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
Clemensia shrieks and shakes the snakes off her hand. Her hand oozes technicolor pus. Lab techs rush in, inject Clemensia with black fluid, and then whisk her away on a stretcher. When Coriolanus starts to follow, Dr. Gaul tells him to stay. She says it’s hard to say whether Clemensia will survive and says he obviously wrote the proposal alone. Dr. Gaul threatens to “cut him off” if Coriolanus lies again, and then she compliments his proposal. Too afraid to sound excited, Coriolanus just agrees. Laughing, Dr. Gaul sends him away. As he hurries through the lab, he finds cages filled with Avoxes with grafted animal parts. Finally, a woman in pink glasses ushers Coriolanus to the elevators.
Dr. Gaul shows shockingly little remorse for what happened to Clemensia, which speaks to how little she thinks of humanity in general—whether those people are Capitol folk or tributes. She looks even more heartless when Coriolanus notices the modified Avoxes. But interestingly, Coriolanus implies that he is excited to get a compliment from Dr. Gaul; he's just too afraid to show it. This shows that he, on some level, admires her. And she might become a role model for him, which starts to show how he might start down the path to evil.
Themes
Coriolanus makes it out of the Citadel and around the corner before he has to sit on the curb. What happened to Arachne and now Clemensia feels like the Hunger Games—but Capitol kids aren’t supposed to get hurt. He wants to tell Dr. Gaul the government should protect all of them, especially a Snow, but he’s afraid of her. Coriolanus wonders if it’ll be his fault if Clemensia dies. Deciding she’s probably at the hospital, he runs for the nearest one. He hears Clemensia screaming the moment he gets inside. Coriolanus realizes he looks terrible when the nurse gives him packets of nutritional crackers and a sugary drink. The drink helps, but the doctor won’t let Coriolanus see Clemensia. She’ll be hospitalized for a while. As Clemensia’s parents arrive, Coriolanus leaves. He can’t go home or to school after having possibly killed Clemensia.
Coriolanus has grown up believing that, as a wealthy Capitol kid, the government is always going to protect him. In his mind, it’s normal and natural that the tributes and Avoxes are tortured and dehumanized—but it’s very disturbing to realize that Dr. Gaul, a huge force in the government, doesn’t seem to care much for kids like Coriolanus. This is also a big moment for Coriolanus because it shows how hypocritical his views of government are. When he thinks that the government should protect all of them, especially a Snow, it shows that he doesn’t take “all” to mean everyone in Panem. “All,” to him, means wealthy people, and he doesn’t recognize the hypocrisy here.
Themes
The only person Coriolanus wants to talk to is Lucy Gray; she’s clever and won’t repeat anything. Peacekeepers at the zoo gates contact Dr. Gaul and get permission to let Coriolanus in. Rats and raccoons are everywhere, and Coriolanus notices containers of white powder—rat poison. The Peacekeeper explains that the rats are too smart to eat it.
Seeing all the rats and raccoons running through the zoo shows again how inhumane it is to house the tributes at the zoo. It would never fly for Capitol folk to live in such close quarters with rodents—but the tributes, to people in the Capitol, aren’t human, so Capitol folk don’t see the issue.
Themes
The tributes are shackled in their cage, and at first Coriolanus can’t find Lucy Gray. But then Jessup nudges a pile beside him and Lucy Gray sits up. She unsteadily drags her chains toward Coriolanus. Coriolanus realizes she probably hasn’t eaten in days, since she vomited up so much food when Arachne died. When she’s close enough, Lucy Gray explains to Coriolanus that she and Jessup are taking turns sleeping, since the rats here keep biting them. Something bit Jessup the first night, but it was furrier than a rat. Coriolanus apologizes for everything and suggests he should quit. Lucy Gray begs him not to leave and almost faints from weakness.
Lucy Gray makes it clear just how horrific living in the zoo is: she’s not only living in a zoo cage, but she constantly has to fend off rodents who are just as hungry as she is. This is appalling for Coriolanus, as he’s never seen people treated so poorly before. (When things were bad during the war, he had the rebels to blame—it wasn’t like he was hungry because people he loved and trusted were starving him.) But Lucy Gray insists Coriolanus can’t back out because of shame; he has to stay in the Games so that he can advocate for better treatment for the tributes.
Themes
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Coriolanus crouches close to Lucy Gray and decides not to tell her about Clemensia and the snakes. He offers her the nutritional crackers, and she immediately finishes one packet. Then she explains she’s saving the second packet for Jessup, who’s her ally now. Coriolanus promises to get her more food and shares that people will be able to send food into the arena. Hearing this, Lucy Gray suggests that she should sing during her interview so people will want to help her. She wishes she had a guitar, so Coriolanus agrees to try to find her one. The Peacekeeper says it’s time to go as Lucy Gray pulls herself up. She says it’s wonderful that Coriolanus treats her like she matters when no one else does. Coriolanus insists Lucy Gray does matter.
As Lucy Gray gets weaker, her priorities start to shift. Earlier, it seemed a point of pride to refuse to sing and retain control of her voice. But now that she’s so hungry and knows she has to win over the crowds if she wants to eat, she feels she has no choice but to give in and do what Coriolanus wants her to do. This suggests that the interviews are probably going to dehumanize the tributes more than humanize them by forcing them to come up with ways to appeal to the audience. And though Coriolanus insists Lucy Gray matters here, it’s debatable whether he really believes it—remember that her success is his success too, so it’s in his best interest to make her feel special and worthy.
Themes
Coriolanus is so exhausted he can’t think straight. On his way home, he bumps into Persephone Price, daughter of cannibal Nero Price. Persephone talks on about Arachne as Coriolanus tries to control his fear of Persephone. She’s beautiful, but he can’t get past the fact that she ate the maid’s leg. Remembering the dead maid, Coriolanus wonders how long Lucy Gray will last without food. If she doesn’t eat, she’ll die before the Hunger Games start.
In this passage, Coriolanus starts to think that the tributes are almost more human than his Capitol neighbors—if the tributes have ever engaged in cannibalism, he at least doesn’t know about it. But again, his main concern seems to be getting Lucy Gray to the Games so she can win, not making sure she’s fed because she’s a person and needs food.
Themes
