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Chapter 28
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 can barely function for the rest of the day. He sits on Beanpole’s bunk in his underwear, wondering if he should give himself up—assuming Sejanus didn’t rat him out. In any case, the weapons are still in District 12, since Spruce didn’t run away. And Coriolanus burns with shame, since he killed Sejanus. He knows he didn’t have a choice. He figures that Sejanus would’ve died in the arena—really, Coriolanus prolonged his life. But Sejanus was too set in his ways, and that led to his death. Coriolanus opens Sejanus’s box of personal effects and bites into cookies in the box. But the memory of Sejanus’s last cries flash in Coriolanus’s mind, and he vomits the cookie back up.
It becomes increasingly clear that Coriolanus didn’t trust Sejanus at all when he starts to fear that Sejanus told someone Coriolanus was involved in the murder. Coriolanus, though, doesn’t really trust anyone but himself, which is why he has so few close relationships. And, true to form, Coriolanus tells himself whatever he needs to in order to make himself feel like he’s doing the right thing. He’s going to get ahead if he can maintain his reputation and status, so he just needs to find a way to tamp down his emotions. And Coriolanus gets lucky here—the cookie he vomits back up is probably the poisoned cookie Sejanus planned to poison Lil’s guards with.
Themes
Coriolanus sobs for his friends and family. He doesn’t want to die at the hanging tree, where the jabberjays will repeat his last words and the mockingjays will turn it into a song. Then, he calms himself and decides he has to face his death like a man. He takes Sejanus’s money stash and puts the wad of bills in an envelope addressed to Tigris. Coriolanus decides to sneak off the base on Sunday and give Lucy Gray his own orange scarf as a parting gift.
Coriolanus implies that it’d be terrible to die at the hanging tree mostly because he doesn’t want something as important as his own death trivialized by being turned into music. This reflects his belief in his own importance, and it highlights his hatred for the mockingjays again. Sending Tigris Sejanus’s money shows that Coriolanus may struggle with other relationships, but he is unwaveringly loyal to his family still.
Themes
Over dinner, Coriolanus tells Bug, Beanpole, and Smiley about the hanging. Coriolanus sleeps well that night and joins in on drills in the morning. Then, after lunch, Commander Hoff’s aide requests Coriolanus to follow him. Coriolanus is relieved, but wishes he’d brought his mother’s powder. Coriolanus sinks into the commander’s chair and is surprised when Commander Hoff offers his condolences for Sejanus. Hoff explains that Dr. Gaul sends praise for Coriolanus’s choice to send the jabberjay. Coriolanus pretends to not know how Sejanus might be connected to the murders or that Sejanus bought the rebels guns. Commander Hoff says he’s going to keep Coriolanus’s role in Sejanus’s death private for Coriolanus’s sake—but Coriolanus should know he did a real service for his country.
Coriolanus enters Commander Hoff’s office believing that he’s going to be arrested and die. His desire for his mother’s powder reinforces that Coriolanus still wants to be a good person and appreciate beautiful, comforting things. But receiving praise for bringing about Sejanus’s death starts to tip Coriolanus toward choosing a different path. Coriolanus is learning that if he looks out for himself (and the Capitol; to him, the two are one and the same), he’s going to be praised, and he’s going to get ahead. So actually being loyal to people starts to look like less of a good idea to him.
Themes
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Coriolanus has a fantastic afternoon shooting mockingjays as target practice. Later in the evening, the mess hall serves an elegant meal in honor of Commander Hoff’s birthday. Then, the Peacekeepers gather in the gym for whisky and music—the Covey are going to play. Coriolanus grabs the strings from Pluribus and his orange scarf, believing this is his last chance to see Lucy Gray. After a bit, Maude Ivory scampers onto the stage to lead everyone in singing for Commander Hoff. Afterward Lucy Gray appears in her rainbow dress from the Games. Coriolanus is certain it’s for his benefit and he feels a rush of love—it’s “the two of them against the world.”
Receiving the praise from Dr. Gaul and Commander Hoff means that Coriolanus suspects he’s not going to face consequences for killing Mayfair. And in this high, excited state, Coriolanus feels more warmly toward Lucy Gray. Where not too long ago he was suspicious of her, now he believes (with no evidence) that she’s doing things just for him, to show him her love. This belief just reflects Coriolanus’s hope for his future—it’s unsurprising he’s so happy, given that he believes he’s going to get away with murder.
Themes
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Coriolanus happily watches the Covey play for a while. Then, the band leaves Lucy Gray alone onstage. She begins a new song that starts, “Everyone’s born as clean as a whistle.” She sings that the dark and frightening world tries to make people bad—and that’s why she needs her lover, who’s “pure as the driven snow.” The song is clearly for Coriolanus. He’s ecstatic. Lucy Gray obviously thinks he’s a good person and “the hero of her life.” She also mentions trusting him. When the song ends, Coriolanus is too moved to clap. Seeing Lucy Gray go backstage into the locker rooms, leaving the rest of the band onstage, Coriolanus hurries to join her.
In her song, Lucy Gray proposes a view of human nature that contradicts Dr. Gaul’s. While Dr. Gaul insisted people are naturally evil, Lucy Gray proposes people are born good and either stay good or become bad based on what happens to them. But Coriolanus misses this. Instead, he focuses on the fact that Lucy Gray loves and trusts him, and seems to think he’s a good person. He doesn’t consider, for instance, that per her logic, he could still make choices that would designate him as bad in her eyes.
Themes
Lucy Gray falls into Coriolanus’s arms as soon as he taps on the door. He avoids mentioning his role in Sejanus’s death and suggests that Spruce outed Sejanus. She thanks him for killing Mayfair—but then says that Mayor Lipp won’t leave her alone, as he’s sure Lucy Gray killed Mayfair and Billy Taupe. He’s been threatening her and the Covey, so Lucy Gray is going to run north. Coriolanus insists on going with her; it’s only a matter of time before they discover he killed Mayfair. They decide to meet at dawn. Coriolanus gives her the strings and the scarf before running back to the party.
Given how happy Coriolanus is and how close he feels to Lucy Gray, it makes sense that he’d avoid mentioning his role in Sejanus’s death. He knows Lucy Gray would be distraught and feel betrayed, and it’s nothing to him to lie to her. It helps him, after all; their romance won’t survive if she knows he killed Sejanus. It’s a sign of how in love and carried away Coriolanus is that he decides to go away with Lucy Gray—Coriolanus hates nature, for one, and his dreams of success and wealth don’t exactly line up with roughing it in the wilderness.
Themes
Coriolanus is excited—he’s going to live with Lucy Gray, and he’ll be able to act however he wants. It seems mad to run away, but then again, why shouldn’t he? Coriolanus realizes he doesn’t know where to meet her until Lucy Gray starts to sing her song about the hanging tree—that’s where they’ll meet. He doesn’t like that she and Billy Taupe hung out there, but it’s probably a safe spot. He tries to parse the meaning of the lyrics and finally realizes the speaker is Billy Taupe. He’s inviting Lucy Gray to hang with him if she wouldn’t run away with him. Hopefully this is the last Billy Taupe song.
It's thrilling for Coriolanus to consider what life is going to be like without the threat of the Capitol coming down on him. His excitement at being close to Lucy Gray makes him feel like this is going to be a grand adventure—but again, Coriolanus hates the wilderness, so it seems likely this isn’t going to end well. It’s an indicator of how upbeat Coriolanus is, though, when he decides to not get upset about “The Hanging Tree” being about Billy Taupe—this is an unusually generous view for Coriolanus.
Themes
The Covey finish their set and Coriolanus joins his bunkmates in bed. At dawn, Coriolanus gets up, puts his mother’s powder and his father’s compass in his pockets with some family photos, and slips out. He eats breakfast and then, just as he steps outside, armed guards tell him to go to the commander’s office. Coriolanus is terrified and considers running, but the guards escort him to Commander Hoff’s office. There, Commander Hoff congratulates Coriolanus—Coriolanus will leave for officers’ school tomorrow.
As Coriolanus fills his pockets, he shows what’s most important to him when he’s not focusing on wealth and prestige: family. It’s unclear why Commander Hoff sends armed guards to fetch Coriolanus, but it seems likely that Hoff just wants to psych Coriolanus out and make him stressed before giving him the news. This only confirms Coriolanus’s suspicions that he can’t trust people—and that they’re all looking out for themselves.
Themes
