Mockingjay

by

Suzanne Collins

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on Mockingjay makes teaching easy.
The leader of District 13, President Alma Coin cooperates closely with Katniss Everdeen for most of the novel and Katniss seems to trust Coin based on the idea of “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” – if Coin is working against Snow, then Katniss is on Coin’s side. Nevertheless, as the novel progresses the reader and Katniss come to recognize that Coin embodies many of the qualities that Katniss despised in President Snow. Like Snow, Coin is more than willing to execute those who disagree with her or break the draconian rules of life in District 13. Like Snow, she understands the importance of propaganda, and thus enlists Katniss’s help in filming a series of videos designed to inspire the rebellion against Snow’s government. Her manipulations—both of Katniss and of President Snow—result in a victory for the rebels—yet it seems that the government Coin plans to establish may be superficially different than Snow’s, but is no less corrupt or immoral than its predecessor. In general, Collins suggests that Coin’s brutality and cruelty at least equals Snow’s—in fact, the novel suggests, she and Snow are just two sides of the same “Coin.”

President Alma Coin Quotes in Mockingjay

The Mockingjay quotes below are all either spoken by President Alma Coin or refer to President Alma Coin. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Revolution and Its Problems Theme Icon
).
Chapter 4 Quotes

The president allows a few moments of unrest, and then continues in her brisk fashion. Only now the words coming out of her mouth are news to me. "But in return for this unprecedented request, Soldier Everdeen has promised to devote herself to our cause. It follows that any deviance from her mission, in either motive or deed, will be viewed as a break in this agreement. The immunity would be terminated and the fate of the four victors determined by the law of District Thirteen. As would her own. Thank you." In other words, I step out of line and we're all dead.

Related Characters: Katniss Everdeen (speaker), President Alma Coin (speaker), Peeta Mellark
Page Number: 57
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 5 Quotes

And now Coin, with her fistful of precious nukes and her well-oiled machine of a district, finding it's even harder to groom a Mockingjay than to catch one. But she has been the quickest to determine that I have an agenda of my own and am therefore not to be trusted. She has been the first to publicly brand me as a threat.

Related Characters: Katniss Everdeen (speaker), President Alma Coin
Page Number: 59
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 20 Quotes

"Don't trust them. Don't go back. Kill Peeta. Do what you came to do." What did he mean? Don't trust who? The rebels? Coin? The people looking at me right now? I won't go back, but he must know I can't just fire a bullet through Peeta's head. Can I? Should I? Did Boggs guess that what I really came to do is desert and kill Snow on my own? I can't work all of this out now, so I just decide to carry out the first two orders: to not trust anyone and to move deeper into the Capitol. But how can I justify this? Make them let me keep the Holo?

Related Characters: Katniss Everdeen (speaker), Peeta Mellark, President Alma Coin, President Coriolanus Snow, Boggs
Page Number: 282
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 26 Quotes

"I brought you this." Gale holds up a sheath. When I take it, I notice it holds a single, ordinary arrow.
"It's supposed to be symbolic. You firing the last shot of the war."
"What if I miss?" I say. "Does Coin retrieve it and bring it back to me? Or just shoot Snow through the head herself?"
"You won't miss." Gale adjusts the sheath on my shoulder. We stand there, face-to-face, not meeting each other's eyes.
"You didn't come see me in the hospital."
He doesn't answer, so finally I just say it.
"Was it your bomb?"
"I don't know. Neither does Beetee," he says. "Does it matter? You'll always be thinking about it."

Related Characters: Katniss Everdeen (speaker), Gale Hawthorne (speaker), President Alma Coin, President Coriolanus Snow, Beetee
Related Symbols: Arrow, The Double Bomb
Page Number: 366-367
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Mockingjay LitChart as a printable PDF.
Mockingjay PDF

President Alma Coin Quotes in Mockingjay

The Mockingjay quotes below are all either spoken by President Alma Coin or refer to President Alma Coin. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Revolution and Its Problems Theme Icon
).
Chapter 4 Quotes

The president allows a few moments of unrest, and then continues in her brisk fashion. Only now the words coming out of her mouth are news to me. "But in return for this unprecedented request, Soldier Everdeen has promised to devote herself to our cause. It follows that any deviance from her mission, in either motive or deed, will be viewed as a break in this agreement. The immunity would be terminated and the fate of the four victors determined by the law of District Thirteen. As would her own. Thank you." In other words, I step out of line and we're all dead.

Related Characters: Katniss Everdeen (speaker), President Alma Coin (speaker), Peeta Mellark
Page Number: 57
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 5 Quotes

And now Coin, with her fistful of precious nukes and her well-oiled machine of a district, finding it's even harder to groom a Mockingjay than to catch one. But she has been the quickest to determine that I have an agenda of my own and am therefore not to be trusted. She has been the first to publicly brand me as a threat.

Related Characters: Katniss Everdeen (speaker), President Alma Coin
Page Number: 59
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 20 Quotes

"Don't trust them. Don't go back. Kill Peeta. Do what you came to do." What did he mean? Don't trust who? The rebels? Coin? The people looking at me right now? I won't go back, but he must know I can't just fire a bullet through Peeta's head. Can I? Should I? Did Boggs guess that what I really came to do is desert and kill Snow on my own? I can't work all of this out now, so I just decide to carry out the first two orders: to not trust anyone and to move deeper into the Capitol. But how can I justify this? Make them let me keep the Holo?

Related Characters: Katniss Everdeen (speaker), Peeta Mellark, President Alma Coin, President Coriolanus Snow, Boggs
Page Number: 282
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 26 Quotes

"I brought you this." Gale holds up a sheath. When I take it, I notice it holds a single, ordinary arrow.
"It's supposed to be symbolic. You firing the last shot of the war."
"What if I miss?" I say. "Does Coin retrieve it and bring it back to me? Or just shoot Snow through the head herself?"
"You won't miss." Gale adjusts the sheath on my shoulder. We stand there, face-to-face, not meeting each other's eyes.
"You didn't come see me in the hospital."
He doesn't answer, so finally I just say it.
"Was it your bomb?"
"I don't know. Neither does Beetee," he says. "Does it matter? You'll always be thinking about it."

Related Characters: Katniss Everdeen (speaker), Gale Hawthorne (speaker), President Alma Coin, President Coriolanus Snow, Beetee
Related Symbols: Arrow, The Double Bomb
Page Number: 366-367
Explanation and Analysis: