Power and Resistance: City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare

“Power isn’t control at all — power is strength, and giving that strength to others. A leader isn’t someone who forces others to make him stronger; a leader is someone willing to give his strength to others that they may have the strength to stand on their own.” - Beth Revis

Power and resistance is everywhere in the book City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare. The book starts off with all the main characters in the book traveling to Alicante because all of the Shadowhunters (their species) are in danger of being killed by Sebastian. Throughout the book, all the characters try to stop Sebastian and save themselves and the ones they love no matter the consequences. At the end of the book the characters have all suffered losses but they all are moving on towards peace and new beginnings. 

First, the power in this book all leads back to one person, Sebastian. The main goal of all the characters is to try to make peace but Sebastian is trying to make a war between him and his warriors against Shadowhunters. Sebastian has power over many people such as Jace, Clary, Luke, Jocelyn, Shadowhunters, Downworlders and more. For example, Sebastian now owns the Infernal Cup. It makes anyone who drinks from it extremely powerful and under his power. After forcing many people to drink from it, he has built his own army out of them called the Endarkened. He and his army have destroyed everything and the Clave (Government for Shadowhunters) can't stop him. Another example that shows Sebastian has power is when Alec shot him with an arrow into his chest. Afterwards, Sebastian didn't seem to be harmed by the arrow or any weaponry at all. He even took it out of his own body. Since he has gotten more power and strength from Lilith, the mother of all demons, it seems as if he is invincible to all weapons. Another example is when Clary's parents, Luke and Jocelyn found a box of Sebastian's things at the house they were staying at in Alicante. They thought the box was gone but they found it in a place far from their home and in a place only few people knew where they were. It turns out Sebastian placed it there before they arrived and he had it the whole time. It shows that Sebastian has power and he has control over things big or small.

Second, the resistance in the book is mainly between the young and the adults. For instance, Clary and Jace are resisting the Clave. Clary  and Jace are both sixteen years old, under the age to be adults. However the Clave is made up of strictly people eighteen years and older. Clary and Jace are going against the Clave because they believe that the Clave's plan for defeating Sebastian is weak and it won't help them win. Clary and Jace tried to warn them of their mistakes but they won't listen. Instead, they went off with Alec, Isabelle and Simon to defeat Sebastian themselves. Even though Clary is right, the Clave won't listen and is under estimating Sebastian and what he knows. Since Clary and Jace have been with Sebastian, they know what he's capable of and what his plans are. The Clave's reasons for not going with Clary's plan is because she isn't an adult. They believe she is too young and doesn't have experience. Another example is when Isabelle resists her parents. At first, Isabelle wants to go help fight Sebastian and his Endarkened along with the adults. However, her parents stop her and say that she is too young and she can't go even when Jace and Clary went. She is resisting her parents because she wants to help but she can't just because of her age.

In conclusion, reading this book made me think about how sometimes adults underestimate people younger than them. They believe that sometimes they are incapable of doing something just because of how old they are. Although it may be true for some, it isn't true for everyone. They should understand that teenagers and kids are capable of doing many things and they shouldn't be put down just because they are judged for their age and not what they really can do.