Really enjoyed reading your interpretation of Snow’s story and there are so many parts i would love to highlight and talk about more but i will stick to commenting on two that are, in my opinion, perfectly written.
“To me he rather depicts being incredibly taken by her and maybe even borderline obsessive about her. The girl was a pawn in the game- someone he was able to control 100% - something he definitely lacked in his life. Control was something he craved desperately. To him being in control meant that he was safe. He might have told himself it was love but in the end he just loved being important, feeling in power, and wanting back the lifestyle he once had. Did he even know what love truly felt like? Lucy Gray had asked him once if he wanted to help her survive or if he got something from it and he didn’t hesitate in telling her it was both he craved. She was a means to an end, a second class citizen that could help him be a glorified victor. Coriolanus is of the jealous kind, and is incredibly fixated on having something that is only his.”
You said in the beginning that you haven’t yet finished reading the book which took me by surprise because you are only able to fully understand the depth of Coriolanus’ story after reading tbosas. Every single part of the events taking place in the book is crucial to the development of his character and the movie format can’t fully portray his inner thoughts and feelings which can lead to misinterpretation of his character and his actions. I feel like Snow’s most important motivation throughout the years was to regain his sense of control over his life. The war, his mother’s death, his father’s death and all his family’s wealth disappearing in front of him installed in him the fear of not being always in control. And that definitely manifests in all his relationships and interactions. His inner monologue in the book about Lucy Gray is most of the times sickening. You said it perfectly, he genuinely sees her as a means to an end, as an object and the moment he realises that she isn’t going to be who He wants her to be or act and think the way He wants her to that’s when he stops pretending that he sees her as the person she is and not the made up ideal picture of her he created in his mind.
“We really get to see the real Coriolanus Snow. He tells Sejanus that they are brothers, that he will protect him. But in reality Coryo is the one to guide his brother to the Hanging Tree. It doesn’t sit right with him that his friend is trying to help rebels, the people who took everything from him. It really doesn’t matter how much he cared for him, he was interfering with his plans and he needed him gone. Having to pull the trigger himself wasn’t possible though. Sejanus screaming for Coryo to help him and his mother still echoes in my mind. “MA MA MA MA MA MA MA”. He never turned around when they led his best companion to the Hanging Tree, not even when he was screaming his name. Alliance wasn’t what he was looking for, it was power and control. He would kill everyone that would interfere with his destiny to be the President of Panem. There shouldn’t be any loose ends, they needed to disappear.”
If it’s not clear, two of my favourite characters of the book are Lucy Gray and Sejanus (i would die for them). With that being said Coryo and Sejanus’ relationship and dynamic is something I’m very passionate about. In the book Coriolanus thoughts about Sejanus always made feel so upset especially because Sejanus is described as someone who cared deeply about others and wanted to change the horrible reality they were all living in. You mention that Coriolanus wasn’t looking for alliance but power and control, things that Sejanus despises. He doesn’t like the way Capitol has complete control over the districts and it uses that power to continuously punish district people. Despite those feelings he still cared for Coryo because he was simply a good person. Despite being bullied all his life by his Capitol classmates he never once judged Coriolanus because he really believed he had some good in him. And he maybe he could have grown to be a semi decent person at least, if he wasn’t so set on being powerful and in control. After reading Sejanus’ ending (he’s still alive to me idc) I was able to fully grasp just how evil Coriolanus is. The first time i read the book, I kept hoping up to that point, that he would have a change of heart, that he would finally realise that humans are much more important than power but that never happens. He made his choices and he lived a life haunted by the two people he betrayed.
I enjoyed reading your post and I look forward to reading more of your writing <3
my dearest lia, this was one of the best comments anyone could have ever given me. i am incredibly happy how 1. we understand each other in every way. there‘s something so beautiful in being understood. your further interpretations and thoughts on the characters were simply sublime, and i will agree in every single aspect. (you should write yourself, since i was engaged the entire time and so close to yelling "so true" at my phone whilst reading)
2. i am incredibly happy how you genuinely read my thoughts and appreciated my stand point on things. it’s not a given with such a long read that everyone will read all of it and engage with the material like you have.
i am nearly done with the book now (one of the best reads ever) but seeing you say that i still did a good job of interpreting coriolanus has me doing back flips.
genuinely thank you, thank you for taking time out of your day to comment and read. this was a wonderful thing to come back to!
i am also very excited to give you guys more articles in the future, there’s a lot going on in my head.
all the love to you lia!! and stay safe my friend!!
Honestly after I finished reading your post I was contemplating whether to reply to your tweet about it (because we follow each other on there and that’s how I discovered your substack) but upon further thought I decided to just reply on here since I can write as much as I want and I wanted to expand on why I liked your beautiful review !!
There’s definitely something very beautiful in being understood (that’s what prompted me to write the comment in the first place) and oh my god thank you so much for the compliment (as a person who finds solace in writing, to hear that someone liked what I wrote, even a little piece of interpretation of fictional characters I am obsessed with, means so much to me).
I feel like after you finish the book you will have even more thoughts about it. Coriolanus is such a multidimensional character and there is so much about him you understand by the end of the story. Your post was thought provoking and I’m very glad I read this !! You are so sweet and again I’m looking forward to more writing from you !! I hope you have a lovely day/night <3
you should really consider starting your own blog because i would love to see your thoughts on anything really!! it’s been lovely reading your replies, i would be delighted to see some more writing of yours. (starting a blog is anxiety inducing for sure but incredibly freeing at the same time)
i have a highly complicated relationship with coriolanus for sure, but as a villain he’s absolutely perfect. he is THE perfect character to analyse, it was a pleasure writing this!
thank you, you wonderful human being!! keep safe!!
Really enjoyed reading your interpretation of Snow’s story and there are so many parts i would love to highlight and talk about more but i will stick to commenting on two that are, in my opinion, perfectly written.
“To me he rather depicts being incredibly taken by her and maybe even borderline obsessive about her. The girl was a pawn in the game- someone he was able to control 100% - something he definitely lacked in his life. Control was something he craved desperately. To him being in control meant that he was safe. He might have told himself it was love but in the end he just loved being important, feeling in power, and wanting back the lifestyle he once had. Did he even know what love truly felt like? Lucy Gray had asked him once if he wanted to help her survive or if he got something from it and he didn’t hesitate in telling her it was both he craved. She was a means to an end, a second class citizen that could help him be a glorified victor. Coriolanus is of the jealous kind, and is incredibly fixated on having something that is only his.”
You said in the beginning that you haven’t yet finished reading the book which took me by surprise because you are only able to fully understand the depth of Coriolanus’ story after reading tbosas. Every single part of the events taking place in the book is crucial to the development of his character and the movie format can’t fully portray his inner thoughts and feelings which can lead to misinterpretation of his character and his actions. I feel like Snow’s most important motivation throughout the years was to regain his sense of control over his life. The war, his mother’s death, his father’s death and all his family’s wealth disappearing in front of him installed in him the fear of not being always in control. And that definitely manifests in all his relationships and interactions. His inner monologue in the book about Lucy Gray is most of the times sickening. You said it perfectly, he genuinely sees her as a means to an end, as an object and the moment he realises that she isn’t going to be who He wants her to be or act and think the way He wants her to that’s when he stops pretending that he sees her as the person she is and not the made up ideal picture of her he created in his mind.
“We really get to see the real Coriolanus Snow. He tells Sejanus that they are brothers, that he will protect him. But in reality Coryo is the one to guide his brother to the Hanging Tree. It doesn’t sit right with him that his friend is trying to help rebels, the people who took everything from him. It really doesn’t matter how much he cared for him, he was interfering with his plans and he needed him gone. Having to pull the trigger himself wasn’t possible though. Sejanus screaming for Coryo to help him and his mother still echoes in my mind. “MA MA MA MA MA MA MA”. He never turned around when they led his best companion to the Hanging Tree, not even when he was screaming his name. Alliance wasn’t what he was looking for, it was power and control. He would kill everyone that would interfere with his destiny to be the President of Panem. There shouldn’t be any loose ends, they needed to disappear.”
If it’s not clear, two of my favourite characters of the book are Lucy Gray and Sejanus (i would die for them). With that being said Coryo and Sejanus’ relationship and dynamic is something I’m very passionate about. In the book Coriolanus thoughts about Sejanus always made feel so upset especially because Sejanus is described as someone who cared deeply about others and wanted to change the horrible reality they were all living in. You mention that Coriolanus wasn’t looking for alliance but power and control, things that Sejanus despises. He doesn’t like the way Capitol has complete control over the districts and it uses that power to continuously punish district people. Despite those feelings he still cared for Coryo because he was simply a good person. Despite being bullied all his life by his Capitol classmates he never once judged Coriolanus because he really believed he had some good in him. And he maybe he could have grown to be a semi decent person at least, if he wasn’t so set on being powerful and in control. After reading Sejanus’ ending (he’s still alive to me idc) I was able to fully grasp just how evil Coriolanus is. The first time i read the book, I kept hoping up to that point, that he would have a change of heart, that he would finally realise that humans are much more important than power but that never happens. He made his choices and he lived a life haunted by the two people he betrayed.
I enjoyed reading your post and I look forward to reading more of your writing <3
my dearest lia, this was one of the best comments anyone could have ever given me. i am incredibly happy how 1. we understand each other in every way. there‘s something so beautiful in being understood. your further interpretations and thoughts on the characters were simply sublime, and i will agree in every single aspect. (you should write yourself, since i was engaged the entire time and so close to yelling "so true" at my phone whilst reading)
2. i am incredibly happy how you genuinely read my thoughts and appreciated my stand point on things. it’s not a given with such a long read that everyone will read all of it and engage with the material like you have.
i am nearly done with the book now (one of the best reads ever) but seeing you say that i still did a good job of interpreting coriolanus has me doing back flips.
genuinely thank you, thank you for taking time out of your day to comment and read. this was a wonderful thing to come back to!
i am also very excited to give you guys more articles in the future, there’s a lot going on in my head.
all the love to you lia!! and stay safe my friend!!
Honestly after I finished reading your post I was contemplating whether to reply to your tweet about it (because we follow each other on there and that’s how I discovered your substack) but upon further thought I decided to just reply on here since I can write as much as I want and I wanted to expand on why I liked your beautiful review !!
There’s definitely something very beautiful in being understood (that’s what prompted me to write the comment in the first place) and oh my god thank you so much for the compliment (as a person who finds solace in writing, to hear that someone liked what I wrote, even a little piece of interpretation of fictional characters I am obsessed with, means so much to me).
I feel like after you finish the book you will have even more thoughts about it. Coriolanus is such a multidimensional character and there is so much about him you understand by the end of the story. Your post was thought provoking and I’m very glad I read this !! You are so sweet and again I’m looking forward to more writing from you !! I hope you have a lovely day/night <3
you should really consider starting your own blog because i would love to see your thoughts on anything really!! it’s been lovely reading your replies, i would be delighted to see some more writing of yours. (starting a blog is anxiety inducing for sure but incredibly freeing at the same time)
i have a highly complicated relationship with coriolanus for sure, but as a villain he’s absolutely perfect. he is THE perfect character to analyse, it was a pleasure writing this!
thank you, you wonderful human being!! keep safe!!