Avox

A red-uniformed Avox in The Hunger Games film

An Avox was a person who had their tongue cut out, rendering them mute, as punishment for being a rebel, traitor, deserter or criminal. Most Avoxes would have been hunted down and caught by Peacekeepers. They then spent their lives as the lowest class in Panem, serving the Capitol as slaves.

Work

There were Avoxes enslaved as domestic servants by the government of Panem, as well as by private Capitol citizens. Most Avoxes in the trilogy were seen waiting on tributes in the Training Center.

Other Avoxes were enslaved as civil servants, charged with the day-to-day maintenance of the Capitol. They worked shifts in the sewer network and Transfer under the city. They also operated in other lower level positions within waste management, such as driving garbage trucks.

Abuses

As an enslaved class of people stripped of all their human rights, Avoxes were subjected to many abuses.

• At the time of the 10th Hunger Games, Coriolanus Snow witnessed Avoxes in the Citadel having had animal parts grafted onto their bodies in some grotesque experiment, as well as being tortured with jabberjays that echoed their screams.
• According to Peeta Mellark, the two Avoxes who served District 12's tributes during the 75th Hunger Games were imprisoned with him in the Capitol; Lavinia was killed by an electric shock, while Darius was badly beaten, tortured and mutilated for days until he succumbed to blood-loss and shock from his wounds.
• The Avoxes that worked underground never saw sunlight, and had to navigate dangerous pods everyday just to do their jobs. When lizard mutts were unleashed in the tunnels during the Battle of the Capitol, Squad 451 could hear these people screaming as they were killed.

Culture

An Avox in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Ordinary citizens were not permitted to speak to Avoxes unless giving them an order. The term Avox was also nearly synonymous with muteness or mutism. Despite this, Avoxes were able to communicate through gestures such as nodding, pointing, or writing. In the films, the Avox Pollux and his brother Castor could occasionally be seen conversing in American Sign Language (ASL).

Physical description

A close-up of the red-uniformed Avox, matching Lavinia's description

The Avoxes' physical appearances were not markedly different from those of their lives as free people, with the exception of their tongues, which were removed so they could no longer speak. However, they could be recognized by their distinctive way of swallowing, and those enslaved at the Training Center wore white uniform tunics.

In the first film, they wore crimson robes, gold flats, and had their hair tightly pulled back. In the second film, the Avoxes wore sleeveless white tunics, haunting dark eye makeup, and cages around their faces.

Known Avoxes

• Lavinia - the redheaded girl whose capture Katniss witnessed in the woods outside District 12. She served District 12's tributes during the 74th and 75th Hunger Games, during which time Katniss considered her sort of a friend.
• Darius - a former District 12 Peacekeeper, known to be flirty, boyish, and fun. He and Katniss were friends in 12 before his enslavement.
• Pollux - a rebel cameraman with District 13. He worked for five years in the Capitol's underground tunnels, making him a tactical asset to Squad 451.

Etymology

The term "Avox" is derived from the Ancient Greek prefix ἀ- ‎(a-, “not, without” - e.g. "amoral") and the Latin word vox ("voice"). In other words, "avox" means "voiceless."

Trivia

• Pollux is the only known Avox that survived the Second Rebellion.
• A brief written piece for Capitol Couture misidentified the District 7 stylist as a random Avox servant, romanticizing their state of forced servility.
• According to Mrs. Plinth, the Avoxes enslaved in her household liked foods that were easy to swallow, such as custards.