The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

by

Suzanne Collins

Dr. Volumnia Gaul Character Analysis

Dr. Gaul is the elderly Head Gamemaker. She’s also in charge of the science lab that produces muttations, or modified animals intended to be used as weapons or for other military-adjacent purposes. She normally teaches at the University, but since she’s the Head Gamemaker, she leads classes for the 24 Academy mentors. Coriolanus dislikes and fears her from the beginning, as she seems to have little (if any) regard for the lives of other people or animals (when she appears, she’s often tormenting an animal). She encourages the mentors to come up with ways to boost viewership for the Games, as well as propose ways to increase engagement. As Coriolanus first gets to know Dr. Gaul, he fears her. This is mostly because Dr. Gaul devises a test for Coriolanus and Clemensia, which will gauge whether they’re lying about whether Clemensia was involved in coming up with a proposal. The test results in venomous snakes biting Clemensia, and it puts her in the hospital for about a week—and Dr. Gaul barely seems to care for her wellbeing. But though Coriolanus fears that Dr. Gaul is out to hurt him, too, he begins to suspect that she’s trying to mentor and guide him instead. In her capacity as Coriolanus’s mentor, she teaches him that humans are naturally violent, and that the Hunger Games demonstrates what would happen if humans didn’t have a government. She encourages Coriolanus to think about what the purpose of a government is, and Coriolanus decides—with her approval—that governments should control. He eventually realizes that she uses children in the Hunger Games because seeing children murder each other, rather than adults, seems to support her belief that humans are naturally violent.

Dr. Volumnia Gaul Quotes in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

The The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes quotes below are all either spoken by Dr. Volumnia Gaul or refer to Dr. Volumnia Gaul. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Propaganda, Spectacle, and Morality Theme Icon
).
Chapter 4 Quotes

Now he was trapped and on display, for the first time appreciating the animals’ inability to hide. Children had begun to chatter excitedly and point at his school uniform, drawing the attention of the adults. Faces were filling all the available space between the bars. But the real horror was a pair of cameras positioned at either end of the visitors.

Capitol News. With their omnipresent coverage and their saucy slogan, “If you didn’t see it here, it didn’t happen.”

Oh, it was happening. To him. Now.

Related Characters: Coriolanus Snow, Lucy Gray Baird, Dr. Volumnia Gaul
Page Number: 48
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 6 Quotes

“Hardly rebels. Some of them were two years old when the war ended. The oldest were eight. And now that the war’s over, they’re just citizens of Panem, aren’t they? Same as us? Isn’t that what the anthem says the Capitol does? ‘You give us light. You reunite’? It’s supposed to be everyone’s government, right?”

“That’s the general idea. Go on,” Dr. Gaul encouraged him.

“Well, then it should protect everyone,” said Sejanus. “That’s its number-one job! And I don’t see how making them fight to the death achieves that.”

Related Characters: Sejanus Plinth (speaker), Dr. Volumnia Gaul (speaker), Marcus
Related Symbols: Panem’s Anthem
Page Number: 92
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 8 Quotes

It was like the Hunger Games. Only they weren’t district kids. The Capitol was supposed to protect them. He thought of Sejanus telling Dr. Gaul it was the government’s job to protect everybody, even the people in the districts, but he still wasn’t sure how to square that with the fact that they’d been such recent enemies. But certainly the child of a Snow should be a top priority. He could be dead if Clemensia had written the proposal instead of him. He buried his head in his hands, confused, angry, and most of all afraid. Afraid of Dr. Gaul. Afraid of the Capitol. Afraid of everything. If the people who were supposed to protect you played so fast and loose with your life…then how did you survive? Not by trusting them, that’s for sure.

Related Characters: Coriolanus Snow, Sejanus Plinth, Dr. Volumnia Gaul, Clemensia Dovecote, Arachne Crane
Related Symbols: Snakes
Page Number: 116
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 12 Quotes

What had mattered then, what mattered still, was living without that fear. So he added a paragraph about his deep relief on winning the war, and the grim satisfaction of seeing the Capitol’s enemies, who’d treated him so cruelly, who’d cost his family so much, brought to their knees. Hobbled. Impotent. Unable to hurt him anymore. He’d loved the unfamiliar sense of safety that their defeat had brought. The security that could only come with power. The ability to control things. Yes, that was what he’d loved best of all.

Related Characters: Coriolanus Snow, Dr. Volumnia Gaul
Page Number: 180
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 13 Quotes

“My cousin said to remember this isn’t of our making. That we’re still children, too.”

“That doesn’t help, somehow. Being used like this,” said Lysistrata sadly. “Especially when three of us are dead.”

Used? Coriolanus had not thought of being a mentor as anything but an honor. A way to serve the Capitol and perhaps gain a little glory. But she had a point. If the cause wasn’t honorable, how could it be an honor to participate in it? He felt confused, then manipulated, then undefended. As if he were more a tribute than a mentor.

Related Characters: Coriolanus Snow (speaker), Lysistrata Vickers (speaker), Dr. Volumnia Gaul
Page Number: 202
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 15 Quotes

Another student, or even the Coriolanus of a couple of weeks ago, would have protested this situation. Insisted on calling a parent or guardian. Pleaded. But after the snake attack on Clemensia, the aftermath of the bombing, and Marcus’s torture, he knew it would be pointless. If Dr. Gaul decided he was to go into the Capitol Arena, that’s where he would go, even if his prize was not at stake. He was just like the subjects of her other experiments, students or tributes, of no more consequence than the Avoxes in the cages. Powerless to object.

Related Characters: Coriolanus Snow, Sejanus Plinth, Dr. Volumnia Gaul, Marcus, Clemensia Dovecote
Page Number: 229
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 16 Quotes

“What happened in the arena? That’s humanity undressed. The tributes. And you, too. How quickly civilization disappears. All your fine manners, education, family background, everything you pride yourself on, stripped away in the blink of an eye, revealing everything you actually are. A boy with a club who beats another boy to death. That’s mankind in its natural state.”

Related Characters: Dr. Volumnia Gaul (speaker), Coriolanus Snow, Bobbin
Page Number: 243
Explanation and Analysis:

“So, if I’m a vicious animal, then who are you? You’re the teacher who sent her student to beat another boy to death!”

Related Characters: Coriolanus Snow (speaker), Dr. Volumnia Gaul, Bobbin
Page Number: 244
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 25 Quotes

It reminded me of my stint in the arena. It’s one to thing to speak of humans’ essential nature theoretically, another to consider it when a fist is smashing into your mouth. Only this time I felt more prepared. I’m not as convinced that we are all as inherently violent as you say, but it takes very little to bring the beast to the surface, at least under the cover of darkness. I wonder how many of those miners would have thrown a punch if the Capitol could have seen their faces?

Related Characters: Coriolanus Snow (speaker), Dr. Volumnia Gaul
Page Number: 400
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 29 Quotes

Everyone’s born as clean as a whistle—
As fresh as a daisy
And not a bit crazy.
Staying that way’s a hard row for hoeing—
As rough as a briar,
Like walking through fire.

Related Characters: Lucy Gray Baird (speaker), Coriolanus Snow, Dr. Volumnia Gaul
Page Number: 479
Explanation and Analysis:
Epilogue Quotes

“Because we credit them with innocence. And if even the most innocent among us turn to killers in the Hunger Games, what does that say? That our essential nature is violent,” Snow explained.

Related Characters: Coriolanus Snow (speaker), Dr. Volumnia Gaul, Dean Casca Highbottom
Page Number: 515
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes LitChart as a printable PDF.
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes PDF

Dr. Volumnia Gaul Quotes in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

The The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes quotes below are all either spoken by Dr. Volumnia Gaul or refer to Dr. Volumnia Gaul. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Propaganda, Spectacle, and Morality Theme Icon
).
Chapter 4 Quotes

Now he was trapped and on display, for the first time appreciating the animals’ inability to hide. Children had begun to chatter excitedly and point at his school uniform, drawing the attention of the adults. Faces were filling all the available space between the bars. But the real horror was a pair of cameras positioned at either end of the visitors.

Capitol News. With their omnipresent coverage and their saucy slogan, “If you didn’t see it here, it didn’t happen.”

Oh, it was happening. To him. Now.

Related Characters: Coriolanus Snow, Lucy Gray Baird, Dr. Volumnia Gaul
Page Number: 48
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 6 Quotes

“Hardly rebels. Some of them were two years old when the war ended. The oldest were eight. And now that the war’s over, they’re just citizens of Panem, aren’t they? Same as us? Isn’t that what the anthem says the Capitol does? ‘You give us light. You reunite’? It’s supposed to be everyone’s government, right?”

“That’s the general idea. Go on,” Dr. Gaul encouraged him.

“Well, then it should protect everyone,” said Sejanus. “That’s its number-one job! And I don’t see how making them fight to the death achieves that.”

Related Characters: Sejanus Plinth (speaker), Dr. Volumnia Gaul (speaker), Marcus
Related Symbols: Panem’s Anthem
Page Number: 92
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 8 Quotes

It was like the Hunger Games. Only they weren’t district kids. The Capitol was supposed to protect them. He thought of Sejanus telling Dr. Gaul it was the government’s job to protect everybody, even the people in the districts, but he still wasn’t sure how to square that with the fact that they’d been such recent enemies. But certainly the child of a Snow should be a top priority. He could be dead if Clemensia had written the proposal instead of him. He buried his head in his hands, confused, angry, and most of all afraid. Afraid of Dr. Gaul. Afraid of the Capitol. Afraid of everything. If the people who were supposed to protect you played so fast and loose with your life…then how did you survive? Not by trusting them, that’s for sure.

Related Characters: Coriolanus Snow, Sejanus Plinth, Dr. Volumnia Gaul, Clemensia Dovecote, Arachne Crane
Related Symbols: Snakes
Page Number: 116
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 12 Quotes

What had mattered then, what mattered still, was living without that fear. So he added a paragraph about his deep relief on winning the war, and the grim satisfaction of seeing the Capitol’s enemies, who’d treated him so cruelly, who’d cost his family so much, brought to their knees. Hobbled. Impotent. Unable to hurt him anymore. He’d loved the unfamiliar sense of safety that their defeat had brought. The security that could only come with power. The ability to control things. Yes, that was what he’d loved best of all.

Related Characters: Coriolanus Snow, Dr. Volumnia Gaul
Page Number: 180
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 13 Quotes

“My cousin said to remember this isn’t of our making. That we’re still children, too.”

“That doesn’t help, somehow. Being used like this,” said Lysistrata sadly. “Especially when three of us are dead.”

Used? Coriolanus had not thought of being a mentor as anything but an honor. A way to serve the Capitol and perhaps gain a little glory. But she had a point. If the cause wasn’t honorable, how could it be an honor to participate in it? He felt confused, then manipulated, then undefended. As if he were more a tribute than a mentor.

Related Characters: Coriolanus Snow (speaker), Lysistrata Vickers (speaker), Dr. Volumnia Gaul
Page Number: 202
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 15 Quotes

Another student, or even the Coriolanus of a couple of weeks ago, would have protested this situation. Insisted on calling a parent or guardian. Pleaded. But after the snake attack on Clemensia, the aftermath of the bombing, and Marcus’s torture, he knew it would be pointless. If Dr. Gaul decided he was to go into the Capitol Arena, that’s where he would go, even if his prize was not at stake. He was just like the subjects of her other experiments, students or tributes, of no more consequence than the Avoxes in the cages. Powerless to object.

Related Characters: Coriolanus Snow, Sejanus Plinth, Dr. Volumnia Gaul, Marcus, Clemensia Dovecote
Page Number: 229
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 16 Quotes

“What happened in the arena? That’s humanity undressed. The tributes. And you, too. How quickly civilization disappears. All your fine manners, education, family background, everything you pride yourself on, stripped away in the blink of an eye, revealing everything you actually are. A boy with a club who beats another boy to death. That’s mankind in its natural state.”

Related Characters: Dr. Volumnia Gaul (speaker), Coriolanus Snow, Bobbin
Page Number: 243
Explanation and Analysis:

“So, if I’m a vicious animal, then who are you? You’re the teacher who sent her student to beat another boy to death!”

Related Characters: Coriolanus Snow (speaker), Dr. Volumnia Gaul, Bobbin
Page Number: 244
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 25 Quotes

It reminded me of my stint in the arena. It’s one to thing to speak of humans’ essential nature theoretically, another to consider it when a fist is smashing into your mouth. Only this time I felt more prepared. I’m not as convinced that we are all as inherently violent as you say, but it takes very little to bring the beast to the surface, at least under the cover of darkness. I wonder how many of those miners would have thrown a punch if the Capitol could have seen their faces?

Related Characters: Coriolanus Snow (speaker), Dr. Volumnia Gaul
Page Number: 400
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 29 Quotes

Everyone’s born as clean as a whistle—
As fresh as a daisy
And not a bit crazy.
Staying that way’s a hard row for hoeing—
As rough as a briar,
Like walking through fire.

Related Characters: Lucy Gray Baird (speaker), Coriolanus Snow, Dr. Volumnia Gaul
Page Number: 479
Explanation and Analysis:
Epilogue Quotes

“Because we credit them with innocence. And if even the most innocent among us turn to killers in the Hunger Games, what does that say? That our essential nature is violent,” Snow explained.

Related Characters: Coriolanus Snow (speaker), Dr. Volumnia Gaul, Dean Casca Highbottom
Page Number: 515
Explanation and Analysis: