Fiction Reading Response ***Mockingjay Spoilers***

   Have you ever heard that all power is good power? I have. Many times. Whether it be from books, magazines, TV, or even real life all I hear is "Power is good, Power is great." Now that I have had time to really think about power, I realized its not always great. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins is the third installment of the Hunger Games series and is about Katniss and the struggles she faces in district 13 and being in a position of power. I think that power is not always good and not always bad.
   Power is not always good and not always bad. For example, on page 216 Katniss is talking to the citizens of district 2 about joining the rebellion when she says, "... They've done it again. Got me to kill you-- the people in the districts. But why did I do it? District 12 and District 2 have no fight but the one the capitol gave us." In this scene Katniss is saying that the Capitol used their power to make districts kill other districts when they have no reason to fight. Katniss is also saying that the capitol has been using their power to manipulate all the citizens of Panem to do whatever the Capitol wanted. A way that power is good is that on page 132 Katniss sings a song called the Hanging Tree. On page 132 Katniss sings, "Are you, are you Coming to the tree? Where the dead man called out for his love to flee. Strange things did happen here, No stranger would it be. If we met up at midnight in the hanging tree." This song and Katniss appearance on TV, because of her powerful image in the rebellion, Peeta got to warn Katniss of an airstrike that the Capitol sent out. If Katniss was not a powerful person in the rebellion Peeta wouldn't have broken out of his hypnotic state and warn district 13 of a danger. Because of Katniss' power District 13 did not all get killed and many lives were saved. This shows that not all power is good and bad.
   In conclusion I realized that not all power is good or evil, instead I learned that its peoples choices that decide if its good or bad at the time. I also realized that power is neutral and can be swayed to a side for a small amount of time. I hope that people realize that power is a lot like people, it's our choices that make us who we are. I think the author chose to implement the different uses of power so we could learn it.