Many people believe that the book is always better than the movie. This may not be the case for “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.” The book and movie both manage to encapsulate Coriolanus Snow’s thirst for power that ultimately leads to corruption of the entire nation of Panem. 

The prequel to “The Hunger Games” franchise was released to theaters on Nov. 17. The movie is based off of the book by Suzanne Collins, and the movie manages to capture all the major plot points of a 500+ page book in the span of a little under 3 hours – something undoubtedly hard to pull off. 

The overall quality of the movie is spectacular, in that it tells the whole story the same as the book, without changing anything. This serves as an appealing factor because even if people only choose to observe one format of the story, they still get all the same details. 

The original book goes super in-depth into Snow’s inner thoughts. The movie does an excellent job of portraying Snow’s perspective and beliefs about the behaviors and political activities of the Capitol and the Districts. When people who read the book take more time to analyze the text, they will realize that the person who Snow becomes in the end was there from the very beginning. Both the book and movie excellently encapsulate Snow’s struggle to not succumb to his true desire for ultimate power. 

Audiences may even grow hopeful during the times Snow spends in District 12 as a peacekeeper after the 10th Hunger Games. He realizes that he has fallen in love with his tribute who he managed to turn into a victor in the games – Lucy Gray. Them spending time together and being able to act their age only adds to the emotions audiences feel at the end of the story, as they will grow hopeful, even though it is already known who Snow will turn into. 

Hope is shattered after a major incident leads Snow and Gray to flee the district. Through this he realizes that Gray, the sole thing tethering him to sanity, may be the thing keeping him from achieving his true goal: to become the President of Panem. This leads him to leave her as soon as he is given the opportunity to go back to his home. 

Since the story is a prequel, many connections can be made from Snow’s behavior in “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” and to the rest of “The Hunger Games” franchise. Like his hatred for love and compassion, as shown through his anger when Katniss and Peeta manage to emerge as victors in the 74th Hunger Games. Love is revealed to be his biggest weakness in the prequel – the thing that nearly set him off his path to power. 

The slow revealing of Snow’s true nature will make audiences hate him, along with the false hope that they may carry,  causing them to become more engaged with the story. 

Overall, both the book and the movie did an outstanding job of telling the story of Snow’s rise to power, showcasing the emotions and perspectives of the corrupted president in a spectacular way.