The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

by

Suzanne Collins

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The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes: Chapter 18 Summary & Analysis

Summary
Analysis
Coriolanus can no longer ignore that his family is going to lose its home—and its identity. They have six weeks to come up with the money, and it’s going to be impossible. They must also avoid eviction, so they’ll have to move. But Tigris tells Coriolanus he has to finish the Hunger Games first and win a prize. Coriolanus sleeps poorly, and in the morning, he takes the trolley to school. He realizes that the Plinths might loan him money—or pay him to stay silent about Sejanus.
In Coriolanus’s mind, the Snows’ penthouse apartment is a symbol of the family’s wealth and prestige. Losing it would mean giving up the Snows’ reputation as a powerful Capitol family. And this is the most important concern to Coriolanus. So the Hunger Games becomes even less about helping Lucy Gray survive because she’s a person—it’s now totally about winning so Coriolanus can remain wealthy and powerful.
Themes
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At the Academy, nobody wants to talk about the Games except for Hilarius. Hilarius wonders if his tribute, Wovey, is dead in a tunnel somewhere, since she hasn’t shown herself. Lucky starts the morning by having Lepidus interview Coriolanus about Jessup’s rabies scare. Coriolanus praises Lysistrata’s quick thinking and notes that Lucy Gray is loyal and brave—like a Capitol girl, not a district. His communicuff pings with new sponsor gifts. Pup interrupts the interview by sending Lamina, who’s still on her beam, breakfast. Coriolanus considers blackmailing the Plinths.
Hilarius complaining like this shows again how little he thinks of his tribute. He demonstrates no recognition that Wovey is a little girl trying to survive—to him, she’s just a disappointing embarrassment. Coriolanus, on the other hand, tries to humanize Lucy Gray in his interview with Lepidus. But even as he does this, his goal is still to win, not to actually help Lucy Gray. Through humanizing her, he only turns her into a more compelling caricature for viewers.
Themes
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Then, Reaper emerges from the barricade to speak to Lamina. Coriolanus notices that Lamina is badly sunburnt. The tributes barter and then seem to come to an agreement. Reaper climbs the flagpole and hacks through Panem’s flag until it falls. The audience is aghast; this demands punishment. Clemensia tells Lepidus that this is “stupid,” and she’ll feed Reaper when he earns it. The students in the hall watch as Lamina drops food down to Reaper and Reaper tosses the flag up—it will protect Lamina from the sun. Reaper runs away as Coral, Mizzen, and Tanner appear in the stands and ask for food.
Recall that Sejanus pointed out that while Panem purports to protect and support all its residents (as through the anthem), in reality, it’s not doing that—instead, it murders district kids through the Hunger Games. So Reaper understandably doesn’t feel any loyalty to Panem’s flag, which to him is a symbol of the country’s hypocrisy and classism. Instead, he’s going to use it in a way that’s most useful for him: as a bargaining chip.
Themes
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The cameras cut to Lucky in the studio, who’s trying to get his pet parrot to speak. The parrot won’t speak, but Dean Highbottom notes that the bombing created an entirely new arena—and the addition of the drones means the audience is basically in the arena with the tributes. The rest of the morning is boring, but after lunch, Coral, Mizzen, and Tanner approach Lamina. Coral and Mizzen each climb a post. Pup grows increasingly agitated as Coral and Mizzen reach the top. Tanner throws tridents to his allies—and though Lamina seems to break Mizzen’s knee, Coral kills Lamina. Coral helps Mizzen down—and then stabs Tanner in the back. Domitia, Tanner’s mentor, tells Lepidus that she’s learned to be careful who you trust.
What Dean Highbottom says about the effects of the bombing shows that the Gamemakers have unwittingly stumbled upon how to make the Games more interesting: changing up the arena to encourage different behavior from the tributes. (In the original trilogy, part of the “fun” of the Games is the new arena every year.) Domitia articulates one of the novel’s central ideas: that in Panem, it’s actually the norm to not be able to trust anyone. In a society where everyone is encouraged to look out for only themselves, anyone is a potential enemy.
Themes
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The remaining eight mentors rearrange their chairs and spend the afternoon watching Lucky try to get his parrot to talk. Coriolanus talks to Lepidus whenever he can, which results in more food gifts for Lucy Gray. Finally, Reaper emerges from the tunnels. He arranges the dead tributes (except for Jessup) in a line and then drapes a piece of the flag over the bodies. He puts on the rest of Lamina’s flag piece like a cape. Clemensia still refuses to feed Reaper.
Using pieces of Panem’s flag to cover the bodies makes quite the statement: Reaper is willing to symbolically destroy Panem to protect those Panem wishes to destroy. Clemensia’s unwillingness to send Reaper food or water highlights her hatred of her tribute: he’s symbolically destroying everything that will help Clemensia get ahead.
Themes
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When Satyria releases the mentors for the night, Coriolanus heads to the Citadel to get his stitches checked. When Dr. Gaul appears, she reveals that Gaius Breen died of complications from the bombing; Coriolanus should keep this a secret and prepare something to say to Lepidus. Dr. Gaul says there will be repercussions and then Coriolanus leaves, thinking about the paper he owes Dr. Gaul. At the elevator, though, he encounters lab assistants with the tank of neon snakes. Coriolanus has a bad feeling about this. Will the snakes end up in the arena? Coriolanus realizes he has a handkerchief Lucy Gray used in his bag. He casually drops it in the snake tank.
As yet another mentor dies, it’s starting to seem more and more like the mentors are at risk in the Hunger Games in somewhat the same way that the tributes are. It certainly does seem like Dr. Gaul is planning something and is roping Coriolanus in by asking him to prepare something for an interview. Knowing how cruel Dr. Gaul is, Coriolanus knows it’d be a mistake to underestimate her—and her lack of regard for the tributes in the arena.
Themes
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