Catching Fire Chapter 7 Quotes

Catching Fire Chapter 7 Quotes

How we cite the quotes:
(Chapter.Paragraph)

"What about the other families, Katniss? The ones who can't run away? Don't you see? It can't be about just saving us anymore. Not if the rebellion's begun!" Gale shakes his head, not hiding his disgust with me. "You could do so much." He throws Cinna's gloves at my feet. "I changed my mind. I don't want anything they made in the Capitol." And he's gone. (7.80)

It's Gale who helps Katniss realize that this problem is bigger than she is, and the solution has to be bigger than her small idea of running away. This isn't just a matter of getting small groups of people out from under the Capitol's dictatorship. It's about getting everyone out. "The rebellion's begun," which means that a full-scale war is on the horizon.

"Safe to do what?" he says in a gentler tone. "Starve? Work like slaves? Send their kids to the reaping? You haven't hurt people – you've given them an opportunity. They just have to be brave enough to take it. There's already been talk in the mines. People who want to fight. Don't you see? It's happening! It's finally happening! " (7.74)

Gale tries to tell Katniss that any impending uprising isn't her fault – people have been waiting for "an opportunity" to strike back at the Capitol. This would have happened sooner or later; Katniss has just sped things along. The real question is whether the masses are "brave enough" to act when they have the chance.