Mockingjay Chapter 23 Quotes
Mockingjay Chapter 23 Quotes
How we cite the quotes:
(Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote 1
"I think... you still have no idea. The effect you can have." He slides his cuffs up the support and pushes himself to a sitting position. "None of the people we lost were idiots. They knew what they were doing. They followed you because they believed you really could kill Snow." (23.54)
Once again Katniss has underestimated the power and authority she holds – "[t]he effect [she] can have." She's a dangerous warrior whom other people trust and put their faith in, a person whom other people are willing to die to protect and serve. She's a real, natural leader in ways that people like Snow or Coin never will be.
Quote 2
"No," he says. "Don't [take off the handcuffs]. They help hold me together."
"You might need your hands," says Gale.
"When I feel myself slipping, I dig my wrists into them, and the pain helps me focus," says Peeta. (23.9-11)
Peeta shows courage here through his willingness to remain restrained. He doesn't want to be released because he doesn't trust himself. Yet, if he were released, he'd be better able to defend himself in the event of another attack – which could occur at any time. The fact that he's willing to risk that, to give up that self-defense, shows his bravery.
Quote 3
"I wonder how she'll make up her mind."
"Oh, that I do know." I can just catch Gale's last words through the layer of fur. "Katniss will pick whoever she thinks she can't survive without." (23.89-90)
In the next chapter, we find out that this statement really hurts Katniss's feelings. Outside of that, though, it's hard not to wonder if it's true. Every decision Katniss has made up to this point, not just in <em>Mockingjay</em> but in all the books, has related to survival: her survival and the survival of the people she really cares about.