Mockingjay Chapter 18 Quotes
Mockingjay Chapter 18 Quotes
How we cite the quotes:
(Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote 1
When I confront Plutarch, he assures me that it's all for the camera. They've got footage of Annie getting married and Johanna hitting targets, but all of Panem is wondering about Peeta. They need to see he's fighting for the rebels, not for Snow. And maybe if they could just get a couple of shots of the two of us, not kissing necessarily, just looking happy to be back together […] (18.4)
It seems that nothing is real. Everything, whether actual or staged, is manipulated to serve the cameras' purposes. That was true during the Games, and it's true outside of them. Can Katniss even trust Plutarch? Immediately, Katniss makes it clear that she finds this last suggestion repugnant. It seems there are some lines she still won't cross.
Quote 2
Someone joins me, his body tense. Finnick, of course. Because only a victor would see what I see so immediately. The arena. Laced with pods controlled by Gamemakers. Finnick's fingers caress a steady red glow over a doorway. "Ladies and gentlemen..."
His voice is quiet, but mine rings through the room. "Let the Seventy-sixth Hunger Games begin!" (18.15-16)
They might be in a middle of war, but that's what Katniss and Finnick have already been subjected to, over and over. Only being in the prior Games could have prepared them to see this war for what it is: another "arena." The Gamemakers they feared so much in the previous sets of Games have reappeared. They are, in some senses, right back where they started.
Quote 3
"Anyway, it's not like an actual Games. Any number of people will survive. We're just overreacting because – well, you know why. You still want to go, don't you?"
"Of course. I want to destroy Snow as much as you do," he says.
"It won't be like the others," I say firmly, trying to convince myself as well. Then the real beauty of the situation dawns on me. "This time Snow will be a player, too." (18.26-28)
It takes a special kind of courage to enter into a version of the Games for a third time. Most folks are too terrified to even make it through one. Katniss and Finnick have already had to endure two, and it's a miracle they both made it through those alive. Here, it's hard to know whether Katniss is really "convinced" by her rhetoric or not. More people might survive, but more people will probably die, too.