- "There's an old man who keeps a small herd of goats on the other side of the Seam. I don't know his real name; everyone just calls him the Goat Man."
- —Katniss Everdeen on the Goat Man[src]
The Goat Man owned a herd of goats in the Seam in District 12.[1]
Quick Answers
What is the real name of the Goat Man in District 12?
What was the Goat Man's previous occupation before owning goats?
How did the Goat Man acquire his herd of goats?
Where does the Goat Man live in relation to Katniss Everdeen's house?
Biography[]
The Goat Man lived on the other end of the Seam from Katniss Everdeen's house,[1] at the slag heap next to the east entrance to the mines.[2] He spent years working as a coal miner, and he was considered lucky to save up enough money for his goats.[1]
On Primrose Everdeen's tenth birthday in late May, the Goat Man had been at the market in the town square that afternoon. Something had mauled the shoulder of one of his goats, and he'd planned to sell her to Rooba the butcher. However, seeing that Katniss Everdeen had taken an interest in the animal, Rooba backed out. Angry, the Goat Man haggled with Katniss for half an hour over the price. This drew "quite a crowd" of people, who each took sides one way or the other on the animal's worth and the value of the deal. Eventually, Katniss and Gale Hawthorne came away with the goat, and they presented it to Prim with a pink bow around its neck. Prim named the goat Lady, and she and her mother nursed it back to health.[1]
In Catching Fire, Katniss came home from the woods one day after being stuck outside the electrified fence, and Peacekeepers had come to her house in Victors' Village looking for her. The excuse she gave for her absence was that she had gone to see the Goat Man about getting Lady pregnant, but she had misheard directions from Prim; supposedly, Katniss had gone to the west entrance of the mine, while Prim had said the east entrance.[2]
Death[]
The Goat Man wasn't mentioned among the refugees in District 13, so he presumably died in the bombing of District 12 along with most of the district's population.[3]
Physical description[]
Katniss described him as a "filthy and impatient" old man. His joints were swollen, "twisted in painful angles", and he had a "hacking cough" from his time in the mines.[1]
Trivia[]
- In The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, the Covey had discussed building a herd of goats and selling the milk as a second source of income.[4] This has led people to theorize that the Goat Man could have been one of their number— specifically Tam Amber.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 The Hunger Games, Chapter 20
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Catching Fire, Chapter 11
- ↑ Mockingjay, Chapter 1
- ↑ The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Chapter 29