The Hunger Games prequel had a long title unlike the previous installments'. So, what does the title 'The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes' mean? Find out below:
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What Is The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes About?
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes's plot already hints at the meaning of its title.
Unfolding several decades before Katniss' story, it follows a young Coriolanus Snow at the eve of the 10th Hunger Games.
Snow, a student, is asked to get involved in a project to make the Hunger Games more appealing.
With previous victor mentors not yet being an option, Snow himself is tasked with mentoring one of the Games' tributes; 16-year-old Lucy Gray Baird, an entertainer from District 12.
During his time with Lucy Gray, Snow becomes attached to her and wants to help her survive.
At the same time, his opportunistic nature is evident and his help is selfish, as he's already working toward becoming the ruthless dictator we know from the original trilogy.
The Hidden Meaning Behind The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
The title The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes alludes to music's importance in-universe while also giving us information about the two leads' dynamic.
Ballads are often concerned with love or intimate relationships, and the attraction between Lucy Gray and Coriolanus Snow cannot be denied.
At the same time, a ballad can be mournful, and the story is all about the loss of Snow's potential to become a decent person.
Lucy Gray Baird's Songs
Lucy Gray can be interpreted as the titular songbird because she's a singer who performs several songs throughout the movie.
She wrote many of the songs that Katniss learned through her father, including the forbidden song "The Hanging Tree."
Moreover, Lucy operates outside social norms and Capitol restrictions, and birds in The Hunger Games are potent symbols of rebellion.
The mockingjays that would later become Katniss' signature are hybrids, born out of the artificial jabberjays Capitol failed to use against the districs, and natural mockingbirds.
Thus, mockingjays epitomize resistance against oppression, and Lucy Gray is likely familiar with this idea.
Snow's Poison and Treachery
Coriolanus Snow signature weapon is poison. When he rises into power, he goes so far as to taste the poisoned food he gives his opponents, then takes antidotes.
Due to the biblical story of Genesis and their often fatal poison, snakes have come to symbolize cunning, treachery, ambition, and sometimes sin.
Even though Snow wasn't born evil, and had originally hoped to do the right thing, he ultimately deems his advancement more important, which would make him the titular snake.
Could Lucy Gray Baird Be the Snake?
Lucy Gray is enigmatic and, since we never get her own viewpoint, we only ever see her through Snow's eyes.
While she can show ruthlessness to survive, we get the impression that Lucy is a better person than Snow.
Her intimate knowledge of nature, of course, means that she's as familiar with snakes as she is with songbirds, and she will sometimes resolve to use snakes' poisons to survive.
From Snow's perspective, Lucy Gray could be the snake, and he may even believe that her use of the serpents inspired his own villainous poisonings.
Of course, Snow is a highly unreliable narrator, and we can't imagine Lucy Gray committing the atrocities he did.
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