The prequel for 'The Hunger Games' Trilogy
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
Since 2020 there hadn't been that new book in my local library and after this year I lost the interest in Collins' universum. But on ocasion of my reread of the original trylogy that will be soon published, I had to read also 'The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes'.
My friends told that 'The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes' is much better than the trylogy which is, in my personal opinion, not good nor bad, just mid. I was hoping that 'The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes' will shock me at least for a short time. Meanwhile I can't decide what do I think about the prequel of 'The Hunger Games'. On the one hand, I was really engaged in the action, even more than during reading 'The Hunger Games'. 'The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes' wins with the trylogy also in the field of the characters who's gained my liking and attention much greater than the ones in 'The Hunger Games'. I really like the ambiguity of the characters, them treading a fine line between good and evil, unstable belongingness to protagonists or antagonists of a story.
The main characters of 'The Ballad Songbirds and Snakes'
I especially appreciate the character of Lucy Gray, so mysterious to me. I love how her perception has been changing for me constantly while reading - she is a charming artist at one moment and at another - I see her as unbalanced and unpredictable. But I find the character structure of Snow's profile less interesting. Maybe it's because I had been hoping to find something different from 'The Ballad...'. I had expected to find the path that led Snow to the condition we know him for from 'The Hunger Games'. However, at a first glance, Collins writes about a situation unrelated to Snow's future. The process of how Snow gained power in Panem is not shown but the years of the future president's late teens. 'The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes' is the psychological stage of the young Snow, describing a gradual degradation of an innocent, perhaps a bit too ambitious boy into a ruthless candidate for a dictator.
What does the title 'The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes' mean?
The title of 'The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes' is also a subject of my fascination. It is the first Collins book whose title carries more metaphorical meaning. It undoubtedly refers to the characters Snow and Lucy Gray, but which one is a bird and which one - a snake? Lucy Gray is obviously a songbird. Lucy Gray is an artistic soul, music is her whole world. She is also the embodiment of freedom, liberty, breaking free from the shackles of social requirements, symbolised by a songbird. I have a bigger dilemma with a snake. Initially, I attributed this title to Lucy Gray: she is the queen of snakes, she dominates them many times. She is also cunning, she is a silent danger - like a snake hidden in the grass. The title "ballad" also suggests that she is the protagonist of the title - she is a poet after all.
Meaning of the Title
However, Snow also has the characteristics of a snake which Katniss notices in the original trilogy when she talks about his snake-like gaze. The very behaviour of Snow, known from 'The Hunger Games' clearly resembles the snake-like appearance.
As I mentioned, Lucy Gray is a snake charmer. Maybe she does the same thing to Snow as he is to her reptilian friends? Snow, as a personification of snakes is under her spell and falls under her charm. Lucy Gray gives the boy peace, just like the snakes she took care of. By the end of the book, Lucy Gray's magic disappears from Snow's heart and is replaced by a lust for power.
Snow thus represents two sides of the snake's symbolism: feelings, desire, love (for Lucy Gray) and cunning, malice, monstrosity. We observe the transformation of Snow from a snake in love to one devoid of positive feelings. Snow will become the snake identified with the devil but sixty-five years from now and 'Ballad of Birds and Snakes' is a prelude to that stage shown in 'The Hunger Games'.
Other references to 'The Hunger Games'
The number of other references to the original 'The Hunger Games' is enormous. The allusions are more or less obvious but anyone familiar with the trilogy will not be able to shake off the pleasant feeling that comes from reading the winks Collins threw their way. I also like the depth that the relationship between Katniss and Snow gains after 'The Ballad...'. It turns out that everything related to Katniss somehow reminded the president of Lucy Gray. Each symbol of the revolution becomes even richer in meaning, even the iconic song 'The Hunging Tree' which has been written by Snow's former lover. 'Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes' is thus a harbinger of the conflict between Katniss and Snow as if their fates as nemeses were already written sixty-five years earlier.
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Are you a fan of YA dystopia?
Read my review of 'Fable for the End of the World' by Ava Reid, the author of the bestseller 'A Study in Drowning'!
Cover image © Scholastic Publishers. Used with permission.
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