Otho Mellark

Spoiler Alert! This page may contain plot details relating to Sunrise on the Reaping or unintentionally spoil elements of the book.

Otho Mellark
Biographical Information
Age	40s
Occupation	Baker
Home	Merchant section of District 12
Relatives	Peeta Mellark (Youngest Son) Katniss Everdeen (Daughter-In-Law)
Fate	Deceased
Physical Information
Gender	Male
Appearances
Book Appearances	The Hunger Games Sunrise on the Reaping
Book Mentioned	Mockingjay
Movie Appearances	The Hunger Games film

"I'll keep an eye on the little girl. Make sure she's eating."

—Mr. Mellark to Katniss Everdeen

Otho Mellark was a baker who lived in District 12. One of his sons, Peeta Mellark, was the male tribute for District 12 in both the 74th and the 75th Hunger Games.

Quick Answers

Why didn't Mr. Mellark buy Peeta's entry out of the Hunger Games?

There is no mention of an option for Mr. Mellark to buy Peeta's entry out of the Hunger Games in the source material. Instead, he pledged to care for Katniss's sister, Prim, due to his past connection with Katniss's mother and his business dealings with Katniss. Mr. Mellark, along with his family, excluding Peeta, perished when the Capitol bombed District 12 post the 75th Hunger Games.

Provided by: Fandom

What was Mr. Mellark's profession in District 12?

Mr. Mellark worked as a baker in the Merchant section of District 12. He belonged to the merchant class of the district. His son, Peeta Mellark, participated as a tribute in the 74th and 75th Hunger Games.

Provided by: Fandom

Who did Mr. Mellark originally want to marry before he married Mrs. Mellark?

Before marrying his wife, Mr. Mellark desired to wed the mother of Katniss. However, she was enamored with Mr. Everdeen. Despite this, Mr. Mellark bore no ill feelings towards Mrs. Everdeen. He ultimately married another woman, who became Mrs. Mellark.

Provided by: Fandom

How many sons did Mr. Mellark have?

In The Hunger Games series, Mr. Mellark is the father of three sons. His eldest and middle sons remain unnamed throughout the series, while his youngest son is known as Peeta Mellark, a central character in the trilogy.

Provided by: Fandom

What are some character traits of Peeta Mellark that he may have inherited from Mr. Mellark?

Peeta Mellark, a key protagonist in The Hunger Games trilogy, likely inherited several traits from his father, Mr. Mellark. Mr. Mellark was a large, broad-shouldered man with burn scars from years of bakery work. He was a quiet, kinder, and more generous individual compared to his wife, often engaging in trades. He likely passed on his blond hair and blue eyes, typical of the merchant class, to Peeta.

Provided by: Fandom

Biography

Otho Mellark was a member of District 12's merchant class. He attended the reaping of the 50th Hunger Games. After Woodbine Chance was killed for attempting to run, Mellark was bewildered when the crowd was ordered to fall to the ground. Burdock Everdeen had to punch him in the back of his knee before he obeyed.

In his youth, he wanted to marry Asterid Everdeen, but she "ran off with a coal miner," Mr. Everdeen. Mr. Mellark married another woman instead, who became Mrs. Mellark. They had three sons, with their youngest, Peeta, being born the same year that Mr. and Mrs. Everdeen had their first child, Katniss. He and his family lived above the bakery where they worked.

On Peeta's first day of school, Mr. Mellark pointed Katniss out to Peeta and told him of his past with her mother, particularly how she'd fallen for Mr. Everdeen's singing voice. Katniss and Gale Hawthorne tended to trade with Mr. Mellark when his wife was out, offering up squirrels they'd shot in exchange for bakery bread. Mr. Mellark often commented on how Katniss's arrows never pierced the squirrel's body, instead shooting them cleanly through the eye. He also traded generous amounts of bread for Primrose Everdeen's goat cheeses at the Hob.

74th Hunger Games

After saying goodbye to Peeta after the reaping, Mr. Mellark visited Katniss, gave her a packet of cookies, and promised to keep an eye on Prim and make sure she was eating. He presumably made this visit because of his past feelings for Katniss's mother, as well as the business relationship he'd developed with Katniss herself over the years.

In the film, he only briefly appeared in the bakery in Katniss's flashback, while his wife beat Peeta.

Death

After the events of the 75th Hunger Games, he and the rest of Peeta's family were killed when the Capitol bombed District 12. Mr. Mellark was included in the memory book Katniss, Peeta, and Haymitch made after the war, highlighting how he brought Katniss the cookies.

Family

Mr. Mellark had a wife, Mrs. Mellark, and the two of them had three children. Their first son is unnamed, and he was over 18 at the time of the 74th Hunger Games reaping. Their second son, also unnamed, was 17 or 18 at the time, while Peeta was the youngest at 16. Mr. and Mrs. Mellark and their two older sons died in the bombing of District 12. Peeta survived the Second Rebellion and went on to marry Katniss Everdeen, eventually having a son and a daughter together.

Physical description

Katniss described Mr. Mellark as a big, broad-shouldered man with burn scars from years at the oven. He had meaty hands and blond hair.

Personality and traits

Mr. Mellark was not a talkative man, but he was described as being "much nicer" than his wife, and he was quite generous in his trades with Katniss, Gale, and especially Prim, when Mrs. Mellark was not around. He didn't seem to harbor any resentment towards Mrs. Everdeen for marrying someone else, and he treated her children kindly and respectfully.