Jessup Diggs was the male tribute from District 12 in the 10th Hunger Games. His mentor was Lysistrata Vickers. He became the ally of Lucy Gray Baird for the Games.
Contents
Biography
Jessup grew up in District 12, already having been employed in the mines before the Reaping for the 10th Hunger Games. When his name was called by Mayor Lipp, he awkwardly ascended the steps to take his place. He shook hands with his district partner, Lucy Gray Baird, and she pulled him into a bow.[2]
When the tributes were taken to the Capitol in a cattle car, Jessup helped Lucy Gray descend onto the platform, catching her and swinging her to the ground gracefully.[3] At the Capitol Zoo, Lucy Gray encouraged Jessup to approach Sejanus Plinth and take a sandwich and plum from him, leading to the other tributes accepting food as well.[4]
The first night in the zoo, a raccoon bit Jessup's neck in the dark, and from then on, him and Lucy Gray took turns sleeping. When Coriolanus Snow, Lucy Gray's mentor, arrived to visit her at the zoo, he made eye contact with Jessup, who was holding a handkerchief to his neck. Jessup then woke up Lucy Gray so she could talk with Coriolanus, and she later gave him two of the four crackers she had received from her mentor.[5]
During the tour of the Capitol Arena before the Games, Jessup's assigned mentor, Lysistrata Vickers, gave him cream for his neck, as she had been working to connect with Jessup.[6] When the rebel bombs exploded, Jessup protected Lysistrata by throwing his body over her, a fact that was later recounted to a reporter.[7]
At the interviews, Jessup and Lysistrata were one of the few remaining mentor-tribute pairs that had something to present. During their turn, Lysistrata sat in her chair while Jessup easily lifted her over his head, demonstrating his strength. Partly because of this, he was one of the tributes that Capitol citizens favored to win.[8]
The night before the Games began, Jessup stopped eating and began acting funny. This was due to him contracting rabies from the raccoon bite at the zoo, though he didn't know it at the time. Reaper Ash, the male tribute from District 11, apologized to each of the other tributes for having to kill them in the arena, and Jessup spit in his eye,[9] passing on rabies to Reaper as well.[10]
10th Hunger Games
When the gong sounded, Jessup was one of the few tributes that sprinted towards the weapons, though he soon dispersed. He and Lucy Gray hid out in the tunnels for the first and most of the second days of the Games.[11] They moved from spot to spot, with Jessup getting sicker as time went on, and bedded down near the entrance during the first night.[10]
Death
During the afternoon of the second day of the Games, Lucy Gray and Jessup emerged from hiding with Lucy Gray fleeing from Jessup, as the rabies had ailed him.[12] Jessup chased Lucy Gray into the stands, though he had trouble keeping his balance. When a water bottle arrived, sent by Coriolanus, Jessup destroyed it, agitated. This led to Coriolanus and Lysistrata realizing he had hydrophobia as a result of his inability to swallow from rabies. To distract him from Lucy Gray, Lysistrata sent him many bottles of water to trigger this. He fell as he tried to run from the water bottles, and the sound of breaking bones could be heard as they were close to a speaker in the arena. Lucy Gray comforted him in his final moments, saying that he could sleep now. After Jessup died, Lucy Gray cleaned his face, and covered it from the audience with cloth.[13]
Jessup's body was later lined up among the other corpses by Reaper in his makeshift morgue.[14]
Etymology
Jessup is a variant on the name Joseph, which means "God will increase." His surname Diggs refers to his district's industry of mining.
Physical description
Jessup had a fringe of black hair plastered down on his prominent forehead. He was bigger than average for a tribute from District 12, and strong-looking. He had already been employed in the mines before the 10th Hunger Games, contributing to his griminess, but attempted to wash before the reaping, leaving a relatively clean oval in the middle of his face. However, it was ringed with black, and his nails were caked with coal dust.[2] Jessup was also very strong, as he was able to easily lift Lysistrata Vickers over his head for the interviews.[8]
When Jessup was afflicted with rabies during the Games, he was stiff-limbed and feverish with excitement, with foam bubbling over his lips.[12] The rabies also loaned a maniac speed to his already powerful body, though his coordination was diminished, and he opened gashes on his body because of it.[13]
Trivia
- Jessup is implied to be a strong tribute, as only he, Coral, Tanner, and Reaper retrieved weapons from the weapons pile at the start of the Games.
References
- ↑ As Jessup was already employed in the mines before the reaping and District 12 citizens must be at least 18 to enter the mines, Jessup had to have met the requirements.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Chapter 2
- ↑ The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Chapter 3
- ↑ The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Chapter 5
- ↑ The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Chapter 8
- ↑ The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Chapter 9
- ↑ The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Chapter 10
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Chapter 11
- ↑ The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Chapter 12
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Chapter 24
- ↑ The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Chapter 14
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Chapter 16
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Chapter 17
- ↑ The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Chapter 19
