"'In several of them, however, 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?'" (Collins 21).
I feel that this quote which was spoken by President Snow shows the paranoid side of the government. Of course, with television, the influential figures who are actually the ones being televised begin to have the most power. I think that is what is scaring President Snow the most because he realizes that Katniss may actually have power... power that she doesn't even realize or know that she has. It is almost like when people from "ghettos" were become popular in main stream society-- in essence one could say that District 12 was the equivalent to a ghetto and that Katniss is unknowingly leading an uprising. This just goes to show how much control the government wants to have over each district and their citizens. These words from the President are just a warning to Katniss to dismiss any ideas she has of an uprising.
Collins seems to purposefully show that the government is trying to have complete control. Targeting the fact that she is a girl from District 12 "defy[ing] the Capitol" makes her influence even stronger. Therefore, Collins makes this quote to convey the message that if any kind of rebellion is formed that there will be consequences associated with their actions. Though, the message reaches Katniss because she doesn't want to rebel since her family is safe. Since that is all she really wants, without rebellion she will have it. Overall, this creates the effect that Katniss is beginning to have an internal conflict on whether to let her society control her, or be part of the solution for everybody else. Her inner conflict also touches upon the meaning of being human. Maybe being human is more than just following rules and regulations blindly. We have the power to choose to follow, but not follow blindly and here Katniss has the choice to determine what kind of human she will be: the passive abiding citizen, or the bold and outspoken citizen.
This quote reminds me of Fahrenheit 451, and that Beatty is almost like President Snow trying to control Guy who is Katniss. Burn your books / abide by the rules and you and everything you care about will be fine, but if not then prepare for a different fate. At this point of the book I did predict that Katniss was going to eventually lead a rebellion on the state, and of course they will win or else, what kind of book would this be?...Right?
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