Arachne Crane was a female resident of the Capitol and a student of the Academy. She was one of 24 top-performing seniors at the Academy selected to be a mentor for the 10th Hunger Games. She was assigned the female tribute from District 10, Brandy.
Biography[]
Her family was part of the old guard of the wealthy from the Capitol. They worked in the travel industry, having developed luxury hotels in vacation destinations, though the industry took a hit during and after the First Rebellion. However, Coriolanus Snow thought that it might be picking up based on Arachne's ability to afford fresh grapes.[1] She had an older brother who graduated from the Academy the year prior.[2]
People thought that she and Coriolanus were great friends and, as such, he was tasked with singing the Capitol anthem "Gem of Panem" at her funeral.[3] In fact, the two were not actually very close at all. They had grown up together, attending important events in each other's lives, as was natural for members of two families of money who lived close together, but did not really like each other.[2]
During the first mentor-tribute meeting, Arachne's tribute, Brandy, told her about how she spent most of her time in District 10 butchering hogs. However, Arachne found it repulsive until she realized she could use her knowledge of District 10 to make up something more brilliant than the details of a slaughterhouse.
Death[]
Arachne was killed by her own tribute, knifed in the throat after she taunted Brandy by reaching through her bars in the Capitol Zoo to offer a cheese sandwich, only to then withdraw it. Angered, Brandy used the knife that Crane had sliced the cheese for the sandwich with to accomplish the deed.[1] As Arachne's face drained of color, she turned towards the audience for help, but only Coriolanus and one of her other classmates, Festus Creed, went over in an attempt to help her. Arachne was lifted onto a stretcher by medics shortly after she died.[2]
After her death, a schoolwide assembly was held at the Academy, where Professor Satyria Click spoke of Arachne in glowing terms and the school counselor Hippocrata Lunt invited anyone with grief issues to visit her office. For Arachne's funeral, numerous cameras and Capitol TV reporters were positioned. Coriolanus had been asked to sing the anthem at the beginning, and President Ravinstill followed with a speech.[3]
Personality and traits[]
She was a boisterous individual and Coriolanus Snow felt that she had always been very loud and was always mocking people. She was cruel and taunted her tribute, which resulted in her death.[1] Snow found her funeral ridiculous and out of proportion for someone like her, given how many had died heroically in the First Rebellion.[3]
Etymology[]
Arachne was a mortal maiden and accomplished weaver from Greco-Roman mythology, who in arrogance declared herself more talented than the goddess Athena/Minerva, the patron of said profession. Convinced of her own superiority, she accepted a challenge proposed by the goddess, which she lost, and as punishment was turned into the first spider. In other versions, Arachne originally won, but Athena/Minerva was jealous and killed her, but then, regretting her actions, turned her into the first spider as a gift. The arrogance of Arachne Crane’s namesake is reflected in the character's personality.
Trivia[]
- She knew how to balance a spoon on her nose (which along with her loudness was her only talent according to Snow).[3]
- It is likely that she was a relative of Seneca Crane. She had an older brother who could have passed down the surname.