had his home stripped away from him and his best friend is no longer who he thought. obviously katniss is going fucking through it, but so is gale, and OBVIOUSLY he is not going to handle anything well because he's EIGHTEEN YEARS OLD.