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Chapter 14
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
Coriolanus is confused and horrified. On screen, Sejanus tries to arrange Marcus’s limbs and then sprinkles something over the body. Ma explains Sejanus is sprinkling breadcrumbs so Marcus has food on his journey in the afterlife; it’s a District Two custom. Coriolanus is embarrassed on her behalf. The districts are “primitive people” with “primitive customs.” Just then, the phone rings. Coriolanus answers. It’s Dr. Gaul, and she wants to know what Coriolanus’s friend is doing. Coriolanus hates that people think he and Sejanus are friends. In the background of the call, Coriolanus hears Dr. Gaul telling someone to make the screen as dark as possible. Then, to Coriolanus, Dr. Gaul says to come to the arena with Ma. If he doesn’t hurry, Coriolanus will get another demerit—and he won’t win a prize.
The fact that Sejanus still observes this District Two custom highlights how connected he is to his birthplace. Customs like this are ways for people to show respect for the dead—but to Coriolanus, this is ridiculous. In his mind, Marcus may have died a brutal death, but he still deserves to be dead and definitely doesn’t need food in the afterlife. And things get even worse for Coriolanus when Dr. Gaul refers to Sejanus as his friend. Coriolanus knows his success depends on not associating with district folk like Sejanus, so this is grating and represents a roadblock to the successful future he so desperately wants.
Themes
Coriolanus hangs up and sees that the image on the TV is now dark. He tells Ma they must go to the arena, so they run down to her car and the Avox drives quickly to the arena. Ma shares that her family arrived in the Capitol at night, and Sejanus tried to calm her down. Coriolanus responds noncommittally; her story doesn’t matter to him. Ma says that coming to the Capitol was Strabo’s way of keeping Sejanus out of the Games. They discuss how to get Sejanus out of the arena, and Ma says he’ll have to believe it’s the right thing to do. Coriolanus finds Sejanus’s interest in doing the right thing insufferable.
Coriolanus doesn’t think much of it at this point, but the Gamemakers darkening the screen shows how much power Dr. Gaul and her crew have to manipulate how the Hunger Games look to viewers. They do things like darken the screen to broadcast the kind of Hunger Games they want people to see. And in this case, darkening the screen hides the fact that some people disagree with the Games. Hiding this is important: if other dissidents think they’re the only one to object, they won’t be able to organize and protest.
Themes
The car pulls up at the arena, and Coriolanus leads Ma to a news van with Dr. Gaul, Dean Highbottom, and Peacekeepers around it. Though Dr. Gaul asks Coriolanus for ideas on how to get Sejanus out, she rejects his ideas and insists Coriolanus will have to sneak in and get Sejanus. It’s the only way to protect him from the tributes, who will no doubt try to kill him. Peacekeepers fit Coriolanus with a bulletproof vest and give him a bottle of pepper spray and a device that will create a blinding flash of light. Coriolanus knows he has no choice but to play along; there’s no fighting Dr. Gaul.
Given the advanced technology Dr. Gaul seems to have access to, it seems like a stretch that sending Coriolanus in to fetch Sejanus is the only way to get this task done. So sending Coriolanus in seems like a test and a way for Dr. Gaul to lord her power over her student, showing Coriolanus how powerless he is to fight back and stand up for himself. In this sense, he’s almost as helpless as the tributes are; his wealth isn’t of much help in this instance.
Themes
Peacekeepers usher Coriolanus to the main entrance, which the bombs mostly destroyed. They move through the lobby to the turnstiles, which Sejanus got through with a token. A Peacekeeper notes that they worry about people sneaking out, not in, during the Games. Coriolanus accepts his token and the Peacekeeper shows him how he’ll get back out by climbing through barbed wire—and the Peacekeeper implies that if Coriolanus doesn’t return with Sejanus, they won’t let him out. Sweating, Coriolanus goes through the turnstile and walks toward the back side of the barricade he's seen on TV. It’s barely a barricade; it just blocks the view of the street.
Entering through this particular entrance unsettles Coriolanus in part because, as he observed earlier, this was where poor people used to enter the arena. So going in here makes Coriolanus feel just as poor and powerless as the tributes—which, in many ways, he is. The Peacekeeper also seems to enjoy having this much power over Coriolanus; he seems unconcerned and unsympathetic to the fact that Coriolanus has every right to be afraid of going in here.
Themes
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Coriolanus peers into the arena at Sejanus. Aside from Lamina, and Marcus’s body, the arena looks deserted. Coriolanus tiptoes across the field. Sejanus laughs quietly when he sees Coriolanus. The two stare at Marcus’s body and Sejanus implies that he entered the arena so the tributes could kill him. Coriolanus says Ma is waiting for Sejanus outside, but Sejanus humorlessly says Strabo isn’t out there. Strabo will wait until Sejanus is dead and then try to buy Coriolanus to compensate him for trying to help. Privately, Coriolanus isn’t opposed to being bought, but he encourages Sejanus to leave the arena with him.
Sejanus believes he’s doing something noble and dramatic by entering the arena so tributes will kill him. In his mind, this is the best way to stand up for what he believes: that the Hunger Games are wrong. But Coriolanus is too entrenched in the system to be very sympathetic. He wants money so badly that the prospect of Strabo Plinth buying his silence seems appealing. But Coriolanus still has to get Sejanus out of the arena before he can even consider something like that.
Themes
Sejanus insists there’s nothing left to do but die. He only changes his mind when Coriolanus shares that Dr. Gaul and Dean Highbottom won’t show his death on TV. Coriolanus encourages Sejanus to leave the arena so he can fight for the tributes and stand up to Dr. Gaul. He can hear the tributes closing in. Sejanus agrees—but refuses to leave Marcus’s body. Coriolanus grabs Marcus’s feet and, with Sejanus, drags the body toward the barricade. Coriolanus trips, but as soon as he’s up, Bobbin rushes at Coriolanus with a knife.
Sejanus may be righteous and noble, but he also doesn’t grasp how much control Dr. Gaul has over what happens and what people will see on television. So this throws a wrench in his plans, since dying in the arena won’t have the impact he hoped it would. And ultimately, the desire to survive wins out over his desire to make a statement. Both Sejanus and Coriolanus find themselves powerless as the tributes descend on them—their status won’t help them here.
Themes
