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The Compass
Panem’s anthem shows how successful the country’s propaganda machine is, as the country’s ideals, as celebrated in the anthem, don’t match up at all with how the country treats a majority of its citizens. During a mentor meeting with Dr. Gaul, Sejanus points out that the anthem promises that Panem will take care of every person who lives in the country—and yet, the very existence of the Hunger Games means that at least 24 citizens, and those citizens’ families, are being directly harmed by the government.
Sejanus, though, is the only character in the novel to ever point out that the anthem’s ideals don’t match up with the country’s actions. And this is, in a way, by design—the Capitol doesn’t encourage anyone, especially Capitol dwellers, to think critically about how the government functions or even to consider those who live in the districts worthy of respect and care. This is best evidenced by Coriolanus’s personal relationship to the anthem. He hears it daily, since the Grandma’am begins every day by playing an old recording of the anthem and singing along. This is a patriotic exercise for her, and it’s resulted in Coriolanus learning every word. But the anthem has, for him, simply become background—its contents aren’t something he ever thinks about, even as he sees firsthand that Panem horrifically abuses district children every year. Put simply, the anthem illustrates how successful Panem has been at expressing lofty, idealistic goals, and then doing the exact opposite of what they proclaim, by turning the expression of those ideals into meaningless background noise.
Panem’s Anthem Quotes in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
The The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes quotes below all refer to the symbol of Panem’s Anthem. 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:
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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:
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Explanation and Analysis:
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Panem’s Anthem Symbol Timeline in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
The timeline below shows where the symbol Panem’s Anthem appears in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1
Coriolanus’s grandmother begins her morning routine of playing the recording of the Capitol Anthem, “Gem of Panem,” and singing along. She’s been doing this daily for a decade—and she’s...
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As Coriolanus’s grandmother hits the final notes of the anthem, Coriolanus sighs. She keeps talking about how Coriolanus is going to be president one day,...
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Chapter 2
A screen at the front of the auditorium shows the seal of Panem and the anthem blares. Coriolanus is the only one of his classmates who knows all the words. The...
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Chapter 9
...Coriolanus eats, he picks up Satyria’s next call. She just wants him to sing the anthem at Arachne’s funeral tomorrow. Once Coriolanus agrees, Satyria asks how Lucy Gray is. Coriolanus says...
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...the morning, Grandma’am wakes Coriolanus up at dawn so she can coach him through the anthem. When she deems him ready, she pins a rosebud to his uniform jacket and sends...
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...a.m., Coriolanus walks to the podium. Accompanied by a tinny instrumental recording, he begins the anthem. He sails through the song, which isn’t challenging, and sits to applause. Then, President Ravinstill...
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Chapter 10
...upset. He watches the funeral broadcast from bed. The organizers use a hologram of Coriolanus’s anthem performance from Arachne’s funeral. In the last few days, the two District Nine tributes died...
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Chapter 13
Just then, the anthem begins to play (Coriolanus is still the only classmate who can sing it). Then, Lucky...
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Chapter 16
...won’t kill Lucy Gray now. Coriolanus collapses in bed and wakes to Grandma’am singing the anthem. He showers, inspects his stitches, and decides to tell people he had a bike accident....
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...She doesn’t know yet that Bobbin is dead. The mentors take their seats, sing the anthem at eight, and then Lucky welcomes everyone to day two. Cameras pan to Marcus’s body....
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Chapter 19
Coriolanus wakes up to the anthem in the morning and eats some of Ma’s breakfast foods on the trolley to school....
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Chapter 26
...than mockingbirds. She asks Coriolanus to sing, so he sings a few bars of Panem’s anthem. A mockingjay immediately replicates the melody, others pick it up, and soon they sing in...
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Chapter 27
...the scientists allow him to play with the birds. Coriolanus enjoys making them sing the anthem—but though it’s satisfying to hear the mockingjays pick up the tune, he hates when they...
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