Quote 41
"Oh," I whisper in admiration. I lift it carefully into the air to admire the exquisite balance, the elegant design, and the curve of the limbs that somehow suggests the wings of a bird extended in flight. There's something else. I have to hold very still to make sure I'm not imagining it. No, the bow is alive in my hands. (5.62)
Sometimes a weapon, a thing of destruction, can also be a thing of great beauty. The way Katniss describes it, this bow sounds most like an art object – the work of a master craftsman. And, since Beetee created it, in many ways it is. Yet this art object is perhaps one of the most deadly things the characters will encounter in the pages of <em>Mockingjay</em>.
Quote 42
I hear my name rippling through the hot air, spreading out into the hospital. "Katniss! Katniss Everdeen!" The sounds of pain and grief begin to recede, to be replaced by words of anticipation. From all sides, voices beckon me. I begin to move, clasping the hands extended to me, touching the sound parts of those unable to move their limbs, saying hello, how are you, good to meet you. Nothing of importance, no amazing words of inspiration. But it doesn't matter. Boggs is right. It's the sight of me, alive, that is the inspiration. (7.31)
Katniss is the subject of admiration here, but she's able to use that admiration purely for good. She's able to give out "inspiration" to all the people around her simply by being there. Her presence in the hospital lends its patients strength and happiness. She doesn't have to do very much at all – just being there is enough.
Quote 43
Messalla proves most valuable because he lived in a near replica of this apartment and knows where people would be most likely to stash food. (21.17)
In times of war, people no longer reserve admiration for beauty, intelligence, or bravery. They look up to those who possess the skills to ensure basic survival. Messalla can find a stash of food – at this moment in the book, nothing's more important than that. Without food, they can't go on.
Quote 44
One I'm in Cinna's Mockingjay suit, the only scars visible are on my neck, forearms, and hands. Octavia secures my Mockingjay pin over my heart and we step back to look in the mirror. I can't believe how normal they've made me look on the outside when inwardly I'm such a wasteland. (26.28)
Cinna is dead but his work sure lives on. His designs have helped Katniss many times in <em>Mockingjay</em> even though he wasn't there to see it. He's helped protect her and hold her together. Similarly, the prep team pulls itself together to protect Katniss and keep her looking "normal," even if internally she feels like "a wasteland."
Quote 45
What's amazing is how clearly I remember them. The tunes, the lyrics. My voice, at first rough and breaking on the high notes, warms up into something splendid. A voice that would make the mockingjays fall silent and then tumble over themselves to join in. (27.13)
Katniss recognizes the beauty and power of her own voice, and it's one of the only things that keep her going during her depression and imprisonment. It's a glimpse of what she could have been outside the games and war; instead of being a Mockingjay, she could have sung in another way. But she never really got the chance, and now she's not sure if there's anyone around to hear her.
Quote 46
Was it like this then? Seventy-five years or so ago? Did a group of people sit around and cast their votes on initiating the Hunger Games? […] All those people I loved, dead, and we are discussing the next Hunger Games in an attempt to avoid wasting life. Nothing has changed. Nothing will ever change now. (26.62)
Katniss is saddened, even furious, about the fact that "nothing has changed" and that "nothing will ever change now," based on the latest decision coming down from Coin. The rebels sacrificed so much in their fight against Capitol in the name of change. They were fighting against the Games. And now, here, they're being pushed to decide whether the Games should be reinstated.
Quote 47
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.
Quote 48
It's impossible to be the Mockingjay. Impossible to complete even this one sentence. Because now I know that everything I say will be directly taken out on Peeta. Result in his torture. But not his death, no, nothing so merciful as that. Snow will ensure that his life is much worse than death. (11.62)
Katniss feels like she can't go on, not because of what it means she has to give up, but because of what Peeta would have to sacrifice. It would be easier to undergo punishment and torture if it were inflicted on just her directly. But for that torture to be inflicted on someone else is more than she can bear, and we get that. It becomes a kind of mental torture, where all she can do is imagine the terrible things that are happening to Peeta. She doesn't want to sacrifice him.
Quote 49
I know he's telling the truth. That Gale would sacrifice his life in this way for the cause – no one doubts it. Perhaps we'd all do the same if we were the spies and given the choice. I guess I would. But it's a coldhearted decision to make for other people and those who love them. (15.11)
It's one thing to sacrifice yourself; it's <em>your</em> call. No one else is hurt but you. It's a totally different thing to sacrifice other people, to hurt others in the name of your own "cause." Here, Katniss recognizes it as "coldhearted." Despite her strong sense of justice – or, perhaps, because of it – it's the kind of activity she doesn't want to be a part of. It's bad enough to have one person sacrificing himself for her. She doesn't want others to have to do so too.
Quote 50
And here I am again. With people dying because of me. Friends, allies, complete strangers, losing their lives for the Mockingjay. "Let me go on alone. Lead them off. I'll transfer the Holo to Jackson. The rest of you can finish the mission." (22.18)
Here, Katniss tries to sacrifice herself and the others won't let her. She wants the rest of her group to split off from her, since she's the real target – that way they might be able to live. But the rest of the team won't leave her, staying as a unit to attempt to "finish the mission."
Quote 51
Far below, I can just make out Finnick, struggling to hang on as three mutts tear at him. As one yanks back his head to take the death bite, something bizarre happens. It's as if I'm Finnick, watching images of my life flash by. The mast of a boat, a silver parachute, Mags laughing, a pink sky, Beetee's trident, Annie in her wedding dress, waves breaking over rocks. Then it's over. (22.52)
This is such a sad moment. Finnick made it through <em>two</em> Games only to be torn apart by mutts. At least he had the happiness of being married to Annie and getting to live with her for a few days. Now it's all gone. And Katniss can only watch in disbelief as her dear friend slips away.
Quote 52
I fall into a doorway, tears stinging my eyes. Shoot me. That's what he was mouthing. I was supposed to shoot him! That was my job. That was our unspoken promise, all of us, to one another. And I didn't do it and now the Capitol will kill him or torture him or hijack him or – the cracks begin opening inside me, threatening to break me into pieces. (24.70)
Katniss is so overcome with emotion that she feels "cracks begin [to] open" within herself, just as they opened on the street mere moments ago. Her sense of self is being ravaged by the war just as the Capitol city is. Here, she fears she's sacrificed Gale unknowingly – that she didn't protect him (by killing him) the last time she had a chance to do so.