Catching Fire Chapter 2 Quotes
How we cite the quotes:
(Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote 1
All I was doing was trying to keep Peeta and myself alive. Any act of rebellion was purely coincidental. But when the Capitol decrees that only one tribute can live and you have the audacity to challenge it, I guess that's a rebellion in itself. My only defense was pretending that I was driven insane by a passionate love for Peeta. So we were both allowed to live. (2.4)
Katniss didn't realize the ramifications of her actions during her first Hunger Games. She just wanted to "keep Peeta and [her]self alive." That was as far ahead as she could see. But what she didn't realize was that by saving herself and Peeta, she made it seem as though she was a rebel working against the Capitol. And inciting a rebellion is the best way to piss off the Capitol.
Quote 2
"In several of [the districts], people viewed your little trick with the berries as an act of defiance, not an act of love. And if a girl from District Twelve of all places can defy the Capitol and walk away unharmed, what is to stop them from doing the same?" he says. "What is to prevent, say, an uprising?" (2.19)
Here Katniss begins to realize what she's started, as Snow warns her that her actions, made in an innocent attempt to survive the Games, have far-reaching consequences. Instead of getting to retreat into obscurity, she may have inspired other people to start rebelling too. If so, the implication from Snow is that she'll have a heavy price to pay.
Quote 3
"I didn't mean to start any uprisings," I tell him.
"I believe you. It doesn't matter. Your stylist turned out to be prophetic in his wardrobe choice. Katniss Everdeen, the girl who was on fire, you have provided a spark that, left unattended, may grow to an inferno that destroys Panem," he says. (2.30-31)
Snow says it's appearances that matter, not intentions. Katniss "didn't mean" to inspire a rebellion, but she did, and she'll get blamed for it. Snow calls her the "spark" that could explode their world and says that Cinna knew she had it in her.
Quote 4
"I have a problem, Miss Everdeen," says President Snow. "A problem that began the moment you pulled out those poisonous berries in the arena."
That was the moment when I guessed that if the Gamemakers had to choose between watching Peeta and me commit suicide – which would mean having no victor – and letting us both live, they would take the latter. (2.13-14)
Katniss is good at short-term strategy. She's fast, too – she thinks on her feet. At the climax of the last book, she came up with this plan on the spot to save both her life and Peeta's, and it worked. But she's a warrior, not a politician. She was so focused on saving their lives in the arena that she didn't think ahead to what problems they might face once they got out.