Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Propaganda, Spectacle, and Morality
Children
Government and Power
Human Nature
Trust and Loyalty
Summary
Analysis
Coriolanus shivers as “Run! Run, Lil! Ru—” echoes around him. He realizes what’s speaking are jabberjays, like he saw in Dr. Gaul’s lab. The refrain changes and becomes musical as Peacekeepers haul Lil away. A soldier in front of Coriolanus mutters “Mockingjays, stinking mutts,” making Coriolanus recall Lucy Gray saying, “the show’s not over until the mockingjay sings” in the Capitol’s “show.” The show, Coriolanus realizes, was the hanging—and he hates the mockingjays. He follows the Peacekeepers back to the truck. On the drive, the major explains that mockingjays are offspring of jabberjays and mockingbirds. Coriolanus wonders if he could suggest shooting mockingjays as part of target practice.
Things are starting to click for Coriolanus. He now realizes that the mockingjays are real—and he immediately dislikes them. Interestingly, Coriolanus seems to hate the birds in part because they mimic Arlo’s last words without knowing what they mean. This is ironic, as Coriolanus has repeated all manner of Capitol talking points over the course of the novel without really thinking about them. But he only cares about it and takes offense to it when something the Capitol can’t control—like a mockingjay—does it.
Themes
Sejanus gloomily says he didn’t think this through, but he refuses to elaborate. He disappears as soon as they get back to base. Coriolanus finds a letter from Pluribus on his bunk. Near the end, Pluribus writes that Crassus and Dean Highbottom’s friendship dissolved near the end because of something Highbottom said was supposed to be a joke; Crassus insisted he was doing Highbottom a favor. Highbottom refused to explain anything to Pluribus and just said “like moths to a flame.” Coriolanus decides Highbottom is absurdly petty.
Sejanus is clearly having a hard time, though it’s not entirely clear why at this point, since he won’t open up to Coriolanus. The letter from Pluribus suggests that for Crassus and Highbottom, they were drawn to something “like moths to a flame.” But what exactly they were drawn to is also a mystery. For Coriolanus, it’s just proof that Highbottom hates him for no good reason.
Themes
Later, Coriolanus gets Sejanus to admit that he’s upset because helping to kill people in the districts doesn’t seem much different than killing them in the Hunger Games. He explains he signed up so he could be a medic and help people. Coriolanus is annoyed, but he privately thinks it’s hilarious that the son of a munitions giant is a pacifist. The commander won’t recommend Sejanus for medic training because Sejanus is too good with a gun—he tried to hide that he’s had mandatory weekly target practice his whole life, but everyone else is terrible. Sejanus continues to mope, but Coriolanus tells him to stop being self-indulgent—that’s how he ended up in the arena.
Coriolanus is so annoyed with Sejanus because, unlike Sejanus, he sees no reason to take issue with how the Capitol treats people from the districts. Coriolanus truly believes they’re subhuman, so in his mind, Sejanus is trying to help a lost cause. This also illustrates how effective the Capitol’s campaign to shift the conversation away from ethics has been. Coriolanus’s only concern is looking out for himself (though he doesn’t want Sejanus to get in too much trouble), not whether his government is just and doing the right thing.
Themes
The next day passes without incident. After dinner, excitement ramps up as the news circulates that Lucy Gray will be singing at the Hob that night. Coriolanus heads off the base with his bunkmates. He’s looking forward to hopefully kissing Lucy Gray. At the Hob, Smiley trades some of Ma’s cookies for a quart of moonshine, and Coriolanus learns spectators don’t pay for tickets until after the show. Coriolanus and his bunkmates choose crates to sit on and sit halfway back, where Lucy Gray won’t notice him immediately. At dusk, someone turns on some makeshift stage lights and sets up a microphone.
Coriolanus doesn’t want to cause a scene at the Hob by staging an elaborate reunion with Lucy Gray. But it also reads as somewhat voyeuristic of him to take this seat where he knows she can’t see him. It shifts the power to him—Lucy Gray doesn’t know she’s performing for him, and he’s far more powerful than she is. Also notice that as Coriolanus thinks about reuniting with her, he doesn’t leave any room for Lucy Gray to want nothing to do with him. Her perspective doesn’t matter so much to him.
Themes
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Soon after, a little girl steps out and, to cheers, introduces herself as Maude Ivory. She introduces the Covey: Tam Amber on mandolin, Clerk Carmine on fiddle, Barb Azure on bass, and then Lucy Gray Baird. Lucy Gray spins onto the stage with her guitar. She makes the audience laugh and accepts a bottle of moonshine from a Peacekeeper. Then, she breaks into an upbeat song. Coriolanus is shocked: she’s so happy and so beautiful, which makes him jealous since she’s “his girl.” The Covey plays all sorts of songs. The ones “from another time,” with complicated harmonies, unsettle Coriolanus. Lucy Gray ends by singing the song she sang at the reaping.
Coriolanus’s jealousy in this moment emerges for the same reasons he got jealous after Lucy Gray sang during her interview. It’s clear that she has a life here, a following, and is attractive to everyone—which, combined, dilutes Coriolanus’s power over her. Put another way, she obviously doesn’t need him to protect her here; she can fend for herself. And Coriolanus justifies their relationship to himself by casting himself as her protector, as it gives him power within the relationship.
Themes
The show over, Maude Ivory fetches a basket and weaves through the audience, accepting payment for the show. Coriolanus and his bunkmates only have a few coins, so he gives the girl Ma’s popcorn balls. He watches Maude Ivory run to Lucy Gray onstage and point to him. Lucy Gray looks confused and then grins. She agrees to play one more song, the one she sang from the zoo about a train and wanting to see her true love (Coriolanus knows that’s him). As the song ends, he decides to kiss her as soon as they get close. The Covey bow and Coriolanus moves toward Lucy Gray—but then, a drunk young man and Mayfair, the mayor’s daughter, push through the crowd. This must be the lover from Lucy Gray’s songs.
Everything seems like it’s going so well for Coriolanus until this drunk young man appears. This establishes the young man as Coriolanus’s rival for Lucy Gray’s affections. Lucy Gray seems genuinely happy to see Coriolanus, which suggests that she trusts him and doesn’t see him as a double agent. She sees in him a capacity to be good and to sympathize with district folks. However, keep in mind that Coriolanus isn’t actually sympathetic, judging by how he thinks of and treats Sejanus.
Themes
