#the ballad of songbirds and snakes

[faggotboyfreak]

TBOSAS if it was from his pov

[derangedchameleon]

I think Snow saw some of Reaper in Haymitch. Both of them, from Snow‘s point of view, do confusing things with the bodies of their fellow tributes.

With Reaper creating a makeshift funeral for the tributes that he killed and covering them with the flag of Panem. It never even crosses Snow‘s mind that this boy, while yes, „playing the game“ and killing tributes, has a level of cognitive dissonance here. This is a boy that wants to survive. He wants to go home. And he knows that he can. But in order to do that he has to kill people that are not really his enemy.

By making the graveyard and covering them in the flag of Panem he is saying „These were people. They are not animals. We are not animals. I may have killed them. But only because YOU turned me into a weapon. Because YOU gave me no choice. These deaths are on YOU.“

But Snow, as intelligent as he is, doesn‘t get that message.

Running around with Louella‘s body. That‘s the funeral. Applauding Snow. That‘s covering the bodies with the flag of Panem. Snow smiles when observing Haymitch‘s behaviour.

Just like with Reaper, the only explanation Snow can think up for this situation is „He has lost his mind. Poor thing.“

Yes he can recognise the rebellion in the action. But he doesn‘t understand it. Not really.

[justafewberries]

the lake is “two to three” hours from the covey’s house according to lucy gray. The average person walks 3-4mph. They’re in the woods, so let’s assume it’s 3 mph to account for roots/obstacles. This means, minimum, the lake is about six miles from the fence. It’s likely farther.

The covey graveyard is still past the lake.

That’s insanely far to walk with a coffin. Also, the walk when Burdock led Haymitch to the graves, the 6 MILE walk, there’s no way they were chit chatting.

[fallenrocket]

This is what I love about the title. It’s like Pride and Prejudice, where you can’t neatly assign one half of the title to each of the leads. On a surface read, it’s easy to make those divisions, but the more you get into it, the more you see that Lizzy and Darcy both have pride, and they both have prejudice. It’s the same with Lucy Gray and Coriolanus. “Who’s the songbird and who’s the snake?” is the wrong question. The title is songbirds plural, snakes plural. It’s both. The question is, “How is each of them the songbird, and how is each of them the snake?”

Watching the Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is realizing that despite the obvious implication that Lucy Gray is the songbird and Snow is the Snake…it’s likely the opposite.

Lucy gray controlled the snakes and used them as her weapon of choice, the snake biting him was Lucy’s kiss goodbye. She is the snake.

Snow sold Sejanus out through the jabberjay’s, they were his tool to fly back home and back into power. He is the songbird.

But at the same time…as in her Ballad, Lucy Gray flys away with the mockingjays after she sings the Hanging Tree one final time while fleeing Snow. She is physically a songbird. And Snow chose to work with Dr. Gaul, who created and controlled those snakes. He was the snake who betrayed his friend.

Who is the songbird and who is the snake? It’s unclear, but isn’t that the mystery?

[blytharchives]

TOM BLYTH via Instagram.

[jabberbaird]

I was thinking about the differences in the POVs of Katniss, Snow, and Haymitch and realized that Katniss gatekeeps the reader and Snow gaslights literally everyone.

does this mean Haymitch is the girlboss.

discuss.

[blueeyed-cheshire]

This is why Viola Davis is my favorite actor and one of my favorite celebrities

[tryingssss]

hey everyone so i made which hg character are you quiz and you can take it!

[noctefuror]

Lenore Dove 🪿

[schrodingersjigsaw]

No bc I see that argument a lot (her not loving him) and I just don’t buy it! This is a woman who BIT HER EX!!! She would’ve never in a million years agreed to run away with him, or be as consistently happy as she was to see him, or bring him around her family if she didn’t love him.

Hate when ppl are like 'we dont know if Lucy Gray really loved Snow, she was a mysterious character and we dont know her thoughts'

Like our homegirl wrote 'Pure as the driven Snow' about him AFTER seeing him kill a man, she was in love with him

[catastrophic29]

Lenore Dove and Haymitch are NOT parallels of Lucy Gray and Snow

Yes, Lenore dove represents the last of Lucy Gray to Snow, but her rebellious and impulsive behaviour definitely reminded him of a certain brown haired boy who tried to share his gumdrops on the first day of school.

Likewise, while Snow obviously saw himself in Haymitch, he (like peeta) is a performer, charismatic, cunning and resourceful, knows how to play the audience. He wasn’t meant to be reaped but was because of the cruelty of other people. A direct parallel to Lucy Gray.

Lenore dove, while covey, dislikes singing in and public and uses her music to rally and complete rebel acts. Her uncles Clerk carmine and Tam Amber are a bit more wealthy than the majority of district twelve and can reliably bribe the peacekeepers so she doesn’t get in trouble (sound familiar).

She, like sejanus, is an outcast due to her outspoken nature and her being a (technical) outsider (Covey).

And Snow saw this too as represented by their ends in the book, with Lenore Dove indirectly killed by snow using poisoned gumdrops, and Haymitch being locked in a golden birdcage, a manifestation of him being caged by the capital as a victor, just as he wished Lucy Gray was.

Snow, you will never get away from the sound of the girl (and the boy) who love[d] you.

[slaymitchabernathy]

i feel like halfway through their relationship with one another, haymitch & effie’s dynamic would consist of haymitch shushing her & effie hissing: “don’t shush me!”

[hellomadamebutterfly]

My thoughts from last night:

Me: well, time for bed!

My brain: Capitol teens and young adults definitely cosplayed as their favorite tribute/victor

[justafewberries]

the song existed before any of the three graves in the burial area. Lucy Gray sings it to Maude Ivory in tbosas, when she and Maude Ivory are still alive, and Lenore Dove is yet to be born. So it can’t be an intentional map by the Covey, unless it’s one retroactively.

all i fucking do is cry on tiktok. just saw ANOTHER video talking abt how the meadow song is actually the covey’s map to their graves.

Deep in the meadow, under the willow A bed of grass, a soft green pillow Lay down your head, and close your eyes And when they open, the sun will rise Here it’s safe, here it's warm Here the daisies guard you from every harm Here your dreams are sweet, and tomorrow brings them true Here is the place where I love you

a safe place away from the capitol GOODBYE SUZANNE HOW COULD YOU?!

[oakheartedmuse]

The Rise of a Tyrant

A Literary Analysis of "The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes"

So, for those who don't know (no one knows), I graduated in Modern Languages and Literature, which makes me someone who loves analyzing texts!

And, in honor of me returning to the Hunger Games fandom (and also because I'm re-reading TBOSAS), it's only fair that I contribute my two cents to the analysis of this simply wonderful book (or maybe I just wanted an excuse to post Tom, who knows?).

Forgive any inconsistency and follow me under the cut!

Coriolanus Snow and his Deformative Formation

As a start, here's a concept: the Bildungsroman, also known as “Formative Novel” (is this right? the name is different in my native language. anyways, let’s call it like that). This is a literary genre that narrates the physical, moral, psychological, and social development of a protagonist from youth to maturity. It is characterized by a journey of self-discovery, confrontation with social norms, and eventual integration — or alienation — from society.

In The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Suzanne subverts this traditional model by portraying the youth of Coriolanus Snow, offering a narrative of moral "deformation" instead of ethical formation.

(For some reason, this reminds me of The Picture of Dorian Gray, but we'll leave that for another day).

So, we get to know Coriolanus Snow, an eighteen-year-old student from a once influential but impoverished family, who reveals early on an obsession with appearance and social prestige. This need for affirmation arises not only as a reflection of his material circumstances but also as a manifestation of deep insecurity. His initial motivation is clear: to restore the Snow name and ensure a dignified future for himself, and his role as a mentor in the 10th Hunger Games appears as the ideal opportunity to achieve notoriety and ascension.

However, his relationship with Lucy Gray introduces a profound tension between two conflicting impulses: an apparent capacity for genuine affection and an insatiable drive for ambition. This relationship becomes a pivotal element in his journey, as it forces him to confront his emerging values and navigate a labyrinth of moral dilemmas. His bond with her initially appears as a vulnerability, a rare connection that contrasts with the cold, calculated demeanor he often displays. Yet, as the story unfolds, it becomes evident that even this personal connection is not immune to the corrosive effects of his growing thirst for power.

Good, Evil, and What Resides Between

At this point, it is interesting to analyze Snow's trajectory in the light of the theories of Thomas Hobbes and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, authors cited in the book's epigraph (Suzanne, you genius).

For Hobbes, human nature is essentially selfish and driven by fear and the desire for power. That is, man, left to his natural state, lives in a condition of war by all against all, requiring absolute authority to ensure order and avoid chaos. Rousseau, on the other hand, sees humans as originally good but corrupted by society and its institutions — social inequality being, for him, an artificial malaise.

Snow's evolution seems to increasingly embody a Hobbesian view of existence. Through contact with the harsh realities of the Games and the districts — especially during his time as a Peacekeeper in twelve — Snow concludes that chaos is always lurking, and absolute control is the only way to ensure stability.

Influenced by Dr. Gaul, a figure who embodies a cynical and authoritarian philosophy (the perfect representation of Hobbes' theory), Snow adopts the idea that humanity needs to be governed with an iron fist (an ideology elaborated exhaustively in Hobbes' "Leviathan"). Thus, every choice he makes points to a progressive rejection of any Rousseauian idealism.

However, it is possible to argue that Snow can also be read in the light of Rousseau's theory, as a tragic example of a young man who could have followed a virtuous path but was corrupted by the oppressive institutions and structures of Panem. His initial empathy for Lucy Gray, his discomfort with the cruelties of the Games, and his feeling of helplessness in the face of the social degradation of the districts reveal a moral potential that is gradually suffocated by the demands of survival and the influence of figures like Dr. Gaul. In this sense, Snow was not born evil — he was deformed by a system that rewards cynicism, manipulation, and blind obedience to authority. Such a reading brings him closer to Rousseau's ideal of a human being originally good but who, subjected to an unjust society, becomes corrupt.

The final episode with Lucy Gray, marked by paranoia and the impulse to eliminate potential threats to his future, symbolizes the final collapse of his empathy. His transformation is complete: upon returning to the Capitol, he is no longer a young man torn between love and ambition, between good and evil, but someone who has chosen power as the supreme value. This turn signals to the birth of the future President Snow and marks the apex of an inverted formative novel — a journey of moral degradation, in which the protagonist moves away from emotional authenticity and adheres to a logic of domination.

Don't Trust Him, Not Ever

Furthermore, the choice of an omniscient third-person narrator, focused on Coryo, is also an influencing feature that distinguishes the prequel from the original Hunger Games trilogy and from SOTR, narrated in the first person by Katniss and Haymitch. This formal difference is not merely stylistic but reflects distinct narrative intentions. While the first person promotes empathetic identification with the protagonist-victim, the third person allows for a more distanced analysis of the future antagonist and the political context of the formation of Panem's totalitarian regime.

Despite the omnipresence of the narrator, the focus on Coriolanus' thoughts and perceptions introduces a subtle degree of subjectivity. The narrative reveals his self-deceptions, rationalizations, and manipulations, allowing the reader to perceive the discrepancy between what Snow believes and what actually occurs. This narrative technique maintains a critical distance that prevents complete emotional adherence to the protagonist but at the same time provides enough access to his inner world to understand him as both a product — and agent — of a system in transformation (and degradation).

While Katniss and Haymitch, with their limited and biased perspectives, are seen as unreliable narrators, their legitimate suffering inspires empathy and solidarity. Coriolanus, on the other hand, despite the apparent objectivity of the narrator, reveals himself as a biased filter that deliberately distorts events. Suzanne, therefore, brilliantly manipulates the narrative voice to create a balance between proximity and criticism, reinforcing the complexity of the protagonist.

In Conclusion...

Snow’s trajectory offers a powerful subversion of the traditional novel, revealing not the moral ascent of a hero but the making of a tyrant. The tension between Hobbesian and Rousseauian views of human nature serves as a theoretical backdrop to understand the protagonist's choices. Contrary to Rousseau's ideal of a naturally virtuous human being corrupted by society, Snow embodies, as a result of his own mind manipulated by power structures above him, Hobbes' belief that absolute power is necessary to contain humanity's latent barbarism — a view that justifies authoritarianism as a means of preventing social collapse.

Still, an alternative Rousseauian reading should not be discarded: Snow could have been different, were it not for the pressures of a system that rewards opportunism and penalizes compassion. He had the option. He chose not to. His moral downfall is also a commentary on how institutions shape — and often destroy — human potential for good.

By articulating this degeneration through a carefully constructed third-person narrative, Suzanne not only enriches the dystopia we love so much but also casts a dark and critical eye on the mechanisms of power and the ways in which ambition can devour morality.

So, Coriolanus is not just a villain: he is a disturbing reflection of a system based on fear, control, and the deliberate loss of empathy.

Here I leave my biggest shout out to this marvelous, incredible and awestruck meta made by @hamliet, which inspired me to make mine. Kate, you nailed it! ♥︎