The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes movie makes Coriolanus Snow seem somewhat sympathetic, but the book makes it clear that he was the same brutal dictator seen in Katniss’ story. This comes down to the fact that audiences couldn’t see what Snow was thinking in the prequel movie, while the book was written to take his perspective. Though it’s certainly true that The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes aimed to help Hunger Games fans understand the villain better—and to explore the boundaries between good and evil—there are frequent reminders in Snow’s inner dialogue that he is a monster.
By the end of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Snow determines that all of humanity is as bad as he is and that the exceptionally intelligent and powerful are obligated to control the masses to keep them from turning the world into a large-scale Hunger Games. Snow’s darkest impulses developed due to the war and terror he grew up experiencing, and his involvement in the Hunger Games simply set them in stone, leading him to shun any goodness he might have possessed. Ultimately, Snow chose to embrace the darkness rather than fight it, but his most disturbing thoughts in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes prove it always existed inside him.
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10 “How sad, To Have No Friends.”
Snow’s Thought After Sejunus’ Mother Said He Was Her Son’s Only Friend
One of the early indications of how horrible young Coryo was in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes was his thoughts about Sejanus Plinth. He considered it below him to treat anyone poorly, and that was often mistaken as kindness. However, he had no feeling of friendship toward the District 2 boy at the start of the prequel. To him, Sejanus was a less-than-human District boy who came to the Capitol to take his place. Still, he pretended to care for Sejanus when talking to Mr. and Mrs. Plinth. When the boy’s “Ma” mentioned that Coryo was her son’s only friend, the future dictator’s first thought revealed his true feelings.
9 “He Had Only Wished That Her Charm And Appeal Would Rub Off On Him And Make Him A Success.”
Snow Realizing He Hadn’t Initially Cared Whether Lucy Gray Lived
Just as he did with Sejanus, Coryo only pretended to care for Lucy Gray in the beginning in hopes that the Capitol’s opinion of her would benefit him. He admitted this to himself in the Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes book when Lucy Gray told him that he needed to start thinking of her as an actual contender in the Games. To his slightest credit, Snow recognized the selfishness here and tried to shift his perspective. He grew to legitimately care for Lucy Gray (and even Sejanus), but he was unable to look past his own self-interest long enough for this affection to change him permanently.
8 “His Girl. His. Here In the Capitol, It Was A Given That Lucy Gray Belonged To Him, As If She’s Had No Life Before…”
Snow’s Thoughts After Hearing Lucy Gray’s Interview Song
Coryo really tried his hand at goodness for a little while in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, but his innate selfishness and possessiveness always got in the way. War and trauma emotionally stunted him, which meant that, in many ways, he was still a child full of raw, unchecked emotion (he only knew how to keep it hidden within him, not control it). Therefore, despite his realization that Lucy Gray was a good person who had selflessly saved his life, he couldn’t control his jealousy when she sang her interview song. The lyrics, which spoke of past lovers and even illuded to prostitution, seemed to tell the Capitol that she wasn’t his, and he felt this undermined his authority over her.
7 “She’d Still Be From The Districts, Or At Least Not Capitol. A Second-Class Citizen. Human, But Bestial.”
Snow Considering Whether Lucy Gray Was Truly Worthy Of Him
As Snow grew to care for Lucy Gray in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, he became conflicted. He had always seen District citizens as being less than human, and this was an easy idea to maintain when he had only ever seen the District children fighting for their lives in the Hunger Games arena. By getting to know his tribute, Coryo spent a lot of time trying to convince himself that she still wasn’t to his level. Eventually he could no longer lie to himself about this. However, rather than determining that he might have been wrong about the Districts, he told himself it was because Lucy Gray was Covey that she was an exception rather than a rule.
6 “Although He Did Not Believe In Celestial Writings, She Did, And That Was Enough To Guarantee Her Loyalty.”
Snow After Telling Lucy Gray He Believed They Were Destined To Be Together
In the Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes movie, Snow tells Lucy Gray, “You’re mine, and I’m yours. It’s written in the stars,” and this has been used to support the idea that he truly did love her for a time. Though it’s true that Snow loved Lucy Gray to the best of his ability, his thoughts immediately following this line show how disingenuous he was. It’s not that he was only saying what she wanted to hear—couples do this all the time to make each other feel good—he was manipulating her for loyalty. Ultimately, even at his “best,” Snow did only what served him.
5 “In Some Ways, It Had Been Better To Have Her Locked Up In The Capitol, Where He Always Had A General Idea Of What She Was Doing.”
Snow After Realizing He Couldn’t Control Lucy Gray In District 12
This line in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is the most definitive proof of Snow’s misguided idea of love. When the pair were together in District 12, Lucy Gray was again free and able to resume her life, and though this should have made Coryo happy for her, it only increased his jealousy. In some ways, she was more free than he was, and he despised not knowing what she was doing at any given time. Coryo secretly wished she was still kept in the miserable zoo enclosure back at the Capitol so he could resume his regular life and come see her whenever he wanted—pretty despicable.
4 “He Felt A Bit Guilty, Frightening Her This Way… The Idea Of Life Without Him Must Be Breaking Her Heart.”
Snow Imagining How Lucy Gray Felt As He Hunted Her
When Snow began hunting Lucy Gray in the woods near District 12, he had already realized they probably couldn’t part ways amicably. He considered leaving the gun behind in the shack, but without identifying why, he brought it with him anyway. Coryo knew Lucy Gray was a threat and was concerned that she had a knife and had gotten the “wrong idea.” Still, he hadn’t understood that Lucy Gray would fight back, instead thinking she must be hiding in the woods, mourning that they could no longer be together.
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3 “If He’d Felt Better, He’d Have Laughed At the Irony Of How Quickly Their Relationship Had Deteriorated Into Their Own Private Hunger Games.”
Snow After Being Attacked By Lucy Gray’s Snake
The scene that was the most harmed by the lack of Snow’s inner dialogue in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is when he and Lucy Gray turned against each other. In the book, the pair never talked about the guns or Lucy Gray being a loose end—all of this happened in Snow’s head. Through his thoughts, we see him drastically switch from thinking his love was all he had left in the world to essentially saying, “Eh, we weren’t that close anyway,“ when he realized he could return for Officer training. Still, once he saw that Lucy Gray would fight back, he blamed their falling out entirely on her, calling her deceptive and sneaky.
2 “If He Ever Married, He’d Choose Someone Incapable Of Swaying His Heart. Someone He Hated, Even, So They Could Never Manipulate Him The Way Lucy Gray Had.”
Snow Deciding He Would Never Be “Manipulated” By A Lover Again
Once Snow decided he was done with Lucy Gray, he concluded that everything that went wrong between them was entirely her fault. He convinced himself in the shortest of instances that she had deceived and betrayed him and that his love for her had put himself and his future in danger (rather than acknowledging that he was the problem). So, when he returned to the Capitol, he decided to marry someone he hated. His classmate Livia Cardew was the first to come to mind since she was good Capitol stock but stupid enough to be controlled. Ultimately, this demonstrates just how much Snow had shut down even those tiny slivers of good that had existed inside him.
1 “Goodbye Lucy Gray, We Hardly Knew You.”
Snow Mentally Saying Goodbye To Lucy Gray From The Capitol
Dr. Gaul decided that the 10th Hunger Games should be erased from Panem’s records, and Coriolanus agreed this was only for the best. He didn’t want to be associated with Lucy Gray anymore and knew that the Capitol and Districts alike would forget all about her if the 10th Games were never mentioned again. This is a rather tragic truth since the citizens had adored Lucy Gray when she was there, but Snow was correct in his sarcastic farewell to the girl in his mind—no one had really known her. Even Coryo, the monster he was, only ever saw her as disposable in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes—despite his belief that he loved her.
