The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

Coriolanus and Lucy Gray decide that her best chance at victory is to let the other tributes kill each other until she is the last one standing.

Meanwhile, Dr. Gaul reiterates that the Capitol is justified in inflicting the Games, given that “war is a constant” (161); the only way to retain power is to “control it indefinitely […] with strict laws, and with reminders of who’s in charge” (162), as Coriolanus himself surmises. Dr. Gaul tasks the students with writing an essay about everything they find “attractive about war” (162).

Coriolanus secures a guitar for Lucy Gray prior to their next interview, and Tigris fixes her signature dress. Coriolanus tells her that “[her] odds get better by the minute,” to which Lucy Gray replies, “The show’s not over until the mockingjay sings” (169). She once again commands the spotlight with “The Ballad of Lucy Gray Baird,” a haunting song about past deeds, former lovers, and mortality. While the audience applauds with enthusiasm, Coriolanus is consumed by jealousy.

Coriolanus feels humiliated by Lucy Gray’s song; more so, by the implication that she lived a different life before him. Despite “Lucy Gray [belonging] to him” (172), her song ultimately disrupted his fantasy and he sulks about “how friendly she could be” toward other men (173).