The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

by

Suzanne Collins

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes makes teaching easy.

Dr. Kay Character Analysis

Dr. Kay is an assistant scientist in Dr. Gaul’s lab. She’s older and wears bright pink reading glasses. Coriolanus runs into her in the lab during the Hunger Games, but he doesn’t meet her until a month later, in District 12. Dr. Kay reveals that years ago, she ran the Capitol’s jabberjay program. She clearly loves her birds and wants what’s best for them, even if the jabberjays were a failure as surveillance devices.
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Dr. Kay Character Timeline in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

The timeline below shows where the character Dr. Kay appears in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 25
Children Theme Icon
Human Nature Theme Icon
...the scientists except for the woman with the pink glasses, whom another scientist introduces as Dr. Kay . In a friendly manner, she lays out their plan to divide into groups to... (full context)
Chapter 26
Government and Power Theme Icon
Trust and Loyalty Theme Icon
...the recruits at the hanging tree, Coriolanus finds himself in a group with Bug and Dr. Kay . Dr. Kay knows exactly who Coriolanus is and asks how he’s liking the districts.... (full context)
Children Theme Icon
...jabberjay down from a tree and runs back up another tree with an empty trap, Dr. Kay shows Coriolanus how the birds work. Pulling out a small device with buttons, she says... (full context)
Propaganda, Spectacle, and Morality Theme Icon
Government and Power Theme Icon
Dr. Kay explains that they can’t use the birds’ homing device to call them back because the... (full context)
Government and Power Theme Icon
...says they should kill all the mockingjays. To try to cover up this misstep ( Dr. Kay is shocked), Coriolanus suggests they’ll push out native species. But Dr. Kay says if they... (full context)
Chapter 27
Children Theme Icon
Human Nature Theme Icon
Trust and Loyalty Theme Icon
...are busy, so Sejanus is constantly supervised. When Coriolanus joins the group catching mockingjays again, Dr. Kay says it’s time to pull out the mist nets. They erect the nearly invisible nets... (full context)
Government and Power Theme Icon
Trust and Loyalty Theme Icon
By Wednesday, Dr. Kay has enough birds to be happy. Coriolanus and Bug prepare the birds for their trip... (full context)