Mockingjay Chapter 1 Quotes
How we cite the quotes:
(Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote 1
What they want is for me to truly take on the role they designed for me. The symbol of the revolution. The Mockingjay. […] I won't have to do it alone. They have a whole team of people to make me over, dress me, write my speeches, orchestrate my appearances – as if that doesn't sound horribly familiar – and all I have to do is play my part. (1.28)
Here it seems like Katniss is still being manipulated by others to fulfill a greater purpose. Before, she was deployed like a doll by the Capitol, and now she's being used in the same way to give a face to the group attempting to destroy the Capitol. In both cases, she's "play[ing a] part" that someone else wrote.
Quote 2
The authorities in District 13 were against my coming back. They viewed it as a costly and pointless venture, given that at least a dozen invisible hovercraft are circling overhead for my protection and there's no intelligence to be gained. I had to see it, though. So much so that I made it a condition of my cooperating with any of their plans. (1.3)
This quotation shows that Katniss is both powerful and powerless. She's being asked to be the face of the revolution and, as such, she has a certain amount of power. Yet she can't just go do anything she wants. In order to go back to District 12, she has to bargain with the other powerful individuals and give them something in return.
Quote 3
It isn't enough, what I've done in the past, defying the Capitol in the Games, providing a rallying point. I must now become the actual leader, the face, the voice, the embodiment of the revolution. The person who the districts—most of which are now openly at war with the Capitol – can count on to blaze the path to victory. (1.28)
Even though Katniss is being asked to step forward as "the actual leader," her power will still be limited. She'll be like a glorified figurehead, a "rallying point" around which other people will come together. She'll <em>appear</em> to have tremendous power and to become the "embodiment of the revolution" itself, but she won't actually be the one making decisions – that's President Coin.
Quote 4
Gale asked to be dropped off in 12 with me, but he didn't force the issue when I refused his company. He understands I don't want anyone with me today. Not even him. Some walks you have to take alone. (1.9)
Even the greatest, best friends can't be there for you <em>all</em> the time. As close as Katniss and Gale are, he can't stand by her in this moment; she needs to do it by herself. At the same time, she distinguishes between him and the other people she's with in 13. Of all the people there she "do[esn't] want anyone," "not even" Gale. If she would want anyone by her side, though, it sounds like it would be him.
Quote 5
What am I going to do?
To become the Mockingjay... could any good I do possibly outweigh the damage? […] I swear, now that my family and Gale's are out of harm's way, I could run away. Except for one unfinished piece of business. Peeta. If I knew for sure that he was dead, I could just disappear into the woods and never look back. But until I do, I'm stuck. (1.35-36)
This quote seems to suggest that Katniss dreads the power and responsibility that come with being the Mockingjay. She's deeply concerned about the sacrifices she'll have to ask other people to make by becoming a leader of the revolution. She stays with it not because she wants a heap of honor and glory for herself, but because she sees it as the only way to try and save her dear friend.
Quote 6
I killed you, I think as I pass a pile [of rotting and burned bodies]. And you. And you.
Because I did. It was my arrow, aimed at the chink in the force field surrounding the arena, that brought on this firestorm of retribution. That sent the whole country of Panem into chaos. (1.11-12)
Katniss refers here to an event in her past (it takes place in <em>Catching Fire</em>, the second book in the series), when she made a choice in the arena to protect herself – without knowing the effects it would have on her home district. Because of her, indirectly, all these people are now dead.