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The novel’s setting, Panem is a country that encompasses all of North America. The wealthy ruling class lives in a city known as the Capitol, and the rest of the country is divided into 13 districts (many of which are impoverished). District 13, though, is uninhabitable after a nuclear explosion leveled it during the war with the rebels.
Panem Quotes in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
The The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes quotes below are all either spoken by Panem or refer to Panem. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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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.
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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.”
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Chapter 8
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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.
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Get the entire The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes LitChart as a printable PDF.
Panem Term Timeline in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
The timeline below shows where the term Panem appears in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1
...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 a terrible singer....
(full context)
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...
(full context)
Chapter 6
...they were young kids when the war ended. In theory, Sejanus says, they’re citizens of Panem, just like the people in the Capitol. He doesn’t see how the government is doing...
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Chapter 7
...the food and a panel for betting. Proceeds will make the games almost free for Panem to put on.
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Chapter 13
...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...
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Chapter 18
...and then seem to come to an agreement. Reaper climbs the flagpole and hacks through Panem’s flag until it falls. The audience is aghast; this demands punishment. Clemensia tells Lepidus that...
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Chapter 26
...better 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...
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