Warning: Spoilers for The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes follow.
The Hunger Games, the prequel follows an 18-year-old Coriolanus Snow through education, power grabs, love, and loss. Riddled throughout his story are references to songbirds and snakes — and what each means to Snow individually and to the world at large.
The Battle of Songbirds and Snakes is a Hunger Games prequel that tells a story from the youth of President Snow, the villain of the original trilogy. It shows his humble beginnings, struggle to rise in class, and his love for a young woman named Lucy Gray Baird, a traveling performer who has a lovely voice and has been chosen as District 12's tribute for the 10th Hunger Games. During the course of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Snow has to make tough decisions that inform the character he will eventually become in The Hunger Games trilogy.
Both songbirds and snakes permeate the Hunger Games prequel. Snow reflects on his hatred of the Mockingjay, it being a symbol in his mind for a lack of order and discipline — traits he despises in spite of his affection for Lucy, who embodies them as a traveling performer. Lucy Gray is thematically a songbird who has a noted affinity for snakes, which is probably a good thing given her obvious affection for Coriolanus Snow and his more snakish tendencies.
Songbirds embody beauty, freedom, and innocence. They fly on the wind, untethered from the earth and its concerns. They can see the larger picture. Snakes stand — or slither — in counterpoint to this. They are stuck to the ground, more rigid and involved than the songbird could ever be. A snake is sly and cunning and venomous. The songbird not only wouldn't hurt a soul, but it probably couldn't do so if it wanted to. The snake can kill with a strike. These descriptors sum up the leads of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes readily: President Snow is comfortable with death and will kill swiftly when provoked. He isn't above doing whatever is necessary to get his way. He is rigid and disciplined and despises chaos. Lucy is a bird on the wing, meant for freedom and the sky. Despite their love, the two stand in stark contrast.
Other examples of this theming exist in the Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes novel and will likely appear in the movie when it comes out toward the end of 2023. Little is known about the specific details of the Hunger Games prequel save for the actors cast in its leading roles and its proposed release date. The title of The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is the perfect description of what the story is about and sums up its two main characters and their star-crossed love succinctly.
