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
Quickly, emotionally, Sejanus says some rebels are leaving District 12 and will let Sejanus come if he helps with Lil. The Capitol plans to hang her. Sejanus plans to drug some guards with Ma’s treats and get Lil out. Then they’ll slip through the fence and run north with the rebels. Nobody will get hurt. Sejanus says he had to tell Coriolanus since they’re so close and that he’ll let his parents know where he went. At this, Coriolanus presses the “neutral” button on the remote. The jabberjay sings as Bug returns to the hangar to take the bird to the hovercraft.
The fact that Sejanus is willing to risk his life to run away with the rebels drives home just how unhappy he is with his life in the Capitol and as a Peacekeeper aligned with the Capitol. He wanted to help people, not be complicit in their dehumanization. For Coriolanus, it doesn’t seem like a big deal to record his friend like this. This again shows where Coriolanus’s loyalties lie: with the Capitol.
Themes
While Bug is outside again, Coriolanus points out all the ways Sejanus’s plan might fail. Sejanus notes that the fence is loose behind the generator. Either way, though, he says they’re going to arrest him at some point. Sejanus insists he can’t be a Peacekeeper in good conscience, and he’ll live well out there since he’s a good shot. This tells Coriolanus that the rebels have guns. Sejanus continues; living in the wilderness will be better than living in the Capitol, where people can control him. Sejanus leaves not long after.
For Sejanus, living an ethical life and doing things he feels good about are extremely important. And he knows that this makes him a target: the Capitol desperately doesn’t want people like Sejanus to have any power, so he’ll find himself in danger the moment anyone in charge discovers how he feels. This is ominous, as Coriolanus has essentially just alerted the Capitol to what Sejanus is planning via the jabberjay.
Themes
Coriolanus continues to prep the jabberjays, but he half wants to erase the recording of Sejanus on the jabberjay already in the hovercraft. He can’t rat Sejanus out; nobody would believe him, and he’d be labeled a snitch if anyone did. Dr. Gaul will know Coriolanus made the recording. She’ll probably call Strabo Plinth and Sejanus will be shipped home. It’ll all be fine. Coriolanus feels good about his choice—but he wakes up in the middle of the night, terrified and worried for Sejanus. Dr. Gaul might not even play the jabberjay’s recording. Sejanus won’t die. But this concerns Coriolanus even more, because now Coriolanus knows about the escape plan. Coriolanus stays up all night, worrying about himself and Sejanus and fuming that the districts don’t understand how necessary the Capitol is. He also knows that Lucy Gray would hate him if she found out what he did.
Coriolanus is trying desperately to justify his actions to himself. He knows that ratting out Sejanus is wrong, and he knows there’s a chance that Strabo won’t be able to swoop in and save his son this time. Recall that Dr. Gaul wanted to punish Sejanus earlier for his antics during the Games; since she’ll presumably be the first one to hear what Sejanus is planning, this doesn’t bode well for Sejanus. Interestingly, though, Coriolanus’s circling thoughts come back to how this is going to affect him. He’s self-centered and cares about his own wellbeing more than Sejanus’s. To him, this means supporting the Capitol.
Themes
With the scientists back in the Capitol, Coriolanus’s routine is back to normal. It’s dull, and he can’t help but think he should be starting at the University soon. On Friday, Coriolanus gets a letter full of bad news from Tigris: they’ve gotten two offers on the apartment, but the visitors are stressing Grandma’am out. The threat of losing her beloved roses—“the very symbol of the Snow dynasty”—is making her even less coherent. By Saturday, Coriolanus is so angry about everything that he's ready to fight Sejanus for ruining his life.
Referring to the roses as “the very symbol of the Snow dynasty” makes the roses’ symbolism clear. Losing the roses would mean that the Snows would lose everything that helped them look the part of wealthy Capitol folk, even though they’re currently as poor as “district scum.” And Coriolanus is still loyal to his family, so Sejanus starts to look like a villain to him, since Sejanus is jeopardizing Coriolanus’s success.
Themes
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Smiley, Bug, and Beanpole are excited to head to the Hob. Coriolanus is less excited, but he follows along with Sejanus. Coriolanus makes sure to sit next to Sejanus—and sure enough, an hour into the show, Sejanus heads for the door. Coriolanus follows as Lucy Gray sings a sad song about her lover drinking up all their money. It sounds like another song about Billy Taupe, which just angers Coriolanus more. Coriolanus saved her life, after all, not Billy Taupe.
Coriolanus is so angry because nothing seems to be going to plan. He can execute plans—but he struggles to go with the flow when things don’t go his way. It’s a slap in the face when Lucy Gray continues to sing songs about Billy Taupe, too. But Coriolanus doesn’t consider that those songs are probably easy money for the Covey—they’re already successful, known songs, and writing music takes time and energy. Instead, Coriolanus just makes Lucy Gray’s choice of music about him.
Themes
Coriolanus follows Sejanus to the garage where the Covey hangs out before their shows. The Covey are all onstage. Coriolanus sees the woman Sejanus spoke to at the Hob coming out of the garage with cash. Then, Coriolanus peeks into the doorway. He can see Sejanus and Billy Taupe examining a bag of guns. Then, Coriolanus feels a gun in his ribs just as Lucy Gray throws her hands onto his shoulders. She stops laughing as the gunman ushers them inside. Sejanus tells the gunman, Spruce, that they’re with him. Coriolanus figures Spruce is Lil’s brother.
Now, Coriolanus has real proof that Sejanus is conspiring with rebels—but Coriolanus is in a very vulnerable position, which tends to make him angry and reactive. This interaction probably isn’t going to end well. However, Sejanus makes it clear that he (erroneously) trusts Coriolanus by assuring Spruce this is fine—a mark of how successful Coriolanus is at fooling people.
Themes
Spruce seems suspicious, but Billy Taupe reminds him that Lucy Gray is “his girl” who’s coming north with them. Lucy Gray and Coriolanus lie that Coriolanus is dating Barb Azure and finally, Spruce drops his gun. Coriolanus studies the weapons when, suddenly, Mayfair Lipp reveals herself. She’s been hiding in the corner. Billy Taupe tells her to go home, but Spruce invites her to join them. Instead, Mayfair backs away and asks Lucy Gray how she “enjoyed the Capitol.” Coriolanus knows if Mayfair talks, he’s dead. Spruce lifts a gun to shoot her, but Billy Taupe knocks it away—and Coriolanus grabs it and shoots her. He shoves Lucy Gray out the door to go back onstage, but Billy Taupe insists if he’s hanging, Lucy Gray is hanging with him. Spruce shoots Billy Taupe in the chest. Lucy Gray finally leaves.
In this situation, Lucy Gray realizes it’s best to lie to protect herself—lying, the novel suggests, is a natural reaction under this kind of pressure. Mayfair as much as confirms that she’s responsible for sending Lucy Gray to the Hunger Games. But notably, Coriolanus doesn’t care that Mayfair put Lucy Gray, his supposed love, in danger. Rather, he’s afraid that she’s going to ruin his life by telling someone that he’s also been conspiring with rebels. And Coriolanus reasons that it’s better to look out for himself than face the consequences of his actions, so he kills her without a second thought.
Themes
Spruce packs up the weapons and tells Coriolanus and Sejanus that he’s keeping this to himself. Coriolanus agrees to do the same. Spruce suggests Coriolanus come with them—someone is going to die for this. He leaves, and Coriolanus pulls Sejanus out after. Coriolanus knows his DNA is on the gun; he doesn’t want a repeat of the handkerchief debacle from the Hunger Games. Coriolanus pulls Sejanus into the Hob and they retake their seats. The Covey play for a while longer and finally leave the stage. Coriolanus and Sejanus heft Beanpole, who’s blacked out, up and are on their way out of town when they hear Maude Ivory scream.
Spruce implies that the only way to survive, as people who have committed murder, is to leave. And Coriolanus, fresh off the cheating accusations from the Hunger Games, realizes that the stakes are extremely high here. The Peacekeepers aren’t like school, where Coriolanus and Sejanus were simply kicked out and made to join the Peacekeepers. Rather, Spruce suggests that the Capitol will deal with Peacekeepers who behave inappropriately the same way they dealt with Arlo: by hanging them.
Themes
Back at the base, Coriolanus and Sejanus decide they left the Hob to pee; Lucy Gray won’t tell anyone. Tomorrow, they’ll be hungover and spend the day on base. Sejanus is so upset he’s incoherent, so Coriolanus tells him to pull himself together. That night, Coriolanus realizes he’s killed for the second time—and unlike when he killed Bobbin, this wasn’t self-defense. It kind of was; if Mayfair had told anyone what she saw, Coriolanus and everyone he loves would die. He’d shoot her again, so he feels good about his choice.
Coriolanus doesn’t consistently trust Lucy Gray—but here, he believes he can trust her to stay quiet (after all, she’s at risk too if someone finds out who killed Mayfair and Billy Taupe). Coriolanus’s inner monologue shows that he’s becoming more comfortable with killing—especially when it suits his purposes to take someone else’s life.
Themes
Over breakfast the next morning, Smiley shares that the bodies were brought to the base clinic last night and says that the Peacekeepers are certain Mayfair and “the musician” were killed by someone local, given the murder weapons. This makes Coriolanus feel much better, though he realizes Lucy Gray could still be in trouble since she used to be with Billy Taupe. But he reasons it’d be hard to prove her guilty. This makes him feel even closer to her.
Lucy Gray could be in trouble because of her association with Billy Taupe, but also because she’s a local. Coriolanus doesn’t realize this, though, because he’s so self-centered. That this experience makes him feel closer to Lucy Gray shows that Coriolanus feels connected to people when they seem just as at risk as he feels he is; he doesn’t really care about others for their own sake.
Themes
The commander locks the base down for the day. As Coriolanus and Sejanus clean their boots, Sejanus admits he hasn’t heard whether he’s still escaping next weekend during the commander’s birthday party. He’s worried what will happen if they arrest someone innocent for the murders. Coriolanus thinks that’d be great, but he stays quiet. Over the next few days, the base loses interest in the murders. Mayor Lipp pitches a fit, but nobody is sympathetic. So by Tuesday, Coriolanus is feeling fantastic. He receives a box from Pluribus with strings for Lucy Gray and looks forward to giving them to her.
For Sejanus, ethical questions are front and center once again. He knows exactly who killed Mayfair and Billy Taupe—and while his loyalty to Coriolanus means he’s unlikely to rat his friend out, he also doesn’t want someone innocent to die for the murders. But this doesn’t matter to Coriolanus. He doesn’t see the locals as people, so it doesn’t bother him that someone he doesn’t care about might take the fall.
Themes
As Coriolanus heads for the clinic for some powder, though, an ambulance pulls up—and Spruce comes out of it on a stretcher. Neither Coriolanus nor Sejanus can figure out what happened, but the next morning, a nurse tells Smiley that Spruce died. At lunch, military police arrest Sejanus. Smiley, Beanpole, Bug, and Coriolanus confront the sergeant during target practice and insist Sejanus wasn’t involved in the murders—but the sergeant says Sejanus was arrested for something else. Coriolanus realizes Dr. Gaul must’ve listened to his jabberjay.
Things quickly start to go downhill for Coriolanus and Sejanus. Coriolanus now has to face up to the consequences of sending the jabberjay to Dr. Gaul. But he’s also unwilling to own up to the fact that he’s responsible for Sejanus’s arrest, as he knows his bunkmates will see him as a traitor if he admits what he did. Once again, he’s looking out for himself and is willing to say whatever he needs to in order to stay in power.
Themes
Over the next two days, Coriolanus tries to tell himself that everything will be fine. Strabo Plinth will come rescue Sejanus—but this also isn’t school, and the young Peacekeepers aren’t kids. Coriolanus sends a note to Ma suggesting Strabo check in on his son. But before Coriolanus can mail the note, the commander calls everyone on base to the auditorium to tell them that Sejanus will be hanged for treason in the afternoon. Coriolanus is ordered to attend the hanging. Coriolanus can barely dress himself and accept his rifle. People avoid him, knowing he was friends with Sejanus.
Though Coriolanus and Sejanus have, for the most part, still thought of themselves as kids after joining the Peacekeepers, Coriolanus now has to face the fact that they’re not children. They’re adults and will be tried as such, whether they like it or not. Forcing Coriolanus to attend Sejanus’s hanging is, for Coriolanus, extremely emotional—he’s the one who landed Sejanus here, after all.
Themes
At the hanging tree, Coriolanus stands in his squad. The crowd is unusually large and volatile, but Coriolanus understands why when Sejanus and Lil emerge from a Peacekeeper van. Lil and Sejanus look like small “innocent children” as Peacekeepers haul them to the gallows. Coriolanus meets Sejanus’s eyes and can only see a frightened little boy. Coriolanus unexpectedly meets Lucy Gray’s eyes in the crowd. He closes his eyes, but he still hears the trapdoors and Sejanus’s cries. The jabberjays echo his last words: “Ma! Ma! Ma! Ma! Ma!”
The novel makes the case that for all intents and purposes, Sejanus and Lil are “innocent children,” despite their ages. This is reinforced when Sejanus’s last words are yelling for his mother, like a small child would. Again, this shows that Panem is willing to sacrifice its children, no matter where they come from, in order to achieve its aims. Any dissent has to be stamped out—even if the dissenter is Strabo Plinth’s son.
Themes
