How we cite our quotes: All quotations are from The Hunger Games.
Quote #7
PEETA: I just don't want them to change me.
At the end of the day, that's what power boils down to, doesn't it? Being able to change someone who doesn't want to be changed, whether it's shooting them in the head or forcing them to kill. Peeta's only control over his life is to be true to himself somehow.
Quote #8
HAYMITCH: Don't kill her. You'll just create a martyr.
SENECA: Well, it seems we've already got one.
HAYMITCH: I hear these rumors out of District 11. This could get away from you.
SENECA: What do you want?
HAYMITCH: You have a lot of anger out there. I know you know how to handle a mob. You've done it before. If you can't scare them, give them something to root for.
SENECA: Such as?
HAYMITCH: Young love.
Haymitch is smart. He seems to be giving Seneca some advice about how to keep from losing his control over the masses, but he's really trying to help Katniss and Peeta survive. We can see why he was a Hunger Games winner. He knows how to play the power game.
Quote #9
SNOW: So you like an underdog?
SENECA: Everyone likes an underdog.
SNOW: I don't. Have you been out there? 10? 11? 12?
SENECA: Not personally. No.
SNOW: Well, I have. There are lots of underdogs. Lots of coal, too. Grow crops, minerals, things we need. There are lots of underdogs. And I think if you could see them you would not root for them either. I like you. Be careful.
Here's the Marxist class struggle. The poor Districts supply the elites with what they need to survive, while they themselves are starving. Snow knows the risks in trying to keep poor people down.