The Games
I know everyone’s talking about character parallels in TBOSAS (and believe me, I have a lot to say on that, too) but I want to talk about the evolution of the Games, okay.
So POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD!!!
I think it’s so interesting how you see Snow’s vision of the Games changing throughout the novel, how you see him start to morph into what we can see him as in the original trilogy. It’s all about control, control, control.
At first, it’s been 10 years of the Games and really no one has a taste for them. Even those people in the Capitol, who have seen war an death by the districts. Many think them scum, but not necessarily enjoying the Games. So then they have to sell the Games to people -- to draw on their flaws in humanity. Their selfishness, their competition. This is the first time, to me, that I recognized who exactly this was. That this was the Snow that could torture, kill and terrorize people.
The tributes were kept in a zoo, and people could laugh at them, feed them, see them. They were no longer people, but playthings. Playthings that had no worth, just served as entertainment, as chess pieces. But the tributes COULDN’T MIND because a good show, a good performance, meant more food, more energy, more chances to stay alive for as long as possible. No not succumb to the elements before you were stuck in a pin to fight to the death.
And then to see that arena, and you have to think of the nine previous Games, where everyone was basically just trapped in a field and most of them died from starvation or exposure, just trapped like animals in a cage. Abused, neglected, not bloodthirsty. But then, with the bombings created hiding places, and things to be used in strategy. To make it a game. To make it more entertaining.
And it worked. People could bet on their favorites in the Capitol, could give money to help them stay alive. It was a vicarious sort of fame (not to mention the money for the mentors, but that’s a whole different conversation). They were excited about it, and had someone to cheer for rather than just witness the horror of child turning on child. The Capitol people were easy to sway. Just bits of money, a glint of fame.
But for the Districts, they had to make it benefit their life, so they cared. So they wanted their district to win. They needed a lifeline, and that’s what they got.
So, looking at that versus “modern” Hunger Games, here’s what I can see. The people in the Capitol who never faced war -- the generation after Snow -- probably didn’t want to see dirty, grimy district kids, they didn’t see a time when this wasn’t fun. They wanted it to be a celebration. Make things more interesting, build new areas; give us better chances at winning bets, let the Gamemakers rank them; let us get to know all of them, give them interviews; let them look presentable, make them up and dress them in frilly costumes. And once they’ve won the Games? Give them a talent, make them show off more for the Capitol, be yet another source of entertainment.
This is why The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes was important. It’s Suzanne Collins’ way of telling us that hey! You guys fell into the same trap the first time! You got focused on the love triangle and became just as bad as the Capitol, completely forgetting the meaning of what she tried to make these books represent.