Grandma'am

Grandma'am
Age	Elderly
Home	The Capitol
Gender	Female
Fate	Presumed deceased (trilogy)
Book Appearances	The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
Movie Appearances	The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes
Portrayed by	Fionnula Flanagan

The Grandma'am is the grandmother of Coriolanus Snow and Tigris. Her nickname was created by a young Tigris, who felt she deserved an imperial name.

Biography

She was born or married into the wealthy Snow family, where she presumably gained much of their wealth and privilege after the death of her husband. She had at least two children, one of them being Crassus Xanthos Snow and her other child being the father or mother of Tigris.

In the first year of the First Rebellion, she would play the anthem on national holidays for Coriolanus, five years old at the time, and his cousin Tigris, eight years old at the time, in order to build their patriotism. When the Capitol was under siege, she would tell them "Remember, children, we are but besieged. We have not surrendered!" then warble the anthem as bombs rained down around their apartment. She could not cook, but often threatened to learn to do so. She had a saying regarding Avoxes that "tongueless workers make the best workers." Though Coriolanus loved her, he felt she had lost touch with reality a long time ago, maybe indicating some level of early dementia. Even when the Snow family was deep in poverty, she often began her sentences with the phrase "When Coriolanus is president..."

When Coriolanus was still young, his mother went into labor, and the Grandma'am and the family's cook attempted to stop the flow of blood before she died, as something had gone wrong.

One October afternoon during the war, the Grandma'am and Coriolanus visited Pluribus Bell at a nightclub. The Grandma'am decided to take thirty crates of lima beans home, which they hid.

During the 10th Hunger Games

The Grandma'am grew roses in a rooftop garden. She was very possessive of them, but was sometimes willing to part with a rose if it would help her grandson. The day of the reaping of the 10th Hunger Games, where Coriolanus was to be a mentor, she offered him a fresh red rose.

After Coriolanus returned home from eating in the Capitol Zoo with Lucy Gray Baird, the tribute he was mentoring, the Grandma'am disapproved, taking the worst view of her as she was from District 12. However, she eventually warmed up to Lucy Gray when she saved Coriolanus.

When Arachne Crane had been murdered by her own tribute, Brandy, the Grandma'am aired out her best black dress for Arachne's funeral and made sure Coriolanus was uninjured, later declaring him a hero for being the first to take action in the zoo. Upon hearing that he was to sing at Arachne's funeral, the Grandma'am had him up at dawn to coach him and sacrificed a rose for his appearance.

Mrs. Plinth arrived at the Snows' penthouse late one night when her son, Sejanus Plinth, had gone missing. The Grandma'am put on a robe, but treated her impatiently and suggested for her to leave. However, she was aghast upon seeing Sejanus in the arena.

After the 10th Hunger Games

As the Snow financial situation continued to worsen, the Grandma'am began to descend into denial and eventually despair. When her grandson was made to enroll in the Peacekeepers and shipped to District 12, she asked when he would be back and kissed him goodbye, but did not quite seem to know what was going on and twice asked Tigris when he would be home and if they should wait on dinner.

Fortunately, her condition improved greatly after the Plinths arranged to buy the flat the family was living in and came to an arrangement so that the Snows could continue living there. The Plinths paid for everything, ending the Snow family's financial worries, though the Grandma'am had to resign herself to having a new "maid" in the form of Mrs. Plinth, who came by every day to help.

Due to her age, she presumably died long before the time of The Hunger Games trilogy, but the circumstances of her death are unknown.

Physical description

The Grandma'am giving Coriolanus a yellow rose.

"She wore a long, black, flowing tunic, the kind so popular before the war and so outdated as to be laughable now, and a pair of embroidered slippers with curled toes that had once been part of a costume. Strands of her thin, white hair poked from the bottom of a rusty velvet turban. This was the tail end of a once-lavish wardrobe — her few decent items were saved for company or the rare foray into the city."

—Description of the Grandma'am’s clothes

The Grandma'am often wore a long tunic, slippers and a turban, although she saved her more lavish clothing for times where she would be seen by others. An elderly woman, she also had thin, white hair and tremorous hands.

Personality and traits

"Crazy old woman, still clinging to the prewar days. He loved her, but she'd lost touch with reality years ago."

—Coriolanus Snow describing the Grandma'am

The Grandma'am was said to always take the worst view of anything related to the districts. Despite the Snow's worsening financial situation, she always insisted on certain civilities, such as leaving home with a clean handkerchief. However, she cared greatly for her grandchildren.

Especially after Coriolanus was sent to District 12 to become a Peacekeeper, she began to lose her mind and often forgot where he was.

Trivia

• She outlived all her known children: Crassus Snow and his unnamed sibling, who was Tigris's parent.
• When a recording of the Capitol anthem, "Gem of Panem" started playing, she began singing along in a tremulous soprano voice. She was badly off-key and slightly behind the song's tempo.
• In the Spanish translation of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, her nickname is abuelatriz, a mix between abuela (grandmother) and emperatriz (female form of emperor), giving her an even higher position of power.