The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes: Chapter 22 Summary & Analysis

Coriolanus launches himself at Sejanus and hugs him. Sejanus looks like he’s lost weight, but he also looks much happier. He explains that the Academy was going to expel him, but Strabo promised a gym in exchange for Sejanus getting to graduate. Sejanus insisted that Coriolanus graduate too, and he pulls out Coriolanus’s diploma. With the diploma, Coriolanus can become an officer. The boys discuss that Dean Highbottom’s vendetta against Coriolanus is wearing on people—and Sejanus reveals that most people pity Coriolanus and love that he fell in love with Lucy Gray. Sejanus encourages Coriolanus to see this as his life beginning, especially if Lucy Gray is around. He promises to help Coriolanus find Lucy Gray and insists he’s going to make the world better here.

As Coriolanus helps Sejanus make his bed, Sejanus shares Capitol news. The Hunger Games weren’t mentioned once they ended, though Dr. Gaul is insistent they continue. Lucky will probably host again next year, and betting is here to stay. Coriolanus insists that Dr. Gaul enjoys torturing animals and people, and she seems to think all people are that brutal—the Hunger Games, she believes, proves this. Soon after, Beanpole comes in, followed soon after by Smiley and Bug. Smiley has news that there’s going to be a band at the Hob, the local bar, on Saturday—and a “Lucy somebody” is singing.

Over the next few days, Coriolanus seems to come back to life. Sejanus knows where he came from, and clearly Strabo and Ma care about Coriolanus. With Sejanus and a few others, there are enough recruits to form a squad of 20. Coriolanus and Sejanus immediately stand out, as they’ve had training like this before. Coriolanus finds he likes shooting a gun, and Sejanus is a natural marksman. Life has its ups and downs: the recruits won’t be paid until they’ve been in service a month, which means Coriolanus can’t pay for a ticket to see Lucy Gray. But Ma’s box of treats arrives, and Smiley suggests they trade some for admission on Saturday. Coriolanus also begins studying for the officer candidate test.

On Friday morning, things are tense. Apparently, a month earlier, a Peacekeeper and two mine bosses died in an explosion. The man responsible has been apprehended, and he’ll hang this afternoon in front of mine workers. Later, Commander Hoff, the base commander, tells Coriolanus and Sejanus to go to the hanging. At noon, they’re given guns and get on a truck that carries them around the district’s perimeter. Most of the houses are decrepit, without running water, and children look hungry. Coriolanus has been broke most of his life, but this kind of poverty is hard to believe. He blames them for being poor, but Sejanus notes that the Capitol pours money into industries in the districts, not the people.

The truck finally stops at the edge of a wood, where nooses hang from a huge tree over a platform with trapdoors. When a recruit asks, the major says they’re hanging “some malcontent” named Arlo. The Peacekeepers arrange themselves around the platform. Coriolanus watches people fill the field, all of them covered in coal soot. Then, three vehicles drive up with Mayor Lipp and his family, Commander Hoff and other officers, and finally guards and the prisoner. Coriolanus watches out of the corner of his eye as Peacekeepers put the noose around Arlo’s neck, read his crimes, and a drumbeat starts. But then, a woman shrieks and Arlo says, “Run, Lil! Run! Ru—” The trapdoor drops Arlo and he dies instantly. But Arlo’s last words repeat over and over.