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Chapter 12
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
Lucy Gray understands immediately, but she sniffs the compact and says it still smells wonderful, like roses. She agrees to take the compact. She and Coriolanus chat about the arena until their time is up. When they stand, Lucy Gray grabs Coriolanus’s shirt and says she’s going to think of him in the arena. Then, she kisses him. Coriolanus finally understands what people talk about when they talk about love. Peacekeepers usher Lucy Gray away as Coriolanus wonders if he broke a rule by suggesting she fill the compact with rat poison. It’s not like she can easily poison everyone and win; it’ll take skill and luck.
Note that Lucy Gray is the one to instigate the kiss. With this, she again shows that she’s a person, too, who’s in charge of her own thoughts and actions. In this situation, though, this doesn’t bother Coriolanus. Instead, it’s exciting, and it introduces him to a whole new world of romance. Technically, Coriolanus is probably cheating by encouraging Lucy Gray to take rat poison into the arena. But he desperately wants to win, so it’s a risk he’s willing to take.
Themes
That night, Coriolanus shares with Tigris that he and Lucy Gray kissed. Coriolanus can barely explain himself; he has almost no experience with girls (getting close to someone would mean letting them see his home, which he can’t do). But the fact remains that Lucy Gray is his tribute—and a girl from the districts, who’s “human, but bestial.” Lucy Gray has to be an exception to that rule.
Coriolanus may have enjoyed his kiss with Lucy Gray, but the way he thinks about her here shows that he doesn’t believe she’s as human as he is. Describing her as “bestial” betrays that he sees all people from the districts as lesser and animalistic. He might believe on some level that Lucy Gray is different, but he still looks down on district folk in general.
Themes
In the morning, Coriolanus eats and walks to the Capitol News studio. He tries to look cool and unruffled, but Dean Highbottom tests him by deeming Coriolanus’s kiss with Lucy Gray “touching.” Dr. Gaul notes that unfortunately, Lucy Gray won’t survive the day. Coriolanus hates them and tells them “it’s not over until the mockingjay sings.” Before they can make him explain, someone announces that the vet couldn’t save the District 5 boy; he died in the night. Coriolanus pulls out his mentor/tribute list and crosses the pair off. Now, Lucy Gray only has 13 competitors. As Coriolanus stores the list in his bookbag, he discovers a handkerchief that Lucy Gray used to dry her eyes. He keeps it as a talisman.
As the start of the Hunger Games approaches, Coriolanus becomes increasingly competitive—and less interested in empathizing with other tributes or their mentors. Recall that he couldn’t cross Arachne off when she died; now, he’s crossing people off without even sharing their names. His willingness to repeat Lucy Gray’s odd phrase shows how upset Coriolanus is with the Gamemakers and the government in general. He doesn’t understand the phrase, but he does understand it’s probably an insult to these powerful people.
Themes
The seven mentors whose tributes participated in the interviews get to appear on the pre-show. Lucky Flickerman lets Coriolanus talk longer than the others, since Coriolanus has new material to share. Coriolanus talks about the Covey and tries to make the case that Lucy Gray and the Covey aren’t District 12 at all—in fact, they’re almost Capitol. Lysistrata looks annoyed; in her interview she insists Jessup and Lucy Gray are devoted to each other.
Coriolanus realizes that if he wants to win, he needs to make Lucy Gray seem human to viewers. Lysistrata understands the same thing; she’s betting on the fact that people will be drawn in by the supposed romance between Lucy Gray and Jessup. But again, this also turns the tributes into one-dimensional caricatures, thereby dehumanizing them anyway.
Themes
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Dean Highbottom speaks next about the mentorship program. He notes that the mentors have learned to respect and appreciate their tributes and that the district children are strong, smart, and courageous. Lucky is surprised Highbottom is comparing the “superior” Capitol children to those of the districts, but Highbottom quips that the only difference is that Capitol kids have better dental care.
For whatever reason, Dean Highbottom doesn’t seem to support the Games—and he’s powerful enough that he can say this sort of thing on national television and get away with it. This shows that Panem hasn’t universally embraced the Hunger Games as a necessity; there are still dissenters among the powerful.
Themes
The interview over, the mentors head back to the Academy in vans. Coriolanus puzzles over Dean Highbottom’s radical suggestion that the districts are just poor, not lesser. He wonders whether he’s presenting Lucy Gray as better than district because it’ll help her win—or because he has a crush on her. As Coriolanus prepares to enter the auditorium, Dean Highbottom murmurs in his ear that he might want to steer Sejanus toward a seat near the doors. Highbottom turns away to dose himself with morphling and Lysistrata rushes up, angry that Coriolanus is destroying her strategy with Jessup.
Highbottom is a hard person for Coriolanus to understand, since he seems so sympathetic toward the district kids and so hateful toward Coriolanus. But he’s still unpredictable, as his warning to sit Sejanus by the door seems sinister and asks readers to question what Highbottom knows that viewers don’t. Even if Coriolanus hates Highbottom, Highbottom is also encouraging Coriolanus to think about some difficult questions. He may be a better role model than Coriolanus gives him credit for.
Themes
Just then, Satyria calls for all the mentors to come get their badges and communicuffs. As Coriolanus follows her, people congratulate him and the mood seems celebratory—it’s a bit disturbing, given how somber this occasion usually is. At a table, a Gamemaker distributes badges and communicuffs, which will allow the mentors to select food items and send them to their tributes. Coriolanus shows Lysistrata Lucy Gray’s list of food on his communicuff and promises to help Jessup. Lysistrata apologizes for snapping and says she’s just upset because the Games seem revolting. She feels like the mentors are being used. Coriolanus hasn’t considered this before; he thought being a mentor was an honor. But now he feels a bit like a tribute.
The festive atmosphere is a mark of how successful Dr. Gaul’s quest to make the Games a spectator sport has been. The fact that Coriolanus finds this disturbing indicates that, on some level, he does know the Hunger Games are wrong. But because it’s in his best interest to play along, he ignores this pang of conscience and throws himself into figuring out how to win the Games. Lysistrata seems to be going through much the same thought process, but she takes it a step further by suggesting the mentor program itself is also inhumane. All the children involved in the Games, she suggests, are being used and abused for entertainment purposes.
Themes
Lysistrata and Coriolanus find seats in the back of the special mentor section in the auditorium—they don’t want cameras in their faces when their tributes die. On the giant screen, Lucky Flickerman is introducing the districts. Suddenly, Coriolanus notices Clemensia getting her communicuff and heading for him. She still looks ill and twitchy as she thanks Coriolanus for visiting and contacting her parents. Lysistrata says that everyone knew where Clemensia was; the doctors wouldn’t let her visit because Clemensia’s flu was so contagious. Coriolanus runs with this lie, but Clemensia huffs away. Coriolanus notices Sejanus and calls for him to sit next to him.
Coriolanus might be lying about trying to visit Clemensia, but Lysistrata clearly isn’t. Dr. Gaul is no doubt behind the lie that Clemensia had a contagious flu. It’s in her best interest to not own up to what she did to Clemensia. People are generally okay with her torturing district kids in the Hunger Games, but people would probably be upset if they knew she was putting wealthy Capitol kids in danger by letting her snakes bite them. In order to stay in power, she has to make it seem like she cares about Capitol kids.
Themes
Just then, the anthem begins to play (Coriolanus is still the only classmate who can sing it). Then, Lucky announces the start of the 10th Hunger Games. The screen shows the tributes positioned in a circle in the arena, Panem’s flag flying in the stands. The camera zooms to a pair of tall steel poles with a crossbeam across the top. Marcus, still alive, hangs from the crossbeam by his wrists.
Once again, Dr. Gaul and the Gamemakers rely heavily on symbolism as the Games open. The anthem situates this as a patriotic event, as does the flag. This suggests that the Hunger Games are something exciting and worth supporting, deflecting attention away from the violence. Hanging Marcus like this, though, shows how powerful the Capitol is—and how cruel Dr. Gaul is willing to be.
Themes
