Reading TBoSaS Was An Eye Opening Experience For Me Because For A Minute I Was Like Katniss And Peeta

Reading TBoSaS was an eye opening experience for me because for a minute I was like Katniss and Peeta had it so much better than Lucy and these other children who were treated like literal animals- transporting them like livestock and putting them in cages not to mention the very public, dehumanizing parades. But then I was horrified at myself because I couldn’t believe myself. It wasn’t better at all, Katniss and Peeta were brought there for the same exact purpose and putting them in fancy dresses and providing them with expensive amenities doesn’t take it away. It’s still the same horrible, wretched, gruesome tradition, I just thought it was better because it was also wrapped up nicely with a pretty bow which I guess was the whole point.

You have no idea how excited I am for this show

Something that I will never get over and still tear up thinking about is Peeta’s return in the end of the series and he’s planting flowers for Prim… in a post war, destructed, ugly and tarnished district 12 his first thought was to plant flowers

I think what I like so much about the ballad of songbirds and snakes is that it shows the true extent of corruption and how it pollutes the soul. Snow wasn't born evil. He was undoubtedly prejudiced against the districts. He was certainly ambitious and snobby. But I think what I find most satisfying about his arc is that - to me at least - there are moments of genuine goodness on his part, or at least the potential to be good.

I think on some level, he did genuinely care about Lucy Gray. He did care Sejanus too, I think, though he didn't want to. Obviously all of this is complicated by his own toxicity and prejudices, but I think Suzanne Collins wanted to highlight the power of choices.

Snow could have chosen love and friendship. He an ample opportunity to. Those seeds of potential to do better and be better could have blossomed. but it didn't because of his own choices. because of what he valued.

I don't think Snow was born as the monster he eventually became, and I certainly don't think these moments of genuine care and affection on his part when he was younger excuses the irredeemable things he did when he was in power. But I think the great tragedy for everyone around him that were most affected by his actions (that knew him personally)- Lucy Gray, Sejanus, Tigris - is that those glimmers of goodness they saw in him that inspired them to attach themselves to Snow in the first place were, to some extent, real.

He just decided not to care anymore. He decided to complete/encourage the system instead of trying to dismantle it. Instead of seeing Lucy Gray as proof that his prejudices against the districts were wrong, he sees her as the exception. Instead of acknowledging Tigris and appreciating the sacrifices she made for him, he chose to honour his reputation and "pride" more. I could go on, really.

But part of the reason why I loved this book so much and that I'm still thinking about it months later is because it shows that Snow actively chose to become what he did. He didn't do it out of vengeance or some tragic revenge plot against the districts. He did it because ultimately he loved power more.